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]^ootr of (JEoOnor Castle- 



F. Channer Corfield, J.P., of Ormonde Fields. 



HE Rev. J. Charles Cox, LL.D., in his "Churches of 

 Derbyshire " (Vol. IV., p. 240), states that there was 

 a chapel attached to the extensive castle of Codnor in 

 Heanor parish. There seems to be no very clear 

 evidence of the existence of this chapel beyond tradition and the 

 discovery of a few relics of an apparently ecclesiastical character 

 on the supposed site. These remains, consisting of a font,* a key, 

 a female head carved in stone, something like the termination of a 

 label, and some indications of interments were discovered about 

 forty yards to the north of the ancient dwelling-house at Ormonde 

 Fields, and about 500 yards west of the castle on the edge of 

 " Church Close," f a field which has borne this name for 



* " Font." We are indebted to the kindness of P. H. Currey, Esq., for 

 the beautiful sketch of this "font." There can be no doubt of its antiquity, 

 for the details are of the Early Decorated period of Gothic art. It is, how- 

 ever, smaller than the fonts of that period usually are, and looks much more 

 like a goodly " aspersorium " or holy-water stoup from the porch of some 

 parish church — the shallowness of the bowl greatly favouring this idea — or 

 a detached " lavabo," or "piscina." The porch of Heanor old church was 

 a hideous classical structure of the Georgian period, with a round arched 

 outer doorway, adorned with a projecting wedge-shaped " keystone," and 

 corresponding "risers." If the Codnor relic should not have been what the 

 writer of this article supposes, it was probably a former appendage to the 

 original porch at Heanor ; and this idea is strengthened by the fact that the 

 "caps" of the imposts of the old chancel arch in that church were almost 

 fac-similes of the work of the supposed "font" from Ormonde Fields. — (Ed.) 



t "Church close." This is a £■<?«/;«« name applied to church lands now 

 alienated, but once bequeathed for the endowments of chantries in parish 

 churches. This designation therefore cannot be adduced as indisputable proof 

 of the former existence of a chapel on the spot. These observations are 

 offered with due and respectful deference : and although it is never the object 

 of a true archsologist to set aside or ignore the value of local traditions, 

 it is always advisable where original documentary evidence cannot be obtained, 

 to weigh carefully both sides of the argument. — (Ed.) 



