History of St James Church Brassington

In 1205 Brassington Chapelry, together with its Mother Church of Bradbourne and the Chapelries of Atlow, Ballindon and Tissington, was given by Sir Geoffrey de Cauceis to the Prior of Dunstable. The Priory possessed extensive flocks of sheep which fed on the Derbyshire hills, and the wool produced proved a valuable source of income. At the Reformation, when Dunstable along with other monastries was dissolved, the right of appointment was sold to the Gale family. Brassington became an independent parish in 1866. In 1959 the Union of the Benefices of Bradbourne and Brassington took effect. As for the building itself, the Tower, parts of the porch and the South aisle are all Norman. A unique feature of the Norman Tower are the two buttresses on the south side, though the rounded heads of these are of later date. Inside the West wall of the tower, in what is now the clock chamber is "the oldest inhabitant" of Brassington; this is a stone about 12 inches by 10 inches, built into the wall and on which is rudely carved in high relief the 3/4 length naked figure of a man with his hand upon his heart. This stone is almost certainly older than the tower itself. Considerable alterations were carried out in the eighteenth century, when a clerestory was added to the Nave. By 1879 the fabric of the Church was in urgent need of repair with huge cracks in the wall of the South Aisle. The work of restoration was completed by chamber and 1881. The gallery was removed; a north aisle was added together with an organ vestry; the outer wall of the south aisle was rebuilt; the whole was renew floors were -roofed wIth slate roofs of higher pitch; laid throughout; the position and size of the windows was altered and the windows refurnishing was -glazed; new pitch-pine introduced; and the Norman font, which was formerly built into the west window sill of the south aisle, was put upon a modern base and re-sited under the tower arch. Marble from Ashford-in-the-Water, near Bakewell, was used for the columns of the arches between the nave and the new north aisle. At the same time the chancel was lengthened and the former east window was replaced by a smaller rose window. Under this window is a painting showing Christ surrounded by people of all kinds-an illustration, it would seem, of the text carved below, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". The oak chair in the Sanctuary bears the coat of arms of the Cavendish family, and is Jacobean, though the panel which forms the back may be of later date. It is thought that it may have come at some time from Brassington Hall, as is certainly the case with the two brass standard candles, which though similar are not a pair. In 1901 a new pulpit was "erected in memory of Ann Oldfield", the Owslows, by her son, Henry Oldfield of Hyde. In 1970 a new oak altar in memory of Thomas Shakeshaft Jones was presented to the church by his widow. The church clock, "in memory of Thomas Potts of Manchester, youngest son of John and Sarah Potts of Brassington" was given by his widow in 1890. There are six bells, of which three date to 1677-1763; these were re-hung and two more added in 1911 and a third in 1913. The small one-manual organ was overhauled and a pedal bourdon stop added in December1965. The new lighting system introduced at the restoration of the church in 1881 and consisting of thirty-two oil lamps was superseded in 1930 by electric lighting. This was supplemented in 1968 by new lighting in the nave and chancel "given in memory of Helen Jean McLoughlin by her husband and mother". The present heating system of electrical tubular heaters was presented to the church in 1954 by Mr. John Curtis Knifton, a former parishioner. <<back to top<<