Rare Church Sculpture

The Military Effigy

At the beginning of the thirteenth century, carved representations or effigies began to appear. The earliest effigial monument in the area is here at St. Helen's, it was commonly called Sir Gilbert - referring to the Earl of Shrewsbury.

Sir Christopher Talbot, a younger son of the second Earl of Shrewsbury, is described in various charters as being of Treeton. Hunter thinks that the monumental effigy is more likely to be Christopher Talbot.

When referred to by Charles Hadfield in 1896, while repairing the church. He described it as ...'a stone effigy of a knight in chain mail, placed in a recess in the Western doorway'. There are insufficient remains of the shield to see any coat of arms but it was said by some to represent the House of Talbot, however, it was probably intended for the figure of a Horbery or a Bernak, both these families having held the Manor under the Furnivals.

The Church of St. Helen, is the only one in the Hallamshire wapentake , mentioned in the Domesday survey. It consists of a nave, aisles, chancel, vestry and a square embattled tower containing six bells, three of which were added in 1892. The Norman arches and the coffin of a child were relics of a Norman church which was pulled down and erected again about 1200 AD. The Chancel was restored in 1869 at a cost of £700, and the nave was later restored and reseated - possibly in 1879, under C. Hadfield architects of Sheffield . The remaining portions of the church were fully restored in 1892, the principal part of the work being the embellishment and restoration of the Brampton chapel as a memorial to the Rev. Bernard Watkins, Jnr., who was Rector from 1877 - 1878.

Brampton Quire

The Brampton Chapel , or Quire, is paved with stones inscribed to members of the families of Vescy, Bradshaw and Lord who are buried here. In 1866 the chancel was restored at the expense of the Rector when new and massive benches of carved oak were fixed, and communion rails and a screen of carved stone presented by her surviving brother and sister to the memory of Elizabeth Sykes Wheat, daughter of John Wheat, who died in 1865.

Memorial Windows

There are memorial windows to members of the Watkins, Cooke, Taylor and Linley families.

War Memorials

A ceremony took place in September 1918 to remember Colin Parkin. An Oak Chair with a dedicatory plaque on the back which reads:

In Loving Memory of Collin Parkin Killed in France August 1st, 1917. R.I.P.

A Stone Tablet was unveiled by F. J. Jones in a ceremony on 17th January, 1921, attended by local dignataries:

1914 1919 To the Glory of God and in grateful Remembrance of the Men of this Parish who gave their lives for God and Country during the Great War. The names follow.

In the Brampton Chapel a Communion Rail with a dedicatory bronze plaque:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF LIEUT EDWARD BOURNES KERR (RIFLE BRIGADE) KILLED IN ACTION MAY 26TH 1916. IN THANKFULNESS FOR HIS BEAUTIFUL LIFE. THIS COMMUNION RAIL WAS ERECTED BY HIS PARENTS.

The Stocks

The stocks were removed in about 1883, when their site was fenced into the churchyard by the Rev. Mr. Watkin. They consisted of two round-topped stoneposts about three feet high, having each a groove some three inches wide cut down their inner face, but not continued to the top of the posts; in these ran two planks about 3in. x 12in., which must have been inserted into the grooves before the posts were fixed in the earth. The upper plank could be lifted up to allow of the insertion of the. culprits' legs into the two semi-circles cut into the respective upper and lower edges of the bottom and top planks, which were then locked together with a padlock or fetter-lock. Source:Notes & Queries

Rectors of St. Helens

Its first rector was a William de Muschamp and the second, a Philip de Hesseley. His successor, Richard de Tydolph, was presented in 1287, by John de Horbery and Richard de Bernak, knights, so that the manor of Treeton which had been sub-infeuded to Richard de Surdeval by the Earl of Morton, from whom it passed to the Paganel family, had by this time, been sub-let further to the Lovetots and Furnivals, from whom the two knights named seem to have held it. At the same period the Pierrepont family held some of the land, but in 1298, Richard de Furnival is noted as the sole lord.

1190	Wm de Muschamp		Oct 1444	Henry Stafford Patron John Earl Shrewsbury		1765	Jn Carver
Jan 1238	Philip de Hesseley		March 1486	Thos Thorley Patron George Earl Shrewsbury		1805	Thos Raddish
March 1287	Ric de Tydolfside,presented by John de Horbery and Richard de Bernak		March 1513	William HolmePatron George Earl Shrewsbury. Buried Ecclesfield,Oct 1580		1809	George Chandler
Jan 1293	Jn de Dunton presented by Richard de Bernak		Dec 1540 Patron Francis Shrewsbury	Edward Hatfield Died 1587		1846	Bernard E. Watkins
Oct 1307	Thos de Ebroicis presented by Richard de Bernak		Nov 1544	Thomas Stokes Patron Francis Shrewsbury		1877	Bernard E. Watkins Jnr.
1317	Richard de Bernak		Dec1556	Jn Tyas Patron Francis Shrewsbury		1888	Hbt Springett Watkins
1318	Richard de Athelingflete		Oct 1581	Jn Johnes MDPatron George Shrewsbury		1898	Jn C Blackmore
1318	Richard de Celario		Oct 1600	Osmonde Bourne Patron Gilbert Shrewsbury		1917	F. Wm. Metcalfe was vicar of St. Barnabas, Battersea, S.W London
April 1334	Wil de Wytherdeleye Patron Thos Furnival		June 1642	Sherland AdamsPatron Sir Edward Leek Shrewsbury		1919	Wm. Francis Kerr
Oct 1364	Wil Savage Patron Wm Furnival		1646	Chris Amgill		1945	A. E. Searle-Barnes
1387	Jn de Wykngeston		1660	Shorland Adams		1950	Thos. Paul Hounsfield(b1915) Ordained Deacon in 1947.Priest in 1948. At Donington (Diocese of) Lichfield 1961-80
May1398	Roger Darcy Patrons Thos Nevil,Lord Furnival		Aug 1664	Michael Adams Patron James Moseley London		1961	Chas. Dennis George
March 1402	Thos de Lowther Patrons Thos Nevil,Lord Furnival		21 Feb.1680	Cuthbert BrownePresented By Henry Duke of Norfolk		1979	Graham David Noel Smith(b1937) Ordained Deacon in 1973. Priest in 1974
Jan 1412	William Newton Patron John Lord Talbot		Feb 1692	Francis Jessop Presented By Henry Duke of Norfolk		1985	Allan J. Lacey(b1948) Ordained Deacon in 1982. Priest in 1983
April 1425	Roger Stedman Patron John Lord Talbot		Nov 1728	Samuel Drake Presented Thomas Lord Malton		1992	Lionel E. Boniface(b1936) Ordained Deacon in 1964. Priest in 1965
April 1442	Thomas Moore Patron John Lord Talbot		1753	Midd Griffith		1999	Alan Isaacson
June 1443	Nicholas Serle Patron John Earl Shrewsbury		1763	Jn Griffith		-	-

At Treeton, Ralph de Horbury and Richard de Bernack presented jointly in 1288. It appears likely that both moieties were purchased by Horbury and Bernack. The tenure of Horbury passed to Sir Edmund Wasteneys , but there is no record of his ever having presented. Bernack did present successfully to his moiety in 1293 (the presentee was a clerk of the earl of Surrey, perhaps an effort to hang on to his claim), but in 1307, the Bernack candidate (a member of the Bernack family) was not accepted. After a gap until 1334, the next presentation - this time to the whole church — was made by the chief lord, Sir Thomas de Furnival.

Rev. Sherland Adams

Sherland Adams was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge . He became Chaplain to the Earl of Newcastle and was appointed Rector of Eyam in 1630.

He was not a well liked person either at Treeton, where he chiefly resided, or Eyam.

Children, born Eyam: b.1631 Brigit, b.1633 Anne, b.1633 Edward, b.1635 William, b.1636 Dorothy, b.1637 Michael, b.1640 Richard, b.1641 John

Shortly after the war broke out between King Charles and the Parliament, he was regarded with disgust because of the measures he took in favour of the Royal cause, this resulted in him being put into prison. While Rector of Treeton, Yorkshire, in March 1644, he was ordered to preach a "Recantation Sermon" at York Minster .This probably meant that he was ordered to give up his Churchmanship and his adherence to the King's side. Because he refused, he was deprived of both his livings at Eyam and Treeton.

The charges against him were noted in a publication entitled The Ploughman's Vindication , written by Nicholas Ardron, of Treeton. One of the accusations:
...further it is charged against him that he is a man much given to much trouble and suits at law, as is well-known at Eyam, in Derbyshire, where he was Rector, where they tasted this his turbulent spirit; that he gave tythe of lead ore to the King against the Parliament, delivered a man and musket against them, and sent a fat ox to the Earl of Newcastle, as a free gift to maintain the war against the Parliament...

He retired to his estate at Woodlaithes, near Rotherham until at the Restoration of the Monarchy, he was reinstated in his Livings, but did not enjoy them long, for he died four years later on Aprill 11, 1664, and was buried in the chancel of Treeton Church,where a Latin epitaph commemorates his loyalty, virtues, and sufferings!

'Hic jacet SHORELAND ADAMS, ecclesiae hujus de Treeton una et de Eyam in Com. Derb. Rector: qui ex ambobus rectoriis vi et armis amotus, et alia multa ob solam erga regem C. I. fidelitatem immobilem perpessus ...... tandemque in pristina jura restaurato jam D. G. Rege C. II. e postliminio rediente anno abhine IV°, in pace Domini placide occubuit, Apr. die XI. A.D. M dc LXIV. Ps VII. Deo vindice justi.'

Rev. Michael Adams

Attended St. Johns College, Cambridge, died in Bressington, while on a journey on 27th December, 1689. At the Church of St. James, Brassington, there is a brass inscription to him and his son who is buried with him:

'forte hinc itinerant. dum rigor foris saeviebat hiemalis, saevior arripuit intus febris calor inextinguibilis et igneo (ad instar Elijae) vehiculo as sedes Dni evexit. Ob. 1680'

Samuel Drake

Samuel Drake was the grandson of the Rector of Handsworth,Samuel Drake (bap. 1622, d. 1679). He was born in Pontefract and baptized on 23 April 1688, the son of Francis Drake, Vicar of Pontefract, and elder brother of the historian Francis Drake (bap. 1696, d. 1771) and author of the Eboracum.

After being educated at Sedbergh School, Drake was admitted to St John's College, Cambridge, aged sixteen, on 4 May 1704, and graduated BA in 1707; he proceeded MA in 1711, BD in 1718, and DD in 1724. He was ordained deacon on 5 March 1710, priest on 16 June 1717, and was a fellow of St John's from 1710 to 1735. He was vicar of Hutton-Buscel, Yorkshire, from 1722 to 1728, when he became rector of Treeton, Yorkshire; in 1733 he also became vicar of Holme-on-Spalding Moor. On 21 October 1734, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Darcy Dalton of Hawkeswell, at St Benet Paul's Wharf, London.

In 1720, while a fellow at St John's, Drake issued a proposal to reprint Archbishop Matthew Parker's great work on ecclesiastical antiquities. This was printed in 1729 by William Bowyer under the title of Matthaei Parker … de antiquitate Britannicae ecclesiae, and the work contained twenty-three new folio copperplates. Drake also edited several Latin discourses to the clergy, defending himself in 1721 against a reply to one of these by Thomas Wagstaffe the nonjuror. He died on 5 March 1753 and was buried in Treeton church with a monumental inscription.

The Rev. Francis Jessop

A Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford and younger brother of the last William Jessop ,of Broom Hall , who married Lord Darcy's daughter, was Rector of Treeton.

He was appointed a Deacon in 1692 and his admittance to the Rectory of Treeton was March, 1692.

Charges were made against Francis Jessop of unlawful and unclerical behaviour,(for example, that he has not observed the Book of Common Prayer, he has used foul language and has frequented the company of lewd women.

He had himself sometimes occupied the pulpit of the Sheffield Church, for he published a sermon preached there in I709. Once, when sitting in Mr. Jessop's loft listening to a discourse by Vicar Drake, he rose, levelled a loaded pistol at the preacher, and called out, " Duck or Drake, have at thee, mallard." The terrified Vicar stooped down in the pulpit in great trepidation, and remained hidden until his reverend brother had been dismantled. Mr. Jessop, after playing many other mad pranks, and obtaining for himself a reputation at Treeton expressed in the lines, "A fighting priest, the bully of the gown. . . Who thumps the cushion and his people too," was adjudged a lunatic, and "closed an unhappy life" in I728.

Bradshaw the Regicide

Treeton church possesses considerable interest to the antiquary. A stone in the chancel contains the following inscription:

'Hic jacet Edwardus Bradshaw, armiger, in occiduo cinere expectans eum cul nomen est oriens. Qui XXII. die Decemb. M.D.C.LXV. occubuit.'

Hunter, the historian, says, 'A common opinion at Treeton is that this stone covers the remains of President John Bradshaw, who is supposed to have retired to this obscure village at the deed of guilt and blood, who had found a secure asylum in the neighbouring village of Darnall. "Village tradition, fruitful in expedients, assigns as the reason of Edward and not John appearing on the stone, that the true name was suppressed to save the reliques of so obnoxious a man from posthumous indignities. But there was a family of the name of Bradshaw possessing considerable property at Brampton in this parish, of whom there are other memorials in the church of Treeton, to whom doubtless this Edward Bradshaw belonged."

The body of John Bradshaw, who presided at the trial of Charles I., and passed sentence of death upon the king, was,believed to be buried in Westminster Abbey with great pomp; but was disinterred after the Restoration, and the head struck off, and placed upon a pole. He died Nov. 22nd, 1659.

Edward Bradshaw, according to the inscription, was a military man; but John Bradshaw, the president, was a lawyer.

John Bradshaw, tho lawyer, was a younger son of Henry Bradshaw of Marple Hall, in the parish of Stockport in Cheshire: his mother was Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Ralph Winnington, Esq. of Oflerton. The remains of John Bradshaw, with those of Cromwell and Ireton, will more probably be found beneath No. 49, Connaught Square, which stands on the site of the Tyburn gallows, than in the church of Treeton. His pompous burial first in Westminster Abbey, the disinterment of his body, his decapitation, and reburial under Tyburn gallows, were events of public notoriety at the time.

« Places of Worship

Visit the website of St.Helens Online