Stanley

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Description of Stanley & St Andrew's Church

(Reproduced in its original form with permission from the Vicar)

The village of Stanley lies 6 miles north-east of Derby and was once a coal mining village. The area has now been restored to agriculture and the spoil heaps have been landscaped.

The church of St. Andrew is small with a Norman door in the south wall, showing the existence of a church here in the 12th century. Before the Reformation it belonged to Dale Abbey. It was then granted to the Powtrell family. Later it became a chapel-of-ease to Spondon and remained so until 1852, when Stanley became a separate parish. The church has undergone several restorations and was partially rebuilt in 1875. The registers which are now deposited at the County Record Office, date as follows: Baptisms from 1675; Marriages from 1754 and Burials from 1678. There is also a transcript from the Bishops' Transcripts of Baptisms from 1662 to 1812 and Marriages from 1662 to 1821.

The earliest remaining memorial inside the church is to Sir John Bently and his family of Breadsall Priory, dated 1621. The earliest stone in the churchyard is that of Elizabeth Radford, wife of Thomas Radford and their daughter, who both died in 1733. Thomas died in 1755 and his tomb is next in line. Thomas was a tanner, of the family of Radfords who lived at Stanley Hall. It was at Stanley Hall where Martha Goddard, gr.granddaughter of the above Thomas, was murdered in 1843, her sister who lived with her was beaten, but survived. The three burglars who had broken into the residence were from Heage and were executed publicly by hanging, in March 1843 outside the County Gaol in Vernon Street, Derby.

A church was built at Stanley Common in 1913 and those memorials have also been recorded by the Derbyshire Ancestral Research Group. The names overleaf are from St. Andrew's, and we will be happy to give full details of specific memorials. Also, if any readers think they may have ancestors buried at Stanley Common, we shall be pleased to pass those details on too. Write to Mrs. Winifred Waterall, 86 High Street, Loscoe, Heanor, Derbyshire DE75 7LF, UK, enclosing a stamped self addressed envelope, or in the case of overseas enquiries two International Reply Coupons. Thank you.

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