Tag: Youlgrave

The Waters of Life and Death

On By SteveIn Places, Roadside featuresLeave a comment

Burycliffe Troughs, Elton

It is easy to forget the significance of a good water supply for both residents and travellers, something which is taken for granted today. But less than a century ago, up to 1940, the village of Elton was dependent for its water on Burycliffe Troughs, half a mile away, water which had to be laboriously carried by householders in buckets. Yet nearby Youlgrave had built its own water system in 1829, as indicated on its central cistern. Though this is not in use today, the village still maintains its independent supply, and provides it much cheaper than Severn Trent!

Youlgrave cistern

In nineteenth-century villages water was not usually piped to individual houses. Instead villagers collected it from wells scattered around, like this attractive example, also from Youlgrave, titled ‘The Gift’ and dated 1876. Similar examples can be found in many Derbyshire settlements.

The Gift, Youlgrave

Springs and wells had symbolic value in Christianity (and probably also in pagan beliefs). A late example of this is St John’s chapel in St John’s Road, Matlock Bath, a remarkable Arts and Crafts structure of 1895 built over a well, presumably a reference to St John as baptist. The stained glass windows also illustrate ‘The Waters of Life’ and ‘The Waters of Death’.

Well below St John’s chapel.

Many drinking troughs and wells can be found outside villages, as a critical part of the old transport infrastructure. The spring-fed example below, found near the top of the long climb out of Wirksworth and just below the Malt Shovel crossroads, would have provided a welcome drink for horses labouring up the incline, as well as for cattle and other animals being driven to and from market.

Drinking well on Wirksworth – Whatstandwell Road

Sadly, many of these wells have become choked with debris and allowed to dry up. It would be a positive addition to the landscape if they were cleaned and restored – and any passing horses would be very thankful.

Bridge building

On By SteveIn Rivers and bridges1 Comment
Below Matlock bridge

In the current dry weather it’s quite easy to climb down and inspect the underside of the arches of Matlock bridge, a structure thought to date from the fifteenth century. As can be seen in the photo, this reveals a clear joint between the original structure and the widening carried out in 1904, which allowed two-way traffic on the bridge (since reduced to one-way in the latest traffic scheme). This is a reminder that most pre-twentieth century bridges would have only been wide enough for one cart or coach at a time, as is still the case with One-Arch Bridge at Chatsworth.

Holme Bridge north of Bakewell

Some were still narrower, such as Holme Bridge, on the River Wye upstream of Bakewell; just wide enough for a train of packhorses to cross. This is a reminder that bridge building was high skilled and thus expensive, yet bridges were absolutely critical to the transport network. The earliest bridges probably had a wooden superstructure resting on stone piers: easier to construct but liable to be washed away in any flood. All-stone bridges, with arches and breakwaters to deflect floating debris, were commonly constructed from the twelfth century but their cost was often met by a local monastery or abbey. In addition, tolls were frequently charged to pay for their upkeep.

St Mary’s bridge chapel, Derby

Important river crossing often had chapels attached, as with St Mary’s bridge in Derby (the only bridge in medieval times) or Cromford bridge (now ruined). The chapels would have provided a shrine for travellers to pray for a safe onward journey, and doubtless to leave an offering for bridge maintenance.

Bridge over River Bradford at Youlgrave

With most ancient bridges, establishing a date is almost as difficult as dating a road. The example above, with its simple round arch, and too narrow for a cart, could be anything from a hundred and fifty to a thousand years old, and would probably have been repaired many times after especially violent floods.

Saints and sinners

On By SteveIn People, Road users3 Comments
Carving of pilgrim, Youlgrave church

This figure from Youlgrave church is thought to represent a pilgrim, with his (or her) staff and waist-hung satchel. We often think of pilgrimage in terms of the great medieval shrines of Christianity such as Santiago or Canterbury, but during the high middle ages (about 1100 – 1300 CE) many pilgrimages must have been more local, perhaps within a day’s journey of the pilgrim’s home. In Derbyshire, abbeys such as Dale as well as churches like St Alkmund’s in Derby would have attracted pilgrims. The main draw was the burial place of a saint or the ownership of a holy relic, such as a flask of Mary’s milk.

Sarcophagus in DerbyMuseum

Pilgrims hoped that being close to the remains of a holy person would benefit them in some way. Many were seeking a cure for an illness, often with the belief that a particular saint would help with certain conditions. Others might be making the journey as a penance, to compensate for some crime or misdemeanor. St Alkmund was a local saint who was murdered in Derby in the eighth century, and whose impressive stone sarcophagus can be seen in Derby Museum – the (rebuilt) church was demolished to make way for the city’s ring road.

St Bertram’s church, Ilam

Another local saint, although actually in Staffordshire, is St Bertram at Ilam near Ashbourne. He also lived in the Saxon period, becoming a hermit after his wife and child were eaten by wolves. One unusual feature of the church is that the shrine of the saint has survived, perhaps due to the remote location of the village. Most aspects of pilgrimage, such as shrines and relics, were removed during the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Yet although discouraged, pilgrimage was hard to suppress, and saw an effective revival in the growth of spa towns such as Buxton in the eighteenth century.

Ex-votos, Passau, Bavaria

In Britain there are few relics of pilgrimage, but in Catholic areas of Europe such as Spain or Bavaria it is possible to find displays of ex-votos such as the example above. These are often small paintings of a miracle rescue or healing brought about by the local saint, and given to the church in thanksgiving. In other places models of the afflicted body part, such as arm, foot or head, are displayed. Clearly, in an age of very limited medical knowledge, making a pilgrimage was often seen as an effective remedy.

Wells, springs and troughs

On By SteveIn Rivers and bridges, Roadside features2 Comments
Dressed well, Tissington

Travellers have always needed to drink, and so have their horses and dogs. Yet on the ancient ridgeways, crossing the limestone hills of north Derbyshire, there are few streams or ponds, and so providing drinking places has been critical. Stone troughs fed by springs are found by many old roads, though it is not clear who first installed them. The four horses needed to haul a stagecoach uphill for a mile or two would have needed a long drink by the time they reached the top of the climb.

St Alkmunds Well, Derby

Wells were another source of water, though usually designed just for human use. and more commonly found in villages. Well dressing is a famous Derbyshire custom, and is normally seen as a celebration of a reliable and plentiful water supply – possibly pre-Christian, although now, as the example above shows, co-opted by the Church. Wells have frequently given their name to streets, as with Coldwell Street in Wirksworth or Coldwell End in Youlgrave. Others were sanctified with a saint’s name, such as St Alkmund’s well above, or St Anne’s well in Buxton. It seems likely that the tradition of ‘holy wells’ pre-dates the Reformation in 1539, and in some cases the water from these wells was thought to have a healing value.

Well in Youlgrave ‘The Gift’ 1876

Today it seems shocking how long it took to provide a piped, clean water supply in many Derbyshire villages. Youlgrave was unusual in that it installed its stone reservoir in the centre of the village in 1829 (below), from which local wells such as the one above were supplied. Even today Youlgrave still has its own water supply, independent of Severn Trent. But right up to 1940 nearby Elton people relied on carrying water in buckets from a spring at Burycliffe, half a mile from the village.

Water reservoir, Youlgrave

The names of some old wells can be found on large-scale OS maps, for example Lady Wall Well, north of Baslow on the old route over the moor to Sheffield. Sadly, many of these have become filled with rubbish and are easily overlooked. Cleaning and renovating a local well would be a valuable project for a volunteer neighbourhood group, and help to preserve a link with the not-so-distant past.