Dale Abbey - Part 5 - All Saints' Church
w/e 05 June 2005

The external pictures were all taken with a Kodak DX6490 whilst the internal views were captured on an earlier visit with a Kodak DC280

Mill
Our walk around Dale Abbey has brought us almost to the site of the Abbey itself and after our trip down "Memory Lane" in Part 4 we have reached All Saints' Church. In this part we will take a closer look at the Church and see some of its unusual and interesting features. One of the most unusual of course is that it is semi-detached and shares the same roof as the house next door.

Arch
Semi-detached

All Saints' Church occupies the left hand side of the building in this image and at one time was joined to the right hand side by a connecting door. At that time the right hand side was an inn called the Bluebell. I have also seen this written as Blue Bell but due to the abundance of wild flowers in the adjacent woods, I think the former spelling is more likely to be correct. Clergy would don their robes in the inn and pass through the connecting door to the Church. The door, said to be between ‘salvation and damnation’, was bricked up in the 1820s. The large cross that stands in the churchyard towards the left of this picture is the village's War Memorial.
All Saints' Church

The Church predates the 13th century Abbey (the remains of which we shall see in Part 6) and was originally thatched. It was about 1485 that the Abbey abandoned its original infirmary and converted the building next door to the Church to be used as an infirmary instead. Legend has it that one of Robin Hood's Merrie Men, Alan a Dale married in the Church but this is also a distinction claimed by Steetly Church. Now could it be that he divorced and remarried or was he a bigamist? I don't suppose we shall ever know. On the left hand side of this image it is just possible to see the steps up to the door that gives entry to the gallery in the Church.
Wall Painting

On the inside the Church is almost square measuring 25' x 26' (7.6m x 7.9m) and it is said that nothing seems to quite fit. From the gallery, the late 13th century or early 14th century wall painting of the "Annunciation of Mary" can be seen opposite and some parts of the Church date back even further to about 1150. Another connecting door at this upper level allowed the sick from the infirmary next door to be brought through to the Church and look over the gallery to take part in the services.
Pulpit

The pulpit which dates from 1634 has been likened to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and gives the Church a somewhat eccentric appearance. A Jacobean cupboard is used as a communion table but is in front of the reading desk instead the usual position of behind it. Most of the interior has changed little since around 1650.
Box Pews

Services are still held here and for those who like to steal forty winks during the sermon, it is possible to sit with your back to the minister in the box pews. These give me the impression of a stable rather than a place of worship but when you consider that Jesus was born in a stable perhaps the appearance is highly appropriate. Another curiosity in the Church is the chalice which is reputed to be the largest in England being about 9" (23cm) high and 15" (38cm) around the rim. The font which is still in use came from the Abbey following its dissolution in 1538.
Hermit's Well

From a corner of the churchyard and by peering through the trees along the boundary of the All Saints' a large stone slab is just visible to the left of a tall poplar tree. This lies in a hollow on private land off the public highway but it marks the spot of the Hermit's Well. The zoomed close up of the slab shows no more than the larger image above but when Cornelius came down from his cave in the sandstone outcrop nearby to build his home and chapel where he spent the rest of his life, the proximity of this spring-fed well was one of the determining factors. Monastic PondApproach to All Saint's ChurchWater from the well is said to have healing qualities. As we leave the churchyard (left) and head towards The Village, we can peer over the hedge to see what remains of the Monastic Ponds (right). In truth there is little to be seen especially in dry weather except a patch of reeds but in days gone by, this is where there would have been a series of fish ponds along the line of the Sow Brook.

 Back To Part 4
 Forward to Part 6


You may also like to check out a "Then and Now" presentation of All Saint's Church at Dale Abbey
on Andy Savage's Derby Photos site.
Click here, scroll down the page and select the thumbnail to launch the presentation.
The other presentations on Andy's site are worth seeing too!

Home Page
Back to Dale Abbey Index
Special Features Index

Terms & Conditions of Use
This website is copyright but licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence.
Please credit the photographer Garth Newton, or add a link to these pages.