page_title: Alfreton
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Alfreton / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Alfreton - The Parish Church of St. MartinThis is a photo of listed building number 1335406.
context_page_description: Alfreton is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ironville, Riddings, Somercotes and Swanwick were historically part of the Manor and Urban District, and the population including these was 24,476 in 2001.
context_section_description: The parish church of St Martin is a Grade II* listed building, with parts dating to the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, which have been restored, and a north aisle and south chancel bay added 1868 by Thomas Chambers Hine; the chancel was enlarged 1899–1901 and a church hall added in about 1930. The church is thought to have been built originally in 1170 and given to Beauchief Abbey, near Sheffield, by Robert FitzRandolph, one of the murderers of Thomas Becket, presumably as part of his penance.
  The church stands close to Alfreton Hall, the home of the Palmer-Morwood family and there are memorials to family members in the church, including the "exceptionally fine" 18th-century wall tablet to George Morwood (d. 1792), wirh a long Latin inscription and Adamesque decorative features. The one remaining memorial brass commemorates John and Joan Ormonde, she being a Chaworth from Nottinghamshire who died in 1507 
  Writing about the church in 1833, before its restoration, Stephen Glover says:
  The church is an ancient rude structure, with some handsome perpendicular windows, and pinnacled tower steeple at the west end embattled; the whole structure has evidently been built at several different times, with but little regularity of form. One of the lords of Alfreton was the builder of this church; for it appears that in the ninth year of the reign of Henry II. Robert, the son of Ranulph, gave it to Beauchief abbey, of which he was the founder. In the second year of the reign of Edward VI. the king granted it to Thomas Babington, who had then become the proprietor of the manor. The church is dedicated to St. Martin. ... The rectory of Alfreton, with the advowson of the vicarage, was granted by Henry VIII. to Francis Leake, esq. whose descendant, Nicholas Earl of Scarsdale, sold them; in 1673, to John Turner, of Swanwick, gent. The rectorial tithes were sold by auction, about the year 1779, chiefly to the several land owners, by the trustees of the late George Turner, esq. The advowson of the vicarage was purchased by the late George Morewood, esq. and now belongs to William Palmer Morewood, esq. The present incumbent is the Rev. John Pepper. There was a chantry in the church of Alfreton, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The lands belonging to which, of the value of £8. 4s. 8d. per annum, were granted by Edward VI. to Thomas Babington"
  Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, otherwise known as Lewis Carroll, worshipped here and was a friend of the vicar.
  Morning Prayer is held every fourth Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. for one hour. The incumbent is Rev Mark Taylor.
caption: St Martin's church
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