Fact: The Fire of 1961 Having withstood the underground activities of both railways
and the coal mining industry, and survived two world wars relatively
unscathed, the church’s nearest brush with disaster occurred
in 1961, when a serious fire broke out in the organ loft, and nearly
destroyed the whole of the East end, including the spire.
The following account is taken from “The Crooked Spire”
(reproduced by kind permission of The Derbyshire Times) and gives
a vivid picture of the near disaster:- “This terrible fire
swept the North transept of the church of Our Lady and All Saints
on December 22nd, 1961, destroying the famous Schnetzler organ, one
of only six extant in the world, three days before Christmas. The
Church was only saved by super-human work on the part of the firemen.
By turning a series of jets onto the belfry immediately under the
spire, they saved, by 10 minutes only, the threat to the steeple and
brought the flames under control.
The fire alarm was raised by a clerk at the Town's Library at 9-25
a.m. on December 22nd, 1961. Smoke was seen rising from the large
window in the North Transept. As the heat melted the glass in this
window, tongues of flame leapt to the roof and the organ and the choir
robing room were soon a mass of flames.
Clerks from the Library and Church officials dashed in to save all
that was possible in the way of Church ornaments and furniture. More
and more fire engines ran out hoses and played on the flames. For
a time it did not seem that much progress was being made, but gradually
the firemen got on top and the belfry and the spire were saved.
The Ven. Archdeacon, Dilworth Harrison,
said when he saw the fire at 9-30a.m. he thought he had lost his Church,
and he did not think a stick would be saved, but the registers and
other valuable books and ornaments were got away and stacked in the
Library. Everyone worked with energy and risked danger from the falling
roofs and timbers.”
The damage was repaired, and the organ
replaced, and today the only relics of the fire are the unpainted
plaster in the central crossing and the smoke blackened walls of
the church-and a smoke detector system in the tower!
"MYSTERY OF THE IMP" The Chesterfield "IMP" in the Parish Church
This photograph, with the above title, was taken by C.H. Nadin (c1908),
a well-known local photographer
A post card of the photograph, post-marked Sept. 15 1908
bears the following message:-
"Isn't it pritty [sic] This lovely specimen is to be
found behind the organ in the choir vestry in our dear old
church. So you see, Lincoln isn't the only place that owns
an imp. I thought it would suit you. I know you like good-looking
things..........."
In the church today there is no sign of this little figure
Can anyone throw any light on the mystery ?
(Note: It is not this figure, to be seen high up adjacent
to the North East column of the Crossing)
Was the figure removed or destroyed in the church fire
[22 December 1961]?
Does anyone remember its precise location in the church?
(1) In a photograph (1962), taken from inside the roofless,
fire-ravaged choir vestry, there appears - at about 9
metres(30 feet) from the ground, on the inner face of the
east wall of the north transept - a familiar figure The
Imp ?
(1)
There is no sign of the figure following fire restoration work.
(2) A plaster cast was discovered bearing the title "SPRITECHESTERFIELD PARISH
CHURCH", on the outside wall of a house in
Chesterfield.
It is known that this was positioned in about 1962 and was
most likely a cast based upon the corbel figure in Picture
1 .
Fantasies
Many stories have been woven around the crooked
spire and its cause.
SHOD DEVIL: The story asserts that
a magician persuaded a local blacksmith to shoe the Devil. The man
was so nervous that he drove a nail into the Devil's foot. The Devil
flew off howling and, as he was passing the church, felt a twinge
of real agony. He lashed out savagely with his foot which caught
the Spire and twisted it, leaving also a footprint on one of the
buttresses.
VIRGIN: A story of Chaucerian flavour.
The spire was so amazed to hear of a virgin being married in the
church that it developed its intricate twist in an attempt to see
such a wonder with its own eyes. In a slightly amended version the
Spire owes its twist to its admiration of a virtuous maiden of such
beauty entering the church that the spire bowed in admiration, and
could not resume its normal position.
INCENSED DEVIL: Some attribute the
deflection to His Satanic Majesty. The legend goes that Lucifer,
after a long day's journey, alighted for a moment on the apex of
the Spire. It so happened that midnight mass was being celebrated
and that the abundant incense from below so irritated his unholy
nostrils that he gave a violent sneeze. He managed to keep his hold
with his claws and tail around the Spire; next morning, however,
the damage was there for all to see.
