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Copyright of Andrew McCann

St Anne's Church,
Church Lane,
Beeley, 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 about 1150, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1932 describes Beeley as a township and parish formed out of Bakewell, on the east bank of the [river] Derwent, 1 mile north from Rowsley station on the Midland section of the London, Midland and Scottish railway, 4½ east-south-east from Bakewell and 6 north-west from Matlock. The church of St Anne is an ancient building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 3 bells, inscribed, but undated, and probably of the 16th century". Its earliest portion is a round-headed Norman doorway, "considerably mutilated", which may date from 1150-60. The north aisle, removed in 1819, was formerly separated from the nave by a Norman arcade with pointed arches. About a century later, during the Early English period, the chapel then existing was extensively rebuilt, and the present structure seems to belong to this style. The chancel and tower arches, as well as some features of the chancel and the belfry windows, are Decorated. A window in the chancel and the battlements and pinnacles are Perpendicular. There is a small brass in the chancel to John Calvert, aged 95 (1710), with an incised effigy.

The parish register dates from 1538 "and is of exceptional interest, containing among other memoranda the following":

Imprimis - that the Free Chapell at Beligh (Beeley) in Derbyshire was built and finished about (Thursdaie) the 17th of July 1375. Secondly: it was consecrated on or about (Thursdaie) the 10th of March 1378.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/1/19/32) for "Chapelry in the Parish of Bakewell" in Beeley was for an estimated congregation on March 30th of 61 in the afternoon, with 31 Sunday Scholars was completed by Edward Syngh [or Synge], Curate of Baslow. No other services were mentioned. Curiously however, in spite of it being described as a Chapelry, and according to the Vision of Britain Through Time website, a separate ecclesiastical parish of Beeley was created in 1766.

The living (in 1932) was a vicarage, in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire, and had been held since 1929 by the Rev. Edward J.M. Davies, of Cambridge University.

Interested researchers may also wish to know there is a transcription of Memorials in the Churchyard available on the website of the Rev. Clive Thrower, a former vicar of a group of neighbouring parishes.

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 SK2648967640. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Anne's Church, Beeley shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Beeley 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 Beeley, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Particularly useful as a reference source for Boundary Changes - the Vision of Britain Through Time (null) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Transcriptions of Memorials in Ashford, Sheldon, Great Longstone, Wardlow Churchyards, by courtesy of a former vicar - Rev. Clive Thrower (null) (verified 2018-12-08)

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.