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Copyright of Alf Beard

St Peter's Church,
adjacent Somersal Herbert Hall,
Somersall Herbert, 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 explains that "Somersal Herbert" (also called Church Somersal) was formerly a chapelry of Sudbury, but was formed into a rectory in the early 15th century. The Somersal brook flows through the parish. The church of St Peter is an Early English building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, and a western tower containing a clock and 2 bells, cast in 1874. In a recess under a window on the north side of the chancel is the upper part of the recumbent effigy of a priest in eucharistic vestments, with his head on a cushion, the hands folded, and below them a chalice. It is supposed to represent Robert-by-the-Broke, the earliest known rector of Somersal, 1428. In the chancel is a mural monument to John Fitz-Herbert and his wife Mary (1691). In 1896 a window was erected to Col. Richard H. FitzHerbert, d.1885, and there is one to Thomas and Elizabeth Robotham, inserted in 1873.

The font, of Norman date, is a circular block of gritstone, carved with an encircling arcade of semicircular interlaced arches and a boldly defined border above, and probably belongs to the third quarter of the 12th century. Near the church is a well preserved specimen of an Early English churchyard cross, with steps and shaft complete, the cross being mutilated. It was restored in 1923. A lych gate was erected in 1923 as a memorial to the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-1918. The parish records date from 1537.

Somersal[l] Herbert Hall, was, in 1932, the seat of Nicholas Hepburn Fitz-Herbert esq. It is "an ancient and picturesque half-timbered mansion, with ornamental gables and modern additions, and belongs to the Fitz-Herbert family, in whose possession it has remained since early in the 13th century". In the entrance hall are two wooden slabs, with the inscriptions (when read together) "ANNO DNI / 1564 IHON [John] / FYTS HER / BERT AND / ELEN HYS / WYFE IHS".

Like St Peter's Church, the Hall is now a Listed Building - see the British Listed Buildings website for details.

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 SK1360835157. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Peter's Church, Somersall Herbert shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Somersall Herbert 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 Somersall Herbert, 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.