Thorpe Church, Derbyshire, U.K.
Posted by: 
GeoRams
N 53° 02.910 W 001° 46.123
30U E 582537 N 5878374
Sundial on high pedestal in Thorpe Churchyard. (see photo, Jane is 5'8")
Waymark Code: WM25MC
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/09/2007
Views: 29
St Leonard’s Church has a stocky little Norman tower and a tub font, one of only three in Derbyshire, a fine Elizabethan altar rail and a tomb to John Milward who died in 1632. The marks made by arrows being sharpened remain on the outside of the south porch. After the Black Death the number of available archers needed to protect king and country had been seriously reduced. Edward III, finding archery was being neglected, ordered men to stop playing football and other games to practice archery instead. The people kept their arrows at home, but living in wooden houses had no means of sharpening them and found the stone porch at the church the most convenient place. Shooting at butts took place after the Sunday service, usually at the bottom of the churchyard.
The sundial in the churchyard appears to be exceptionally high and cannot be properly viewed on foot; this seems unusual until it is realised that it was put there for the benefit of horse-riders. It was made by the distinguished craftsman, John Whitehurst of Derby, so it is inconceivable that such elementary error was made in the design. The clock in the church tower was made by Whitehurst’s business successors, John Smith and Sons. Next to the churchyard stands the Old Rectory.