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| Ashbourne - three early twentieth century
engravings |
Discussed below:
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 Ashbourne, The Mansion |
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Illustration by Nelly Erichsen taken from Firth's book on Derbyshire
[1] |
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The Mansion, near the end of Church Street,
is an early eighteenth century building. Probably the best known
guest was Dr. Johnson who used to visit his lifelong friend,
Dr. Taylor, in the reign of George III. Samuel Johnson apparently
used a small room that became a bathroom, so this would have
been on the back staircase. Here is the view from the garden,
showing the wonderful octagonal room designed by Robert Adam
which is entered from the garden by a flight of steps. The spire
of St. Oswald's can be seen behind the trees. |
The gardens extend down to the Henmore Brook; when the Henmore broke
its banks in the floods of the late 1950's and early 1960's the water
went quite a way up the garden. For part of its history The Mansion
was home to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School's girl boarders and the
webmistress lived here for six years during term time.
 Church
Group from Matlock, photographed in The Mansion garden in the
1920's, is elsewhere on this website.
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| Ashbourne, The Old Grammar
School |
On the opposite side of the road from The Mansion is the Old Grammar
School founded in 1585 and named after the then monarch, Queen Elizabeth
I. It was a great honour when, four hundred years later, Queen Elizabeth
II visited the school.
Pupils, amongst whom, briefly, were two of the grandsons of Sir Richard
Arkwright[2], were taught
in the old school building for over three centuries until the new
school was built on the Green Road. There was a playground behind
the building and the gardens extended up the hillside. The road on
the Old School side is below the pavement and there are two sets of
stone steps to assist those wishing to cross.
Sir Richard
Arkwright |
Illustration by Nelly Erichsen taken from Firth's book on Derbyshire
[1]
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There were boy boarders at the school for around
two hundred years but in recent times the Old School building
has been sold for conversion to dwellings.
When the contents of Osmaston Manor were sold, the then headmaster
Donald Kimmins bought some very fine Grinling Gibbons linenfold
panelling; it was installed in the main entrance way (through
the second doorway from the left) by a master and some of the pupils. |
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To the right of the main door are four large windows.
This was the panelled dining room where the Queen was entertained
to lunch in 1985 and was the original schoolroom.
One of the stories told on dark winter's nights by girl and boy boarders
alike was that the ghost of Lady Cockayne, wife of one of the school's
founders, walked the length of the junior boys' dormitory on the first
floor.
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| Ashbourne, Church Street |
Pevsner[3] described Church
Street as "one of the finest streets in Derbyshire". The engraving
below shows Owlfield Almshouses (1640) which have their doorways opening
directly onto the street. Sideways to the street are Pegg's Almshouses
(1699). The brick wall with the blank arches was The Mansion's stables.
Then comes The Mansion and St. Oswald's Church, which has a lovely
set of wrought iron gates dating from about 1700, is further along. |
Illustration by Nelly Erichsen taken from Firth's book on Derbyshire
[1] |
The churchyard, filled with daffodils in the Spring, has many tombstones
and inside the church are some very fine monuments, especially those
to the Cockayne and Boothby families that are in, and just outside,
the Boothby chapel in the North Transept. Of especial interest to
many is Joseph Bank's white marble carving of Penelope Boothby dating
from 1791.
More onsite info about Ashbourne:
Derbyshire's
Parishes, 1811 A - C See Ashbourne
The Gentleman's
Magazine Library
Also recommended
GENUKI photograph of the Old School |
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Postcard in the collection of, provided by and © Ann
Andrews Intended for personal use only
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References:
[1]Firth, J.B. (1908) "Highways and
Byways in Derbyshire" MacMillan & Co., London
[2] Fitton, RS (1989) The Arkwrights,
Spinners of Fortune Manchester University Press ISBN 0-7190/2646-6,
p.262
[3] Pevsner, Nikolaus (1953), "The
Buildings of England, Derbyshire", Penguin Books
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