 The canons of Dale were largely responsible for turning the heavily forested land around Kirk Hallam into the fertile arable and pasture which predominated up to the 1950s.After the dissolution of Dale Abbey in 1539, the right to appoint vicars (the advowson) in Kirk Hallam eventually passed to the Newdigate family in the mid-18th century.The church was in such a ruined state it was lucky to escape demolition in 1778 and a public subscription organised by the Newdigates in 1858 supplied funds for a substantial and much needed renovation.