Rebuilt into the nave of the church on the interior north wall

St Werburgh's church was restored in 1827–8 (Cox 1875, 94) and it is likely that the column was taken from the previous church building and reused in the present. First noted by the author during a visit to the church in 1994.

St Werburgh

The greater parts of the capital and base are intact with a number of sections of the column surviving. The sides of the base and capital appear to have been dressed-off slightly and there is a rough groove in the centre of the base. The capital appears to be cracked in the centre with a small part missing. Of the eight sections of the column, three have wide, vertical, slots cut into the centre of each, corresponding to the groove in the base. The column appears to be part obscured in the wall fabric, or it may have been cut down to give the impression that it lies partly within the wall.

Base: This has a rounded chamfer fanning out to the bottom on a thin square base, with a moulded band around the base of the lowest section of the column; the central slot is roughly cut into the chamfer and the moulded band.

Capital: The capital is of similar design to the base except that its square section (at the top) is thicker. Below this is a smaller rounded chamfer fanning out towards the top. A moulded band runs round the capital where it meets the uppermost drum of the column. The crack runs through the square top, the chamfer and the moulded band.

Column: The column is composed of eight, undecorated, cylindrical drums of different height which are mortared together. The slots are cut into the second, fourth and fifth sections from the top.

Appendix A item (stones dating from Saxo-Norman overlap period or of uncertain date)

Whether this represents the original full height of the column is unknown; the varying heights of the drums suggest they may have been cut down when the piece was set into the nave wall, and the entire monument may have been truncated at that time. It certainly appears to have been reused from a previous architectural phase of the church; the slots cut into the base and some of the column drums suggest it may have been used to attach a screen or some other item of ecclesiastical furniture at an earlier date. Its present function is decorative, and it was probably selected because of its apparent antiquity; Cox (1875, 94–5) noted that the fabric of the previous church was ‘ancient’. It is similar to columns reused in the parish church of St Wystan, Repton and which now flank the south door to the church in the porch (Repton 20b, p. 224, Ills. 367-8). These were removed from the area of the chancel arch of the Anglo-Saxon church, but are likely to have been reused Roman components, possibly from the fort at Little Chester (Derby); good communication routes existed between Repton and Derby, by river and road. The Roman road northwards from Derby to Chesterfield (presently the course of the A61) passed close to the west of Blackwell and it is quite probable that the Blackwell column was also from the Roman fort at Little Chester.

Probably Roman, reused during the Anglo-Saxon period

Unpublished