St Mary and St Barlock's Church, Norbury is a Grade I listed parish church in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

in Norbury, Derbyshire.

History

The present church is the third one on this site, the first being Anglo-Saxon and the second a Late Norman church. This second church was built c. 1179 by John Fitzherbert, 3rd Lord of Norbury and dedicated to St Barlacus. The saint appears in the centre light of the south window; he is portrayed holding a pastoral staff in his left hand and a book in his right. Underneath there are the words ''Sactus Burlok Abbas''. The name also appears as Saint Barlok in a 1491 charter. Saint Barlock has been identified with

Saint Finbarr Saint Finbar, Finbarr, Finnbar, or Finnbarr, in Irish Fionnbharra, very often abbreviated to Barra, (c. 550– 25 September 623) was Bishop of Cork and abbot of a monastery in what is now the city of Cork, Ireland. He is patron saint of th ...

, an Irish abbot and bishop of the 7th century and the patron saint of Cork. The dedication may arise from John Fitzherbert having been Governor of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

for 3 years c. 1174 Born in the second half of the 6th century, Finnbar was baptised Lochan, but was later called Fionn Barr or the ''Fair-Headed One''. His life was recorded in the manuscript ''Lives of Finn Barr''. The parish church of Fowey in Cornwall is dedicated to him, as St Fimbarrus. This Cornish church was built c. 1170 by William Fitzturold, the name of the patron saint being given as ''Barrianus''. The present church of St Mary and St Barlock was built piecemeal over a period of about 200 years. The

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. Ov ...

is the earliest part of the church, and is unusually large in relation to the rest of the fabric. It is long, and is both wider and higher than the

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 ...

(which at is slightly longer). The design of the chancel windows'

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

indicates a building date of c. 1300–1310, as does the contemporary

armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centu ...

glass. Two of the arms depicted are those of

Otton de Grandson Otto de Grandson (c. 1238–1328), sometimes numbered Otto I to distinguish him from later members of his family with the same name, was the most prominent of the Savoyard knights in the service of King Edward I of England, to whom he was the cl ...

who left England in 1307, and

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

, at war with England from 1306. The roof of the chancel is a later 15th-century wooden construction; external buttresses and internal shafts running up to the roofline indicate that the original design may have intended a fan vault, never built. The south tower, nave and chapel east of the tower were built by Nicholas Fitzherbert (d. 1473), he or his son Ralph (d. 1483) built the north aisle, and his grandson John Fitzherbert (d. 1513) built the south-west chapel, which was finished in 1517. Much of the stained glass added by the Fitzherberts survives; these are for the most part figures painted in

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

. In the south-east chapel there is a window showing the donor and his family. The church was restored in 1841. New open stalls were inserted, replacing the closed pews. It reopened on 7 July 1842. In was restored again in 1899–1900 at a cost of £3,800 () by

Naylor and Sale All Saints' Church, Burton upon Trent of 1905 Naylor and Sale was an architectural practice based in Derby between 1887 and 1923. History John Reginald Naylor (1854 – 4 February 1923) was the son of a former vicar of St Peter and St Paul's Ch ...

, architects of Derby. Some work was done by Edwin Haslam of Derby, but the main contractor was W. Gould of Tutbury. It was re-opened in February 1900 by the Bishop of Southwell.

Fitzherbert memorials

Norbury, Derbyshire - Ralph Fitzherbert and wife detail

Norbury, Derbyshire - Mrs Ralph Fitzherbert

Norbury, Derbyshire - Nicholas Fitzherbert

There are a number of memorials to the Fitzherbert family in the church, including Sir Henry (d. 1315) depicted as a cross-legged knight, Nicholas (d. 1473) carved in

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

with attendant mourners, and Sir Ralph Fitzherbert (d. 1483) and his wife, again in alabaster. The crossed legs of Henry, 6th Lord of Norbury (c. 1275–c. 1315) indicate his profession of Christian faith and not participation in a Crusade; although his year of death is uncertain it is known that he was not a Crusader. Nicholas Fitzherbert, High Sheriff of Derbyshire and 11th Lord of Norbury, died in 1473. He is shown in full plate armour with a collar of alternating suns and roses with a pendant of the White Lion of the House of Marche, the badge of Edward IV. There is a small angel supporting his right foot. Ralph's feet rest on a lion; next to it and under Ralph's shoe crouches the small figure of a bedesman. The bearded bedesman is telling his rosary for the souls of the departed. Ralph bears the

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

livery collar of alternating suns and roses, with the White Boar of Richard III as a pendant. Since the destruction by fire of the wooden effigy of

Ralph Neville Ralph Neville (or Ralf NevillClanchy ''From Memory to Written Record'' p. 90 or Ralph de Neville; died 1244) was a medieval clergyman and politician who served as Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor of England. Neville first appears in t ...

(d. 1484) at

Brancepeth Brancepeth is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated about from Durham on the A690 road between Durham and Weardale. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 414. Brancepeth Castle was u ...

, this is the only surviving representation of a boar pendant. The armour portrayed on the effigy of Ralph Fitzherbert has been reproduced as a fully functional suit of plate. An incised effigy on an alabaster slab of a woman tied in a shroud has been identified as that of Benedicta (d. 1531), wife of John Fitzherbert, 13th Lord. The effigy is surrounded with four coats of arms, one of which is of the Bradbourne family of Benedicta. Above the figure is a worn inscription with the date 1531. John Fitzherbert separated from Benedicta early in their marriage. In his will he disinherited Benedicta and denied paternity of her children, stating "…Bennett my wyffe hath been of lewd and vile disposicion and cowde not be content with me but forsaken my houshoolde and company and lyffed in other places where yt pleased her." The great east window of the chapel originally held 14th-century glass depicting a large scene with full-sized figures. By 1770 the glass was in very bad condition. At that time the rectors of parishes were personally responsible for the financing of repairs to their churches, so the rector of Norbury, the Rev. S. Mills, had the window bricked up with the glass remaining in situ. In 1830 the then rector, the Rev. Thomas Bingham, was approached by a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

family of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

with a view to purchasing the glass. Whether the glass was removed and sold, or stolen (as happened at

Haddon Hall Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, a former seat of the Dukes of Rutland. It is the home of Lord Edward Manners (brother of the incumbent Duke) and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it ...

), or had disintegrated is not known, but it had disappeared by 1842 when the window was opened up again and filled with 15th-century glass taken from the rest of the church windows.

Parish status

The church is in a joint parish with St Peter's Church, Snelston.

Organ

A pipe organ was built by Charles Lloyd in 1890. A specification of the organ can be found on the

National Pipe Organ Register The British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS) is a British organisation and registered charity which aims to promote study and appreciation of all aspects of the pipe organ. Further, it acts as a lobbying body to raise awareness of organ issue ...

Bells

The church tower contains 3 bells, one of 1589 by Henry Oldfield, one of ca. 1500 by Richard Mellours, and the third of 1739 by John Halton.

References

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