Mugginton has a fine prospect over a green countryside of hills and dales, with a brook below winding to Kedleston Park.
Its glory is an ancient church whose life began more than 1,000 years ago. One of two old yews in the churchyard is claimed as one of Derbyshire's oldest inhabitants.
However even older than the tree is a tiny window in the west wall of the church, probably Saxon. The tower has Norman work, including a belfry window and the corbel table, though the upper stage is of the 15th century. The Norman west doorway is blocked by a buttress. A small doorway at the east end of the south aisle is of the late 13th century.
The south doorway and the nave arcade are themselves over 600 years old.
On an outside wall of the church is the crest of the Sanders family which gave Cromwell a colonel for his Ironsides. He was the fine old Sir Thomas Sanders who was buried under the chancel in 1695, having lived to see the rise and fall of the Commonwealth, the return of the Stuarts, and the coming of William and Mary.
In a lovely situation on the crest of billowy hills, reached by narrow lanes, is a small stone chapel joining a brick farmhouse; it was built by a farmer, Francis Brown, in 1723 and has the curious local name of Halter Devil Chapel.
|