Church of St Mary of the Purification, Blidworth

St. Mary of the Purification, Blidworth
In December 2014
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
History
Dedication	St. Mary
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Southwell and Nottingham
Parish	Blidworth
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd. Beryl Allsop

The Church of St. Mary of the Purification, Blidworth is a parish church in the Church of England in Blidworth, Nottinghamshire.

The church is Grade II* listed by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport as it is a particularly significant building of more than local interest.

History

Only the west tower from the medieval (15th Century) church survives. The rest was built in 1739 by Rhodes of Barlborough and 1839 by Colvin.

Rockings Ceremony

The Church of St. Mary of the Purification is the only church that is known to continue to hold an annual Rockings Ceremony during which the baby boy, born to married, Christian parents living in Blidworth, nearest to Christmas Day is “rocked” in an ancient cradle on the Feast of the Purification of Mary, which is on the Sunday nearest to Candlemas.

The origins of the ceremony go back at least 400 years. The custom was revived in 1842 by the Vicar, John Lowndes after a lapse of 150 years, and again in 1922.

All of the babies who have taken part in the Rocking Ceremonies have their names recorded upon a plaque at the rear of St Mary's Church with their full name and the year in which they were 'Rocked'. In 1980 the rocking ceremony was performed by John Denis Wakeling the Bishop of Southwell. The child was Edward William Tristram who received a commemorative bible to mark the occasion inscribed by the Bishop.

Notable burials

The church is reputed to be the burial place of Will Scarlet.

Incumbents

The list of incumbents goes back to the 14th century:

• Hugh (1337)
• Thomas Clerke (1470)
• William Talbot (1485–1498)
• William Aldworth (–1530 d)
• James Alsebrook (1530–)
• William Helmsley (–1566 d)
• John Sye (1567–1575)
• Mr. Creasie (1575–1584)
• Robert Grace (1584–1587)
• Henry Elwe (1588–1598)
• John Collinson (1599–1602)
• Henry Ellyott (1602–1603)
• John Hains (1603–1636)
• James Reade (1636–1643 d)
• John Newton (1643–1649)
• Thomas Rose (1649–1663), evicted at the English Restoration
• Michael Buxton (1663–1741 d) (see memorial: perhaps 1890)
• William Thorpe (1716–1721 d)
• Thomas Allen (1722–1739 d)

• Robert Stanley (1740–1783)
• Seth Stevenson (1783–1794) (also Vicar of Oxton)
• John T. Beecher (1794–1801) (also Vicar of Oxton)
• John Hall Clay (1801–1822)
• C. F. Fenwick (1824–1830) (also Vicar of Oxton)
• John Downall (1830–1842)
• Martin Roe (1842–1849 d)
• John Porter (1850–1864 d)
• Richard Whitworth (1865–1908)
• Charles Littleholes (1908–1914)
• John Paddison (1914–1921)
• John Lowndes (1921–1933)
• Henry Carline Swingler (1933–1938 d)
• Robert Rogerson (1938–1939 d)
• Walter Warr (1940–1956)
• Jack Busby (1956–1967)
• Charles Sawyer (1967–30 November 1983)
• Raymond Beardall (4 May 1984 – 1999)
• Beryl Allsop (2000–) (technically Associate Priest since the amalgamation of the parishes of Blidworth and Rainworth)

Sources

• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1979). Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England). Harmondsworth, Middx. Penguin. ISBN 978-0300096361.

Richard Goodhand as Incumbent of newly formed Benefice of Rainworth and Blidworth (1998 - 2008)