Thorpe (St. Leonard)

THORPE (St. Leonard), a parish, in the hundred of Wirksworth, S. division of the county of Derby, 3¼ miles (N. W. by N.) from Ashbourn; containing 196 inhabitants. It includes the Derbyshire side of Dovedale, which abounds with striking scenery. Thorpe Cloud on the right, and a towering pile of massive rocks on the left, of the southern entrance of the vale, form ramparts of majestic elevation, between and beyond which the river winds with varied course, sometimes rushing with tumultuous effort along the bases of stupendous cliffs, and at others expanding into a smooth and placid surface, reflecting the luxuriant verdure of its woodcrowned banks. At intervals, rude rocky masses of grotesque form, which have been fancifully denominated My Lady's Chair, Dovedale Castle, the Church, the Twelve Apostles, the Lion's Head, the Sugar Loaves, and the Lover's Leap, rise in succession throughout this enchanting dale, in which the more simple and the more sublime beauties of nature, in all their variety, are strikingly combined. The river flows from north to south. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 1. 6.; net income, £129; patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The church is partly in the Norman style, and being situated on the brow of a hill, and surrounded with trees, forms a very pleasing object in the landscape. In Domesday book the place is called Torp; at the time of that survey it was a royal possession, and it appears afterwards to have belonged to the Ferrers family.