F. C. Hipkins

“ The village, now chiefly known as a fishing resort, with its church, and posting house, is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Trent. The ancient church was “restored” in 1876, that is to say, it was rebuilt, with the exception of the tower and Harpur chapel. Beneath an arch, to the north of the altar, is a raised tomb on which is fixed a large alabaster slab, on this is carved the effigies of a man and woman, the front of the tomb is divided into four compartments, in the two middle ones are figures of seven sons and seven daughters. ”

“ Now it consists of nave with two aisles on its north and south sides, all the galleries have been removed, and the old pews have been replaced by well-designed oak seats. The choir stalls are placed at the east end of the nave, leaving the chancel unoccupied. Over the altar there is a fine reredos of oak, ascribed to Grinling Gibbons. On the south side of the chancel is the mortuary chapel of the Huntingdon family. A most magnificent tomb of Francis, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, and his wife Katherine, occupies the centre of it. Every detail of it is well worth a very close inspection. ”

“ Among them was Sir William Hastings, whom he created Baron Hastings of Ashby, &c., Steward of Leicester, and ambassador, with the Earl of Warwick, to treat for peace with Louis XI., King of France, who gave him a pension of 2000 crowns per annum. The first payment was made in gold, which Lord Hastings is said to have received with these words, “Put it here into my sleeve; for other testimonial (receipt) you shall get none: no man shall say that King Edward’s Lord Chamberlain hath been pensioner to the French King.” ”

“ Breedon village is about two miles and a quarter from Melbourne, it lies at the foot of a singular looking hill which rises suddenly out of the plain. While all round is marl and sandstone, this hill is composed of mountain lime-stone. Rising to a height of about one hundred and fifty feet, it is seen for miles round, and is known as “the Bulwark,” and was once an ancient camp. Its sides have been quarried, and lime kilns at its base, when [127] at work, do not improve the air. On its summit is a church, all that remains of a Priory of Austin Canons, built in Norman times. ”

“ Repton is a village in the County of Derby, four miles east of Burton-on-Trent, seven miles south-west of Derby, and gives its name to the deanery, and with Gresley, forms the hundred, or division, to which it belongs.
The original settlers showed their wisdom when they selected the site: on the north flowed “the smug and silver Trent,” providing them with water; whilst on the south, forests, which then, no doubt, extended in unbroken line from Sherwood to Charnwood, provided fuel; and, lying between, a belt of green pasturage provided fodder for cattle and sheep. ”

“ Staunton Harold Hall was built by the 5th Earl Ferrers. Situated in a lovely valley, overlooking a lake, bounded by sloping ground adorned with trees, and other shrubs, the house is one of the finest of its kind among our “stately homes of England.” It is built in the style of Andrea Palladio (Classical or Renaissance) with a pediment supported by Ionic pillars, which are upheld with Doric columns. The material is stone, or brick ornamented with stone. ”

“ Beneath his cloak Berfurt had concealed a sword, and (like Judas the traitor) , whilst giving a kiss of peace to Wystan, drew it and smote him with a mortal wound on his head, and so, on the eve of Pentecost, in the year 849, “that holy martyr leaving his precious body on the earth, bore his glorious soul to heaven. The body was conveyed to the Abbey of Repton, and buried in the mausoleum of his grandfather, [16] with well deserved honour, and the greatest reverence. ”

“ It is in front of the screen which separates the nave from the tower. The windows of the church are nearly all of stained glass, and illustrate scenes in the life of our Lord.
The town of Ashby is well known for its baths. In the year 1822 they were opened, but the great expectations of converting the town into a fashionable health resort have not been realized. The water is not found at Ashby, but is pumped from deep coal pits at Moira, some three miles distant, and conveyed to the baths in tanks specially constructed for that purpose. ”

“ The church, which is well placed on the higher part, with the rectory on the east side of it, forms a very pleasing object from a distance, a closer inspection reveals the fact that, at the restoration of 1835, when the nave of the church was rebuilt, cast iron windows, imitating Perpendicular tracery, were inserted! The east window of the chancel, of two lights, belongs to the Decorated period. The embattled tower is a fair specimen of the Perpendicular period, and contains a ring of five bells. ”

“ One of our pleasantest walks from Repton is to Barrow, down Brook End, up Monsel Lane, past the (Canons’) Meadow Farm, and, by a field path to the left, to the river Trent, over which there is a ferry, to Twyford village. After passing through Twyford, turn to the right along the road, or by a field path, and the picturesque old village of Barrow will soon be reached. Barrow, most probably, derived its name from a barrow within the parish, which parish includes the villages of Arleston, Sinfin, Stenson and Twyford. ”

“ The chancel window of three stained glass lights, representing the Crucifixion, is flanked by two small square windows, a very unusual arrangement, they are also filled with stained glass bearing the arms of the Sees of Canterbury and Southwell. At the east end of the north aisle is the Porte chapel, fitted up with carved seats and a reading desk for the use of the “master and poor men” of the Hospital. The seats used to be between the belfry and north door, and the Porte chapel partitioned off from the nave. ”

“ Melbourne was in very ancient times a royal manor, and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as having a priest and a church. It remained in royal hands, [125] attached to the Earldom and Duchy of Lancaster, till the year 1604, when King James I. granted it to Charles, Earl of Nottingham, who conveyed it to Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, from whom it descended to Francis, Marquis of Hastings, now represented by the Earl of Loudoun. There used to be a castle here, in which John, Duke of Bourdon, was imprisoned for 19 years, after his capture at the battle of Agincourt, in 1415. ”

“ Repton Hall, originally an isolated brick tower, two storeys high, with hexagonal turrets in the upper storey, was built by Prior Overton during the reign of Henry VIth (1422-1461) , and was called Prior Overton’s Lodge, but as the Prior, according to the Statutes, was obliged to reside in the Priory itself, moreover the Prior’s chamber is named in the Inventory (p. 58) , “there can be little doubt,” as Mr. St John Hope writes (Vol. VI., Derbyshire Archæological Journal, p. 96) , “the building was really the infirmitorium, or abode of sick and infirm monks.” ”

“ Here, ages ago, an Anchorite is supposed to have scooped out of the rock an oratory and a dwelling, similar to that in Deepdale, (Dale Abbey) . Here he dwelt, far from the haunts of men, in quietness and solitude. Who he was? who made it? and when? are questions that can never be answered, the only reference to it is found in the Repton Church Register [124] under the year 1658. “Ye foole at Anchor Church bur Aprill 19.” In later days it became the favourite retreat of Sir Robert Burdett, who had it fitted up so that he and his friends could dine within its cool, and romantic cells. ”

“ It is a very common thing for a hill or place to bear the name of the owner or occupier. As Hreopandun was the capital of Mercia, many a council may have been held, many a law may have been proclaimed, and many a fight may have been fought, with noise and clamour, upon its hill, and, in peaceful times, a harvest may have been reaped upon it, and the land around. ”

“ The last mill was the Priory Mill, and stood on the east side of the Priory, the arch, through which the mill-race ran, is still in situ, it was blocked, and the stream diverted to its present course, by Sir John Harpur in the year 1606. On the left bank [5] of this stream, on the higher ground of the valley, the village has been built; no attempt at anything like uniformity of design, in shape or size, has been made, each owner and builder erected, house or cottage, according to his own idea or desire ”

“ Wystan to Evesham Abbey, where they rested till the year 1207, when, owing to the fall of the central tower which smashed the shrine and relics, a portion of them was granted to the Canons of Repton. (see Life of St. Wystan, p. 16.) In Domesday Book Repton is entered as having a Church with two priests, which proves the size and importance of the church and parish in those early times. Algar, Earl of Mercia, son of Leofric, and Godiva, was the owner then, but soon after, it passed into the hands of the King, eventually it was restored to the descendants of Algar, the Earls of Chester. ”

“ The Pears Memorial Hall, and rooms beneath it, built on the site of the Priory Chapel, were opened on Speech Day, June 17th, 1886. The Hall is one hundred and one feet long, by forty-three feet wide, with a fine open roof, forty feet high, supported by wall pieces, with hammer beams, which rest on corbels of stone, carved to represent shields. The walls are lined with oak panelling, seven feet high, on them the names of O.R.s who have gained honours at the Universities are being painted. ”

“ By will, dated the 6th of June, 1557, among many other bequests, he gave and devised to his executors, Sir Thomas Giffard, Richard Harpur, Thomas Brewster, John Barker, and Simon Starkey, all his lands, tenements and hereditaments, in Mosley, Abraham, and Brockhurst, in the county of Lancaster, to find a Priest, well learned and graduate, and of honest and virtuous conversation, freely to keep a Grammar School in Etwall, or Repton, also an Usher associate to and with the said master, to keep the School. The School Master to have yearly twenty pounds, and the Usher ten pounds. ”

“ Hither a pilgrimage is made to (the shrine of) St. Guthlac and his (sanctus) bell, which they were accustomed to place to their heads for the cure of headache.” The North Transept was separated from the north choir aisle by an arcade of three arches, immediately to the east of which the foundations of a wall, about six feet wide, were discovered, which, like those in the north nave aisle, belonged to an older building. ”

“ The mental revolution of the sixteenth century broke suddenly on the dull cold sleep of past ages, with the mysterious impulse and pregnant energy with which a Scandinavian Spring bursts forth from the bosom of Winter. ”

“ There was also a pottery works, with a kiln, which have [134] also been closed and pulled down. There is a hospital, founded by Mr. Charles Harpur in the year 1770, for “decayed poor men and women in the parishes of Tickenhall and Calke.” It is now only occupied by women. The octagonal brick-built “round house” still remains by the side of the main street, and forms a link between the old and the new.
Calke was, as we have seen, celebrated for its “Abbey,” the mother of Repton Priory. In the year 1547 Calke was granted by Edward VI. to John, Earl of Warwick. ”

“ At the time of the Domesday Survey its lands were divided between the King, Nigel de Stafford, ancestor of the Gresleys, and the abbot of Burton. Subsequently King Henry I. granted it, with Repton, to Ralph, Earl of Chester. From charters, quoted in Vol. II. of the Topographer, we learn that the [133] Canons of Repton Priory obtained grants of land and permission to draw a cart load of wood daily from the woods in Tickenhall, also the right of free warren over the land and fishing in the river Trent, from later Earls of Chester, and others. ”

“ REPTON’S SAINTS (GUTHLAC & WYSTAN) .
“The sober recital of historical fact is decked with legends of singular beauty, like artificial flowers adorning the solid fabric of the Church. Truth and fiction are so happily blended that we cannot wish such holy visions to be removed out of our sight,” thus wrote Bishop Selwyn of the time when our Repton Saints lived, and in order that their memories may be kept green, the following account has been written.
ST. GUTHLAC.
At the command of Æthelbald, King of the Mercians, Felix, monk of Crowland, first bishop of the East Angles, wrote a life of St. ”

“ During the excavations made in 1883-5 on the site of the Priory Church, many more tiles were discovered which, with many carved stones, have been affixed to the old north aisle wall, where they can be seen in various stages of decay, suffering from the effects of exposure to our climate. ”