Saint John the Baptist Church, a grade I listed building, dates from 1380 and is the most significant and largest building in the village of Tideswell. Otherwise known as The Cathedral of the Peak it attracts over 30,000 visitors each year (measured with people counters obtained with a grant from the All Churches Trust). Visitors come from all parts of the UK as well as from abroad and from the surrounding area. This large number of visitors provide valuable support for local businesses in this rural community.
The church provides a valuable space for the community and hosts a wide range of events to support it and help to keep it alive.
It hosts three regular services each week with different sizes of congregation as well as larger services for religious festivals. Services include ones for young families. The church provides an excellent venue for weddings (on average, 8 per year). There are on average 12 funerals per year. The church has an active bell ringing group which practices weekly and hosts approximately 12 visiting bands each year.
The Nave can seat 350 people if both side aisles are used and a specific space is set aside for those wishing to pray. The side chapel can seat about 15 people. While there are numerous interesting features to be observed in the church such as the elegant carving much is very difficult to see due to the poor lighting. Therefore only a small proportion of visitors linger and it is difficult for guides to engage them in conversation.
The church organises about 6 special events each year. These have included a community choir choral workshop and concert day, visits by local schools, a professional theatre group’s performance of The God Particle, special exhibitions, a Tideswell Male Voice choir concert, a major exhibition of community interests, plays by the Tideswell Community Players, a Tideswell Community Association Last Night of the Proms Concert, Kinder Children’s Choirs Concert, BBC Songs of Praise recording, a Maasai Warrior dancers concert and a Makers Market for local people selling hand made craft ranging from fabric goods, pottery and jewellery.
The church also provides space for Tideswell Community Kitchen Garden cared for by local volunteers. It offers a natural open space next to the church building for visitors, including children, to enjoy growing plants and produce. There is a supportive and social weekly gardening session and other volunteers join in at times that suit them.
