Churches (200) : St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield

The church of St Mary & All Saints in Chesterfield, Derbyshire is one of the most distinctive churches in the country due to it's distorted spire, of which more later. The church dates from 1234CE and was built on the site of earlier churches dating back to Saxon times. The church has a cruciform plan with a nave, aisles and north and south transepts. The chancel is surrounded by four guild chapels. The church was rebuilt in the 1700s in a Neo-Gothic style. 

The spire dates from 1362 and has a distinctive twist (45 degrees) and lean nearly 3m from the centre). Quite why this has happened is not fully known but may be due to the poor initial build and the addition of heavy lead sheeting in the 17th century on an interior not designed for the weight. Though there are other theories for the spire, including it being the work of the Devil!

The spire has become a symbol of the town and even given the local football team it's nickname the Spirelites!

Barrel roofed cottages of the Stratford Canal

Unique to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal in Warwickshire are a number of barrel roofed cottages [1]. These were built for the lock keepers or lengthsmen of the canal in the early 19th century.

While the Stratford Canal was under construction in the late 18th century (work began in 1793) the British economy was running into trouble due to the financial and resource pressures of the Napoleonic War because of this work on the canal was suspended for a number of years before resuming in about 1809 [2].

Land owner William James helped save the canal project and came up with a number of ways to save costs in order to help complete the Southern section of the canal and to reach Stratford-upon-Avon. One of the ways to save money was these lock keepers cottages. They were simply built single storey rectangular buildings with the "barrel" roof made from a series of arches more akin to a bridge than a house. Six were built on the stretch of the canal between Lapworth and Yarningale Common.

Lowsonford Lock 31 cottage

Bucket Lock Cottage near Yarningale Aqueduct

Another view of Bucket Lock Cottage

Barrel roof cottage at Kingswood

[1] Ray Shill, West Midland Canals Through Time: Severn, Avon & Birmingham (Amberley, 2012) 

[2] J.R Ward, The Finance of Canal Building in Eighteenth-Century England (Oxford University Press, 1974) p. 49

Overhead Underground

An overhead view of an Underground train at West Finchley.

West Midlands Places (10) : Lye

Lye is a town in Dudley in the West Midlands. Lye was formerly part of the parish of Oldswinford which has Saxon origins. The parish was part of Worcestershire until more recent reorganisations. Lye was known for manufacture, including nails, bricks and chains.

Glass was also a major industry in Lye, this was based on the uncultivated area of land known as Lye Waste which was settled by refugees from Hungary and Lorraine in 1556 who created the glass industry which survived for centuries.

Lye includes Lye and Wollescote Cemetery which has Grade II listed chapels, the building now used as a registry office. Lye railway station opened in 1863.

Wolverhampton canals and metro

Although i am still ill i managed a trip this week, i went to Wolverhampton to check out the recently opened extension to the West Midlands Metro. I also began to explore the canals in the city too, though there were a few too many aggressive geese for comfort! You can see my canal photos here.