St Lawrence Church
North Wingfield parish originally comprised six townships, viz., NORTH WINGFIELD, with WILLIAMSTHORPE, CLAY LANE, PlLSLEY, STRETTON, TUPTON and WOODTHORPE; of these the township of Pilsley is now a separate parish, and is given under a separate head; the townships of Clay Lane, Stretton and Woodthorpe form the parish of Clay Cross (which see). The church, dedicated originally to St. Lawrence, but subsequently transferred to St. Helen, and called by her name so late as 1644, is a building of stone, consisting of clerestoried chancel, nave of four bays, with clerestory, aisles, south porch and a lofty embattled western tower of Perpendicular date, 100 feet in height and containing 6 bells, the 3rd of ancient date and the rest dating from 1617 to 1811 : there are still existing some remains of the earlier fabric of Late Norman date, and comprising a window in the north aisle, with toothed mouldings and singularly designed capitals, and an arch between the north aisle and the small transeptal chapel at its eastern end : the chancel has the unusual feature, on both sides, of three clerestory windows : the east window, a Decorated work of about 1320, was refilled with stained glass in 1879, by the Rev. G. W. Darby M.A. late rector, as a memorial to his wife, and in 1880 a memorial window was erected in the chancel to the Rev. James Barrow M.A. rector here, 1861-78 : on the north side of the chancel is an arch, reopened in 1880 and communicating with the transeptal chapel : on the exterior south wall of the chancel, within an ogee arch, lies the mutilated figure of a knight, previously on the floor of the chapel, and the knightly effigy previously within this arch has been transferred to a canopied recess in the interior north wall of the chancel, carefully restored by the aid of fragments discovered in unmasking the wall : in the north aisle, at the south-east angle, are the stairs, still perfect, which anciently led to the rood loft ; at the foot of these stairs is a square recess or almery, the upper side of which is formed of part of a carved semi-effigial memorial : at the east end of this aisle is the chantry chapel, already mentioned, founded, in pursuance of a licence from Henry VII. by John Babyngton knt. and Ralph Savage, 4th February, 1488, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin : the Decorated tracery of the east window of the chapel has been renewed ; on its walls, beneath Decorated canopies, are various interesting stone carvings in high relief, some portion of which may represent the "Annunciation :" here also are several stone effigies of the Deincourt family, which have been rearranged : on the floor of the chapel are the shattered remains of an early memorial slab with a figure in slight relief, taken from the arch on the outside wall of the chancel, and upon which the knightly effigy formerly there had been placed : in the south aisle is an interesting piece of sculpture, representing the martyrdom of St. Lawrence , found in 1860 beneath a crocketed canopy : the south porch is mainly built of fragments previously utilized in other parts of the building : the font in use is an octagon dating from 1662 : the church has been partially rebuilt or restored during recent years: in 1860 the south aisle was rebuilt on the same site, and in 1872 the clerestory of the nave with its roof and the north aisle were restored ; in the wall of the aisle were found various fragments of ancient incised slabs, and its inner face had been covered with scriptural texts, in black letter, of the Elizabethan age, and a fresco of St. George and the Dragon : the clerestory windows, previously renewed in a debased style, were filled with simple filled with simple tracery, the semicircular roof of plaster removed and the open- timbered I4th century roof carefully renovated : during the repairs at this time various incised slabs were met with, some of which had served as lintels for the clerestory windows : the repairs carried on during the year 1880 involved the construction of entirely new foundations to the piers of one arcade, the bases and piers themselves being also partially renewed ; new roofs of oak, covered with lead, were placed over the chapel and transept, the hagioscopes in the chancel arch piers reopened, the nave and chancel floors relaid and the interior reseated in oak : the church was reopened in December, 1880, and has 400 sittings. In the churchyard are several interesting old monuments and a stone sun dial, of great antiquity: the churchyard was enlarged in 1887 by the addition of 2 acres. The register, much of the earlier part of which is illegible, dates from the year 1567. The living is a rectory, average tithe rent-charge £850, net yearly value £767, including 86 acres of glebe, with residence in the gift of George Barrow Darby esq. and held since 1889 by the Rev. Joseph 0ldham B.D. of St. John's College, Cambridge. There are Methodist New Connexion and Primitive Methodist chapels at Wingfield ; a Primitive Methodist chapel at Ling's Row ; Primitive Methodist, Free Methodist and Methodist New Connexion chapels at New Tupton and a Methodist New Connexion chapel at Tupton. The chantry house, which adjoins the north-east angle of the churchyard, has for many years been an inn and is now known as the "Blue Bell," still retaining, however, some of its original features. The charities amount to £25 13s. 7d. yearly, distributed to the poor in money and flannel at Christmas. John James Barrow esq. J.P. of Holmewood, Tunbridge Wells, is lord of the manor of North Wingfield and the Hon. Mrs. Hunloke, is lady of the manor of Williamthorpe. The principal landowners are Joseph Bright esq. the Hon. Mrs. Hunloke and Colonel Packman. Soil and subsoil, chiefly clay and loam, with an admixture of rutchel stone in many parts. The chief crops are wheat, oats and pasture. The area of the township is 1,449 acres ; rateable value, £8,092; the population in 1871 was 1,155, and in 1881 was 2,044, in the township.