All Saints, Bakewell, Derbyshire
Description
The church of All Saints, standing on an eminence above the principal part of the town, is a large cruciform embattled structure, about 150 feet in length, and 105 feet in breadth, including the transepts, and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, porch, transepts and a central tower, rising from a square lower stage into a battlemented octagon, with an elegant and lofty spire, and containing 8 bells, all re-cast in 1796, and again in 1895: the fabric exhibits remains of Norman work, including, at the west end, a fine Norman doorway, with an arcading above it, and other portions belonging to a very early church, the first alterations in which took place in 1250, when the Early English style was well advanced: at this time the tower piers were in part cut away and rebuilt with pointed arches; the upper part of the tower and the whole of the south transept being at the same time taken down and the transept lengthened: the chancel was rebuilt and considerably lengthened towards the commencement of the Decorated period, about 1300 or earlier; and the Vernon chapel, forming an eastern aisle to the south transept, built about 1360: the octagonal tower and spire were erected on the Early English base, at the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century, when also the clerestory was added, the roofs lowered and the whole of the parapets embattled: in 1825-6 the spire was removed, and in 1830 the tower also, owing to the unsafe condition of the piers; in 1841 extensive repairs of the whole fabric were begun, and completed in 1852, for a sum of £8,600; in the course of this work the old piers of the nave were mostly renewed in a lighter style, the tower piers taken down and the tower and spire rebuilt, together with the south transept and the Vernon chapel, the original forms being carefully reproduced: in 1881 the chancel was thoroughly restored and stalls added, and a richly carved oak screen and reredos erected, and in 1886 the choir seats were placed under the tower; within the south aisle there was anciently a chantry, founded by Sir Godfrey Foljambe, who died in 1377 and was there buried; a small and beautifully finished monument to him and his second wife, Avena, is now against one of the piers, with half-length alabaster figures of both, beneath canopies; Mr. Blore, in 1803, added to this monument an inscription on black marble; other members of the Foljambe family are also buried here: the next earliest monument is that of Sir Thomas Wendesley, consisting of a table-tomb, bearing his effigy clad in plate armour, with a shirt of chain mail, and wearing a collar of SS.; the marginal inscription records the fact of his death at the battle of Shrewsbury, 23 July, 1403, when fighting with the Lancastrians against the insurgents, under Henry Percy: of the Vernon monuments, which are in the Vernon chapel, the earliest is that of John Vernon, a small but well-carved table-tomb of alabaster, with angels holding shields, and a marginal inscription dated 1477; in the centre of the chapel is a large table-tomb, with the recumbent effigies of Sir George Vernon knt. usually styled, from his magnificent hospitality at Haddon Hall, "the King of the Peak," and his two wives: he died 9 Aug. 1567, but the inscription on the tomb has never been dated, although blanks were left for that purpose: at the south end is the monument of Dorothy Vernon and her husband, Sir John Manners, whose romantic marriage brought Haddon to the Manners family; the kneeling figures of Sir John and his lady face each other beneath an arch in the centre; between them is a pedestal with an inscription recording the decease of the knight in J61I and of his wife in 1584; above is a shield with 16 quarterings; on the cornice are other shields, and below the central figures are those of their four children; a still larger and more costly tomb is that of Sir George Manners, their eldest son, against the opposite wall, which has also figures of the knight and his lady kneeling at a lectern; behind is a long Latin inscription dated 1623, at the top of the monument the 16 quarterings of Manners, and below the figures of four sons and five daughters, arranged in two rows, with scriptural texts above each: the east wall bears a mural monument to John Manners, third son of Sir John and Dorothy, ob. 1590: the south transept has numerous monuments of the 17th and 18th centuries, consisting chiefly of small brasses to various retainers of the family of Manners, with others to Latham Woodroffe (1648) and Basset Copwood, of Bubnell Hall (1628): in the chancel is a brass to Bernard Wells, with inscription, dated 13 June, 1653: in pulling down different ancient portions of the church, a large number of early gravestones and other remains were found among the masonry, 65 of which are preserved in the porch; 55 others having been removed to the Lomberdale museum; of these many are earlier than 1100 and none later than 1260: in the porch, a Decorated work, are a few ancient floor tiles, and above the entrance a sun-dial of 1793: the font is a large octagon bearing on each of the eight faces full-length figures under canopies, rudely carved, and may be assigned to the close of the 13th century: immediately below the Foljambe monument is an almery, and in the south chancel wall three sedilia, with seats of varying elevation, and beyond these a finely-worked piscina; another, of Early English date, being found in the Vernon chapel: an elegant traceried screen separates the Vernon chapel from the south transept, and is the finest piece of woodwork in the church; there is also an ancient parish chest, of pre-Reformation date, with numerous locks and braces: several stained windows, including an east window to John Henry, 5th Duke of Rutland, were inserted in 1862, since which others have been placed in the church: there are 700 sittings: in the churchyard, near the east wall of the Vernon chapel, stands a fine cross, 8 feet high, exclusive of the base, and about 2 feet wide, sculptured with scriptural and other subjects on the fronts, and on the sides with an elegant spiral pattern, and not much later than the 8th century: the vestry was erected in 1898 from designs of Messrs. Naylor and Sale: in the churchyard are also several stone coffins. The ancient custom of ringing the curfew is still observed here every evening and a bell is also rung at 6 in the morning.
Church Records
The parish register, which is in bad condition, dates from the year 1614.