Notes on the Chapelry of Derwent in Hathersage, North Derbyshire.
By the Rev. Francis Jourdain, M.A.[1]
(Full extract of the paper published in "The
Reliquary", Vol 10 (1869-70))
"THE following account of Derwent is presented to the readers
of "RELIQUARY" with the object rather of eliciting
further information, than of supplying a strictly accurate
or exhausted record of this ancient Chapelry. The writer desires
to lay before his readers a specimen of what may, in his opinion,
be collected from many a small township or hamlet in the county
with greater success, and more important results, than have
been either attempted or attained in the present instance.
Removed from the ordinary sources of information, and obliged
to depend almost entirely on his own unaided judgment, the
writer begs that this plain sketch may be regarded in its simple
aspect - viz., as the record of traditions, customs, and legends
still floating with more or less distinctness in the memory
of man, now strung together with as much correctness and cohesion
as the subject matter would allow, and strengthened where possible
by patent and undeniable facts.
The Chapelry of Derwent, in its present form, is apparently
the wreck of a more imposing ecclesiastical establishment.
From the fact that the whole township is tithe-free, we may
not unfairly conclude that the 3,300 acres of which it is composed,
together with a large portion of the adjacent Township of the
Woodlands, belonged, in times past, exclusively to the church.
By way of proof, it may be noted that the farm, which now forms
portion of the glebe, not only preserves the name of "The
Abbey," but actually one wing of the ancient monastery,
whilst the foundations of large adjacent buildings may readily
be traced. When we add that another cottage, though rebuilt
in 1820, still bears the name of the "Abbey Grange," and
that the wood near Ashopton, on the right bank of the Derwent
as we descend, is called "The Friars' Walk," we have
strong presumptive evidence that the church had considerable,
if not complete, hold of the district. But there are other
evidences at hand which all tend in this direction. When the
chapel* (erected, according to the date on the corner-stone,
in 1757) was pulled down in 1867, portions of an older church
were discovered imbedded in the walls; fragments of capitals,
mouldings, and pillars, with sills and jambs of fourteenth
century work, were observed; in some cases with the colour
still fresh with which the stone had been formerly decorated.
And having thus determined the fact that a more ancient chapel
had once occupied the site, it is no less certain that another
chapel existed in what is still called "Chapel Lane," on
the woodland side of the River Derwent, between Birchin-lee
and Marebottom, and nearly opposite to the "Abbey." In
Saxton's Map of Derbyshire (circa 1570-1610) this chapel
is marked as being then in
existence, and the tradition still lingers in the neighbourhood
how, when the building became desecrated, and passed into the
hands of some farmer, his cows obstinately refused to enter
within the walls, and when at last compelled, they stood trembling
and affrighted, as though possessed by some mysterious influence.
It seems further probable that the ancient corn mill, which
passed with the manor lordship into the hands of the Earl of
Devonshire, was part of the monastic property: inasmuch as
formerly it was a socon mill, which every farmer resident
within certain limits, was obliged grind (a not uncommon source
of income for an abbey). This, coupled with its close proximity
to the chapel at Derwent (for mill dam and chapel were contiguous),
forces upon us the conviction that they belonged to the same
masters, and formed part of the establishment.
The question then arises, to what abbey was the property attached?
Neither Tanner in his Notitia, nor Dugdale in his Monasticon,
allude, in the most distant manner, to an independent
religious foundation Derwent. In the list given of monasteries
suppressed during the reign of Henry VIII., there is no mention
made of this particular Abbey. We are, then, directed to the
conclusion that it rather formed an offshoot, or cell, of some
superior foundation; and hence destruction of a mere branch
would pass unnoticed in the more signal ruin of the mighty
parent tree. And here I would call attention to a notable fact:
the rich and powerful Abbey of Dunstaple, founded by Henry
I. for the regular Canons of S. Augustine, was possessed of
a large tract of country in the Peak of Derbyshire. From the
annals of that Priory, edited by the Rev. H. R. Luard, we gather
that the sheep and shepherds thereto belonging are always described
as being "in pecco;" but, to quote a communication
of the learned editor, there is no datum given by which the
exact situation of the Sheep-walk can be determined." Now
the whole tract of country comprised in the Townships of Derwent
and the Woodlands forms pre-eminent the Sheep-walk of Derbyshire;
not only are the moors extensive, they adjoin those of Glossop
in Derbyshire and Bradfield in Yorkshire; in fact, the main
stay and profit of the farms in this locality may be regarded
as depending upon this particular branch of farming. The horned
sheep common in this district, and so well suited to climate,
form a distinct breed, and derive their name from " Woodlands."
Again - no other locality in the High Peak (so far as I am
aware) presents us with undoubted monastic remains and monastic
tradition in the very neighbourhood of extensive sheep-walks,
nor has any other clearly-ascertained monastic ruin been proved
to occupy relation of cell to Dunstaple Priory, in
Bedfordshire. But assuming that Derwent was founded as an offshoot
from Dunstaple, or some religious house, we at once gain an
intelligible and consistent explanation of every ruin, and
every name yet surviving. The Abbey Grange q.d., the
farming establishment of an abbey, would exactly answer to
the requirements mentioned in the "Annals," whilst
the Abbey would form the residence of a limited number of the
brethren,
detailed from the parent house either for purposes of penitential
discipline, business, or recreation, to live in the branch
station at Derwent.
Owing to the large extent of country and the scattered character
of the population, two chapels would of necessity be erected
- one, as described, immediately opposite to
the Abbey, the
other lower down the river and adjoining the mill; in
both cases they would be served by priests of the fraternity.
But the very extent of their possessions, and the power which
they exercised, in all probability hastened their fall; and
the jealousy felt against the monasteries in other parts of
England was, we doubt not, equally exhibited in this locality.
Amongst the grievances of the House of Commons, A.D. 1530,
the third count ran as follows :-
"That priests, being surveyors, stewards, and officers
to bishops, abbots, and other spiritual heads, had and occupied
farms, granges, and grazing, in every country, so that the
poor husbandmen could have nothing but of them, and yet for
that they should pay dearly."
That the religious endowment was purely monastic in its origin
is, I think, sufficiently proved from the melancholy fact,
that after the Reformation all ordinary means for providing
spiritual ministrations had vanished. For in 1688 we find the
then Earl of Devonshire paying, through his agent (Mr. Greaves,
of Row-lee), five pounds as a gratuity to the Rev. Mr. Nicholls,
for his services at Derwent Chapel. It further appears, from
accounts still extant, that the Earl pastured sheep on the
moors, and worked the corn mill at Derwent; most probably continuing
in these respects the practices of his predecessors - the monks,
and also granting a portion of his profits toward supplying
the spiritual wants of the parish. At this time, and for many
years afterwards, the population of Derwent was much larger
than at present; a considerable manufacture of Yorkshire cloth
being carried on in the village and in the scattered houses;
in fact, a row of houses appears to have stood upon part of
the ground now occupied by the hall gardens; and in walking
about the district, we may trace the foundations of many houses,
whilst others once inhabited are now used as barns or stabling
for cattle. This accounts both for the profusion of charitable
endowments granted in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
and also for the anxiety evidently felt at that time to obtain
some fixed support for the resident minister.
In 1722 the first endowment of the curacy was secured by the
purchase and restoration of the Abbey farm to the church, mainly
through the exertions, as it would appear from "Exton's
Liber Valorum," of the Rev. Robert Turie, who likewise
assisted in improving the livings of Edale and Dore. On this
farm the incumbent resided, and the following lines, inscribed
on a quarry in one of the windows, relate to the family of
a clergyman of the name of Hall, who lived there for some years,
and met his death by drowning in the River Derwent, when returning
at a late hour from a gathering at one Woodland farm-houses
:-
"Mary Hall, Abbey, July 24th, 1764.
Long May you live, and Happy may you be,
Blest with content, and from misfortune free"
But the great feature on the farm is
the large grave mound existing in what is called "The
Low Field," which
has been always venerated as the burial-place of a British
king. It originally measured about twenty-five yards in diameter.
On the top of the hill immediately to the north of Derwent
Village is another place of interment, called "Pike Low;" hence
a degree of sanctity appears to have been attached to Derwent
before the introduction of Christianity; whilst, owing to its
retired position, and yet comparatively easy access to such
important stations as Brough, near Hope, Melandra Castle, near
Glossop, and the Yorkshire towns and villages, it may have
thus reached some degree of importance, independently of its
ecclesiastical foundation : certainly the names of the hills
and farms in the parish furnish us with undoubted Saxon derivations
- e.g., Whinstone-lees, q.d. Battle Stone Meadows; Grimbo Carr,
q.d. Grimbald's Rock; The Shire Owlers, Ouzel-den, &c.
As to the history of Derwent in more modern times, perhaps
the best authenticated and most interesting tradition is that
connected with the Rebellion of 1745. A company of stragglers
from the Pretender's army took possession of Derwent for some
time, and gained a living by the unscrupulous, but not over
easy, process of robbing the inhabitants, who took care that
articles of value should be buried, or hidden out of sight
in crow's nests, until the intruders had vanished. It would
seem that the chapel received some damage during their visit,
which, indeed, would not be unlikely if, as I have been given
to understand, the rebels were starved
to death within its walls. At all events, it was rebuilt shortly afterwards by
Mr. Balguy, of the Hall. The bodies of the Highlanders were
not taken to Hathersage, the parish churchyard, but buried
in a little nook called Smithy Hill near to the present parsonage
stables: skulls and bones have been turned up on this spot
within a comparatively recent period. It is also said that
an application was made at the Derby Quarter Sessions for money
to rebuild the chapel at Derwent; and as the hundred of a county
is legally held responsible for damage done to a place of worship
in times of civil commotion and rebellion, this would, if true,
form an additional testimony to this account.
Perhaps the recollection of what foreign occupation really
meant induced the worthy farmers of Derwent and the Woodlands
to meet, A.D. 1798, in the chapel, with the object of forming
a company of volunteers, to repel the then threatened invasion
of England by the French; and resolutions were on that occasion
unanimously passed for organizing and clothing a contingent
for this purpose.
It remains to be added, that the ancient feast day is still
observed in honour of the patron saint, James the Greater,
to whom the chapel was dedicated. On the font is carved the
coat of arms (three lozenges) of the Balguy family, also the
date of 1672, and the name of the Squire spelt phonetically,
thus-" Henery Bauegey."
The Hall itself, which was rebuilt, or considerably enlarged,
in 1672, has passed from that family through many hands to
its present possessor, His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, Earl
Marshal of England.
* This chapel is engraved on Plate VI., from a sketch taken
at the time (i.e. the above image).
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