Hartington
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
Peak District
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, lying on the River Dove
River Dove, Derbyshire
The River Dove is the principal river of the southwestern Peak District, in the Midlands of England and is around in length. It rises on Axe Edge Moor near Buxton and flows generally south to its confluence with the River Trent at Newton Solney. From there, its waters reach the North Sea via the...
close to the Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
border. According to the 2001 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, the parish of Hartington Town Quarter, which also includes Pilsbury, had a population of 345. Formerly known for cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
-making and the mining of ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, the village is now popular with tourists.
Architecture
Notable buildings in the village include: the market hall (formerly the site of a marketMarket
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
); the 13th century parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of Saint Giles
Saint Giles
Saint Giles was a Greek Christian hermit saint from Athens, whose legend is centered in Provence and Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from Arles to Santiago de Compostela, the...
; and 17th century Hartington Hall
Hartington Hall
Hartington Hall is a much altered and extended 17th century manor house at Hartington, Derbyshire which is now a youth hostel.The hall was built by the Bateman family. They were a well established Norfolk family who settled at Hartington in the 16th century...
. A prominent house in the centre of the village (featured in the photo 'Hartington', below right), is Bank House built by the former village mill owner and in the past used as the village bank. A half-mile (800 m) to the south of the village, on the Dove, is the fishing house of the famous angler Charles Cotton
Charles Cotton
Charles Cotton was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to The Compleat Angler, and for the highly influential The Compleat Gamester which has been attributed to him.-Early life:He was born at Beresford Hall...
. In the north of the village is Pilsbury Castle, an 11th century motte-and-bailey castle, that survives only as an earthwork.
Near Hartington is the finest neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
stone circle
Stone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
in the Peak District
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
, Arbor Low
Arbor Low
Arbor Low is a Neolithic henge monument in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England. Arbor Low is located in the White Peak zone of the Peak District in Derbyshire . The White Peak is a Carboniferous Limestone plateau lying between approximately 200-400m OD...
. There are numerous ancient tumuli and cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
s in the landscape around Hartington, probably dating from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
.
Hartington Mill, now a private house, stands by the River Dove. This was the local water mill for grinding corn.
Attractions
The village has a youth hostelYHA
YHA may refer to:* YHA Australia, a youth hostel association in Australia* Youth Hostels Association , a youth hostel charity in the United Kingdom* Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand, a youth hostel association in New Zealand...
at Hartington Hall
Hartington Hall
Hartington Hall is a much altered and extended 17th century manor house at Hartington, Derbyshire which is now a youth hostel.The hall was built by the Bateman family. They were a well established Norfolk family who settled at Hartington in the 16th century...
, which serves two major National Cycle Network
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
routes; the Tissington Trail
Tissington Trail
right|thumb|200px|The Trail at the site of the former Tissington station, now a picnic site.The Tissington Trail is a bridleway and walk/cycle path in Derbyshire, England...
and the High Peak Trail, which meet at nearby Parsley Hay. These trails pass just under one mile (1500 m) to the east of the village, and offer 30 mile of off-road cycling and walking along old railway trackbeds through the Peak District National Park. Hartington signal box, on the site of the former Hartington railway station
Hartington railway station
Hartington railway station opened in 1899 about two miles away from the village it served - Hartington in Derbyshire, south east of Buxton....
, and nearly two miles (3 km) distant from the village, has been renovated and converted to a Visitor Centre.
A little south of the village, overlooking the Dove, stands Wolfscote Hill (388 m at ), a good viewpoint, now in the care of the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
Three miles (5 km) to the south-west lies the small settlement of Hulme End
Hulme End
- Introduction :Hulme End is a small hamlet in Staffordshire, England. It is located in the Peak District National Park about 10 miles north of Ashbourne...
, which marks the northern starting point of the Manifold Way, an 8 miles (12.9 km) tarmacked walk- and cycle-route following the route of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway
Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway
The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, Great Britain that operated between 1904 and 1934. When in operation, the line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the standard gauge system. It also provided passenger...
.
History
According to the English Place-Name SocietyEnglish Place-Name Society
The English Place-Name Society is a learned society concerned with toponomastics and the toponymy of England, in other words, the study of place-names ....
the name of the village derives from the Old English for either 'Stags' hill' or 'hill connected with Heorta'. Hartington was mentioned in the Domesday book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as belonging to Henry de Ferrers
Henry de Ferrers
Henry de Ferrers was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri...
and being worth forty shillings. The parish was originally quite large, and part of the hundred of Wirksworth. Hartington had four township
Township (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
s, known as the Town Quarter, Nether Quarter
Hartington Nether Quarter
Hartington Nether Quarter is a civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, that resulted from the subdivision of the old Hartington parish. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 410. The parish includes Biggin, Heathcote and Newhaven....
, and Middle Quarter, and Upper Quarter
Hartington Upper Quarter
Hartington Upper Quarter is a civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, originating from the division of the ancient parish of Hartington into four. The parish had a population of 451 according to the 2001 census....
, which are now all separate parishes. These became separate civil parishes in their own right in 1866. They are marked on Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
maps.
Surnames that originate from this area include Heathcote
Heathcote (surname)
Heathcote is a surname rooted in English topography which literally means "Heath Cottage". The location in Derbyshire was first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as "Hedcote", and as "Hethcote" in 1244. The location in Warwickshire appears is written "Hethcot" in the 1196 Feet of Fines...
.
Cheese
The former creamery in the village, often called the cheese factory, was founded by the Duke of DevonshireDuke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire is a title in the peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and have been rivalled in political influence perhaps only...
in the 1870s; it was one of the three sources of Stilton
Stilton (cheese)
Stilton is a type of English cheese, known for its characteristic strong smell and taste. It is produced in two varieties: the well-known blue and the lesser-known white. Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin by the European Commission, together one of only...
, and also produced its own unique Dovedale cheese
Dovedale cheese
Dovedale, also marketed as Dovedale Blue, is a cheese from the Peak District of Great Britain. It takes its name from a part of the River Dove on the Derbyshire and Staffordshire border known as Dovedale....
and others such as Buxton Blue cheese
Buxton Blue cheese
Buxton Blue is an English blue cheese that is a close relative of Blue Stilton, is made from cow's milk, and is lightly veined with a deep russet colouring...
. The factory was closed in 2009 after being sold by Dairy Crest
Dairy Crest
Dairy Crest Group plc is a major dairy products company in the United Kingdom. Its brands include Cathedral City Cheddar cheese, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite, Clover, St Ivel and Frijj. The company delivers milk to around 1.1 million households via their milkmen...
to the Long Clawson Dairy Company. The cheese shop associated with the factory has re-opened under private ownership.