Spondon

Contents & Site Map

Description of Spondon & St Werburgh's Church

The Domesday Book, 1086, mentions a church at Spondon, but it is not known when it was built.

Known at one time as St. Mary's, the church was re-dedicated St. Werburgh's after information regarding a church dedicated to St. Werburgh at Spondon was found in an old will by Dr. Cox. The dedication of St. Werburgh indicates the early arrival of Christianity in the area. Spondon is only ten miles from Repton, the capital of Mercia. The court of Mercia became Christian about 655AD.

In 1340 the village, including the church, was burnt down. The fire started on the site of the present 'Malt Shovel' and was caused by the over-drying of the malt. Only four houses survived. Parish taxes were exempt for nine months.

The church was rebuilt and most of the present building dates from the fourteenth century. In 1826 the north side of the nave was rebuilt and the entire roof was replaced with one of lower pitch. In 1892 this roof was replaced to match the original pitch.

The gravestones in the churchyard have been moved to stand back to back around the church wall and no new graves have been added since 1887. The churchyard used to extend almost to the porch of the old vicarage, now St. Werburgh's House Nursing Home. A piece of land next to the school in Chapel Street was donated to ensure future burial space and the inscriptions from these gravestones have also been recorded.

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