St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Hathersage, is a

Grade I 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, Hi ...

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, ...

Hathersage Hathersage ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately south-west of Sheffield. Toponymy The origin of its name is disputed, although it is ...

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

Church of St Michael and All Angels 201307 090

The church dates from the 14th century. It was restored between 1851 and 1852 by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a British Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was bo ...

and reopened on 15 April 1852. The whitewash on the walls was removed and the outer pillars and buttresses were renewed. The church was re-pewed with open seats. A new stained-glass window by

William Wailes William Wailes (1808–1881) was the proprietor of one of England's largest and most prolific stained glass workshops. Life and career Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England's centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. ...

of Newcastle was inserted at the east end of the chancel. There is a stained-glass window by Charles Kempe, which was removed from Derwent Chapel before it was submerged under the Ladybower Reservoir. The church was tiled with Minton encaustic tiles. The total cost of the restoration was £1,575 (). There were some further extensions added in 1949. New gutter lining and the instalment of diorite plugs improved the waterproofing of the building.

Tomb of Little John

Stones in the churchyard mark what is claimed to be the grave of

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alo ...

, where in 1780 James Shuttleworth claims to have unearthed a thigh bone measuring . This would have made Little John in height.

Parish status

The church is in a joint parish with St John the Baptist's Church, Bamford and Derwent. The decision to merge the churches was made in 2014 because of financial hardship and enabled all three churches to survive.

Memorials

*Robert Eyre (d. 1459) and his wife Joan *Radulph Eyre (d. 1493) and his wife Elizabeth *Sir Arthur Eyre (d. 1560)

Organ

The church contains a pipe organ by

James Jepson Binns James Jepson Binns (c. 1855–11 March 1928) was a pipe organ builder based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Organs Pipe organs at the following locations were either built or rebuilt by James Jepson Binns or his JJ Binns company. A number of ...

which was formerly in Wadsley Bridge Methodist Church, Sheffield, and was moved here in 1981 by Gilbert Sellers. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Bells

The tower contains a ring of six bells with the oldest dating from ca. 1520. In addition there is a sanctus bell dating from ca. 1499.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hathersage Church of England church buildings in Derbyshire Grade I listed churches in Derbyshire