St John's Church was built in 1846 but was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1902. It was rebuilt within a year. The fire was caused by sparks from the original coal fired heaters and happily gas was installed in 1925 and electricity in 1947.
The two bells were re-hung in 1987 and are rung every Sunday morning to call the village to church.
The east window is modern and was installed in 1963. Designed by Karl Edwards, it was paid for by public subscription and features the risen Christ separating the "sheep" from the "goats". The stained glass window of St John the Evangelist was installed in 1989 and there are many other interesting windows in the church.
At night the church is floodlit and anyone can sponsor a month's floodlighting in memory of a loved one.
In 2008, the west end of the church was redesigned to provide an open space for meetings and refreshments. Several rows of pews were removed, the floor lowered and wooden units installed containing a sink. The whole area was carpeted.
As the records for this church are larger than a web page table would permit, I have included them as a downloadable PDF file.
Please view or download from HERE
WEB LINKS:
These Memorial Inscriptions appear by kind permission of the Derbyshire Family History Society. Their website is located HERE. Books, fiches and other materials on Belper, as well as other Derbyshire districts, may be obtained from the Society.
