Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

Parish church in Ilkeston. The church is early 13th century and 14th century in date, and was extensively restored in 1853–5 by T L Walker. The west end was enlarged and rebuilt in 1909–10 by P H Currey. It is constructed of sandstone ashlar with plain tile roofs featuring moulded coped gables.

The building comprises a west tower, an aisled nave, a chancel with a north chapel, and south vestries. The west tower rises in three stages divided by chamfered stringcourses and has clasping buttresses. The ground stage is partly engaged by the aisles. The west doorway has a moulded surround with one order of columns featuring elaborate foliage capitals and head corbels, and is set with plank doors with elaborate iron hinges. Above are a pair of lancets with colonnettes, carved capitals and hoodmould continued as a stringcourse. The second stage has, to the north, south and west, a small lancet and a clock face above. The bell stage has on each side bell openings of two lancet lights with a quatrefoil over, all within a single arch with colonnettes. A trefoil corbel table supports a panelled parapet with eight pinnacles.

The battlemented lean-to aisles have 4-light west windows with intersecting tracery featuring trefoil and quatrefoil motifs. The north aisle contains six buttresses and six 3-light windows with cusped intersecting tracery of slightly varied design. A gabled north-east chapel is partly engaged by the north aisle. To the west is a gabled porch with a doorway of two orders of colonnettes and double doors with elaborate iron hinges, topped by a rose window of six trefoils in circles. The chapel's north side has three 3-light windows with cusped intersecting tracery, and a 4-light east window with cusped intersecting tracery and a cusped quatrefoil in a circle. The chapel has moulded eaves cornice and decorative ridge tiles.

The chancel features an impressive east window of 5 lights with a wheel set in a spherical triangle over cusped and shafted lancets, flanked by deep gableted buttresses. The south-east vestries are triple-gabled to the south, with the middle gable smaller, and were rebuilt as a World War One memorial. The south aisle has five 3-light windows with buttresses between them, showing more varied tracery than the north side. The westernmost window has been removed and a 20th-century range has been attached to the south, which is not of special interest.

Interior

The tower arch is low with semi-circular responds and dogtooth ornament. Above is an internal 2-light window with quatrefoil over. The lofty six-bay arcades feature, in their easternmost part, early 13th-century circular piers with capitals of small upright leaves. These piers were raised in the 14th century and carry chevron-moulded pointed arches. The three western bays have octagonal piers and double chamfered arches. The chancel arch is moulded and rests on foliage corbels.

The north chapel contains a rich late 14th-century three-bay arcade with finely moulded arches. Triple sedilia and a double piscina date from around 1280. A double-chamfered doorway gives access to the vestry, with an internal 3-light window above featuring cusped intersecting tracery. An unusual early 14th-century stone rood screen divides the space with 1-light divisions featuring cusped ogee arches and large quatrefoils in each spandrel.

The church contains a late 13th-century effigy of a cross-legged knight on a tomb chest, set as a monument between the chancel and the north chapel. A 19th-century hexagonal stone pulpit stands on a circular base. An octagonal font also dates from the 19th century. A plain chamfered tomb recess is located in the north aisle. A Gothic organ case dates from 1889.

The east window contains stained glass of 1910, probably by Burlison & Grylls. In the north aisle, the third window from the east contains stained glass of 1914 by Jones & Willis.