When was the crooked spire built

The spire has a height of 70m above the ground and leans 2. This is what gives the spire its crooked appearance. There are several theories as to how the spire came to look this way including some dubious folklore. Raingeard was held prisoner in Chesterfield, and died before the war ended.

Most photos are available for licensing, please contact Britain Express image library. Several nearby paid parking areas including the nearest off Station Road. Heritage Rated from 1- 5 low to exceptional on historic interest. Revolution House - 2. Sutton Scarsdale Hall - 3. Bolsover Castle - 5. Bolsover Cundy House - 5. Renishaw Hall - 5. Hardwick Hall - 5. Hob Hurst's House - 6. Stainsby Mill - 6. More self catering near Chesterfield, Crooked Spire Church. More bed and breakfasts near Chesterfield, Crooked Spire Church.

Chatsworth Historic House. Hardwick Hall Historic House. Arbor Low Prehistoric Site. Haddon Hall Historic House.

Kedleston Hall Historic House. Sudbury Hall Historic House. Royal Crown Derby Museum. Toggle navigation. Best of Britain. St Mary and All Saints church. Additional graves often simply laid on pre-existing ones. After no further burials were allowed as it was noticed that the inside of the church was lower than the outside. A problem remedied during renovations of the s. A century later, in , all gravestones to the south and west were re-positioned at the very edge of the churchyard.

The gardens led a path through the north side of the Churchyard, linking the town centre to the railway station. The gardens, located where Rykneld Square is today, were removed in to make way for a new thoroughfare. On the north side of the churchyard is a headstone dedicated to Francois Raingeard, a French Officer from the Napoleonic War who died in Francois was a prisoner of war billeted in Chesterfield.

The inscription on his gravestone is in French, English and Latin. Explore the south side of the church and you will find a special lamp and a special bee. Originally located on Market Square, the lamp was moved to the churchyard and converted to electricity in The Queen Bee, carved by Derbyshire born wood sculptor, Andrew Frost, from Derbyshire oak proudly rests on an elm tree stump, She commemorates the much loved year old elm, blown down in the winter storms of , and also the importance of bees to our environment.

Every church has its folk stories and its local legends. The Parish Church is no different. Here are just a few curious tales about the Parish Church. Believe what you will.

One evening the devil was flying from Nottingham to Sheffield. He stopped for a moment to rest on top of the Parish Church spire. The smell of incense drifted up from the church below and so irritated the Devil that he gave a violent sneeze and flew from the tower. In doing so, his tail caught the top of the spire and twisted the entire structure into its famous shape.

Many moons ago, a virgin married in the Parish Church of Chesterfield. Legend says the tower will only return to its former shape when a virgin, once again, gets married in the Parish Church.

Another Devil related legend tells the story of a powerful magician who convinced a blacksmith in Bolsover to shoe the hooves of the devil. The brave blacksmith drove a nail into the foot of the Devil with such force that the Devil screamed in agony and flew towards Chesterfield.

As he passed over the Parish Church he viciously kicked out with his injured foot, caught the Spire and twisted it.

The spire has remained crooked ever since. Did you know that a whale bone is kept in one of the chapels of the Church? No-one really knows where this whale bone came from but, as is often the case curious objects provoke curious stories.

A local legend tells that the bone is actually from a gigantic cow! This cow gave an endless supply of milk to the people of Chesterfield until an old witch, acting out of spite, milked the cow from dusk until dawn.

Needless to say, the cow went mad. Victorian readers loved the serialised stories that appeared in newspapers. This story, about a man searching for a wife, was serialised in the Derbyshire Times in Chapter Two begins…. He walked along the top of the Market Place, through the old churchyard, where he stood for some moments gazing at the curious steeple. In the late s fears over the stability of the spire were growing and an interesting suggestion was made.

This comment was made by Archdeacon T Dilworth Harrison about the advice that it was not safe to ring the spire bells during the period that repairs were being carried out and also that it was difficult to find good bell ringers. The Vicar also commented that if the bells were not going to be rung that they be given to a church that would use them. Mr Muschamp had been speeding — driving over 30 miles an hour - on Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield.

The defendant pointed out that he had only come to Chesterfield, with a lady friend of his wife, to see the Crooked Spire. Fred Turley 22 was summoned to court in Chesterfield after driving his car up the Tapton Lane, a one way street. Fred said that when he got to the foot of Tapton Lane and saw the Crooked Spire at the top, he went straight up.