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St Michael & All Angels,
Fernydale, SK17 0BS,
Earl Sterndale, 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 1932 records Earl Sterndale as an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1850 from Hartington, comprising the whole of Hartington Middle Quarter and a portion of the Upper Quarter, 5 miles south-south-east from Buxton, and 2 south-west from Longnor (Staffordshire). The nearest railway stations were then at Hindlow and Hurdlow, on the Buxton and Ashbourne branch of the London, Midland and Scottish railway.

The church of St Michael and All Angels, originally erected in the 14th century, and rebuilt in 1828, "is a plain edifice of stone, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays and an embattled tower at the north-west angle containing 3 bells, dating from 1865". There is an old Saxon font. A stained east window to the memories of Charles Mellor and Thomas Widdop was inserted in 1911 by Robert Mellor esq. of Abbotside. p /> The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/1/26/48) for "the Chapel of Earl Sterndale in the Parish of Hartington" recorded an estimated congregation on March 30th of 62 in the afternoon, with 15 Sunday Scholars (no other services). It was completed by William Buckwell, Incumbent of Buxton. In relation to its consecration, he explained that the Chapel was rebuilt & was re-opened by the Lord Bishop of Lichfield [in] 1830". So far so good, but there was a sting in his tale, as he adds... "Earl Sterndale Chapel when rebuilt was enlarged to accomodate a hamlet containing 400 inhabitants, situate four miles distance, none of whom have been in the habit of attending it".

The register, says Kelly, dates from 1765. The living was (in 1932) a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the vicar of Hartington, and had been held since 1929 by the Rev. George Cook L.Th. of Durham University.

A memorial hall was erected at Pomeroy [a small hamlet on the A515 Buxton to Ashbourne Road] in 1921 to the men of this parish who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914-1918 in whose memory also a granite pillar was erected in the churchyard in 1922.

In May 1825, a barrow on Cronkstone Hill was examined and a cist about four feet square discovered, containing a human skeleton lying on its right side, and likewise part of the antlers of a large deer. The moors and mountains of this parish, from the cairns and barrows upon them, seem to have been ancient burying places.

There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

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 SK0906767062. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Michael & All Angels, Earl Sterndale shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Earl Sterndale 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)