Default Image We do not have a
Photograph at present.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

St Matthew's Church,
Church Lane / No Man's Heath Road,
Chilcote, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in the 12th century, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1895 records that the chapel of St Matthew is a small building of stone, in the Gothic style, repaired in 1842, and thoroughly renovated in 1885 by Mrs. Robertson of Netherseale Hall, in memory of her late husband, Francis Robertson esq. and their only son". It consists of chancel, nave, north porch and a small turret on the western gable containing one bell. Previous to the repairs of 1842 there was a round-headed Norman doorway in the north wall of the nave. Kelly's Directory of 1891 also mentions a niche in the south wall containing the upper part of the 14th century octagonal font, but presumably this was also lost during the repairs, or rebuilding. Both Directories mention there is a stained window on the north side, and that there are 48 sittings.

Chilcote was then said to be a township belonging to the parish of Clifton Campville, in Staffordshire. The living was a chapelry annexed to the rectory of Clifton Campville, and held since 1868 by the Rev. Thomas Samuel Fraser Rawlins M.A. late fellow of Worcester College, Oxford, who resided at Clifton Campville, Staffs.

A later Directory (1912) records Chilcote as a parish, and that it was transferred to Leicestershire in 1888. It is also listed as such on the British Listed Buildings website. They account mentions that inside the church has a "bare ashlar roof of 4 bays re-using previous 14/15th century king post roof", and there are "animals carved in centre of tie beams either side but bosses gone". A tablet inside the church refers to rebuilding by the Robertson family "of Chilcote Hall, now demolished". The Hall was demolished prior to 1857, as White's Directory of that year records it as the seat of the Milwards, and afterwards of the Clarkes, which "has been taken down". The Chapel was then (before the 1885 restoration) described as "a neat structure, with a turret and one bell" with windows "beautifully ornamented with stained glass". The repairs of 1842, which involved repewing, and casing the exterior, were by the late F. Robertson esq.

White's also describes Chilcote's location as the place where "the counties of Derby, Leicester, Warwick, and Stafford meet in a point so small that, it is said, a man may be in them all at the same time".

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SK2844811399. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Matthew's Church, Chilcote shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Chilcote shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Chilcote, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.