St John the Baptist, Tideswell

St John the Baptist stands in the village of Tideswell in the Peak District of Derbyshire. The church replaced a smaller Norman building and was built mainly between 1320 and 1400, with work slowed by the Black Death. Its nave, aisles and transepts show late Gothic lines while the chancel and tower belong to the Perpendicular style. The tower screen was added in 1904 by John Oldrid Scott, and the old north door dates from about 1500. The font is medieval, carved with a chalice and an open book, and the pew ends carry carvings of the seven sacraments by a local craftsman named Advent Hunstone. The church’s long history includes a violent dispute in 1250–51 when monks from Lenton Priory raided the nave to steal wool and lambs. A papal commission fined the monks heavily, but quarrels continued until Lenton Priory was dissolved in the 16th century. Major restoration began in 1873 under John Dando Sedding, who preserved original fabric and repaired the oak roof and leadwork. The chancel was reopened in 1875, and further work finished in 1905 with the removal of the 1826 gallery. Inside, visitors find the Tree of Jesse east window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, the Te Deum west window by Hardman and Powell, and a new memorial window of 1996 by Alfred Fisher. The chancel holds the altar tomb of Sir Samson Meverill, who fought at the Siege of Orléans with Joan of Arc. The south transept contains the Lytton and Bower chapels, each with worn alabaster tombs. The churchyard has war graves of seven First World War servicemen, and the church shares its parish with four nearby villages.