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The village of Hognaston is built along a pleasant road climbing from a sparkling brook to the Wirksworth-Ashbourne road, which rides nearly 1,000 feet high along the top of Hognaston Winn.
Its old church has fine views of sweeping hills and valley, the trimmed limes making a frame for the sturdy tower.
The tower walls, five feet thick, come from the 13th century, the belfry with its pinnacles and gargoyles is of the 15th and the tower opens into the nave with a fine pointed arch. The glory of the church, sheltered by the porch, is a handsome doorway of the Normans. The sides have beak-head moulding, the arch has chevrons,while the old tympanum is engraved with crude carvings of quaint figures. One is a man wearing a tunic and bearing a staff; he stands between a holy lamb and a group of wild beasts as if to convey the idea of a pastor protecting his flock from attacks.
In this doorway still swings an ancient oak door. The round bowl of the font is Norman, with sunken arches; the chancel arch and the east window are of the 14th century.
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