Derbyshire Saints and Martyrs
St Alkmund holds the esteemed position of being the patron saint of Derby, but Derbyshire boasts a rich abundance of saints beyond his singular recognition. Let's delve into the mosaic of saints associated with this county. (See post about St Alkmund Here.)
Joan Waste’s tragic tale (previous blog post Derby Loses The Monasteries) was regrettably not an isolated incident in Derbyshire or England. Derby and Derbyshire also acknowledge Ralph Sherwin as a Saint, following his execution in 1581.
Ralph Sherwin, a catholic priest, was born at Rodsley in Derbyshire to John and Constance Sherwin. Rodsley is a small village and civil parish about 4 miles (6 km) south of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. As the population of the village was less than 100 at the 2011 Census, details are included in the civil parish of Yeaveley.
Ralph was christened in Saint Chad's Church in Longford. The church dates from the 12th century, with other work from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The tower is 15th century with almost full height buttresses to each corner.
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St Chad's Church, Longford is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Longford, Derbyshire.
Ralph was educated at Eton College. Eton College is a public secondary school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore, making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Eton is one of three public schools, along with Harrow (1572) and Radley (1847), to have retained the boys-only, boarding-only tradition, which means that its boys live at the school, seven days a week. Eton has educated prime ministers, world leaders, Nobel laureates, Academy Award and BAFTA award-winning actors, and generations of the aristocracy, having been referred to as Eton has been described as the most famous public school in the world and "the nurse of England's statesmen"
Eton College
In 1568, Ralph Sherwin was nominated by Sir William Petre to one of the eight fellowships which he had founded at Exeter College, Oxford, probably influenced by Sherwin's uncle, John Woodward, who from 1556 to 1566 had been rector of Ingatestone, Essex, where Petre lived.
A talented classical scholar, Ralph Sherwin obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1571 and Master of Arts on 2 July 1574, and the following year converted to Roman Catholicism. He soon made for the English College at Douai, where he was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Cambrai on 23 March 1577. (More on the college can be found here.)
On 2 August 1577, Ralph left for Rome, where he stayed at the English College, Rome for nearly three years. On 18 April 1580, Ralph Sherwin and thirteen companions left Rome for England as missionaries. He entered England in early August and commenced his successful ministry in different parts of the country but not for long. (More on the college can be found here.)
On 9 November 1580, he was arrested while preaching in the house of Nicholas Roscarrock in London and imprisoned in the Marshalsea, where he converted many fellow prisoners, and on 4 December was transferred to the Tower of London, where he was tortured on the rack and then laid out in the snow. Later, he was put into an isolation cell, without food. He is said to have been personally offered a bishopric by Queen Elizabeth I if he converted, but refused. After spending a year in prison, he was finally brought to trial with Edmund Campion on a charge of treasonable conspiracy. He was convicted in Westminster Hall on 20 November 1581. Eleven days later, he was taken to Tyburn on a hurdle along with Alexander Briant and Edmund Campion, where the three martyrs were hanged, drawn, and quartered. On the scaffold, Ralph Sherwin again "professed his innocence, proclaimed his Catholic faith, and prayed for the Queen." Sherwin's last words were "Iesu, Iesu, Iesu, esto mihi Iesus!"
Ralph Sherwin was the first member of the English College in Rome to be martyred. During the years 1581–1681, over forty more students were martyred for their faith. He was beatified on 29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII. He was canonised on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales with a common feast day of 25 October. His individual feast day is celebrated on 1st December, the day of his martyrdom. A Catholic church in the Chellaston area of Derby, registered in January 1981, was dedicated to Ralph Sherwin. The church was demolished in 2018 to make space for a Lidl supermarket.
The Church in Chellaston, Derby, before demolition.
There is a Sherwin Football Club based in the Normanton area of Derby. Founded in 1973, the club provides football and social opportunities for all ages and both genders in the local community. The club colours are purple with yellow trim.
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Stained glass windows in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Bridge Gate, Derby.
There is a wonderful school in Derby dedicated to St Ralph Sherwin. St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, formed as a partnership of the Catholic Voluntary Academies in the Diocese of Nottingham. they are a family of 20 primary schools and 5 secondary schools in Derbyshire and the surrounding counties, united by a collective vision to excel. These are:
All Saints Catholic Voluntary Academy, Church Street, Old Glossop, Derbyshire SK13 7RJ, Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy, Firs Avenue, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 7EN,
English Martyrs’ Catholic Voluntary Academy, Bracken Road, Long Eaton, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG10 4DA
Holy Rosary Catholic Voluntary Academy, Alexandra Road, Burton-on-Trent, DE15 0JE
St Alban’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Newstead Avenue, Chaddesden, Derby, DE21 6NU
St Anne’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Lightwood Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 7AN
St Charles Catholic Voluntary Academy, The Carriage Drive, Hadfield, Glossop, Derbyshire, SK13 1PJ
St Edward’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Newhall Road, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 0BD
St Elizabeth’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Matlock Road, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 2JD
St George’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Uplands Avenue, Littleover, Derby, DE23 1GG
St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy, Alvaston Street, Alvaston, Derby, DE24 0PA
St Joseph’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Chesterfield Road, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3FT
St Joseph’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Mill Hill Lane, Derby, DE23 6SB
St Margaret’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Glossop Road, Glossop, SK13 6JH
St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, St James' House, Mansfield Road, Derby, DE1 3TQ
St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Gladstone Street, Glossop, Derbyshire, SK13 8NE
St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Longlands Road, New Mills, High Peak, Derbyshire, SK22 3BL
St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Lowry Drive, Marple Bridge, SK6 5BR
St Thomas Catholic Voluntary Academy, Church View, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 4LF
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy, Raglan Street, Hill Top, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, NG16 3GT
More information on the school can be found here.
Depedale Derbyshire
Moving on, we cannot ignore the somewhat secluded location called Depedale, now known as Dale Abbey in Derbyshire. This hamlet maintains close connections with its neighbouring village of Stanley. Despite its modest size, Dale Abbey compensates with a rich historical history.
Church of All Saints, Dale Abbey
The Cat and The Fiddle
The Cat and Fiddle, presumed to be Derbyshire's sole surviving post mill, occupies the site of an earlier mill. Serving as a landmark visible for miles around, this 18th-century mill remained operational until 1987 when it lost its sails in a gale.
Abbey Window
The abbey, a testament to the prosperity of the settlement, reached completion in the early 13th century. The grand window arch, standing at an imposing 40 feet in height and 16 feet in width, serves as a lasting reminder of this once-important and affluent community.
The ancient abbey hosts the impressive great east window, while a diminutive church measuring a mere 26 feet in length by 25 feet in width resides within its confines. Notably, this church boasts the largest chalice in active use in England, standing at a height of nine inches and a circumference of 15 inches. Sharing a roof with the church is a farmhouse, reconstructed on the same spot in 1883. Originally serving as an infirmary for the abbey, it later transformed into a pub known as the Blue Bell. The roots of this intriguing ensemble trace back to Cornelius, a Derby baker who, between 1130 and 1140, envisioned a life of meditation and solitude in Depedale.
The hermit's cave, Derbyshire
Muskham ascribes the initial part of the foundation tale to Matilda de Salicosa Mara of Lindsey, a local landowner whom he considered the founder of the community at Dale. She recounted the story in his presence early in the 13th century, approximately four years into his tenure as a canon at Dale. Matilda's account commences with a Derby baker, likened to Cornelius the Centurion in Acts 10—a man who, even before his conversion, "generously gave alms to the people and prayed constantly to God." Similar to Cornelius, the unnamed baker used his disposable income to provide food and clothing for the needy, which he distributed at his parish church, St Mary's. Like Cornelius, he underwent a visionary experience prompting him to seek a new life in a new place. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream one autumn afternoon, instructing him to "go to Depedale and there you will serve my son and myself in a solitary life." In Depedale, his eremitic existence would lead to a promised afterlife in "the kingdom of brightness, mirth, and eternal happiness that God has prepared for those who love him."
The baker kept the religious encounter confidential but immediately relinquished all he possessed and set off eastward. Unfamiliar with the location he sought, he began eavesdropping on everyday conversations for clues regarding its whereabouts and nature. Passing through the village of Stanley, he overheard a woman sending her daughter to Deepdale with a herd of calves. Considering this a divine sign, the former baker inquired about the way. Directed to follow the girl to Deepdale, he quickly reached his destination, described as "a marshy place, extremely frightening, and far from human habitation." Deepdale is approximately 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) southeast of Stanley, around 8 kilometers (5.0 miles) from the hermit's former home in Derby. Clearly, it was damp pasture land at the time, watered by the Sow Brook in the catchment of the River Erewash. At the southeast edge of the place, he carved out a small rock house in the hillside and settled into an ascetic existence.
Recess, thought to have been used in worship, in west wall of the hermitage.
The local landowner is identified as Ralph Fitz Geremund, the lord of a portion of the manors of Ockbrook and Alvaston cum soc, meaning he held the right and duty to establish a court. The chronicle depicts him as a Norman baron with interests on both sides of the Channel. During one of his visits to England, while hunting in his forest, he observed the smoke from the new settlement and initially suspected illegal assarting. However, upon investigation, he was so moved by the hermit and the hardship of his existence that he granted him a tithe of the proceeds from his own mill at Burgh (now believed to be at Alvaston, although previously at Borrowash). This tithe remained a significant asset of Dale Abbey in the chronicler's time.
The rest of the hermit's narrative is ascribed to Humfrid, a former canon well-remembered in Thomas Muskam's era. In his later years, the hermit endured spiritual torment, attributed by the chronicler to the assaults of "the ancient enemy of human kind, master of a thousand tricks," that is, Satan. Seeking relief from these assaults and the lack of water at his hermitage, he sought a new home. By a spring in the little valley below, he constructed a hut for himself and an oratory, dedicated to God and the Blessed Mary, who held a central place in his spiritual life. There, he served in God's name until his death, described by the chronicler in almost Manichaean terms as liberation from the prison of the body.
Muskham's account of the origins of religious life at Deepdale incorporates elements of legend, though some key aspects were likely plausible to his readers. The prevalence of banditry in the area during the Anarchy of Stephen's reign, possibly when some of the account is set, was not improbable. During the early 12th century, individual hermits were credited with establishing new monasteries and even monastic orders. A comparable situation is seen with Arrouaise Abbey in northern France, which historians portrayed as emerging in bandit country. Both Deepdale's foundation and the Arrouaisians secured a role in the Church by assimilating into an order of canons regular following the Rule of St. Augustine.
Derby Cathedral conducts a pilgrimage to the site around the feast day of St. Cornelius of Depedale, typically around the 16th of May.
For those who wish to visit the area, there is a trail you can do.
1. Hermit's Cave.
2. Dale Abbey Ruins.
3. All Saint's Church.
4. Farmhouse, formerly hospital/inn.
5. Gateway Christian Centre.
6. Hermitage Wood.
7. Abbey Gatehouse.
8. Friar's House Tearooms.
9. The Carpenter's Arms.
10. Abbey House.
11. Monastic Pond.
12. Poplar Farm.
Thomas Fanshawe Middleton’s monument in St Paul’s Cathedral monument in St Paul’s shows him blessing two Indian children
Thomas Fanshawe Middleton was born in Kedleston in Derbyshire, England, the son of Thomas Middleton, Rector of Kedleston and educated at Christ's Hospital. He then went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, and on graduation was ordained in the Church of England. He was appointed curate of Gainsborough (1792), Rector of Tansor (1795), Rector of Bytham (1802), Prebendary of Lincoln (1809), Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Vicar of St Pancras.
Thomas Fanshawe Middleton is commemorated with a feast day on the 8th of July each year. Although Christianity had made its way to India earlier, it lacked organisation and wasn't directly under the company or the crown. Individual churches were established, particularly in areas involved in foreign trade. Trade brought Christianity along with it. However, the appointment of Thomas Fanshawe Middleton as the First Bishop of Calcutta marked the establishment of an organisational structure, supported initially by the company and later by the crown. This organisational shift in the city enabled the creation of crucial educational institutions in Calcutta, actively contributing to the expansion of both religion and education, especially among the local population.
While in India, Thomas Fanshawe Middleton endorsed the Tamil translation of the Book of Common Prayer. In 1820, he established Bishop’s Mission College in Calcutta, aiming to educate young men for prospective roles as missionaries and teachers. Tragically, he succumbed to a fever, likely induced by sunstroke, during one of his numerous journeys across his diocese. His memorial in St Paul’s portrays him blessing two Indian children, a monument funded collaboratively by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Thomas Fanshawe Middleton
In 1814, upon Thomas Middleton assuming the role of the first Bishop of Calcutta, the diocese encompassed not only India but the entire domain of the British East India Company (EIC). Upon his arrival in India, he encountered a restriction preventing him from ordaining "Natives of India," as all ordinations were conducted by the EIC in London. In response, he established Bishop's College in Calcutta, admitting Britons, Indians, and Anglo-Indians, some of whom could pursue ordination. Despite being designed for seventy students, the college only had eight students fourteen years after its inauguration.
In May 1814, Middleton was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on the basis of being "a Gentleman well known to the literary world as the author of several classical works, and conversant with various departments of science"
In May 1814, Middleton was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on the basis of being "a Gentleman well known to the literary world as the author of several classical works, and conversant with various departments of science"
Oaten Hill Martyrs (Blessed Robert Wilcox, Blessed Gerard Edwardes a.k.a. "Edward Campion}, Blessed Christopher Buxton and Blessed Robert Widmerpool)
Catholic Martyrs known as The Oaten Hill Martyrs faced execution through hanging, drawing, and quartering at Oaten Hill, Canterbury, on 1 October 1588. The gallows had been erected in 1576. Pope Pius XI bestowed beatification upon these four individuals in 1929.
Christopher Buxton, born in Derbyshire in 1562, studied under Nicholas Garlick at the Grammar School in Tideswell, Peak District. Garlick joined the English College at Rheims on 22nd June 1581, with Buxton following about a month later.
In 1584, Christopher Buxton was sent to the English College in Rome, where he received ordination on 26th October 1586. His journey across Europe was arduous and prolonged, with stops in Rheims on his way to Dieppe. News had already reached the continent about the government's plans to exile or execute imprisoned priests. Directed by Dr. Darbishire in Paris to delay his departure, Christopher Buxton, in obedience, complied. However, upon learning that Darbishire's counsel was not a directive from Father Persons in England, Christopher Buxton crossed to Kent in early September 1587. Arrested about two months later, he was taken to the Marshalsea prison.
Christopher Buxton, Stained glass windows in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Bridge Gate, Derby.
On 15th August 1588, he admitted to being a priest during an examination. Despite his youth, authorities believed witnessing the deaths of his companions might shake his constancy, offering him life if he conformed to the new religion. However, he firmly refused, stating that he wouldn't trade a corruptible life at such a price and would willingly surrender a hundred lives in defense of his faith. While in the Marshalsea Prison, Christopher Buxton wrote a Rituale, the manuscript of which is now preserved as a relic in Olney, Buckinghamshire. He sent this manuscript to a fellow priest as a final token of friendship the day before he was taken from the prison. Christopher Buxton was transported to Canterbury for trial and execution, passing away at the age of twenty-six. Pope Pius XI beatified Christopher Buxton in 1929.
Christopher Buxton has an annual feast day on the 1st October.
A feast day is also observed on the 23rd of December at the Derby Cathedral, honouring the Cratcliffe Hermit. Situated in Derbyshire, Cratcliffe Hermitage is a distinctive location well worth exploring. Positioned at the base of Cratcliffe Rocks on the western side is the Hermit’s Cave. Dating back to the 14th century, this cave features a four feet high crudely carved crucifixion on the wall, accompanied by a niche for a lamp or candle. Although the crucifixion's features are somewhat worn, and the lower part of the legs damaged, the sculpture is remarkably preserved for its age. In the past, the carving suffered damage from vandals, and according to 'The Caves of Derbyshire,' the fifth edition of 1984, the cave was utilised by climbers as a shelter. Today, it is safeguarded with full-length iron railings. An exterior rainwater groove and slots suggest that a lean-to shelter extended the hermit’s home, and outside the cave stands a fairly large yew tree, possibly older than the carving. The crucifixion is positioned to be visible from the hermit's sleeping ledge in the west wall.
A 14th-century manuscript Rule of Hermits states:
‘Let it suffice thee to have on thine altar an image of the Saviour hanging upon the cross, which represents to thee His passion which thou shalt imitate, inviting thee with outspread arms to himself.’
In the Middle Ages, hermits were expected to offer hospitality along the journey, and such crucifixes were ordered to be provided by or for hermits in the 14th century. The hermitage might have been crafted by a stonemason, potentially predating that ruling.
The identity of the hermit remains unknown, but records from Haddon Hall's kitchen notes in 1549 indicate a possible resident. On the 23rd of December, a payment was made to 'Ye harmytt' for supplying ten rabbits, and 'Ye Cratcliffe Hermitte was paid fourpence for guidance of people to Haddon.' In the 13th century, Pope Innocent IV decreed that hermits should follow a modified St. Augustine’s rule, organised and appointed by bishops, often with pensions and servants. They were placed in positions to perform useful services, such as guiding travelers through woods and over rivers. The Cratcliffe hermit likely engaged with travelers on the Portway, which ran close by.
Excavations in the area reveal the value placed on Cratcliffe Hermitage's proximity to the old Portway, a busy highway in Roman times. In 1845, Bateman recorded finding Romano-British pottery around Robin Hood’s Stride, and a coin of the Emperor Tetricus near Cratcliffe Hermitage. Since then, numerous Roman coins, pottery sherds, jet buttons, pieces of lead, and bronze wires have been discovered. The area also shows evidence of hillforts and earlier activities predating the Roman era, including the Nine Stones Close stone circle and Castle Ring hillfort.
The Cross at Cratcliffe Hermitage
Edward James, a local martyr, offers another poignant example of unwavering faith. Born in 1557 at Barton, Breaston, near Long Eaton, Derbyshire, he received his education at Derby School, St John's College (Oxford), the English college at Rheims, and the Venerable English College at Rome. In October 1579, James, accompanied by William Filby, embarked on a journey from Dover to Calais. Upon arriving in Rheims, he shared lodgings with Edward Stransham. The subsequent August saw James and ten companions heading to the English College in Rome. In October 1583, under the ordination of Bishop Thomas Goldwell, the last English bishop opposing the Protestant Reformation, James was ordained as a priest in Rome.
In early February 1586, James, joined by Stephen Rowsham, who had been banished from England the previous year, commenced his mission. Meeting Ralph Crockett in Dieppe, James was apprehended on board a ship at Littlehampton, Sussex, on April 19, 1586, along with three other priests: Thomas Bramston, George Potter, and fellow martyr Ralph Crockett. They faced charges of being Catholic priests entering England, contrary to the Act of Parliament of 1584. Imprisoned in London on April 27, 1586, they endured more than two years without trial. Following the Spanish Armada's defeat in July and August 1588, the priests in custody became targets of revenge by Queen Elizabeth I's government. On September 30, 1588, Ralph Crockett, Edward James, John Oven, and Francis Edward were sent for trial at Chichester. While all four were initially condemned to death for being priests entering England, Oven recanted by taking the Oath of Supremacy in accordance with the Act of Supremacy 1559, earning reprieve. On October 1, 1588, Crockett and James, unwavering in their refusal to recant, were executed at Chichester, mutually absolving each other.
Both Ralph Crockett and Edward James received recognition from the Catholic Church, being declared venerable. In 1929, Pope Pius XI beatified the two martyrs. Edward James is commemorated on his feast day, the 1st of October.
Stained glass window of Edward James in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Bridge Gate, Derby.
Blessed Nicholas Garlick was a courageous figure in the history of English Catholicism during a challenging period. Born in Dinting, Derbyshire, in 1555, Garlick lived in a time marked by religious tension and persecution in England. The country was in the midst of the Tudor period, and the Catholic community faced suppression under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I.
Garlick pursued his education at the English College in Rheims, France, and later continued his studies at the English College in Rome. Despite the risks involved, he felt a strong calling to return to England as a Catholic priest to minister to the spiritual needs of the Catholic community.
In 1588, Nicholas Garlick was ordained as a priest in Rheims and bravely returned to England. During this period, practicing Catholicism was forbidden, and Catholic priests faced persecution and death if discovered. Garlick, along with another priest named Robert Ludlam, worked covertly to provide spiritual guidance and celebrate Catholic services for the faithful.
However, their efforts were not unnoticed, and in 1588, Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlam were arrested on charges of being Catholic priests and conducting illegal religious activities. They were imprisoned in Derby before being transferred to London for trial.
On 23 July 1588, the three priests were tried for coming into the kingdom and "seducing" the Queen's subjects. Garlick, who acted as spokesman, answered, "I have not come to seduce, but to induce men to the Catholic faith. For this end have I come to the country, and for this will I work as long as I live."
A second altercation with the Bench came when Garlick was asked if he wished to be tried by jury or by the Justices of Assize alone. Garlick, knowing that a verdict of guilty was inevitable, replied that he did not wish his blood to be on the hands of poor men. He was, however, persuaded to yield on this point, and the trial proceeded by jury.
The priests were found guilty of treason, and were condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered; the sentences were to be carried out the next day: "That you and each of you be carried to the place from whence you came, and from thence be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and be there severally hanged, but cut down while you are alive; that your privy members be cut off; that your bowels be taken out and burnt before your faces; that your heads be severed from your bodies; that your bodies be divided into four-quarters, and that your quarters be at the Queen's disposal; and the Lord have mercy on your souls."
The priests were found guilty of treason, and were condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered; the sentences were to be carried out the next day: "That you and each of you be carried to the place from whence you came, and from thence be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and be there severally hanged, but cut down while you are alive; that your privy members be cut off; that your bowels be taken out and burnt before your faces; that your heads be severed from your bodies; that your bodies be divided into four-quarters, and that your quarters be at the Queen's disposal; and the Lord have mercy on your souls."
As the priests left the dock, Garlick exclaimed, "I thought that Cain would never be satisfied till he had the blood of his brother Abel."
It is said that the priests spent their last night in the same cell as a woman condemned to death for murder, and that in the course of the night they reconciled her to the Catholic faith. She was hanged with them the next day.
On 24 July 1588, the priests were placed on hurdles and drawn to St Mary's Bridge in Derby, where the executions were to be carried out. Garlick remained witty and cheerful to the end. A passer-by reminded him that they had often gone shooting together, to which Garlick replied, "True, but now I am to shoot off such a shot as I never shot in all my life".
When they arrived at the bridge, the cauldron was not ready for burning the entrails. According to reports, "[t]his sort of bungling was frequent in provincial executions; the local men were amateurs, unversed in the ritual of butchery."
Garlick used the time to give the people a long sermon on the salvation of their souls, ignoring the attempts of officials to make him stop. He closed his speech by throwing into the crowd a number of papers which he had written in prison, and which he said would prove what he affirmed. Bede Camm reports a tradition that everyone into whose hands these papers fell was subsequently reconciled to the Catholic Church.
Reports state that Garlick hastened to the ladder before him and kissed it, going up first. The heads and quarters of the three were placed on poles in various places around Derby. Garlick's student, Robert Bagshaw, writes as follows: "And the penner of this their martyrdoms, who was also present at their deaths, with two other resolute Catholick gentlemen, going in the night divers miles, well weaponed, took down one of their heads from the top of a house standing on the bridge, the watchmen of the town (as was afterwards confessed) seeing them and giving no resistance. This they buryed with as great decencie as they could, and soon after the rest of the quarters were taken away secretly by others."
Blessed Nicholas Garlick's sacrifice and steadfast commitment to his faith were recognised centuries later. Pope John Paul II beatified him on November 22, 1987, along with other English Martyrs. His feast day is commemorated on May 24th, and he is remembered as one of the courageous Catholic martyrs who faced persecution during a challenging period in English history.
There is a tradition that Garlick's head was buried in the churchyard at Tideswell. It has never been found.
The Blessed Nicholas Garlick. This stained glass window is in the Lady Chapel of St Mary’s RC Church, in Derby.
An annual pilgrimage honouring the two martyrs began in the late 19th century.
Holy Mass was offered in honour of Blessed Robert Ludlam and Blessed Nicholas Garlick. Bishop Ralph Heskett was the main celebrant assisted by Bishop Patrick McKinney of Nottingham and Bishop John Arnold of Salford who gave the homily.
DERBYSHIRE MARTYRS
In honour of the Blissful Martyr,
BLESSED RALPH SHERWIN, PRIEST,
(Born at Rodsley, near Longford, Derbyshire,)
who suffered for the Catholic Faith /
at Tyburn on December 1st., 1581.
Beatified on December 9th., 1886, by Pope Leo XIII.
Also, to the eternal memory of the
VENERABLE MARTYRS,
NICHOLAS GARLICK, Priest,
(Born at Dinting, Glossopdale,)
ROBERT LUDLAM. Priest,
RICHARD SYMPSON, Priest,
who suffered for the Catholic Faith
on the East side of St. Mary's Bridge, Derby,
on July 24th., 1588.
Their respective Causes were sanctioned by Pope Leo XIII.
on December 9th., 1886.
There are many martyrs from Derbyshire. To cover them all would be a blog site of its own. I recommend the book Saints of Derbyshire, by Revd Simon Taylor and Josephine Simister if you wish to learn about others not mentioned.