Perhaps the most treasurered monument within the church is the engraved alabaster slab from the tomb recorded as that of Rev. William Dethick of Newhall and his wife, Margaret. This is though, slightly anomalous since priests could not marry before the Reformation and he died in 1497.

Newhall was one of numerous churches under the control of Saint Peter’s in Stapenhill. Despite having six sons and two daughters, as confirmed by the alabaster, he bequeathed an enormous £100 to Newhall parish and a further £100 to Hartshorne which was used to build a new church there.

Records show that the slab once stood in the chancel, next to the alter in the old church in an area usually reserved for Lords of the Manor. By 1822 it had been let into the floor and the altar rails partly covered it.

In 1876 it was moved to form part of the floor in the south porch of the old church, where it was often covered by the parish bier and the sexton’s implements, which accounts for much of the damage and making it very lucky to have survived in one piece.

It was thankfully, embedded upright into the wall near the main entrance, behind the bell-ringer, when the tower was added in 1884 where it now survives in relative safety.

The monument shows William Dethick in plate armour with his wife, Margaret, at his side. At their feet, as was common, are figures which represent his children showing that he had six sons and two daughters. William’s head rests on a tilting helmet with a nag’s head for a crest and at his feet is a ‘talbot’ guard dog.

William Dethick, who died in 1497, and his wife formed part of the long chain connecting the important Meynell and Dethick local families dating right back back to the 14th century.

The original design was thankfully preserved and the impression below can show how it would have looked over 600 years ago.

The monument was made from local material quarried at Fauld and worked in workshops at Burton where it would most likely have been delivered by river boat.

The alabaster trade flourished from the 14th – 17th centuries and two local names Royle and Arblaster are connected. Figures were incised into flat slabs and the incisions filled with intense black and bright red pigments. Almost all the local examples have been broken when moved leaving this one of the most intact examples.

The old circular stone font, which dates back to at least medieval times, was still in the old church in the early eighteen hundreds but was removed and remained ‘lost’ for several decades. It eventually turned up in a local farmyard in 1973 and identified as Saint Peters Font. Following its discovery, it was reinstated in the new church and is still situated at the east end of the north aisle. It can be seen below, but only the font bowl is original, the new pedestal was specially commissioned to support it but is in keeping with what it is expected the original pedestal would have been like.

A new font was installed in the old church in the 1830s but a new one was made for the new church when it was rebuilt in 1881.

The 1881 font itself replaced around 1930 by a marble one of Art Nouveau style. This still stands at the west end of the nave, close to the main entrance and can be seen below; the old font is however, still favoured for present day christenings.

Saint Peter’s Clock was not fitted when the church was built in 1881. It was fitted seventeen years later in 1898.

The clock was to be known as ‘The Warbeck Memorial Clock’ in memory of Rev. Edmund Warbeck B.A.who was vicar of Stapenhill from 1875 to 1897. There is a memorial tablet in the church in memory of his great contribution to the parish which reads:

THE CLOCK ON THE TOWER WAS ERECTED
BY PAST AND PRESENT PARISHIONERS
TO COMMEMORATE THE
FAITHFUL LABOURS, FOR 28 YEARS,
OF REV. EDMUND WARBECK B.A.
IN THE PARISH OF STAPENHILL
DIED MAY 9TH, 1897

The Clock itself was made It was made in Queen Victoria’s 60th Anniversary year (1897 – 1898) by John Smith & Sons Limited Of Derby, who were still in business in 2000.

The clock and bell cost £186 which, to put things in perspective, would buy a reasonable house at the time. This was a very large amount of money to raise but there were several generous contributions which is testament to how revered and respected Edmund Warbeck was.

The type of clock is a ‘Double three legged gravity escapement’, which probably won’t mean much more to you than it did to me, but significantly, it is exactly the same mechanism as employed in the Big Ben tower!

There are four dials, each 6 feet in diameter; the yearly inspection fee in 1900 was £3.10s.0d (£3.50p). Around 1920 the clock faces were painted and gilded at a total cost of £34 0s 0d. An estimate for the same work in 1995 was £2,150 (plus VAT)

The clock mechanism is enclosed in a wooden case to protect it from its dusty environment.

To the left of the cabinet are two large weights; the smaller one is used for the actual clock mechanism, the larger one is used for the chiming mechanism. Below, is an escape hatch and on the floor below, is a large container of fine sand to catch them should they fall to prevent them from crashing through a series of floors and into the main foyer.

The cables actually failed in around 1991 whilst the clock was being wound to put this safety measure to the test!

The mechanism itself has two separate winders. The left hand half is the clock mechanism and below it is the pendulum used to keep the time. Its swing takes one and a quarter seconds which means that it has 48 ‘ticks’ per minute. The right hand half controls the chime which strikes once for each hour, on the hour.

Winding the clock itself comprises fitting a handle in turn to each half and winding the weights to the top. It takes approximately seven days for the weights to lower back to the floor. A small weight within the cabinet provides energy whilst the clock is being wound so that it doesn’t lose time during the actual winding.

A simple gearing mechanism drives a vertical shaft rod to the clock chamber above where a very simple gearbox drives four horizontal shafts, one to each face.

The bell chamber was actually built to accommodate eight bells but, due to some shift in the tower, an architect inspection recommended that a single bell should be installed. This is not too surprising when you consider that the bell that is there weight over eight and a half hundred weight.

The bell is just under three feet diameter and strikes a note of B sharp. The bell may be struck in three ways; by a hand striker, by the clockm mechanism or by the bell-chord (or by swinging the large wheel to which it is attached.

The bell was cast in 1898 by Charles Carr of Smethwick, one of the premier bell manufacturers.

Passers by have for well over a hundred years, checked their watches against the very familar tower without a thought for the mechanism that makes it possible.

The top of Saint Peter’s tower offers some spectacular views of Burton. Some clearer photos by Ian Gilliver (responsible for among other things, making sure that the tower clock is wound up every week) are also included.

The absence of Drakelow Powerstation makes for a quite different view since its demolition (Ian Gilliver).

Saint Peters Bridge in the foreground, the Ferry Bridge in the mid-background and you may be
able to make out Leicester Line bridge in the background with this view south down the river.

The once majestic Ferry Bridge next to the site of the old Stapenhill Ferry, now looking a little more forlorn.

A zoom in on the Leicester Line bridge; beyond, if you look carefully, you might be
able to pick out the spires of Lichfield Cathedral just right of centre (Ian Gilliver).

A view south over Stapenhill most significantly shows the site once occupied by Stapenhill House.

A great vantage point for watching the goings on, such as this Stapenhill Fete (Ian Gilliver).

Looking north up the river with a few well known landscapes punctuating the landscape.

My personal favourite – once again, north up the river focusing on the Bass Tower and Burton Library; unfortunately, not the clearest of conditions.

South-west, a view over the washlands with the Stapenhill Viaduct forming a large X as it passes under the modern Saint Peters Bridge.

A clearer view looking north (Ian Gilliver).

One final look north to pick out the Trent Bridge.

And finally, a look east over Clay Street and up to the Waterloo Tower.

You may not be familiar with Stapenhill House but you will most likely be familiar with what used to be its private garden. The house, belonging to the Goodger family was gifted to the town in 1933 to become what is now Stapenhill Pleasure Gardens.

The house, shown above, used to occupy that top terrace with the gardens descending down to the river at the rear.

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• Stapenhill House and Gardens – General History

Stapenhill House was owned by the Spender family until 1820, when the owner, John Spender died, and it is thought that the house then was inherited by his children, including his daughter Sarah, whose husband, Joseph Clay, bought out the other heirs in 1824.

When Joseph Clay made his Will in January 1824, he stated that he had lately contracted to purchase “a messuage, dwelling house or tenement with all the outbuildings, yards, gardens, orchards and other appurtenances thereto belonging, situate and being in Stapenhill in the County of Derby, containing in the whole one acre, one rood and 26 perches … together with a seat in the north gallery of the parish church of Stapenhill” … and he left it all to his wife Sarah for her lifetime (she died at Stapenhill in 1831) and then equally to his surviving five children Two of the three sons had gone into the Church, the other son, Henry, became the owner of Stapenhill House, which he passed to his third son, Charles John, the elder two having become considerably wealthy, and having their own houses elsewhere.

Joseph’s third son, Charles John Clay, eventually inherited Stapenhill House. The above photograph taken in 1878 shows Ernest Clay (rear), Arthur Clay (left), Gerard Clay (right), the elder three sons of Charles John, enjoying the house in its heyday.

This OS map extract from around the same time reminds that Stapenhill House knew very different times. Most obviously, the Ferry Bridge had not yet been built; a ferry boat was still in operation followed by a walk across the meadows to Burton. In wet weather, or if you could not afford the penny crossing, the only alternative was a walk to the Trent Bridge.

Also very interesting to note, the main course of the river (and Staffordshire/Derbyshire county line) did NOT run alongside Stapenhill Gardens as it does now bu rather, turned left and cut across Andressey Island with a river bank close to the current footpath adjacent to the playing fields. The old course can just be seen on the North side of Saint Peter’s bridge up what is now known as the Silverway (bearly negotiable in a canoe).

Stapenhill House neighboured with Saint Peter’s Church and vicarage. The old vicarage garden gateway can still be seen as an isolated folly as you drive onto Saint Peter’s Bridge.

The original Stapenhill House gardens ran to Jerrams Lane where they were surrounded by a high brick wall. This rare view from that direction reminds that the gardens once boasted among other things, extensive greenhousing, heated vinery, peach house and a large kitchen vegetable garden.

Looking down the garden from Stapenhill House, it is slightly deceptive that the garden suddenly falls away down to another terrace next to the river.

The position of the main steps up from the river terrace (where Burton’s White Swan now stands) can still be clearly seen, although the actual steps have long since disappeared. Rather than the well known ornate gardens, the original Stapenhill House garden was simply a series of terraces with a hedge on the front of each.

Shown above is Charles John Clay in 1908. Another Stapenhill House resident.

Gerard Clay, Charles John’s second son, of four, all of whom were born at Stapenhill House, and lived there until their marriage, after which Gerard and his bride lived at what is now Needwood Manor Hotel. Much more on Gerard Clay can be found on the website by descendent, Robin Clay.

Taken in 1915 from across the river, the above photo gives a marvellous view of Stapenhill House with the Ferry Bridge in the foreground providing a very good feel of how imposing the house would have been to people walking across the bridge.

The last residents of Stapenhill House were the Goodger family who were well established Burton solicitors. They purchased the land and estate from the Clay family in 1911. Mrs Mary Goodger J.P made her mark on Burton’s history by being installed as the towns first (and as far as I am aware, only) Lady Mayor for 1931/32. She died shortly afterwards.

In 1933 crippled by inheritance tax, the house was demolished and her son, Henry Goodger, passed the land to Burton Corporation in memory of his mother and Stapenhill Pleasure Gardens was established providing free public access.

The original re-structuring of the garden incorporated a windmill design, probably influenced by the fact that Burton at one time sported a windmill of its own close to the present day railway station.

Stapenhill Gardens remains a popular and distinctive feature of Burton in the guise of Stapenhill Gardens. A modern sign informs of its Stapenhill House heritage.

The gates still stand pround but it is as though the house in invisible allowing passers-by to look straight through to the rear gardens.

THIS PLEASURE GROUND WAS PRESENTED TO THE CORPORATION OF BURTON UPON TRENT
BY HENRY WILLIAM GOODGER IN MEMORY OF HIS MOTHER MARY GOODGER LATE OF
STAPENHILL HOUSE AND WAS OPENED FOR THE USE OF THE PUBLIC ON MAY 1ST 1933

Many of the original garden features are still in evidence, including the circle where my own children first learned to ride a bike without stabilizers!

And looking back to the steps that once led up to the main lawn. It is hard now to image a splendid house blocking the view to the road.

 To the left on the above photo, you can just about make our the original Windmill design. Just to the right of it is the location of the original main steps that ascended to the main house. The White Swan stands on what was once a tennis court and close to where Saint Peter’s bridge now crosses was the boathouse.

The final view shows the Stapenhouse and Gardens site after its latest make-over.

Slightly confusingly, and rather cheekily, a significantly smaller house near the original site has recently adopted the name ‘Stapenhill House’ but there is no relationship between the two properties.