St James' Church Home Page

Welcome to St. James Church, Smisby. Use the Menu above for more information about the Church.

Welcome to the web pages for our ancient village church.

St James Church has stood on the hill above the village of Smisby for more than 950 years. There are four churches in the Benefice we belong to – Melbourne, Smisby, Stanton by Bridge, and Ticknall.

The Incumbent is the Rev'd Canon Rosemary Donovan who is suported by a Ministry Team of Clergy and Readers.

Safeguarding

The Revd Alan Winfield is the Parish Safeguarding Officer, and any safeguarding issues should be raised with him. See details on the Safeguarding Page.

News from the Annual Parish Church Meeting held on 10th May 2026.

After more than thirty years as Church Warden, Gary Margerrison has called time and has stepped down from this office and as Church Treasurer. We are very grateful to him for all he has done for the church over the years.

At the meeting, the following people were elected to serve on the Parochial Church Council (PCC) – Pat Barnes, Jayne Mansfield, Hazel Salt, and David Edwards.

The church officers for 2026/7 are:

Church Warden Vacant

Treasurer Vacant

Vice-Chair Pat Barnes

Electoral Roll Officer Pat Barnes

PCC Secretary David Edwards

Safeguarding Officer Rev Alan Winfield

Damaged graves

We have applied for a Faculty (rather like planning permission but granted by the Diocese of Derby) to remove conifers that are damaging two family graves in the churchyard. The notice about this is displayed on both the main gates to the churchyard and on the church door.

Church Services at Smisby

7^th June 2026	5.30 p.m.	Holy Communion
14^th June 2026		no service
21^st June 2026	5.30 p.m.	Evening Prayer
28^th June 2026	5.30 p.m.	Evening Prayer
5^th July 2026	5.30 p.m.	Holy Communion
12^th July 2026	5.30 p.m.	Evening Prayer
19^th July 2026	5.30 p.m.	Evening Prayer
26^th July 2026	5.30 p.m.	Patronal Festival

Thanks to more research by Garry Margerrison we now have finally identified the details for all of the fallen that we remember at Smisby. We now have not just their rank and service numbers but where they died and where they are buried including those from WW2 on who we previously had no information.