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West Hallam

West Hallam

St Wilfrid's Church Guide

Alan Cooper and Roger Wood - 2016

“The Church on the Hill”

ST WILFRID’S CHURCH, WEST HALLAM
A short guide

The church is dedicated to St Wilfrid (AD 634-709) a Northumbrian cleric raised in the Celtic Christianity tradition. After travelling to Rome, Wilfrid adopted the Roman tradition and in 664 at the Synod of Whitby was instrumental in converting the Northumbrian king Oswiu to the Roman tradition. This effectively brought the whole of the church in England into the Roman domain. He became Bishop of York and founded the Abbeys of Ripon and Hexham among other church foundations. (The current buildings there are later constructions)

He converted the south Saxons in England to Christianity and made missionary journeys to northern Europe. His feast day is 12th October.

The Church

St Wilfrid’s Church dates from about 1275 when the de Cromwell family held the manor of West Hallam (or Halun). In 1467 the manor was bought by the Powtrell family who later became leading recusants and suffered imprisonment and fines for their beliefs, eventually being deprived of the manor by the Commonwealth government. In 1821 the Newdigate family acquired the manor to add to their estates in Warwickshire and in 1855 instigated major reconstruction of the church building. This included the addition of the porch entrance on the north side of the church, now forming the main entrance.

A Tour of the Church
(Numbers refer to those in the plan below.)

All needlework that you see as you tour the church has been made by members of the congregation over many years.

Starting from the entrance porch on our immediate right we find the Beaumont- Checkland window (1), a memorial to Lt. Col Henry Beaumont – Checkland Battalion commander of the Notts and Derby (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment in World War I. He led the 5th battalion on the first day of the battle of the Somme (1st July 1916) and although he survived the war with the award of the Military Cross, he was quite severely wounded and died in 1928. His grave with the Sherwood Foresters’ emblem can be seen in the churchyard. His widow had the window erected in his memory and asked for this location as the window overlooks her husband’s grave.

Men of the village who died in the First World War are commemorated on the village’s unique War Memorial just outside the church gates and by Cambridge quarter chimes added to the church clock, as recorded on the memorial plaque to your right (2).

(3) and (4) Plaques commemorate long serving Churchwarden Henry Shaw and Rector Charles Newdigate.

Next you will see a plaque (5) commemorating the addition of quarter chimes to the church clock to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria 1897.

Beyond the vestry door, look up to your right and note the memorial (6) to William Darbyshire. Darbyshire was a curate of Stanley St Andrew’s Church in the seventeenth century, at that time a chapel of Spondon St Werburgh’s Church. Careful scrutiny will reveal a skull and crossbones at the top of the plaque, signifying that William Darbyshire was a medical doctor.

The next memorial plaques (7) and (8) commemorate Frederick Brown and William Barber respectively. Frederick Brown was manager of the Mapperley Colliery and William Barber was landlord of the White Hart Inn. His son died in Salonika in 1915 and the family grave can be seen with a red granite cover just outside the south door of the church
The Font: Little is known of the origin of the font. Its odd placement in the church is owed to the fact that it stands by the South Door, the original church entrance but little used today.

(9) Scargill Window and Plaque commemorate Rev John Scargill, Rector from 1638 to 1662 and founder of the village schools. The window was erected as part of the Victorian rebuilding of the church and paid for by former scholars of the Scargill School. It was erected in 1854, the 190th anniversary of the opening of the original school and renovated in 1973 to mark the closure of the Scargill Secondary School in Beech Lane, now the Scargill Primary School.

From here we come to the south door and beyond that the ‘Church Seasons’ tapestry.

The window (10) is typical of windows fitted during the 1855 restoration. Stained glass windows in the south aisle were donated by parishioners during the restoration. The wall memorial (11) is dedicated to William Simpson who died in infancy. His parents were Ruth Handley, whose parents owned land in Mapperley and Lewcote Gate, West Hallam and William Simpson of Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire. Ruth and William were married at St Wilfrid’s in 1779.

Moving along, see the tapestry representation of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ and in the corner you will find a piscina. Next to that is our mobile altar used for preparation and /or serving at Communion and gifted to the church by Mr Len Griffiths in memory of his wife Margaret, a devoted servant of the church and Churchwarden.

We then find the pulpit (12) installed in memory of Francis Newdigate with a lamp in memory of Phyllis Bancroft in 1927 (13)

In front of the pulpit is John Scargill’s box . This box was made to the instructions given in the will of Rev John Scargill at his death in 1662. It was to contain deeds and records of the school to be erected by his legacy. This was done and the box was kept in the school until the early 20th Century when it came into the church, the school records having disappeared.

The choir stalls (14) were made by pupils of the Scargill Senior School in 1962. The church does not currently support a regular choir.

Look to the right behind the choir stalls and you will see John Scargill’s gravestone (15). John Scargill was Rector from 1638 until 1662. In his will Scargill made provision for a school for boys from West Hallam, Mapperley, Dale Abbey and Stanley/Stanley Common. The first school was opened in 1664 since when there has always been a Scargill School in West Hallam. Scargill’s Educational Foundation still supports the school in West Hallam and schools in neighbouring villages. The gravestone is cracked having been disturbed in 1787 when Rev William Clark was buried at his request beneath the remains of John Scargill.

The Powtrell gravestones (16 -19) can be seen in the chancel floor (partially covered). Anne Powtrell died in 1669 and her legacy also still provides financial support for young people in the village entering further or higher education.

On the wall on the right hand side you will see the Rectors’ Roll (20) naming all Rectors since the foundation of St Wilfrid’s Church and alongside that the Apostles Window (21). Each of the images represents one of the four Gospel writers.

(22) is the Saints’ window reputed to have been originally placed in the old West Hallam Hall and below that another piscina.

The East Window (23) was placed in the church in memory of Francis Newdigate, landowner and instrumental in the remodelling of the church in Victorian times. The window depicts the crucifixion of Christ with his mother Mary and St. John alongside.

Turning to the left you will see a window with heraldic shields (24). We do not know the origin of the shields or the window but possibly also from the old Hall.

Before you leave this area take a good look at the kneelers in front of the altar rail. They depict the Creation story and are based on designs for kneelers in a church in Livonia, Michigan, USA.

Look also at the two Falklands Kneelers usually kept inside the altar rail one on each side of the church. They commemorate the Falklands campaign of 1982 and like all war memorials in and around the church are included in the National Register of War Memorials.

On the wall to the left of this window you will see a plaque in memory of Rev Gordon Wathen (25), Headmaster of the Scargill Primary School for 29 years. He oversaw the building of the Infants’ school, closure of the old Boys’ School, and the move of the Junior School into the premises of the former Secondary school on Beech Lane.

Now you will come to the Powtrell Tomb (26), the resting place of Walter and Cassandra Powtrell. Walter died in 1598 but Cassandra lived on for many years and remained an active recusant. The family eventually lost the patronage which was given to the University of Cambridge. In turn that led to the incumbency of Rev John Scargill. The tomb was placed in the church despite the religious and civil strife of the seventeenth century.

Made of Derbyshire alabaster and probably carved by a sculptor in Burton-on-Trent, the tomb carries the recumbent figures of Walter and Cassandra Powtrell and figures of their seven children along the front. Note the inclusion of the baby who died at birth. You will also find a hedgehog, symbol of the Powtrell family.

Look up again at the wall to the left of the Powtrell Tomb and you will see a plaque (27) commemorating the installation of an organ on the 200th anniversary of the death of John Scargill. This was the second organ to be installed in the church and was itself replaced by the electric organ now in use. The removal of organ pipes and associated works made room for the kitchen which enables the service of refreshments after church services and other events.

Along the north aisle you will find plaques dedicated to incumbents: Henry Greatorex (28), who was succeeded by his grandson Daniel Greatorex in 1716 and John Morewood (29) and to Francis Newdigate (30). You will also see the plaque dedicated to Elizabeth and Henry Greatorex (31).

Finally along this aisle you will come to a window and plaque (32) dedicated to Thomas Williamson, colliery agent, local councillor and church benefactor.

This is not the end of our tour. Now look up at the clerestory windows. You will see one stained glass window (34). It depicts the martyr St James the Less. The club he carries is possibly a representation of the fuller’s bat with which he was killed. The window is reputed to have come from the Dale Abbey chapel at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries but by way of the old West Hallam Hall.

Now move to the centre of the nave and look towards the bell tower. Above the modern flooring of the ringing chamber you will see a stained glass window (35). This is dedicated to Robert Evans, Land Agent for the Newdigate family as owners of the West Hallam estate. Robert Evans lived for a time in Kirk Hallam, also at The Firs (Farm) in West Hallam and at Stanley Common. He was the father of Mary Ann Evans, better known as George Eliot. Did Mary Ann visit this village or worship in this church? We do not know, but she was a frequent visitor to her Derbyshire relatives up to about 1840 so such a connection is not improbable.

The bell tower (36) houses 8 bells, the earliest dating from 1618 and the last two were placed in 1929, marking the foundation of the Diocese of Derby in 1927. Most carry dedications for the church.

Now our tour takes us outside the church. Follow the path to the left and look across to see the grave of Lt Col Beaumont-Checkland, identifiable with the regimental badge of the Sherwood Foresters and note how it lies in line with the window dedicated to him.

As you reach the west door, look up at the clock. Made by John Whitehurst of Derby, it is still mechanically driven.
Continue round to the south of the church. Look up again and note the sundial in the centre of the church wall, sadly now having lost its style.

Close by in the graveyard is the red granite gravestone of the Barber family, noted earlier.

You can now continue round the church or retrace your steps back to the porch and the starting point of the visit.

Alan Cooper and Roger Wood 2016


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