Tag: Chesterfield

Comings and goings at Haddon

On By SteveIn PeopleLeave a comment
Desirable gentleman’s residence

Haddon Hall, near Bakewell on the River Wye is such a remarkably well-preserved late medieval house it has been irresistible to film makers. Firebrand, the story of Henry VIII and Katherine Parr, is currently on release, and previously Haddon has been the setting for two versions of Jane Eyre (involving burning the building down), Pride and Prejudice, and many others. In the mid-sixteenth century it was the home of Sir George Vernon (born 1503), whose steward kept an account book which gives us a glimpse of the network of transport links which sustained life in a great house at that time.

George Vernon at rest in Bakewell church

The accounts for the Christmas period 1564-5 include payments to entertainers as well as for food and drink. ‘The Earl of Worcester’s players, presumably a travelling theatre group, earned 14/3d (fourteen shillings and threepence), while ‘Wetton the minstrel and his fellows’ were paid over 30/- (nearly £600 in modern values). Hawkers must have been welcome visitors, since John Basford and ‘other hawkers’ were given a Christmas tip of 10/-. Drink was bought in huge quantities: the ‘tenants of Baslow’ were paid 12/3 for bringing a tun (supposed to be 250 gallons, but hard to believe this could be transported) of wine to the Hall, while a gallon of malmsey ‘for the cook’ cost only 2/-. Food was bought from various local markets, especially Chesterfield and Ashbourne, but also Lenton fair near Nottingham, and Derby. ‘Shoes for kitchen boys’ came from Bakewell (5/4), while 3 crannocks of salt cost 30/-, with carriage an extra 10/- (presumably carted from the ‘wiches’).

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury

The accounts also reveal regular travel between Haddon and Sheffield. ‘One of my mistress’s men’ was paid 2/- for carrying a letter to ‘my lord of Shrewsbury’ in Sheffield. At this time George Talbot was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who would soon (in 1567) marry Bess of Hardwick. On the 19th of September 1564 George Vernon had gone to Sheffield, presumably to visit Shrewsbury, and was provided with 10/- ‘to play at dice’. He must have gone with an entourage, since it cost 27/- to put them up in Sheffield for five nights. On the way home 4d was spent on ‘bread, cheese and drink’ for the men at Holmsfield, a village on a direct route from Sheffield to Haddon. Clearly a source like this raises as many questions as it answers, but nevertheless does give some fascinating insights into travel nearly 500 years ago.

Sources

Carrington, W. (1894) ‘Selections from the steward’s accounts preserved at Haddon Hall’. DAJ XVI pp 61-85

Hey, D. (2001) Packmen, Carriers and Packhorse Roads. Landmark pp 136-7

Driven by drovers

On By SteveIn PeopleLeave a comment

Well into the twentieth century herds of cattle or flocks of sheep were a common feature of rural roads. Even after the coming of the railways, farmers often had little alternative to walking their animals to and from markets. As towns such as Sheffield and Chesterfield grew, the demand for meat meant that beasts had to be walked from further afield. The major drove roads from Wales and Scotland to London passed around the Peak District, but within Derbyshire there was regular movement from upland grazing areas to the Derby and Nottingham markets.

Green lane near Minninglow

For more distant markets where better prices might be found, farmers entrusted their animals to a drover, a well-respected and licensed man who could take the animals to sale in good condition, and even more importantly, bring the cash home! Very few records of these men survive, but droving must have been a hard life, with a seasonal bent – busiest in the autumn when the grass stopped growing. A herd of a hundred cattle or more wouldn’t travel more than ten or twelve miles per day, and would have to be securely kept at night in a field with grazing and water. Drovers (and their essential dogs) would use the same routes regularly, and make arrangements with farmers and innkeepers en route, perhaps sleeping themselves in barns or outhouses. Identifying these routes today is difficult, but wide verges, such as can be seen in Minninglow lane above, may provide a clue, since the cows could have found some fodder on the hoof.

Bit of confusion

Drovers must have avoided turnpike roads where possible, not only to escape the tolls but also to save clashing with faster traffic. The foul state of the road surface after the passage of a hundred cattle can be imagined, especially in wet weather. The herds were not only taken directly to butchers, but were also driven to fairs such as Flash Fair above Beeley, which attracted buyers from a wide radius. One possible drove route identified by Dodd and Dodd runs from Hartington on the Staffordshire border to Biggin, Newhaven, Cardlemere Lane, Minninglow, Summer Lane near Wirksworth, Ambergate, Bullbridge and on to Nottingham. The first half of this provides a decent walk today, and is certainly more relaxing if you don’t have a hundred frisky bullocks to keep in order.

Sources:

Dodd and Dodd (1980) Peakland Roads and Trackways

Hey (2001) Packmen, Carriers and Packhorse Roads

Baslow and beyond

On By SteveIn Rivers and bridges, Roadside features1 Comment
East end of Baslow old bridge

Driving on the busy A623 through Baslow today, it is easy to miss the medieval bridge next to St Anne’s church. Yet this was part of an important route in the eighteenth century: carrying the turnpike from Monsal Head to Chesterfield, while before then it carried packhorse traffic heading for East Moor and Sheffield. In 1500 an order was issued forbidding the carriage of millstones over the bridge; presumably their weight was damaging the earliest structure (which may have been wooden at that date). The small stone hut at the end of the bridge is sometimes called a watchman’s shelter, but elsewhere it is presumed to be for a toll collector. However the entrance is so low it is hard to imagine how this would work, unless the job was given to a child!

Lady Well, Bar Road

The old route can be followed from the bridge by crossing the main road and following School Lane uphill. This takes you through the heart of the old village but then continues more steeply uphill as Bar Road. Although this name may suggest a barrier or turnpike, according to Dodd and Dodd (1974) Bar was a name widely given to tracks that led down from the moors. Rather confusingly, Burdett’s map of 1762 tautologically names the river that flows through Baslow into the Derwent ‘River Barbrook’. Higher up Bar Road, beyond the houses, is the Lady Well, providing a welcome drink for travellers and their animals before climbing the last stretch up onto the moor. Once on the top, various landmarks such as the Eagle Stone and the Wellington Monument provide guidance.

Painting of the old bridge

Rain

On By SteveIn People, Rivers and bridges1 Comment
Sir George Crewe of Calke with son John

It’s easy to assume that every extreme weather event – heatwave, drought or flood – must be the product of global warming. However, the storm that hit Derbyshire almost exactly 192 years ago, on the 26th of June 1830, could hardly have been caused by this. The event is recorded in the diary of Sir George Crewe of Calke Abbey, who describes how at 11.30 in the evening:

‘…the rain began to fall in torrents – I might say to descend in one sheet of water. Such rain I never heard before … Thus it continued, I should think, for at least an hour and a half‘.

Calke Abbey

In the morning Sir George went downstairs and found that the house had been flooded overnight through the front door, with red mud all over the carpets. Outside the lawns were covered in mud and the drive had been swept clear, down to its foundations. As a magistrate he had to drive to the Petty Sessions in Ashby that morning, and he records the difficulty of getting there due to the washed-out state of the roads.

A nineteenth-century view of Swarkestone Bridge

His diary records that on July 13th he had to attend the Quarter Sessions in Chesterfield – a substantial journey on horseback of about 45 miles (he must have had to stay overnight). The route would have taken him over the ancient Swarkestone Bridge, which had fortunately survived the torrents. At the Sessions he was told that the county needed £7,000 for bridge repairs as a result of the downpour – in modern terms, nearly a million pounds. No less than six bridges on the Amber alone had been swept away. Clearly, even the best turnpike roads at this time were unsealed, and so liable to be washed out in the event of severe rain.