Breadsall (All Saints)
BREADSALL (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Shardlow, hundred of Appletree, though locally in that of Morleston and Litchurch, S. division of the county of Derby, 3 miles (N. E. by N.) from Derby; containing 620 inhabitants. This place was for several centuries the property of the ancient family of the Harpurs, ancestors of the Crewes, of whose mansion there are still some picturesque remains near the church. A house of friars Eremites, afterwards converted into a priory of Augustine monks, was established at an early period, as is supposed by some member of the Dethic family; its revenue at the Dissolution amounted to £18. 0. 8. The site, with the adjoining lands, was granted by Edward VI., in 1552, to Henry Duke of Suffolk, and came soon afterwards to other hands. The parish is situated on the Midland railway, the Derby and Eaton canal, and the road to Chesterfield; and comprises by measurement 2219 acres of fertile land, mostly pasture. There are quarries of coarse gritstone. The village, which is ancient and well built, is situated in the vale of the Derwent, and at the foot of a hill which shelters it from the north and north-east winds. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 2. 8½.; net income, £580, arising from land allotted in lieu of tithes in 1815; patron, Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart. There is an excellent rectoryhouse. The church is a large handsome structure with a lofty spire, in the early and decorated English styles, and having a fine Norman arch at the principal entrance; it contains some rich specimens of carved oak, and an ancient stone font: on the south side of the chancel is a monument to the memory of Erasmus Darwin, the poet, who died here in 1802. The Methodists have a place of worship. A school is endowed with £10. 8. per annum, arising from a bequest of £200 by the Rev. John Clayton, in 1745; excellent schools and a house for the master were built a few years ago, the former by Sir George Crewe, and the latter by the incumbent. There are remains of a Roman encampment; and in a field belonging to the glebe is a very perfect tumulus, crowned by a venerable oak. John Hieron, a non-conformist divine of some celebrity, was incumbent from 1644 till 1662.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.