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English Topography Part III : Derbyshire - Dorsetshire
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Whittington. 65 |
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Whittington Church.
[1809, Part II., pp. 1201, 1202.]
As you have occasionally given views of several curious churches,
it has occurred to me that one of Whittington Church might
be
Vol. XIV. 5
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66 Derbyshire. |
acceptable to many
of your readers, who for a long series of years were entertained
with the literary communications of your old correspondent,
the compiler of the lately published " Anonymiana."
I have, therefore, inclosed a drawing of the church where Dr.
Pegge officiated above seven and forty years, beloved and respected
by all his parishioners. The drawing was made by the late ingenious
Mr. Schnebbelie, and published in "The Antiquarian Museum,"
a work of which the merit was strangely overlooked, till the
greater part of the 250 copies which were printed of it perished
in the conflagration of February 8, 1808.
The following description of the church was communicated in
1793, by the then worthy rector. The view was taken in 1789.
"Whittington, of whose church the annexed plate contains
a drawing by the late Mr. Schnebbelie, is a small parish of
about 14 or 15 hundred acres, distant from the church and old
market-place of Chesterfield about two miles and a half. It
lies in the road from Chesterfield to Sheffield and Rotherham,
whose roads divide there at the well-known inn The Cock and
Magpye, commonly called The Revolution House.
"The situation is exceedingly pleasant, in a pure and excellent
air ; it abounds with all kinds of conveniences for the use
of the inhabitants, as coal, stone, timber, etc., besides its
proximity to a good market, to take its products.
"The Church is now a little Rectory, in the gift of the
Dean of Lincoln. At first it was a Chapel of Ease to Chesterfield,
a very large manor and parish; of which I will give the following
short but convincing proof: The Dean of Lincoln, as I said,
is patron of this rectory, and yet William Rufus gave no other
church in this part of Derbyshire to the church of St. Mary
at Lincoln, but the church of Chesterfield; and, moreover, Whittington
is at this day a parcel of the great and extensive manor of
Chesterfield; whence it follows, that Whittington must have
been once a part both of the rectory and manor of Chesterfield.
But whence comes it, you will say, that it became a rectory,
for such it has been many years ? I answer, 1 neither know how
nor when; but it is certain that chapels of ease have been frequently
converted into rectories, and I suppose by mutual agreement
of the curate of the chapel, the rector of the mother church,
and the diocesan. Instances of the like emancipation of chapels,
and transforming them into independent rectories, there are
several in the county of Derby, as Matlock, Bonteshall, Bradley,
etc. ; and others may be found in Mr. Nichols's' History of
Hinckley,' pp. 34, 91 ; and. in his 'Bibliotheca Topographica
Britannica,' No. VI.; p. 53.
" Fig. I is an inscription on the ting-tang, or saints'
bell, of Whittington Church, drawn by Mr. Schnebbelie, July
27, 1789, from an impression taken in clay. This bell, which
is seen in the annexed |
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Whittington Church. 67 |
view, hangs within
a stone frame, or tabernacle, at the top of the church, on the
outside between the nave and the chancel. It has a remarkable
fine shrill tone, and is heard, it is said, three or four miles
off, if the wind be right. It is very ancient, as appears both
from the form of the letters and the name (of the donor, I suppose),
which is that in use before surnames were common. Perhaps it
may be as old as the fabric of the church itself, though this
is very
ancient.
"Fig 2 is a stone head, near the roof on the north side
of the church.
"In the east window of the church is a small female saint.
In this window, A. a fess vaire G. and O. between three water-bougets
sable. [Dethick]. Cheque A. and G. on a bend S. a martlet.
[Beckering ] At the bottom of the window an inscription
:
Rogero Cric.
"Roger Criche was rector, and died 1413, and probably
made the window. He is buried within the rails of the communion
table, and his slab is engraved in the second volume of Mr.
Gough's 'Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain,' Plate XIX,
p. 37. Nothing remains of the inscription but Amen.
"In the upper part of the south window of the chancel,
is a picture in glass of our Saviour with the five wounds;
an angel at His left hand sounding a trumpet.* On a pane of
the upper tier of the west window is the portrait of St. John;
his right hand holding a book with the Holy Lamb upon it :
and the forefinger of his left hand pointing to the cross
held by the Lamb, as uttering his well-known confession: 'Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'*
"In the south window of the chancel is, Barry wavy of
6 A. and G. a , chief A. Ermine and Gules. [Burley]
Ermine, on a chief indented G. or lozenge.
"In the easternmost south window of the nave is A. on
a chevron Sable, three quatrefoils Argent. [Eyre ]
This window has been renewed; before which there were other
coats and some effigies in it.
"SAMUEL PEGGE, Rector."
[1810, Part II., pp.217]
As a companion to the view you have already given of Whittington
Church, in Derbyshire, I send you a drawing, by the late Mr.
Jacob Schnebbelie, of the Rectory House (Plate II.), for forty-five
years the residence of the Rev. Samuel Pegge, LL.D., who was
for more than that long space of time your constant and intelligent
correspondent, who thus describes it :
" The Parsonage House at Whittington is a convenient
substantial.
*Both these are engraved in the "
Antiquaries' Museum," from drawings made by Mr. Schnebbbelie.
5-2
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68 Derbyshire. |
| stone building,
and very sufficient for this small benefice. It was, as I take
it, erected by the Rev. Thomas Callice, one of my predecessors
; and when I had been inducted, I enlarged it by pulling down
the west end, making a cellar, a kitchen, a brew-house, and
a pantry, with chambers over them. There is a glebe of about
thirty acres belonging to it, with a garden large enough for
a family, and a small orchard. The garden is remarkably pleasant
in respect to its fine views to the north, east, and south,
with the church to the west. There is a fair prospect of Chesterfield
Church, distant about two miles and a half; and of Bolsover
Castle to the west; and, on the whole, this rectorial house
may be esteemed a very delightful habitation.
"S. PEGGE."
Such was the account of this humble parsonage, drawn up,
in 1793, by the late learned and venerable rector, who was
then resident in it in health and vigour, at the advanced
age of eighty-eight, where your present correspondent, with
a worthy friend lately deceased, spent many happy hours with
him for several successive years, and derived equal information
and pleasure from his instructive conversation.
Yours, etc., M. GREEN.
[1810, Part II., p. 609.]
I send you a view, by the late Mr. Jacob Schnebbelie, of a
small public house at. Whittington, in Derbyshire, which has
been handed down to posterity for above a century under the
honourable appellation of "The Revolution House"
(see Plate II.). It obtained that name from the accidental
meeting of two noble personages, Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby,
and William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire, with a third person,
Mr. John D' Arcy,* privately one morning, 1688, upon Whittington
Moor, as a middle place between Chatsworth, Kniveton, and
Aston, their respective residences, to consult about the Revolution,
then in agitation, † but a shower of rain happening to
fall, they removed to the village for shelter, and finished
their conversation at a public house there, the sign of the
Cock and Pyvot.‡
The part assigned to the Earl of Danby was to surprise York,
at which he succeeded; after which the Earl of Devonshire
was to taker measures at Nottingham, where the Declaration
for a free Parliament, which he, at the head of a number of
gentlemen of Derbyshire, had signed, November 28th, 1688,§
was adopted by the nobility, gentry, and commonalty of the
northern counties, assembled there for the defence of the
laws, religion, and properties.|| The success of these
*It appears, from traditional accounts,
that Lord Delamere, an ancestor of the present Earl of Stamford
and Warrington, was also at this meeting.
| † Kennet. ; |
‡; A provincial name for a magpie. |
| § Rapin, xv. 199. |
|| Deering's Nottingham, p. 258 |
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Whittington Church. 69 |
measures is well-known;
and to the concurrence of these patriots with the proceedings
in favour of the Prince of Orange in the west, is this nation
indebted for the establishment of her rights and liberties at
the glorious Revolution.
The cottage here represented * stands at the point where the
road from Chesterfield divides into two branches, to Sheffield
and Rotherham. The room where the noblemen sat is 15 feet by
12 feet 10 inches, and is to this day called "The Plotting
Parlour." The old armed chair still remaining in it is
shown by the landlord with particular satisfaction as that in
which it is said the Earl of Devonshire sat; and he tells with
equal pleasure how it was visited by his descendants, and the
descendants of his associates, in the year 1788. Some new rooms,
for the better accommodation of customers, were added about
twenty years ago.
A particular and an animated account of the commemoration of
this great event on this spot, November 5th, 1788, will be found
in your vol. lviii., pp. 1020-1022. On that day was delivered
in the church of Whittington, † to an audience that greatly
overflowed its narrow dimensions, with all the energy that the
subject demanded, sermon from these striking words: "This
is the day which the Lord hath made ; we will be glad, and rejoice
in it,"‡ by the late learned and worthy rector, the
Rev. Dr. Samuel Pegge, then in his eighty-fifth year.
Yours, etc., D.H.
[1789, Part I., pp. 124, 125.]
As I find it is the wish of many of your friends, who think
it would a compliment to the good Rector of Whittington to
have his letter and narrative of what passed at the Revolution
House, with a print of that cottage copied in your entertaining
miscellany, I do most willingly consent to it, and have sent
you the original plate for at purpose.
I think it necessary to inform you that since the narrative
has been published, it appears, from traditional accounts,
that Lord Delamere, ancestor of the present Earl of Stamford,
was at the meeting at Whittington with the Earls of Devonshire
and Danby and Mr. John D'Arcy. This was no wilful omission
of Mr. Pegge's ; the only authentic account he could at that.
time procure was the Duke of Leeds' narration.
Another view of the Revolution-house,
from a drawing by the late Major Rooke, will be found in our
vol. lix., p. 224 ; together with "A Narrative of what
passed at this House, 1688," written by the Rev. Dr.
Pegge.
†The Church of Whittington is engraved in vol. lxxix.,
p. 1021, and the Rectory House, in the second part of our
present volume, p. 217.
‡ Psalm cxviii. 24.
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70 Derbyshire. |
| A narrative of what
passed at the Revolution House, at Whittington, in the county
of Derby, in the year 1688. With a perspective view and plan
of that cottage (see Plate II.).
"Being willing to preserve a representation of the Revolution
House at Whittington, which probably will not long withstand
the ravages of time, I have had it engraved, with a design
to present a few impressions to some Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
friends who had signified their intentions of celebrating
that great event in that cottage. I am now happy to have it
in my power to make it better worth their acceptance by the
addition of a letter I received from my worthy and learned
friend the Rev. Mr. Pegge, the Rector of Whittington. These
my friends will do me the favour to accept as a small token
of the regard with which I am their most obedient humble servant,
"H. ROOKE."
" TO HAYMAN ROOKE, Esq.
"DEAR SIR ,
" United as we are in sentiments, both of us fast friends
upon principle, of that great and ever-memorable constitutional
event, the Revolution, of which the Jubilee, or Centenary
Commemoration, is intended to be celebrated at the Revolution
House, in Whittington, the 5th of November next, I beg leave
to present you with a short relation, from the best authority,
of what passed at that place, an. 1688, and occasioned the
house to be called by that name.
"My narrative, Sir, will be a proper companion to that
accurate drawing you have made of the house, and mean to distribute
among your friends at the time, and also a necessary one,
since though many gentlemen may have heard in general terms,
of the house's going by that name, yet few of them, perhaps,
may be informed of the true cause and occasion of its taking
that singular and distinguished appellation.
" I am, Sir, to detain you no longer, your most obedient
humble servant,
"SAMUEL PEGGE."
The Duke of Leeds' own account of his meeting the Earl of
Devonshire and Mr. John D'Arcy* at Whittington, co. Derby,
A.D. 1688.
The Earl of Danby, afterwards Duke of Leeds, was impeached,
A.D. 1678, of high treason, by the House of Commons, on a
charge of being in the French interest, and, in particular,
of being popishly affected. Many, both Peers and Commoners,
were misled, and had
* Son and heir of Conyers Earl of Holderness.
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Whittington Church. 71 |
conceived an erroneous
opinion concerning him and his political conduct. This he has
stated himself, in the Introduction to his "Letters,"
printed A.D. 1710, where he says: "That the malice of my
accusation did so manifestly appear in that article wherein
I was charged to be popishly affected, that I dare swear there
was not one of my accusers that did then believe that article
against me."
His Grace then proceeds, for the further clearing of himself,
in these memorable words relative to the meeting at Whittington,
the subject of this memoir.
"The Duke of Devonshire also, when we were partners in
the secret trust about the Revolution, and who did meet me and
Mr. John D'Arcy, for that purpose, at a town called Whittington,
in Derbyshire, did, in the presence of the said Mr. De Arcy,
make a voluntary acknowledgement of the great mistakes he had
been led into about me ; and said, that both he, and most others,
were entirely convinced of their error. And he came to Sit Henry
Goodrick's house in Yorkshire purposely to meet me there again,
in order to concert the times and methods by which he should
act at Nottingham (which was to be his post), and I at York
(which was to be mine) ; and we agreed, that I should first
attempt to surprise York, because there was a small garrison
with a Governor there; whereas Nottingham was but an open town,
and might give an alarm to York, if he should appear in arms
before I had made my attempt upon York ; which was done accordingly
;* but is mistaken in divers relations of it. And I am confident,
that Duke (had he been now alive) would have thanked nobody
for putting his prosecution of me amongst the glorious actions
of his life."
This affair of the Earl of Devonshire's concerting measures
with the Earl of Dan by is also just hinted at by Bishop Kennet,
† but the tradition of the place is more full and express
than either the Bishop or the Earl of Danby, "That the
three noble personages above-mentioned met privately one morning,
A.D. 1688, upon Whittington Moor, as a middle place between
Chatsworth, Kniveton, and Aston, to consult about the Revolution
then in agitation ; and that a shower of rain happening to fall,
they removed to the village for shelter, and finished their
conversation at a public house there, the sign of the Cock and
Pyvot."‡ This house is a cottage, and stands at the
point where the road coming from Chesterfield divides (that
on the left hand going to Sheffield, and that on the right to
Rotherham), and has ever since been called the Revolution House.
The room marked (d) in the plan of the house is 15 feet by 12
feet 10 inches, and
*For the Earl of Devonshire's proceedings
at Derby and Whittington, see Mr. Deering's "History
of Nottingham;" p. 260. - Mr. Drake, p. 177 of his"
Eboracum," just mentions the Earl of Danby's appearance
at York.
† Kennet, "Mem. of Faro. of Cavendish," p.
148.
‡ The provincial name of a magpie.
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72 Derbyshire. |
denotes the particular
place where the noblemen sat, and is to this day called by the
opprobrious name of the Plotting Parlour. The other rooms marked
in the plan are as follows: (a) the kitchen, (b) a room called
the house, (c) little parlour, (d) as above mentioned, (e) brew-house,
(f) stables.
Bishop Kennet mentions the Lord Delamere, Sir Scroop How, and
some few others of the greatest quality and interest in those
parts, as concerned with the Earls of Devonshire and Danby in
this important business; and these two great patriots were indeed
with the Earl of Devonshire at Nottingham, the 10th or 12th
of November, and might be privy to the confederacy; but we have
no reason to think they were either of them amongst those that
met on Whitting ton Moor, or at the Revolution House, as the
Duke of Leeds' Narration, our most authentic account, is entirely
silent as to them.
[1788, Part II.; pp. 1020, 1021.]
On Tuesday, the 4th instant, the committee appointed to conduct
the Jubilee had a previous meeting, and dined together at
the Revolution House in Whittington. His Grace the Duke of
Devonshire, Lord Stamford, Lord George and Lord John Cavendish,
with several neighbouring gentlemen, were present. After dinner
a subscription was opened for the erecting of a monumental
column, in commemoration of the Glorious Revolution, on that
spot where the Earls of Devonshire and Danby, Lord Delamere,
and Mr. John Darcy, met to concert measures which were eminently
instrumental in rescuing the liberties of their country from
perdition. As this monument is intended to be not less a mark
of public Gratitude than the memorial of an important event,
it was requested that the present representatives of the above-mentioned
families would excuse their not being permitted to join in
the expense.
On the 5th, at eleven in the morning, the commemoration commenced
with Divine service at Whittington Church. The Rev. Mr. Pegge,
the rector of the parish, delivered an excellent sermon from
the words, "This is the day," etc. Though of a great
age, having that very morning entered his eighty-fifth year,
he spoke with a spirit which seemed to be derived from the
occasion; his sentiments were pertinent, well arranged, and
his expression animated (see our "Poetry," p. 1010).
The descendants of the illustrious houses of Cavendish, Osbome,
Boothe, and Darcy (for the venerable Duke of Leeds, whose
age would not allow him to attend, had sent his two grandsons,
in whom the blood of Osborne and Darcy is united) ; a numerous
and powerful gentry ; a wealthy and respectable yeomanry ;
a hardy, yet decent and attentive peasantry - whose intelligent
countenances showed that they understood, and would be firm
to preserve that blessing, for which they were assembled to
return thanks to Almighty
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Whittington Church. 73 |
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God-presented a truly solemn spectacle, and, to the eye of
a philo sopher, the most interesting that can be imagined.
After service, the company went in succession to view the
old house, and the room called by the Anti-revolutionists,
the "Plotting-Parlour," with the old armed-chair
in which the Earl of Devonshire is said to have sitten, and
everyone was then pleased to partake of a very elegant cold
collation, which was prepared in the new rooms annexed to
the cottage. Some time being spent in this, the procession
began :
Constables with long staves, two and two.
The Eight Clubs, four and four, viz.-
- Mr. Deakin's.-Flag, blue, with orange fringe, on it the
figure of Liberty; the motto, "The Protestant Religion
and the Liberties of England we will maintain."
- Mr. Bluett's.-Flag, blue, fringed with orange; motto,
"Libertas ; quæ fera, tam en respexit inertem."
Underneath the figure of Liberty, crowning Britannia with
a wreath of laurels, who is represented sitting on a Lion,
at her feet the Cornucopia of Plenty; at the top next the
pole, a Castle, emblematical of the house where the club
is kept; on the lower side of the flag, Liberty holding
a Cap, and resting on the Cavendish arms.
- Mr. Ostliff's.-Flag, broad blue and orange stripe, with
orange fringe; in the middle, the Cavendish arms; motto,
as No. I.
- Mrs. Barber's.-Flag, garter blue and orange quartered,
with white fringe; mottoes, "Liberty secured"
; "The Glorious Revolution."
- Mr. Valentine Wilkinson's.-Flag, blue, with orange fringe;
in the middle the figure of Liberty; motto, as No. I.
- 6. Mr. Stubbs'.-Flag, blue, with orange fringe, motto,
" Liberty, Property, Trade, Manufactures ;" at
the top, a head of King William crowned with laurel; in
the middle, in a large oval, "Revolution, 1688."
On one side the Cap of Liberty, on the other the figure
of Britannia; on the opposite side, the flag of the Devonshire
arms.
- Mrs. Ollerenshaw's.-Flag, blue, with orange fringe; motto,
as No. I, on both sides.
- Mr. Marsingale's.-Flag, blue, with orange fringe; at
the top the motto, "In Memory of the Glorious Assertors
of British Freedom, 1688 ;" beneath, the figure of
Liberty leaning on a shield, on which is inscribed, "Revolted
from Tyranny at WHITTINGTON, 1688," and having in her
hand a scroll, with the words, "Bill of Rights"
underneath a head of King William VI. ; on the other side
the flag, the motto, "The Glorious Revolter from Tyranny,
1688," underneath the Devonshire arms; at the bottom
the following inscription, "WILLIELMUS Dux DEVON.,
Bonorum Principum Fidelus Subditus ; lnimicus & Invisus
Tyrannis."
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74 Derbyshire. |
| The members of the
clubs were estimated at two thousand persons each having a white
wand in his hand, with blue and orange tops and favours, with
the "REVOLUTION " stamped upon them.
The Derbyshire Militia's band of music.
The Corporation of Chesterfield in their formalities, who
joined the
procession on entering the town.
The Duke of Devonshire in his coach and six.
Attendants on horseback, with four led horses.
The Earl of Stamford, in his post-chaise and four.
Attendants, on horseback.
The Earl of Danby, and Lord Francis Osborne, in their post-chaise
and four.
Attendants, on horseback.
Lord George Cavendish, in his post-chaise and four.
Attendants, on horseback.
Lord John Cavendish, in his post-chaise and four.
Attendants, on horseback.
Sir Francis Molyneux and Sir Henry Hunloke, Barts., in Sir
Henry's coach and six.
Attendants, on horseback.
And upwards of forty other carriages of. the neighbouring
gentry, leaning with their attendants.
Gentlemen on horseback, three and three.
Servants on horseback, ditto.
The procession in the town of Chesterfield went along Holywell
Street, Saltergate, Glumangate; then to the left, along the
upper side of the Market Place to Mr. Wilkinson's house, down
the street past the Mayor's house, along the lower side of
the Market Place to the end of the West Barts, from thence
past Dr. Milne's house to the Castle, where the Derbyshire
band of music formed in the centre and played "Rule,
Britannia!" " God save the King," etc.; the
clubs and corporation still proceeding in the same order to
the Mayor's, and then dispersed.
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