Annesley Old Church or the Church of All Saints, Annesley Park, is a disused church in a ruinous condition which stands on a mound near to

Annesley Hall, Nottinghamshire Annesley Hall is a Grade II listed country house near Annesley in Nottinghamshire, England and the ancestral home of the Chaworth-Musters family. The 13th-century park, 17th-century terraces and 19th-century pleasure gardens and walled gardens o ...

. The building remains are

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and are surrounded by a graveyard. The site is scheduled as an

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The '' Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 197 ...

. The church is built in stone and measures approximately by . The standing remains include the roofless west tower,

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and a large 14th-century

lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

to the south. The Lady Chapel, known as the "Felley Chantry” after the priory at Felley to whom the patronage once belonged, contained three fine

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

and a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

and a large east window with reticulated stone

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

. The surrounding graveyard contains a variety of mainly 17th- and 18th-century grave markers.

History

The present building, constructed by the Annesley family in 1356, replaced a previous Norman building on the same site. After the Annesley estate had passed by marriage to the Chaworths,

Patrick Chaworth, 3rd Viscount Chaworth Patrick Chaworth (20 June 1635 – June 1693) was 3rd Viscount Chaworth of Armagh.The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. G.E. Cokayne, volume III, page 155. He is also ...

, in 1686 built the flight of steps leading up to the church and arranged for a carving of his coat of arms, or Achievement, to be fixed one of the tower walls in the church. As the village of Annesley developed into a mining community it was decided to build a new church on a site nearer to the growing colliery community. The new church,

All Saints' Church, Annesley All Saints' Church, Annesley is a parish church in the Church of England in Annesley, Nottinghamshire. The church is Grade II* listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as it is a particularly significant building of more ...

, was consecrated in 1874. Occasional services, especially Harvest Festivals, continued to be held in the old church until 1942. Following the cessation of use the building deteriorated and Viscount Chaworth's achievement was transferred to the new church. When the Annesley estate was sold in 1973 the buildings fell into a state of total disrepair and were sold by the Church Commissioners to Ashfield District Council for a nominal £1. In 2012 Ashfield District Council completed a programme of preservation and restoration to make the site safe and accessible to visitors. The ruined building was Grade I listed in 1966 and scheduled as an Ancient Monument in 1977. It is also on the Heritage at Risk register. In 2011 it was announced that the Heritage Lottery Fund would make an award of £450,000 to help Ashfield District Council to fund its conservation. The project was intended to conserve what remains of the church buildings and make the site more accessible for visitors. The Annesley Old Church Project was a three-year project that included phases that sought to restore the ruins and promote the use of the site for community events and activities. The church is mentioned in the writings of both

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

and

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

References

* {{coord, 53.0661, -1.25, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade I listed churches in Nottinghamshire Church ruins in England Grade I listed ruins