We have 2 Images Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Andrew McCann/Alf Beard

St Michael & All Angels Church,
Church Bank, S32 1AJ,
Hathersage, 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 1381, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1932 describes Hathersage as a village, parish and township, with a station on the Dore and Chinley section of the London, Midland and Scottish railway (opened in 1894), 10 miles south-west from Sheffield, 12 east from Chapel en le Frith, 16 north-east from Chesterfield, 9 north from Bakewell, and 160 from London. The parish is bordered on the north by the Yorkshire moors and on the west by the river Derwent - "except the township of Stony Middleton, which is detached". The village is situated in the midst of a mountainous tract on the Chapel en le Frith and Sheffield road, and is well supplied with good water from the large reservoir erected by the Bakewell R.D.C. and gas is supplied from the Hathersage and District Gas Company Limited.

The church of St Michael, "standing on a commanding eminence at the upper part of the village" is an edifice of stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel with north aisle or chapel, clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled tower of three stages at the west end of the nave, with a lofty octagonal spire and enriched with crocketed work at the angles, and containing 6 bells, three of which are without date, the others dating from 1617 to 1659. There is also an interesting sanctus bell of the 15th century, inscribed with a prayer for Robert Eyre and Joan his wife.

As well as various memorials of the Eyre family, there is a brass in the chancel to the Rev. John Le Cornu, for 50 years vicar of the parish, who died in 1844. There is a bronze tablet, on which are inscribed the names of the men connected with this parish who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1918.

In the churchyard, as well as the reputed grave of Little John, is a fine tomb of grey Aberdeen granite to Charles Cammell, who died in 1879. On the south side of the church is the wide base of an old cross, with about four feet of the shaft, now supporting a metal sun-dial made by Daniel Rose, clerk of Derwent, in 1811.

The parish records of baptisms and marriages date from 1627, and of burials from 1628. The living was then a vicarage, in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire, and had been held since 1910 by the Rev. John Hoult Brooksbank B.A. of Oxford University, rural dean of Eyam and surrogate.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/3/5/5) for "St Michael, an ancient Parish Church" recorded an estimated congregation on March 30th of 60 in the morning and 115 in the afternoon, with 78 and 84 Sunday Scholars respectively. It was completed by Henry Cottingham, its Minister, who gave his address as "Hathersage, near Bakewell". He remarked that "the small attendance at church on Sunday the 30th March, was owing to the severity of the weather" - a common lamentation for this day in the Peak District! By way of comparison, the average figures he provided were 80 in the morning and 200 in the afternoon, and 100 Sunday Scholars at both classes.

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 SK2339581851. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

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