Church of St Michael and St Mary

St Michael and St Mary’s stands in the centre of Melbourne, Derbyshire, as a Grade I listed parish church. Its roots reach back to the 11th century, for the Domesday Book of 1086 already records a church on the site. The present cruciform building was begun in the early 12th century after the Bishop of Carlisle received the living. Three towers were envisaged, a feature usually reserved for great cathedrals and abbeys. Later medieval alterations removed the apse and transept chapels and enlarged the windows. The church’s Norman grandeur makes it one of the finest parochial examples of its style in England. Sir George Gilbert Scott carried out a thorough restoration between 1859 and 1862. The interior was stripped of plaster to reveal the original stonework, and new floors were laid in red and white Mansfield stone. Minton encaustic tiles were used in the chancel, and a Bevington pipe organ installed in the 1860s was later enlarged by Kingsgate Davidson and Nicholson. Visitors enter a spacious nave with wide aisles and tall Norman arches. The chancel retains its patterned tile floor, while the organ case and pulpit date from Scott’s restoration. The church shares its parish with three neighbouring villages, each with its own historic church. Outside, the stone tower and west front stand as a reminder of the building’s long history.