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St John the Baptist's Church,
High Street, DE55 5NU,
Tibshelf, 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 13th century, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1932 describes St John the Baptist's Church as "a building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle and south aisles and an embattled western tower with pinnacles and containing a clock and 6 bells, one being of early date and the rest dating from 1848-68". The tower is a Perpendicular work of the 14th century. On the south wall of the chancel is a brass inscription to John Twentiman, a former vicar who died in 1688, and there is a mural monument to Ann Clark (1699), and another to Thomas Hand (1726). The chancel was repaired in 1693 and the greater part of the church rebuilt in 1729. In 1887 the tower and nave were again rebuilt and the aisle enlarged under the direction of Messrs. Bodley and Garner, architects, of London. In 1909, a new south aisle, cancel, vestries and organ chamber were erected and the nave enlarged; and in 1931 a new organ was presented by Mrs G. Cowey, in memory of her husband. There were then 400 sittings.

White's Directory of 1857 mentions that in 1850, a beautiful painted window was put up in the chancel; the work of Miss Sharpe, of London; the subjects being St John the Baptist, and the Four Evangelists"; and that Ann Clarke, who died in 1699, aged 80 years "bequeathed, by will, £20 to the poor of this parish for ever".

Kelly's Directory of 1891 records the dedication of the Church as St Peter. Tibshelf Parish Council website records that it was dedicated to St Peter & St Paul prior to its remodelling at the turn of the 19th century. Tibshelf's feast day is that of St Peter & St Paul, June 29th - "when the wakes used to set up on the old Co-op Field opposite the Post Office, where the flats and the Village Hall now stand".

The churchyard was enlarged by an acre of land given by St Thomas's Hospital in London, and consecrated in 1878 by the Bishop of Lichfield. The church was formerly appropriated to the Nuns of Brewood ("Black Ladies"), in Staffordshire, but was given to St Thomas's Hospital, in Southwark, by Edward VI. The governors of the Hospital became lords of the manor, and one of the principal landowners.

The parish records begin in 1627.

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 SK4406160868. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St John the Baptist's Church, Tibshelf shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Tibshelf 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 Tibshelf, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Local Government website of Tibshelf Parish Council (null) (verified 2018-10-23)

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.