Architectural and Historical Report Church of the English Martyrs, ,

March 2019

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 3 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ...... 4 3 THE BUILDING...... 6 3.1 Context ...... 6 3.2 Plan ...... 7 3.3 Exterior ...... 7 3.4 Interior ...... 9 3.5 Furnishings ...... 13 3.6 Condition ...... 13

4 OTHER CHURCHES IN DEANERY ...... 14 5 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 18

APPENDIX 1: LIST ENTRY ...... 20 APPENDIX 2: FURNISHINGS ...... 21

2 1. INTRODUCTION

This architectural and historical report on the Roman Catholic church of the English Martyrs, Bakewell, has been commissioned from the Architectural History Practice (AHP) by the Diocese of Nottingham and the Rev. Hugh Davoren C.S.Sp., parish priest. The church is a Grade II listed building lying within the Bakewell Conservation Area, and has recently been closed. The report has been prepared in order to meet the requirement in paragraph 43 of the Directory on the Ecclesiastical Exemption from Listed Building Control (revised January 2019) issued by the Bishops’ Conference of and Wales, that the diocese should commission an expert report on the building proposed for closure, describing in detail the architectural and historical interest of the building and its contents.

The report has been written by Andrew Derrick, a Director of AHP, and follows a site inspection on 7 March 2019. The author is grateful to Fr Davoren and parishioner John Hespe for providing access to the church and answering queries.

The church of the English Martyrs was included in the Taking Stock review of the Diocese of Nottingham carried out by AHP in 2010-11. This report builds upon the Taking Stock report, describing in greater detail the history, architecture and furnishings of the church and their significance. It assesses the church within the context of the Deanery of Amber Valley, and comments and makes recommendations on the appropriate way forward. It is hoped that the report will assist the Bishop of Nottingham, advised by the diocesan Historic Churches Committee (HCC), to reach a balanced decision on the future of the building, taking account of heritage as well as pastoral and other considerations.

3 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Figure 1: All Saints,

Until the late nineteenth century, Catholics living in Bakewell would travel the three miles or so to Hassop to attend Mass. Hassop is an estate village centred on Hassop Hall, the seat of the Eyre family, Earls of Newburgh. The Hall was built in the early seventeenth century and substantially rebuilt in 1827-33. The Eyres were recusants, and there was almost certainly a Catholic chapel in the Hall. With the passing of the Second Catholic Relief Act in 1791 the building of public Catholic chapels became permissible, subject to certain conditions (such as no towers, bells or processions). Succeeding to the title in 1814, Francis started to make plans for a chapel almost immediately, and the present church of All Saints (figure 1), built from designs by Joseph Ireland with J. J. Scoles the Clerk of Works, opened in 1818.

Cain1 (p.25) mentions a historical reference to Mass being celebrated by Fr Arthur McKey of Hassop in rooms over the stables at the Rutland Arms Hotel, Bakewell before 1889. In that year Fr James Browne, newly arrived at Hassop, took a seven-year lease from the for a garden in Granby Road ‘for the purpose of erecting a removable iron church’.2 Such buildings, known as ‘tin tabernacles’, were built by all denominations in the second half of the nineteenth century when there was a need to erect a place of worship quickly and cheaply. This one was built to seat 105, at a cost of £168.12s.0d. (including rail delivery, but excluding foundations, heating and lighting). The church is shown on the Ordnance Survey map (second edition) of 1899 (figure 2). It opened in 1890 and was registered for worship in 1905. The lease was renewed several times until 1922, when the site was purchased by the Diocese of Nottingham. The chapel continued in use until 1948, when its condition was such that the Diocese decided to purchase a former Congregational Chapel on Road. The site of the tin tabernacle was sold to Bakewell Urban District Council, and is now a car park.

1 Cain, Brian, Temple in the Peaks, the Story of All Saints Church Hassop, 2018 2 Cain, op. cit., 26

4

Figure 2: Detail from Ordnance Survey map, 1890, showing the ‘tin tabernacle’ in Granby Road

The Congregational Chapel was built in 1849, with a schoolroom underneath. It replaced a small chapel which was built in 1804 and extended in 1824.3 It is shown on the 1851 town map (figure 3), in what was then Mill End (there was a corn mill to the north and further on ’s Lumford Mill). Upon becoming a Catholic church, the building was dedicated to the English Martyrs, and has since 1948 served as a chapel-of-ease to All Saints Hassop.

Figure 3: Detail from 1851 Bakewell Town Plan, with location of Congregational Chapel indicated (map from Bakewell Conservation Area Appraisal)

3 Brighton, T., Bakewell: The Ancient Capital of the Peak, 2005

5

3 THE BUILDING

3.1 Context

Figure 4: Satellite image of Bakewell town centre, with location of church indicated

Bakewell is mentioned in Domesday, and its market charter originated in the thirteenth century. There is a medieval parish church and the place was an important market town. It later became a minor spa promoted by the Duke of Rutland, who partly rebuilt the centre around 1800. Not long afterwards, Richard Arkwright built a mill (Lumford Mill) and attendant workers’ housing sprang up. The character of a stone-built market town has largely been preserved, and the place is a popular tourist destination within the National Park.

The church (NGR SK 21692 68652, figure 4) lies close to the town centre in Buxton Road, within the Central Character Area of the Bakewell Conservation Area. Buxton Road runs in a roughly northerly direction from the Rutland Arms Hotel, and consists mainly of stone-built properties in retail, office and residential use. The Conservation Area Appraisal (CAA) states that ‘the varied use, heights, styles and siting of buildings along this street creates an eclectic character’.4 The church lies on the east side of the road, mostly set back slightly behind a stone boundary wall, and there is a small strip of land behind. There is no off-street parking. The CAA describes the raised southern gable end of the church as ‘a key feature in the street- scene’.5

4 Peak District National Park Authority, Bakewell Conservation Area Appraisal, 2013, p. 89, para. 7.70 5 ibid, 89, 7.71.

6 3.2 Plan

NB The church is orientated roughly north-south, but hereon this account assumes conventional liturgical orientation, i.e. as if the altar was to the east.

On plan the church consists of a single volume, with an aisleless nave and sanctuary under one continuous ridge, and with a sacristy over a (sealed) staircase to the north. There is a gallery at the west end of the nave. The church is raised over a basement, originally built as a schoolroom.

3.3 Exterior

Figure 5: The church from Buxton Road

The church (figure 5) is set back from the road behind a low stone boundary wall with piers surmounted by balls at either end (more classical than gothic in character, these may predate

7 the church and relate to the previous chapel on the site). The church is in gothic style, built from local limestone ashlar blocks under slate roofs. At the west end a tall gabled western bay entrance bay projects slightly, with a round-arched entrance to the former schoolroom in the basement, tall lancet window above and a small vesica in the gable. The entrance to the church is on the eastern return of this projecting bay, via a boarded door in a pointed arch opening. This is approached by a flight of stone steps with an ashlar side wall, its underside pierced by two lancet openings. The basement has paired plain lancet window openings in each bay. Above this, the church appears to sit on a high plinth, with gabled pilaster buttresses at the angles and marking the bay divisions. A chamfered sill band runs around the building, above which tall lancets (one per bay) light the main body of the church. The side walls have a moulded eaves cornice, shaped kneelers and moulded gable copings; the projecting western bay has a roll finial to the front gable. At the east end taller buttresses flank stepped triple lancet windows beneath a louvred vesica. The centre part of the gable is raised as a parapet, suggesting a nave and aisles; it is surmounted by a decorative carved finial.

Figure 6: Rear elevation, from sacristy

The rear elevation (figure 6), not intended for display, is more plainly treated, of coursed rubble sandstone construction, with flat-headed window openings to the basement. A later flat-roofed WC block, now derelict, abuts it at the west end.

8 3.4 Interior

Figure 7: Interior looking east

The interior is a single volume with plain plastered and painted walls and fitted carpets (figures 7 and 8). There is a perimeter timber dado, boarded at the sides and panelled at the east end. The finest feature is the roof structure (figure 9), which appears to be of painted timber but may incorporate cast iron elements. It has four decorative queen-post trusses springing from corbelled wall posts, with gothic panels and arched braces with mouchettes and pendants. The central section of the ceiling is flat and plastered.

The lancet windows are set in deep splayed reveals. Those in the nave have mottled glass in diamond panes, with opening hoppers to some of the lights. The triple-light east window has opaque glass in diamond quarries, with red borders.

A gallery at the west end has is supported on two cast iron columns of cruciform section (figure 10). The underside of the gallery has been enclosed with a glazed screen in the late twentieth century to form a narthex/vestibule. At some point the stair to the gallery has been removed (figures 11) and it is now only accessible by ladder; it was not inspected at the time of the writer’s visit. A WC has been formed in the entrance area close to the previous location of the gallery stair. The gallery has been refronted with wooden panels, probably at the same time as the glazing in of the underside, but a photograph in the quinquennial inspection report indicates that the gothic iron railings of the original gallery front survive behind this (figure 12). The sacristy gives off the north side of the sanctuary, via a modern flush door within a pointed arch. From the sacristy side there is evidence of a relieving arch, or possibly of a larger opening to the church. From the sacristy a stone stair (now sealed) originally led down to the schoolroom (figure 13).

9 The former schoolroom has a lobby area at the west end corresponding to the gallery area above, and steps down to a large single space with cast iron columns supporting the structure above (augmented by additional columns for floor strengthening, figure 14). The basement is now used by a charity which repairs tools for sending out to Africa.

Figure 8: Interior looking west

Figure 9: Roof structure

10

Figure 10: Columns supporting gallery

Figure 11: Opening and iron balustrade to gallery stair (stair removed)

11

Figure 12: Original gallery front detail (from QIR, 2016)

. Figure 13: Stone stair from sacristy down to basement

12

Figure 14: Basement looking southwest

3.5 Furnishings

See appendix 2.

3.6 Condition

The building was last inspected on 18 November 2016, by Richard Brook RIBA AABC of Peter Rogan & Associates Ltd. His overall summary was:

The church is in a generally good condition. The main issues of concern are the condition of the slate roofs of the main and porch roofs, which appear to be nearing the end of their useful lives. Associated with this are the conditions of the parapet gutters to the west side of the church and the chimney and its associated flashings on the east side of the church. Both of which appear to be the sources of ongoing water penetration. The gutters to the east of the main roof and the sacristy also appear to be in poor condition and probably need to be replaced. There are also issues with the walls of the sacristy, particularly the east wall. There are a number of cracks particularly to the east gable wall which should be investigated further to establish the cause of the cracking and the best method of repair [...] The apparent lack of electrical and gas appliance test certificates and fire extinguishers are issues which need to be addressed with urgency.

The writer was advised by the parish priest that £60,000 of repairs had been identified, to be spread over several years.

13 4 OTHER CHURCHES IN AMBER VALLEY DEANERY

In addition to Bakewell, the following churches and chapels-of-ease in the Deanery were visited and assessed during the course of Taking Stock in 2010-11 (there is also a Mass centre at Crich).

Alfreton, Christ the King

A simple brick church of 1927, designed by the parish priest the Rev. Joseph Heald. Its original character was largely lost when the building was altered and overlaid by utilitarian additions in 1982. Not listed and not in a conservation area.

Clay Cross, St Patrick and St Bridget

Now a chapel-of-ease to , this is a modest brick chapel of 1882, built to serve a coal mining area, and much altered in the 1980s. Not listed and not in a conservation area.

14

Belper, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

A stone-built church of 1919 by J. Sydney Brocklesby, re-using materials from former service buildings attached to Gibfield House. The church is chapel-like in its external simplicity and is an uncharacteristically low-key design of Brocklehurst’s. It is not listed but is of local interest and makes a positive contribution to the Conservation Area.

Duffield, St Margaret Clitherow

A modern chapel-of-ease to Belper, built in 1981. Not listed and not in a conservation area.

15 Hassop, All Saints

A building of exceptional architectural and historic importance as an early nineteenth century Catholic chapel of highly distinctive classical design which survives almost intact. It is also important for its relationship with neighbouring Hassop Hall, formerly seat of the recusant Eyre family, who built the church. The church is listed Grade I. The Hall was sold in 1919 and is now a country house hotel. The church was transferred by the family to the Diocese of Nottingham. There is an attached presbytery, and Bakewell is served from here.

Matlock, Our Lady and St Joseph

A modest Gothic Revival church of 1883 built of local stone, with later additions and alterations. The church is not listed but makes a positive contribution to the Matlock Bank Conservation Area.

16 Ripley, St Joseph

A building of 1928, adopting a traditional form, loosely Italianate with some gothic detail. The building is not listed nor in a conservation area, but it has character and presence in the local scene.

Wirksworth, Our Lady and St Teresa of Lisieux

An attractive building of 1931, built of local stone in a low-key but dignified Norman style. An extension has been carefully designed to match the original building. The interior has character and incorporates good stained glass. The church is not listed but makes a positive contribution to the Gorsey Bank Conservation Area.

17 5 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Procedures relating to the closure of listed churches are set out in paragraphs 41-48 of the Directory on the Ecclesiastical Exemption, a revised edition of which was issued by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in January 2019. Vatican guidance concerning the re-use of buildings no longer required for worship was issued in late 2018, and can be seen here.

Paragraph 43 of the Directory requires the diocese to commission an expert report on the building proposed for closure, describing in detail the architectural and historical interest of the building and its contents. Paragraph 45 states that upon receipt of this report, the Diocese should forward it to the Historic Churches Committee (HCC), who will notify the Patrimony Committee and statutory consultees of the proposed closure, enclosing a copy of the report. The diocese will also arrange for a notice to be displayed in a prominent position on the exterior of the church at or near its main entrance, and consultees will be given 28 days to comment. At the end of the consultation period, and having taken into account the views of consultees, the HCC will advise the bishop about the future of the church building, should closure be confirmed. Such a recommendation may be that it should be preserved intact by handing over to a trust or similar; that it should be retained for some secular but not unbecoming purpose; or (in exceptional circumstances) that the building may be demolished. Preferred uses are religious use (by another Catholic community or Christian denomination) and cultural or charitable uses. Commercial for- profit reuses are discouraged, although residential conversion of buildings of lesser architectural significance may be countenanced.

In this case the church has already been closed, the last service being held on 3 March 2019. It appears that the closure was driven by the absence of gas and electricity safety certificates, and more generally a reluctance or inability on the part of the parish to meet the cost of the repairs which the QIR has identified. The lack of parking and poor/non-existent disabled access may also have encouraged a view that the church is no longer fit for purpose. Temporary arrangements are in place for Mass to be said in the Methodist church in Bakewell, and this may become a more permanent arrangement.

While the church may de facto have been closed, the canonical process and procedures set out in the Directory need to be followed. While this report does not seek to pre-empt the views of the HCC, the committee may wish to consider the following points:

 The church was not built as a Catholic church, but has served that use for about 70 of its 170 years.  The building is listed Grade II and makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the Bakewell Conservation Area. Its special interest lies primarily in its external design and contribution to the conservation area, and in its internal volume, roof structure and gallery. The interior is as much protected by the listing status as the exterior.  The furnishings have been imported since the building was opened as a Catholic church and have no particular historical association with the present building. They may be reused within the parish or diocese, or disposed of as appropriate, in accordance with Vatican

18 guidance (see link above) and the principles set out in Appendix C of Consecrated for Worship (2006).  Of the options for future use set out in para. 45 of the Directory, that of preserving the building intact by handing it over to a trust or similar is not considered to be appropriate in this instance. Such an option is normally reserved for buildings of high listing grade with outstanding integral furnishings, where it may be hoped or expected that substantial grant aid may be forthcoming. A more appropriate option is for the building to be retained for some secular but not unbecoming purpose, enabling its repair and maintenance and securing a viable and sustainable new use. As a rule, preferred uses are religious use (by another Catholic community or Christian denomination) and cultural or charitable uses. Commercial for-profit reuses are discouraged. However in this instance, since the building was not built as a Catholic church and has not (it is understood) been consecrated as such, sensitivities about commercial use may not be so great (although sordid uses should obviously be avoided). Office or retail use may therefore be acceptable; these are less likely to require major internal subdivision than residential conversion, which is likely to be countenanced by the local authority only as a last resort. Given the building’s listed status and its location in a conservation area, the option of demolition is not a realistic proposition and should not be pursued.  The lack of surrounding land and car parking spaces, as well as access issues are all likely to inhibit the scope for viable new use. It may be appropriate for the diocese to commission a feasibility study, and it is recommended that local authority conservation and development control staff are consulted at an early stage.  In the meantime the building will need to be kept secure and insured, and the burden of this falls upon the parish. In the short-term (and subject to obtaining the necessary safety certificates), consideration might be given to finding a temporary tenant/user, to bring in some income and ensure an on-site presence while the long-term future of the building is determined.

*****

19 APPENDIX 1: LIST ENTRY

Building Name: CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE ENGLISH MARTYRS Parish: BAKEWELL District: County: DERBYSHIRE Postcode: DE45 1DA

LBS Number: 468086 Grade: II Date Listed: 05/12/1997 NGR: SK2169268654

Listing Text:

BAKEWELL

SK2168 BUXTON ROAD 831-1/4/52 (North East side) Catholic Church of the English Martyrs

GV II

Church. 1849. Ashlar sandstone with rubble limestone to rear, slate roof. 1:4 bays; bay 1 projects and is gabled; single vessel raised over schoolroom. Orientated north-south (ritual orientation used in this description).

EXTERIOR: gabled pilasters at angles and bay divisions; tall plinth with offset above pairs of lancet windows to the basement. Chamfered sill band to tall lancets which light the body of the church. Bay 1 gable has round-arched door; in plinth a lancet window and vesica. Pointed-arched door in right side approached by flight of steps with ashlar side wall and 2 lancet openings beneath. Eaves cornice, shaped kneelers and moulded gable copings; roll- finial to front gable. East end: taller buttresses flank a stepped 3-light window beneath louvred vesica. Centre part of gable raised as a parapet; carved apex finial.

INTERIOR: west gallery; decorative queen-post trusses with Gothic Revival panels, arched braces with mouchettes and pendants.

Originally built as the Congregational Church with schoolroom under.

Listing NGR: SK2169268654

20 APPENDIX 2: FURNISHINGS

The main furnishings are listed below, ranked of high, medium or low significance. In some cases their date and provenance is not established and their significance is therefore uncertain. Items identified as of high or potentially high significance should be retained, preferably within the parish or offered to local churches. Items deemed low in terms of artistic or historic significance may nevertheless be of local or sentimental significance, and sensitivity is required in the matter of sale or disposal.

Item description Photo Heritage significance Sanctuary Altar Low

Modern table-type forward altar, of oak, the sides with raised cross pattern.

Tabernacle Moderate (pedestal and Brass with domed top, reredos are of door incised with low significance) quatrefoils and HIS, on oak pedestal with fabric reredos

Ambo/pulpit Low

Oak, a modern catalogue item

21 Font - -

None seen

Crucifix Medium

Hanging from roof truss over sanctuary, painted wooden crucifix of unknown date and provenance.

Statues Medium.

Our Lord and Our Lady, a pair of painted wooden statues on timber plinth with gothic detailing, of unknown date/provenance, but of quite good quality.

22 Chairs Not certain, potentially high Three mahogany chairs of neo-Jacobean or Romanesque design, possibly from Hassop Hall?

Nave Seating (nave) Medium

Twelve long oak benches with gothic detail, possibly imported from elsewhere. Also two shorter kneelers.

Seating (gallery) - -

Not seen.

23 Stations of the Cross Medium

Cast and overpainted, of unknown date and provenance

Harmonium - -

In gallery, not inspected Sacristy Open-fronted curtained Low. (The parish wardrobe for has a collection vestments, and a chest of vestments of of drawers. high significance, kept at Hassop).

24 Crucifix Not certain, potentially high. Small brass crucifix, of unknown date and provenance.

Processional cross Not certain, potentially high Bronze, of uncertain date and provenance. Inscription on verso ‘The Gift of G.B Brook, a Friend of the Church’. Possibly from Hassop.

Prie-Dieu Low

25

The Architectural History Practice Ltd., 70 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6EJ www.architecturalhistory.co.uk

This report is the copyright of AHP Ltd and is for the sole use of the person/organisation to whom it is addressed. It may not be used or referred to in whole or in part by anyone else without the express agreement of AHP. AHP does not accept liability for any loss or damage arising from any unauthorised use of this report. © AHP Ltd (2019)

26