Listed Building record MDR6211 - St John The Baptist's Church, Church Street, Staveley

St John The Baptist's Church, Church Street, Staveley, originally a 13th century building. 'Staveley church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Nothing remains of the Domesday church except some fragments of incised slabs in two window cills in the south aisle. There is a late Norman font. The base of the tower is Early English and there is 14th century and Perpendicular work. The north aisle and south porch date from 1805.' (1-2) 'St John the Baptist. 13th century west tower with west door, tall west lancet window, tower arch to the nave with keeled semicircular responds. The upper parts are Perp (different stone), the battlements and pinnacles of 1681. The doorway also 13th century. The south aisle Perp; the north aisle of 1865-9 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. In the north aisle a curiously crude ogee-headed recess, from the nave north wall, with figures above each other in the flanking buttresses and fragments of painting on the back wall - possibly an Easter Sepulchre. The style is Perp. The most interesting part of the church is the Frecheville Chapel (south chancel aisle), slightly earlier than the glass in it dated 1676. The chancel clerestory is a 17th century addition.' (3) 'The parish church of Staveley is a large building incorporating work of several medieval dates; the earliest architectural features are in the lower part of the west tower, of c1200. The south aisle, apparently 14th century, has been built in two parts; the earlier eastern section has south windows with shoulder-headed lights. The internal sills of these windows are formed by medieval cross slab grave covers. These slabs have incised designs, somewhat obscured in parts by being whitewashed over. The design on one slab is of a simple cross rising from a stepped calvary base, possibly of late 11th to early 12th century date. In addition, there are two incised emblems, one on either side of the cross shaft, interpretation of which is uncertain at present.' (4-5) From the National Heritage List for England: '827/1/1 CHURCH STREET 25-FEB-66 (North side) CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST II* Parish church of C13-C15, C17 chapel and chancel clerestorey, restored and enlarged 1865-69 by Sir G.G. Scott. MATERIALS: Coursed rubble to medieval parts, and coursed squared gritstone on a rock-faced plinth to C19 parts, York stone to upper stages of tower, slate roof. PLAN: Aisled nave with south porch, lower chancel with south chancel aisle, west tower. EXTERIOR: The 4-stage tower is the earliest section of the building, the lower 2 stages of which are C13. It has angle buttresses and clasping south-west buttress housing the stair turret. The west doorway has 2 orders of continuous roll moulding, above which is a restored lancet window and smaller lancet in the second stage. The short upper stages are C15 in pale grey York stone, with round clock face in the south wall and 2-light Perpendicular belfry openings. The crown was added in 1681, comprising an embattled parapet and small corner pinnacles. The south aisle is at least 2 phases externally. To the right of the porch are two 2-light square-headed windows, between which is a curious diagonal buttress, and further right is a 3-light square-headed window. To the left of the porch, and integral with it, is a westward extension or rebuilding of the aisle, with cusped west window. The porch has a moulded entrance arch and triple side lancets. The re-set aisle south doorway is c1200. It has nook shafts with tentative leaf capitals, and restored moulded round arch. The 7-bay north aisle is entirely C19, with gabled buttresses. It has 2-light Decorated windows, but the 2 easternmost bays are wider. It also has 3-light east and west windows. The chancel is of the same date and has similar detail: 3-light east window and 2-light north window. There is an embattled parapet on the north wall and, not visible externally, a C17 south clerestorey of 6 triple round-headed lights. The much-restored south chapel projects forward of the nave aisle and its external details are C17. It has an embattled parapet with pinnacles, 4-light square-headed windows with round-headed lights to the right and left, tripartite mullioned window right of centre, and round-headed doorway left of centre with ribbed and studded door incorporating `1696' in iron studs. The east window is 4-light with round-headed lights. INTERIOR: The C13 tower arch has 3 orders of chamfer, the inner order on keeled shafts. The south aisle and chapel arcades are C14 and therefore earlier than external detail suggests. The 5-bay nave arcade and 2-bay chapel arcade both have octagonal piers with double-chamfered arches. The taller C19 north arcade has piers of quatrefoil section and moulded arches. The C19 chancel arch is on semi-circular responds. Roofs are C19: in the nave and north aisle are crown-post roofs with 4-way bracing, on corbelled brackets. The chancel has a closed polygonal roof with moulded ribs. Re-set in the north-aisle wall is a re-painted late-medieval Easter Sepulchre, which has a cusped ogee arch and pinnacles incorporating crude frontal figures. Walls are plastered. The floor is stone-paved with some grave slabs and black and red tiles in the chapel, and raised floorboards below pews. PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The c1200 font is much restored and probably altered. It has a round bowl with a single small head at the base of the bowl, on unusually thin detached shafts and round stem. Other furnishings are C19 and C20. Benches have shaped ends and moulded arm rests. The 1869 polygonal pulpit has quatrefoil panels, on a stone base with shafts and stiff-leaf frieze. The 1915 chancel screen, in late-medieval style with painted foliage cornice and brattishing, has 1960s rood by Ludwig Kuziarz. Choir stalls and priests' stalls are similar to but slightly more elaborate than nave benches. The painted stone reredos has high-relief representations of Christ in Glory, Crucifixion and Ascension. A painted wooden reredos in the south aisle was added in 1947, with the Virgin Mary and saints. There are several monuments to the Frecheville family. In the chancel a damaged brass effigy, on a tomb chest decorated with shields in quatrefoils, is to Peter Frecheville (d 1480). Next to it is a recess with small male and female brass effigies, to Piers (d 1503) and Maud Frecheville. An incised alabaster slab on the south side of the chancel is to John Frecheville (d 1510). In the south chapel is a wall monument to Christian Lady St John (d 1653 in childbirth) with reclining female figure nursing a baby. Also in the chapel is a sarcophagus with seated putti, to John Lord Frecheville (d 1682). Behind it is an armorial stained-glass window dated 1676, by Henry Gyles of York. C14 glass fragments are in the chapel east window. There are several other stained-glass windows of the late C19 and C20, including SS Peter, John, Francis and Paul by F.S. Eden (1937) and 2 north-aisle windows by H.J. Stammers of York (1956, 1965). SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Lych-gate with half-hipped graded-slate roof, by P.H. Currey, c1938. HISTORY: The earliest surviving features of the church are the c1200 south doorway and possibly the font. The tower is C13. In the C14 the south aisle and a south chapel were added. The church was altered in the C15 by the heightening of the tower, and then by rebuilding the outer walls of the south aisle. In the latter half of the C17 the chapel walls were rebuilt (window dated 1676), chancel clerestorey was added, and the crown was added to the tower in 1681. The church was restored and enlarged in 1865-69 at a cost of over £6000. The architect was Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-78), one of the most successful and prolific C19 church architects. Scott added in the north aisle in his favoured c1300 style, rebuilt the chancel in similar style, added the present porch and rebuilt the adjoining part of the south aisle. SOURCES: Johnson, D., Visitors Guide, St John the Baptist Church (2008). Pevsner, N., (revised E. Williamson), The Buildings of England: Derbyshire (1978), 326-27. REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The church of St John the Baptist, Staveley,Derby, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * It is a substantial medieval village church with substantial early fabric, including c1200 doorway, C13-C15 tower, and C14-C17 aisle and chapel. * It has medieval interior features of special interest, including the font and the rare (but re-sited) Easter Sepulchre. * It has several notable features connected with the Frecheville family, especially the C15-C17 monuments and C17 armorial window. * The church stands next to the early C17 former Staveley Hall, seat of the Frecheville family.' (6)