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St Swithin's (or St Swithun's) Church,
Main Road,
Holmesfield, 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 after the 9th century, and we understand it is still open.

The ecclesiastical parish of Holmesfield was formed in 1857 from the parish of Dronfield. St Swithun's church was rebuilt in 1826 on the site said to have been occupied by churches since the 9th century. It is "a plain building of stone, consisting of chancel, erected in 1898, nave, with north and west galleries, and an embattled western tower with pinnacles containing one bell". The register of baptisms dates from 1724, marriages 1720-53, and burials from 1724, but "is very imperfect at the commencement".

The Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/) for "St Swithen" gives an estimated congregation on March 30th of 12 at morning service, 70 in the afternoon, and 30 Sunday Scholars at both morning and afternoon class. It was completed by Thomas Hirst, Perpetual Curate, of Dronfield, Sheffield, who also mentioned the re-erection in 1826.

Holmesfield is an ancient manor, and at the time of the Domesday Survey was in the hands of the Deincourts. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the tithes (then in the hands of the Prior of Lenton, Nottingham) were granted by Henry VIII. to William Coffin. Coffin was executed in the following reign of Edward VI. for participating in the Devonshire risings, after which they were given by the King to his "trusty friend and counsellor Sir William de Cavendish". But in 1912, when Kelly's Directory was published, from which the above history has been condensed, the lord of the manor was the Duke of Rutland.

At the time, Cartledge, Horseley [sic] Gate, Millthorpe and Lydgate were said to be places in the parish.

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 SK3206277691. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Swithin's (or St Swithun's) Church, Holmesfield shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Holmesfield 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)