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English Topography Part III : Derbyshire - Dorsetshire
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On this page:
Markeaton | Matlock | Measham
| Norton
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Kedleston. 43 |
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Markeaton.
[1805, Part I., p. 217]
I send you (Plate II.) a view of Markeaton Church, in Derbyshire,
for a brief description of which your readers are referred
to a letter of mine in Vol. LXII., p.306.
Yours, etc., J.P.M
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44 Derbyshire. |
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Matlock.
[1793, Part I, pp. 505, 506.],
The rough and rugged scenes at and near Matlock have afforded
such scope to the powers of poetry, painting and description,
that I presume such of your readers as have not been there
may think very little more can be said on the subject. However,
pray indulge me with a page in attempting to describe the
road from Chesterfield to Wirksworth. On a sultry day in August
last I left Chesterfield, and for some distance was amused
in passing along a pleasant road, which at length began to
rise and fall over hill and valley in a manner not altogether
agreeable. Besides, the vegetation diminished, the trees were
less, the luxuriant verdure of the level gave place to brown
heath and ragged stones, but, as I had not been to Matlock
by this road before, I felt consoled in the hope of soon reaching
the commencement of those scenes at once the haunts of business,
pleasure and health. But as we are taught that to reach any
point of felicity many dangers and fatigues must be encountered,
so, in the approach to Matlock, a gloomy variety presents
itself. From the tops of the rude, misshapen masses, some
of which are of great height, a great extent of country spreads
before you, studded with Hardwicke, Bolsover, Chesterfield,
Wingerworth, etc. While I remained on the summit the air was
sweet and refreshing ; I experienced the reviving scents accumulated
from myriads of plants. The valleys afford nothing but dust
and a most intolerable concentrated heat. The stone walls,
too, break the little circulation of air that would otherwise
prevail. So desolate is this part of Derbyshire, that for
some miles I saw but two or three habitations. What, indeed,
but extreme wretchedness could induce a person to live exposed
to the keen northern blasts that whirl round those bleak rocks
After descending an almost endless hill, the road makes an
elbow, leaving Ashover Church to the left, which peeps beautifully
among a group of trees; and here, for a mile or two, Nature
gives a rough sketch of what she intends at Matlock. The right
side of the road (which now ascends) is moderately level,
scattered with cottages and trees; the left, a bold rock adorned
with many trees; now the road this rock closing forms a dark
passage, composed of houses, trees and rocks, cool and refreshing
after a barren ride of upwards of eight miles. Here again
the traveller seems to leave the cheerful society of man ;
he plunges at once into a desert - not a tree or a bush to
relieve the black waving horizon. To make the scene still
more gloomy, the clouds grew dark, the sun assumed a fiery
red, and, as I rode, dismal tolling of a large bell saluted
my ears. Not a mortal near me, the evening approaching; but
that I was certain Matlock was not more than two miles before
me, I should have been tempted to return, were it only for
the comfort of again seeing a living creature
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Matlock. 45 |
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As the ground I was on was much higher than any of the hills
at Matlock, I was at once surprised and delighted with a grand
and awful scene that expanded below me ; all the rich profusion
of wild Nature thrown together in an assemblage of objects the
most sublime. To heighten the view, the Torr and rocks near
it were covered with crowds of people. Never did man appear
to me before in so humiliating a state; contrasted with the
vast piles of rock and mountain, he seemed diminished to a spec,
an atom. My curiosity was raised to account for this, I nearly
said, phenomenon : crowds on the summits of places almost inaccessible,
never visited but by an adventurous traveller or unlucky boy.
Sometimes, indeed, a straggling cow will advance to the verge
of the rocks and snuff the air; once I observed one with its
fore-feet so near the edge of the Torr that its neck and breast
were visible from the road beneath. After viewing with delight
this assemblage of Nature's works I began to descend. The way
was now lined with houses, and at each step it was amusing to
observe Matlock hills rising into consequence till, reaching
the bridge, they disappear ; when turning you view the road
you have passed winding up an uncultivated rugged hill, intersected
by stone walls. The bridge is plain, strong and in good repair.
Much cannot be said of the town : the houses are comfortable,
but much scattered; the church is plain, except the tower, which
is rather handsome. Its situation is fine, on top of a considerable
precipice; many trees grow on the abrupt adge and at the bottom.
Upon passing the river, you enter valley in which it glides;
each step adds to the beauty of the scene. The road winds close
on the river, sometimes hid by a group of trees. The boathouse,
placed under a rock and overgrown with foliage, must not pass
unnoticed, on viewing the vast and extended wall which towers
tremendous before you, unshaken by time, though not impervious
to persevering man; for many of the chasms in this pile afford
passages to mines, some worked, some neglected. To the right,
as you proceed, the hill rises to a great height, nearly uninterrupted
by rocks, while the opposite side makes an acute angle, near
which is the High Torr. This rock is of an amazing height, and
nearly perpendicular; it is pointed at top. For a very great
depth this rock is quite bare, and much smoother than any round
it; the descent then becomes less abrupt. At the foot a mine
is worked, which penetrates a great distance; a shaft meets
it from the surface, back to the Torr. The road was now nearly
impassable from the crowds of people and carriages ; for Sir
Richard Arkwright's funeral passed the Torr for Matlock Church,
where he is to lie till a chapel now erecting, and begun by
him, shall be finished. I no longer wondered at people on the
rocks; a better opportunity of judging the population of this
place could not have offered, and it is surprisingly great.
The ceremony was conducted with much pomp, and, |
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46 Derbyshire. |
| as nearly as I can
remember, was thus: A coach and four with the clergy; another
with the pall-bearers; the hearse, covered with escutcheons,
surrounded by mutes, followed ; then the horse of the deceased,
led by a servant; the relations, and about fifteen or twenty
carriages, closed the procession, which was perhaps half a mile
in length.
The evening was gloomy, and the solemn stillness that reigned
was only interrupted by the rumbling of the carriages and
the gentle murmurs of the river; and as they passed, the echo
of the Torr gently returned the sound. The whole was so rich
and uncommon that I continued to gaze till a turn in the road
closed the whole…..
Such a variety is there at this place that a particular description
is next to impossible. Imagine yourself on the hill, the river
beneath, numberless trees in all the various forms that an
obstructing rock or a want of support can occasion, a white
rock towering above you; the road, now leading to Cromford,
makes a sudden turn close to it; a cotton-mill, with a neat
little turret, surrounded by trees, the massy wheel turning
slowly, the water foaming from it ; at some distance, Sir
R. A. Arkwright's house, like a vast castle, with its keep,
etc., all embattled; farther, his mills, Cromford Bridge,
and the new chapel; behind, a chain of hills, partly covered
with wood, opposite the house a huge rock, fantastically adorned
with shrubs and trees; through this rock the road is carried
with much labour. Such is the scene on leaving Matlock. Proceeding,
a long rough hill, lined by new stone houses, makes the traveller
regret what he has left. Much to Sir Richard's credit, those
habitations are most comfortable. And, if one may judge of
prosperity by the insolence met with on this hill (from those
who had been to gape at the funeral), surely Cromford is a
happy place; but let it be understood, that I believe the
holiday had produced this redundancy of wit. After an unpleasant
ride over rough ways, which still are compensated by the rich
views of Matlock and Sir Richard Arkwright's house, I arrived
at Hopton, the hospitable mansion of Mr. Gell, much pleased
with is my route. ...
J. P. MALCOLM
[1795, Part II, p. 657.]
Permit me to present to your readers a view of that stupendous
rock, the Torr at Matlock (Plate III., Fig. 3). ...J. P. M.
(1793, Part II., p. 885.]
Having seen in your entertaining miscellany some picturesque
views in Derbyshire by your ingenious correspondent J. P.
Malcolm, I imagine the enclosed drawing of some very singular
rocks near Matlock Bath (see Plate II.) may be acceptable
to many of your readers.
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Matlock. 47 |
| The traveller who
wishes to explore this curious country must quit the trodden
path, climb the cragged cliff, and penetrate the dark recess.
he will there find ample recompense for his trouble.
The rocks here represented are upon the brow of the hill,
directly behind Mason's Bath, but the ground is enclosed with
stone walls, which, together with the bushes and brambles
that surround the rocks, make the approach rather difficult.
This curious group of rocks evidently appears to have been
separated by some violent convulsion in nature, which has
also formed several chasms: the projection of the little rock
over the great one is very remarkable. From this spot you
command a very extensive and pleasing view, I think preferable
to any in the neighbourhood of Matlock.
It may be thought extraordinary that no path has been made
from the Hall-house to this romantic spot; but, to take off
this appearance of neglect in Mr. Mason, who is as attentive
to the amusement as he to the accommodation of his numerous
guests, it is necessary to say that the ground behind the
house is not his property.
Yours, etc., H. ROOKE
Measham.
[1792, Part I., p. 409.]
Measham is situated on the southernmost edge of Derbyshire,
3 miles from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, on the road to Tamworth. It
is now, through the exertions of Joseph Wilkes, Esq., a populous
village, and the buildings are much improved. It has a market-house,
though there is not a regular market; and Mr. Wilkes has built
a corn-mill, which is worked to great effect by steam-engines.
"The church (see Plate III.), which formerly belonged
to the priory at Greseley, has a modern tower rebuilt upon
an ancient body. The living is a donative curacy. Joseph Wilkes,
Esq., is patron, who purchased this estate of a Mr. Wollaston.
The present minister is the Rev. Thomas Mould, one of the
masters of Appleby School, who also holds the curacy of Gresley.
-Abney, Esq., has likewise considerable property here, and
has built a good house at a small distance from the village
called Measham Field, where he resides."
-See "Topographer," vol. i., p. 521.
S. S.
Norton.
[1818, Part I., p. 497.]
The parish of Norton, in the hundred of Scarsdale, and deanery
of Chesterfield, is situate 8 miles from Chesterfield, and
4 from Sheffield. It takes its name apparently, according
to Dr. Pegge, from its being in the most northern part of
Derbyshire.
The church (of which a drawing by the late Mr. Grimm accom-
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48 Derbyshire. |
panies this, see
Plate II.) is dedicated to St. James. It was given to the Abbey
of Beauchief by its founder, Robert Fitz Ralph and was appropriated
to that monastery, which was distant about 2 miles from Norton.
The present impropriator of the great tithes is Samuel Shore,
Esq. The present incumbent, Henry Pearson, L.L.B., is also patron
of the vicarage, which is a discharged living, and is rated
in the King's Books at £45 3s. 6d. With the aid of several
benefactions, the endowment is now about £150 a year.
In the church is the monument (without inscription) of the father
and mother of John Blythe, Bishop of Salisbury, and Geffrey
Blythe, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (who appear to have
been natives of Norton), and the tomb of their elder brother
Richard. There are also monuments to the families of Eyre of
Bradway, Bullock, Morewood, Gill, Clarke, and Bagshaw. The number
of houses in Norton in 1811 was 300, of families 305, consisting
of 1,446 males and 1,527 females.
A satisfactory description of the parish may be seen in Messrs.
Lyson's " Topographical Account of Derbyshire," recently
published.
Yours, etc., N. R. S
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