Kedleston is a small village in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, 4 miles NW of Derby. Under a mile to the E of the village stands Kedleston Hall, an 18thc country house with the church in the angle between the W wing and the main house. It is essentially a 13thc. cruciform church with a crossing tower. The only remaining Norman feature is the S doorway.

Before the Conquest Kedleston was held by Wulfsige and Godwine, and was assessed at 2 carucates. In 1086 it was held by Gulbert from Henry de Ferrers. There is no mention of a church in Kedleston in the Domesday Survey nor in Pope Nicholas’ Taxation Roll of 1291. The value of the church is made clear in the Valor Ecclesiasticus where the rectory is valued at £3 19s 6d.

The figure on the tympanum is a huntsman, although there is nothing to suggest what his prey might have been. The doorway is related to that at Hognaston, in the use of beakheads on the nook-shafts in a doorway with a figural tympanum, chevron arch and scallop capitals, although it is fair to say that there are no close comparisons in any of these features and we would not suggest a workshop connection.