Little Church – Foundation and Status.
Conflicting theories, south aisle:
§ *south aisle added at the end of the 12th century (WILLIS)
§ *south aisle built c. 1200 (Early English) (WARD)
§ *aisle added soon after the Norman nave was built (PEVSNER)
§ *south aisle is not necessarily 2nd oratory, because the chronicle doesn't say so. The south aisle was added in the early 13th century (CLARK)
§ *south aisle occupies the very site of the Hermit's original oratory, although the present walls were not built until at least 150 years after his death; it was reconstructed about 1250 (KERRY).
North aisle:
§ *Augustinian canons from Calke founded Depedale Priory between 1149 and 1157, built or re-built church on the site
§ *Lower parts of the walls of the north aisle, the south wall of the chancel and the north door are their work (WILLIS)
§ The doorway is *about 1200 (CHATFIELD) *Norman (WARD)
§ *Masonry of the nave is Norman (PEVSNER)
§ Some masonry dates from the mid 12th century, and *may be fragments of the Gomme’s chapel: north aisle (CLARK)
§ Fragments of Norman arcade and doorway c. 1150: the doorway on the west wall is c. 1250 (KERRY)
§ Chancel north and east windows are insertions of the earlier 14th century (CHATFIELD).
String course:
The south-west corner of the chancel has a respond - like projection with fragments of a Norman string-course dating from 1150 (WILLIS). The archway is not a doorway or a window, therefore it must have opened into a chamber of some sort, on the south aisle site.- *the Hermit's oratory (WARD). This is discussed in KERRY T, with exhaustive speculation.
*Not necessarily the 2nd oratory because the chronicle doesn't say so, and the string-course
may have been re-used stone from elsewhere (CLARK).