Description: St Mary's Church, looking north-west from the churchyard. St Mary the Virgin was the original parish church for Ilkeston and structurally has had something of a chequered career. At different times both the Chantry Chapel of St Peter and the spire collapsed, the latter in 1714, while in 1741 the roof of the chancel fell in. By the early 19th century the church was in a very poor state but it was not until 1855 that a scheme of restoration began. This view shows St Mary's as it appeared prior to 1910. In that year the tower was carefully dismantled and the nave lengthened from three to six bays, the tower then being rebuilt in modified form slightly further to the west than its previous site.