Before leaving the interior of this fine old church, it will, no doubt, interest the visitor to be told in fewer words, and more correctly than could be gleaned from the strange tales sometimes told in the place, the story of the uncovering of the remains of Dorothy Vernon, her husband, and other members of the family, during the rebuilding and alteration of the church. When the excavations were commenced on the site of the monument of Sir John Manners and his wife Dorothy Vernon, the remains of two persons, supposed to be the knight and his lady, were found; the skull of the one was identified as that of Sir John, by its peculiar form and its likeness to his sculptured effigy; that of the other, which lay near it, with beautiful auburn hair still attached, among which were some pins that had been used to fasten it—was naturally, and no doubt correctly, considered to be that of the once lovely Dorothy. In another part three children’s leaden coffins were found, but not opened, and the bones of an infant (probably the “chrisom child,” represented on the tomb of Sir George Manners) were discovered rolled up in a sheet of lead. These, no doubt, were the children of different members of the Manners family. A leaden coffin was also found which contained the body of a lady. The part of the lid over the head had been violently torn away—the piece of the sheet of lead being missing—and this was carefully and thoroughly examined. The body had been buried in lime, but the part of the lid had been torn off, the head cut off, taken out and surgically examined, and then hastily replaced, but with the face downwards. The rest of the body was undisturbed. Several other bodies were, of course, found, as were some few other interesting matters which require no notice here.
Ancient Cross, Bakewell Churchyard.
In the churchyard, near the east wall of the south transept, stands one of the finest so-called “Runic crosses” in the kingdom. It is, exclusive of the modern pedestal, about eight feet in height: the upper limb of the cross is broken off. Of this fine old cross we give an engraving. The front of the cross, which in bad taste has been turned towards the wall, is sculptured in four heights, with figures beneath arches—the upper group being the Crucifixion: the whole, however, is much defaced. The opposite side, the one shown in our engraving, is boldly sculptured, with a beautiful scroll-pattern of foliage terminating at the top in an animal, and at the bottom is a cross within a circle; on the head is a figure on horseback. The sides of the cross are sculptured in scroll-work of foliage, of much the same design as the side just described; the end of one of the limbs bears an interlaced ornament, and the other a figure. This cross, and the one at Eyam, a few miles distant, are among the most perfect and beautiful remaining examples of the early period to which they belong.
If the tourist still wishes to linger for a few minutes in the churchyard, he will find much to interest, to please, and to amuse him. To interest him in examining the external features of the church, especially the Norman doorway and arcade, &c., at the west end, and the beautiful doorway of Early-English design on the south side, as well as the stone coffins grouped together in one corner. To please him, in the magnificent view he obtains of the surrounding country, especially of the valley of the Wye as it runs its zig-zag course towards Haddon; and to amuse him, in reading the strange verses which occur on some of the grave-stones which crowd around him on every side, and in the church itself.
One of these, to the memory of a former parish clerk and leader of the choir, reads as follows:—
“Erected to the Memory of Philip Roe, who died 12th September, 1815,
Aged 52 Years.
“The vocal Powers, here let us mark,
Of Philip, our late Parish Clerk.
In church, none ever heard a Layman
With a clearer Voice say Amen!
Oh! who with Hallelujah’s Sound
Like Him can make the Roofs resound.
The Choir lament his Choral Tones,
The Town—so soon here lie his Bones.
Sleep undisturbed, within thy peaceful shrine,
Till angels wake thee with such tones as thine.”
Another long inscription to the memory of John Dale, barber-surgeon, of Bakewell, and his two wives, Elizabeth Foljambe and Sarah Bloodworth, 1757, thus curiously ends:—
“Know, posterity, that on the 8th of April, in the year of grace 1757, the rambling remains of the above-said John Dale were, in the 86th yeare of his pilgrimage, laid upon his two wives.