A splendid article from the Derby Mercury of May 23rd, 1883, has recently been drawn to our attention, describing the reopening of Alsop church following the major rebuilding programme which resulted in the church as we know it today. Ten clergy, including the Archdeacon of Derby, and a large number of gentry including “the misses FitzHerbert”, were present at what appears to have been an event of great celebration and considerable conviviality.
The Archdeacon compared the previous building to “something like a lumber room”, also commenting that “the material fabric of a church was designed in order that people might seek in the worship of God the means of building up their own spiritual life”. The Rev. E. H. May, vicar of Parwich and Alsop, referred to a book by Thomas Becon, chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer, who had sought refuge in Alsop in the late 1500s; Becon was pleasantly surprised to find the area much less “barbarous, rude and barren” than he had expected.
In some concluding remarks, Mr S. C. Allsopp MP, who had business connections with Burton on Trent, said that “in the old days of the Meynell Hounds, the only persons who followed the hunt were Peak parsons and Burton brewers. He hoped that in years to come the Peak parsons and Burton brewers would not only follow the fox together, but join in every good work which was needed in the parish”.
Read the full article on the web pages for Alsop church – and don’t forget the Bank Holiday teas this Monday -11am-4pm!
Christopher Harrison
PARWICH.ORG 
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