Sadly the Church built in 1863 was destroyed by fire in January 1895. It is thought that the fire started in the boiler room under the vestry.
A Transcript of the Derbyshire Times article available below.
DISASTROUS FIRE AT WHITTINGTON.
THE PARISH CHURCH BURNT DOWN.
A COMPLETE WRECK.
FIRE BRIGADE USELESS.
A FIREMAN INJURED.
About two o’clock on Tuesday morning, a young man named Chas. Nunney, was returning home, and passing the Parish Church which stands above the Revolution House at Old Whittington, when he noticed that the interior of the building was on fire. He at once called the attention of P.c. Taylor to the fact, but before anything could be done flames burst from the roof and windows, lighting up the scene for miles round, and it was evident that no efforts could check the progress of the fire. In a few moments the church was completely a-blaze. The flames wrapped around the tower and steeple, which every moment threatened to collapse. A number of people were aroused and were soon on the spot, but were compelled by the heat to remain on the outskirts of the Church yard. Mr. J. Bargh, who owns an adjoining farm, drove over to Chesterfield to apprise the police of the affair, but in the meantime the alarm was given by a telephone message from Whittington House to the County Police Offices, from there to the Borough Police Office, and Sergeant Randle aroused the members of the Imperial Fire Brigade. With all the speed the brigade was prepared and harnessed with four horses and manned by six men it rushed to the scene of the fire, which was reached shortly after three a.m. By this time, however, the fire had obtained complete mastery. A loud report had proclaimed the bursting either of the gas or the hot water pipes, the whole of the furniture had been destroyed, and with a loud crash the roof fell in. As the pressure of the fire hydrants was insufficient, the hose was inserted in a pond belonging to Mr. Bargh, and this was soon pumped dry, the brigade having afterwards to rely on the hydrants. The brigade directed their efforts to the vestry, which contained the deeds, and valuable documents and records. These were placed in an iron safe, which after some difficulty was recovered in a practically red hot condition. Very few of the documents were preserved from total destruction, and all were charred and rendered almost illegible. Blackened remnants are to be found in the churchyard beside the iron box, a brass inscription on which proclaims that it was “Presented to the parish of Whittington by Mr. Wm. Fowler, in 1870.” Attempts were also made to save the organ, which is built in a chamber on the south side of the church, but they were absolutely fruitless, and not a vestige remains to show where the instrument had been. The rector, the Rev. J. B. Tomlinson, and the churchwardens, Dr. Palmer and Mr. W. D. Holford were present, and witnessed the destruction of the pile. A number of men who were working on the railway at Whittington station, and several workmen from the Derbyshire Silkstone Colliery were also on the spot, and lent a hand at the pumps. In this work they were ably led by Mr. Eric Swanwick, whose athletic figure, hatless and coatless, was perhaps the most conspicuous object on the ground, and he rendered most valuable assistance. The firemen next played on the tower and steeple, and it is a curious fact that though this part of the building glowed like a furnace stack, and appeared to lookers on to be alight from top to bottom, the outside structure is not seriously damaged. Fortunately it does not depend on woodwork for any of its support. The ceiling of the porch underneath is completely gone, and looking upward one can see the whole of the interior of the steeple, also the peal of four bells which are also still hanging on their charred and blackened beams. It is impossible to tell, however, how substantial is the support underneath them, or indeed how soon the tower itself may fall, as the building underneath is considerably damaged, and the authorities have very wisely blocked up that entrance. The pews and woodwork inside the church are completely gone, not even a charred remnant remaining. The wooden floors have also disappeared revealing the underground structure and the iron hot water pipes which have cracked and burst in all directions. The brass chandeliers are also broken into fragments and in some places have been melted by the extreme heat. The church consisted of three aisles, and the interior was supported by pillars and arches of solid masonry after the style of the Chesterfield Parish Church. The south side of these have completely collapsed; on the north side one pillar has gone and the others are so distorted that it seems a wonder that they still sustain the stonework above. Indeed the sooner this part of the building is pulled down the better as in its present condition it is highly dangerous. All the glass is gone from the windows. The east window had been filled with stained glass by Miss Caroline Smith, of Beauchieff Hall to the memory of the late Mr. and Mrs. Steed of Broom House, Old Whittington, who had been the principal subscribers to the fund for the building of the Church. The centre design was a representation of the Crucifixion, and the sides represented Peter receiving the keys of Heaven, and “Feed my lambs,” in the centre trefoil by an illustration of the ascension. What is perhaps the most regretted however, is the damage done to the beautiful reredos which had been placed behind the altar by Miss Aldam to the memory of the late Miss Aldam. It was a design in marble, representing Christ blessing the children, and the marriage feast of Cana of Galilee. It is cracked and broken, and presents but a sorry caricature of what it once was. On Tuesday, however, Miss Swanwick was present directing operations for its preservation which it is hoped is not entirely out of the question. The only portion of the interior which is unhurt appears to be the Dixon Memorial tablet. Its position high up in the wall, however, seems a precarious one, and there is no knowing when it may fall.
AN AWE-INSPIRING SCENE.
The fire had reached its height at 2.30 a.m., by which time quite a crowd of people, some roused from their beds, others on their way to or from work, had congregated. On-lookers speak of the scene as one never to be forgotten. From end to end of the sacred edifice the flames wrapped and re-wrapped, roaring and crackling, and spreading a lurid glare all around. From out of the belfry windows, and the observation holes at the top of the tower, tongues of flame poured to a tremendous height, twisting and writhing like serpents, and apparently losing themselves in the sky. The frosty atmosphere, cloudless sky, and snow-bound landscape were illuminated into a brilliant transformation. Little consideration could be bestowed however to sentiments of this character. Church people realised that the shrine at which they had worshipped so long, at which some of them had received their first religious impressions, was crumbling before their very eyes, under the depredations of a monster which no human effort could check. The thoughts of the altar, which many had learned to love, the beautiful stained glass window, and the reredos beneath, all ruthlessly ruined and gone, might well monopolise their contemplations at such a time. Much sympathy was felt for the rector of the parish, by whom the loss was felt most keenly. It is said that from the top of Stonegravels hill the illumination was plainly to be seen.
THE FIRE BRIGADE
was summoned by P.s. Randle, who aroused Mr. H. Fowkes, of Robinson’s yard, Low Pavement, Chesterfield, a member of the Imperial Brigade, and he passed on the information to Mr. Gaunt, the captain, who lives close by. The engine, hose-pipe, stand-pipe, and all the appliances were got out, and with four horses the fire brigade was very quickly at the scene of the conflagration. Some difficulty was experienced by the firemen in getting their apparatus properly to work, owing to the severe frost having affected the hydrants, and the pressure was so low that the supply of water from that direction was of very little use. The pipes were then inserted in a pond belonging to Mr. Bargh, but that was soon exhausted. The foreman of the brigade first directed his attention to the tower, and it is chiefly through the efforts in this line that the bells are saved. Whilst Fireman Gaunt was playing on the fire here, a large fragment of stone fell on his back, and struck him down. He was fortunately dragged from underneath the debris, and although he is still suffering considerable pain, his back is not seriously injured. At the request of the churchwardens an attempt was made to save the documents and records. The safe in which they were stored was red hot, and on account of the low pressure of water could not be reached by the water spray. The “safe” mentioned was but a box of thin iron, neither fire nor burglar proof, and most of the documents were destroyed. The firemen’s work was rendered more difficult by the fact that a ton of coals which was stored in the cellar also caught fire, and added tremendously to the conflagration. At six a.m. the water was exhausted from the pond, but they continued to pump sludge on to the flames until the hose were practically stopped up. The brigade left at eight a.m. During Tuesday the ruins were still smouldering, and buckets of water had to be utilised with a view to preventing another outbreak.
THE PROBABLE CAUSE.
The exact cause of the fire will never be divined. The usual prayer service was held on Monday at 5 p.m., and from all accounts the church was cleared by 5.30. The only reasonable supposition is over-heating of the stove. Still the stove-house does not appear so seriously damaged as one might have expected had the fire originated there, and whilst the heating apparatus is placed under the vestry at the north side, it is on the south side where the greatest ravages have been committed. The east gable of the building is less injured than might reasonably have been supposed, considering the fact that the inflamable material composing the altar was just underneath. The east window is completely gone, but the reredos, though much battered, is by no means completely destroyed, and the ivy which grew luxuriantly on the outside has quite survived even a scorching. The north-east wind probably blew the flames from that side of the building.
A SHAPELESS RUIN.
During this week the scene of the fire has been visited by hundreds of persons, and when our representative visited the place on Tuesday, people were tramping the frosty roads in shoals. Every nook and corner of the building was explored, and the relic-mongers were at it as usual. Mr. Seaman, of Chesterfield, energetic as ever, was early on the spot to secure permanent and faithful records of the disaster. The picture presented to view was indeed one well adapted to the photographers art. We give below an engraving of the church as it was; and the extent of the damage done baffles description. All that remains standing is the tower and steeple. Most of the inside of this is burnt out, the peal of four bells, however, still hang from the solid beams in which they were set. The roof of the building has entirely gone, and with it the better part of the south wall. The pillars supporting the interior on the south side have collapsed, and those on the opposite side appear literally to have been melted down to a diameter of about twelve inches. Where the aisles were, nothing is to be seen but the damp coarse passages underneath them, and a broken line of metal heating pipes. Here and there a fragment of what once composed the brass chandeliers may be found; the rest of the furniture is represented in a mass of dust and ashes. Where once was the organ, an instrument costing £200, which was given by Mr. W. Fowler, of Whittington Hall, practically nothing remains. Two keys were picked up by a spectator early on Tuesday morning, but the whole of the pipes have been reduced to their primitive metal, whilst the organ chamber stands roofless and desolate, its harmonious presence gone for good. Here and there a wire spring is all that remains of the king of instruments. Opposite the vestry and chancel tell a similar tale of woe, whilst the wrappings and decorations on the altar only served to create a fiercer flame. The reredos has been removed, and it is hoped will occupy a similar position in the new church when erected.
THE AMOUNT OF THE DAMAGE.
As far as we can learn the only insurance policies effected on the church have been £1,000 on the fabric and £200 on the organ, with the Royal Insurance Society, and £900 on the chancel and east end, effected with a Diocesan Insurance Society. This will not cover one half of the damage done. The church cost £2,500, the east window £150, and the organ £200, besides the altar, the valuable reredos, and other memorials and relics.
