St James’ Church, Swarkestone is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Swarkestone Swarkestone is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 187. Swarkestone has a very old village church, a full cricket pitch, a canal with a Georgian lock keepers ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

History

The church dates from the 12th and 16th centuries. It was rebuilt between 1874 and 1876 by Frederick Josias Robinson of

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, with Mr Lilley of Ashby-de-la-Zouch as the contractor. The west gallery was removed, and the high pews were taken out. The flat late roofs were removed and the flat ceiling, which cut off the upper part of the tower arch, was taken down. The walls were stripped of plaster and colour wash. An arcade of three arches, with carved and moulded capitals was erected between the nave and aisle, and new high pitched roofs with tiles were placed over the whole building. The entrance to the church was removed from the tower to the south side of the church. The walls of the chancel were rebuilt. The east window of three lights was fitted with a new stained glass window by

Burlison and Grylls Burlison and Grylls is an English company who produced stained glass windows from 1868 onwards. The company of Burlison and Grylls was founded in 1868 at the instigation of the architects George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner. Both John Bur ...

, the gift of the dowager Lady Crewe. It re-opened on 26 July 1876.

Parish status

The church is in a joint parish with * All Saints’ Church, Aston-upon-Trent * St Wilfrid's Church, Barrow-upon-Trent * St Andrew’s Church, Twyford * St Bartholomew’s Church, Elvaston * St James’ Church, Shardlow and Great Wilne * St Mary the Virgin’s Church, Weston-on-Trent

Memorials

The church contains memorials to: *Sir John Harpur (d. 1627) *Richard Harpur (d. 1573) *Frances Willoughby (d. 1714) *John Rolleston (d. 1482)

Organ

The church has a pipe organ by Charles Lloyd dating from around 1876. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swarkestone Church of England church buildings in Derbyshire Grade II* listed churches in Derbyshire

History

Parish status

Memorials

Organ

See also

References