St Peter's Church, Letwell, is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of 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 ...

Letwell Letwell is a rural village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with Nottinghamshire. It lies between Dinnington, South Yorkshire, Dinnington and Langold, ...

Background

The Church of St Peter is found at the west end of the village of

, near

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

. The church was built around 1375 by John Mauleverer, but has been substantially altered several times.Heritage Inspired website
/ref> Much of the church was later rebuilt in 1820, at the expense of

Henry Gally Knight Henry Gally Knight, F.R.S. (2 December 1786 – 9 February 1846) was a British politician, traveller and writer. Biography Knight was the only son of Henry Gally (afterwards Gally Knight), barrister, of Langold, and was educated at Eton and T ...

FRS, the owner of Firbeck Hall, but was largely destroyed by fire a few decades later. The church today consists of the 14th century

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

with a Victorian

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 ...

and

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

. It is Grade II* listed.

1867 Fire

The tower, along with the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

are all that remain of the church following a fire which occurred in 1867. The fire was inadvertently started by one Harry Radley, who was sexton at the time. In response to complaints from the parishioners that they were too cold, he had over-stoked the coal-fired boiler which led to the fire.Bailey, D. 'A Visitor's Guide to the Parish of Firbeck with Letwell and Woodsetts' (2002) The church was re-built and decorated in its current form at the expense of Sir Thomas Woollaston White, 2nd Bt., the son of the famous soldier Sir Thomas White, 1st Baronet of

Tuxford Tuxford is a historic market town and a civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,516, increasing to 2,649 at the 2011 census. Geography Nearby towns are Ollerton, Ret ...

and

Wallingwells Wallingwells is a small civil parish and hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population at the 2001 census of 22. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census. Details are included in the civil pa ...

, who twice raised the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry Cavalry at his own expense. Much of the decoration in the church was contributed by Sir Thomas' daughters.

Organ

The church is unusual as it still uses a

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

instead of an organ. The harmonium, dating from the 19th century, was constructed by the

Estey Organ Company Estey Organ Company was an organ manufacturer based in Brattleboro, Vermont. The company was founded in 1852 by Jacob Estey, who bought out another Brattleboro manufacturing business. At its peak, the company was one of the world's largest organ ...

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...

Churchyard

The churchyard is a designated Grade III Botanical site.

Current use

It is part of the

Diocese of Sheffield The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. The Diocese of Sheffield was created under George V on 23 January 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York (along with that pa ...

, now under the joint Benefice of St Martin,

Firbeck Firbeck is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with Nottinghamshire. It lies between Maltby and Oldcotes, off the A634 and B6463 roads. Firbeck had a population of ...

, with St Peter, Letwell and St George, Woodsetts and holds worship every Sunday, alternating

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated b ...

and

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

References