St Oswald's Church, Ashbourne facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Oswald's Church, Ashbourne
53°00′59″N 1°44′10″W / 53.01641°N 1.73612°W / 53.01641; -1.73612
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church/Central
Website	www.ashbournechurch.org
History
Dedication	Oswald of Northumbria
Dedicated	24 April 1241
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed building
Designated	1240
Architectural type	Perpendicular Gothic
Specifications
Spire height	212 feet (65 m)
Administration
Parish	Ashbourne
Diocese	Diocese of Derby
Province	Canterbury

St Oswald's Church is a beautiful old church in Ashbourne, England. It belongs to the Church of England. This church is a very important building in the town.

History of St Oswald's Church

This brass plaque shows when St Oswald's Church was officially opened in 1241.

The church is named after Oswald of Northumbria, a famous king. A special brass plaque inside the church tells us it was officially opened on April 24, 1241. This ceremony was led by Hugh de Pateshull, who was the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield at that time.

The church's tall spire is 212 feet high! It stands out in the town. A famous writer named George Eliot even called it the "finest single spire in England." Building the church likely started around 1240. It took many years to finish, probably until the early 1300s. It was built on the site of an even older church from Saxon times. There might have been a second church from the Norman period too. In 1913, during some digging, a Norman crypt (an underground room) was found.

Over the years, the church has been repaired and updated. From 1837 to 1840, Lewis Nockalls Cottingham worked on it. Then, in the 1870s, George Gilbert Scott added decorative tops to the chancel (the area around the altar).

St Oswald's Church is now the main landmark in Ashbourne. It is a Grade I listed building, which means it's a very important historic building that needs to be protected.

Amazing Stained Glass Windows

St Oswald's Church has many beautiful stained glass windows. One special window, made by Christopher Whall in 1905, was given to the church by Mr. and Mrs. Peveril Turnbull. It remembers their daughters who sadly died in a local fire.

This window has three main sections. It shows three holy women: St Cecilia, St Monica, and St Dorothea. St Cecilia is shown falling asleep to heavenly music, which is a gentle way to show death. Girls in old-fashioned clothes play the organ, with flowers in their hair. You can also see a heavenly city through a thorny bush in one part of the window. Christopher Whall even put his own thumbprint on this window as his signature!

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  The East window, designed by Charles Eamer Kempe.

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  The South transept window, made by Hardman and Co.

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  The West window, also by Charles Eamer Kempe.

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  The North transept window, showing the Benedictus, by Hardman and Co.

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  This window remembers the Turnbull daughters, made by Christopher Whall.

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  A close-up of the Christopher Whall window.

Special Memorials and Tombs

The church has two side sections called transepts. Each transept has a small chapel dedicated to important local families. The north transept has chapels for the Cockayne and Boothby families. The south transept has the Bradbourne family's chapel. These chapels hold many famous tombs and monuments.

One monument is especially well-known: the Boothby monument for Penelope Boothby. She was the daughter of Sir Brooke Boothby, 6th Baronet. This amazing sculpture is made from white Carrara marble from Italy. It shows a child sleeping peacefully. It is thought to be the best work by the artist Thomas Banks. Penelope's father asked him to create it. The tomb has writings in different languages, including English. The English part says: "She was in form and intellect most exquisite. The unfortunate Parents ventured their all on this frail Bark. And the wreck was total." This means she was very beautiful and smart, and her parents were heartbroken by her death.

Other monuments in the church remember many generations of the Boothby family. Sir Brooke Boothby, Penelope's father, was a poet. He wrote poems called "Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope" after his daughter died. He was said to be very sad after losing her.

The churchyard also has graves for soldiers who died in World War I and World War II. These are looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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  The famous Boothby Monument.

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  Another view of Penelope Boothby's tomb.

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  The memorial for John and Anne Bradbourne.

The Church Organ

The large organ pipes in the chancel of the church.

The church has a grand organ. A new organ was put in by Valentine of Leicester in 1710. Later, in 1826, another organ was added by a builder named Parsons. It was made even bigger in 1840. The organ used today was installed in 1858 and cost £800. It might even have some pipes from an older organ from the 1700s!

The organ has been repaired and updated several times. Famous organ builders like Hill and Son, and Hill, Norman and Beard, have worked on it. The latest updates were done in 2011 by Henry Groves & Son. You can find all the details about this organ on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Organists and Music Directors

A memorial inside the church for Benjamin Parkin, a long-serving organist.

Many talented people have played the organ and directed music at St Oswald's Church over the centuries. Here are some of them:

• Mr Binnell (around 1746)
• Edward Simms (around 1797–1832)
• George Frederick Simms (around 1832–34)
• Andrew Loder (1834–38)
• Robert William Henry Burrage (1840–44)
• Andrew Alleyne Loder (around 1846–1859)
• Benjamin Parkin (around 1856–1904)
• J. Scott Allen (1904)
• George Frederick Handel Kemp (around 1906–36)
• Chris Daly Atkinson (around 1944–92)
• Michael Halls (around 1946)

St Oswald's in Culture

The bells of St Oswald's Church were so inspiring that they were mentioned in a poem! The poet Thomas Moore, who lived nearby for four years, wrote lines about them in his famous work Lalla Rookh:

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Derbyshire
• Listed buildings in Ashbourne, Derbyshire