Crooked Spire Chesterfield Art Print

Nestled on the edge of the Peak District in Derbyshire lies the market and industrial town of Chesterfield, and within it stands a rare and interesting site that fascinated me as a child ... St Mary & All Saints Church was built in the late 13th century and, is a church much like any other in England, except for its truly remarkable and strangely twisted spire.

Leaning at a spectacular nine feet from its centre, it visibly twists into something you'd expect to see in a Tim Burton film. It clearly looks crafted from another era and appears to defy the laws of gravity as it twirls skyward. There is a great deal of folklore surrounding the church and the reasons behind how the spire became warped and twisted – but the more accepted scientific opinion relates to a combination of unseasoned timber, heavy lead cladding, and the heat from the sun – ingredients for a cocktail of chaos and crookedness.

Whatever the cause(s), the Chesterfield skyline remains forever unique.