Ockbrook - Part 3
- The Moravian Settlement
w/e 29 February
2004
In this and
the next part of our tour around Ockbrook we shall be taking
a closer look at some of the buildings in the Moravian Settlement
together with a little of the history of the area. For a closer
look at the panoramic view below, click on the image to open
a new window showing a larger version - 144kb.
In this part we start with the buildings on the left and work
our way towards the right.
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The building
on the left of this view originated as a boys' boarding school
in 1822 with the headmaster's house on the right being added
in 1907. Closing in 1915, the boys and their masters transferred
to another Moravian School in Yorkshire but girls and their teachers
moved in the very next day. There have been many extensions and
additions since and now the old headmaster's house is the school's
administrative block. The school is attended by some 450 pupils,
mainly girls although the the primary department (3-11) does
admit some boys. The school still caters for a small number of
boarders.
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This is The
Manse and it is perhaps an opportune moment to relate how the
Moravian Church first came to Ockbrook. A Bohemian Christian
reformer by the name of Jon Hus was burned at the stake in 1415
and his followers founded their church in Moravia, now part of
the Czech Republic, in 1457. An Anglican curate, Jacob Rogers
was influenced by the Moravians and preached in Nottingham about
1740. He was heard and invited to Ockbrook by Isaac Frearson,
a local farmer and this led to a "society" being formed
in the village. The society was the forerunner of the congregation
that was "settled" by Bishop Peter Boehler some ten
years later with the church being built on the hill to the north
of the original village in 1752. Middle class and wealthy people
attracted to the village built many large houses and cottage
industries developed with glovemakers, shoemakers and tailors
becoming established. One such person was Mrs Elizabeth Bates
who financed many of the buildings in the 1810s and 1820s leaving
the building shown above in her Will to the congregation for
the use of the minister.
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The whole of The Settlement
is now protected by a Conservation Order and several of the buildings,
including the Manse, are Grade II listed. In the front garden
are the remains of a sundial which is reputedly of Saxon origin
and from the Abbey at Dale. Today, standing in the shadows of
nearby trees, its purpose is largely decorative as its usefulness
is somewhat limited.
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Another sundial stands in front
of the Moravian Chapel and although it gives an accurate time
reading, the chapel clock made by Whitehurst and Son of Derby
is probably easier to see. It bears the date 1827. Construction
of the chapel started in 1751 and the roof was raised in less
than two months, the chapel being consecrated by Bishop Peter
Boehler on April 5th in 1752.
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Whilst preparing these Ockbrook
pages, one or two discrepancies in my original source of information
have become apparent but when taking the images for this page
we met the Minister who very kindly unlocked the doors giving
us access to the chapel. He also pointed out "A Guide to
a Walking Tour" on sale for the very reasonable price of
just £1.00 that included much of the information included
here.
This series of images of the
chapel interior demonstrate the simple style that is common to
the Moravian Church. Originally the pulpit was on the west wall
and the pews ran in a north-south direction with men and women
entering by separate doors and sitting separately too. There
was a gallery and musicians's loft at each end of the chapel.
Several extensions and modernisations resulted in only the northern
gallery remaining today (top right) but enabled the Congregation
to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2000.
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Returning to the outside of
the chapel, we can pause for a moment on the chapel path which
is known as "The Bishops' Walk". The flagstones are
another link to Dale having been brought form the cloisters there.
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