Bakewell (All Saints)

BAKEWELL (All Saints), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union (exclusively of a portion which is in the union of Chapel-en-le-Frith), in the hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby; comprising the townships of Ashford, Baslow with Bubnell, Beeley, Blackwell, Brushfield, Buxton, Calver, Chelmorton, Curbar, Flagg, Froggatt, Harthill, Hassop, Great Longstone with Holme, Little Longstone, Monyash, Over and Nether Haddon, Rowland, Great Rowsley, Sheldon, Taddington with Priestcliffe, and part of Wardlow; and containing 10,363 inhabitants, of whom 1976 are in the town, 26 miles (N. W.) from Derby, and 152 (N. W. by N.) from London. The Saxon name of this place, Baderanwylla, or Badde cum Well, of which its present appellation is a contraction, is derived from a chalybeate spring, which was in great repute prior to the year 924, when Edward the Elder is said to have built a castle, or fort, in the vicinity. The town is in an improving state: it is situated on the river Wye, in a beautiful and picturesque vale, about four miles from the confluence of the Wye and Derwent, and at nearly an equal distance from Buxton and Matlock, between which places is an excellent road, leading by Bakewell through a district replete with pleasingly diversified scenery. Two miles south of the town is Haddon Hall, the property of the Duke of Rutland, one of the largest and most perfect baronial mansions in the kingdom: about three miles towards the northeast is Chatsworth House, the princely seat of the Duke of Devonshire; and two miles and a half to the north is Hassop Hall, the seat of the Earl of Newburgh. The chalybeate baths have been lately re-established by the Duke of Rutland; the principal bath is 33 feet long, 16 wide, and of proportionate depth, and is constantly supplied with fresh water, which, on its influx, emits a considerable quantity of carbonic acid gas, and possesses a temperature of 60° of Fahrenheit. There are also shower-baths and a private warm-bath, with suitable accommodations; and a news-room has been added to the establishment. An agricultural society has been formed, the members of which hold their meetings at Bakewell and Chesterfield alternately, generally in October.

Near the entrance into the town from Ashford stands a cotton-mill, erected by the late Sir Richard Arkwright, in which about 300 persons are employed; and in the immediate vicinity are extensive lead-mines, and quarries of black and grey marble, and of chertz, which last is used in the Staffordshire potteries, in manufacturing earthenware. The market is on Friday: on every alternate Monday there is a cattle-market, which is now extremely well supplied with store and fat cattle and sheep; and fairs are held on Easter-Monday, Whit-Monday, Aug. 26th, the Monday next after Oct. 10th, and the Monday after Nov. 11th, for horses and hornedcattle. One of the quarter-sessions for the county was formerly, and a petty-session for the hundred of High Peak on the first and third Friday in every month, is still, held here. A mineral court is also held for the manor, according to the local articles and customs of the lead-mines within it, which have prevailed from time immemorial. The powers of the county debt-court of Bakewell, established in 1847, extend over the greater part of the registration-district of Bakewell.

The parish comprises about 70,000 acres, chiefly hilly ground affording excellent pasture for sheep and cattle, and of which the Dukes of Rutland and Devonshire are the principal proprietors. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £40; net income, £350; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The tithes for the townships of Bakewell and Over Haddon were commuted, with some exceptions, for land and a money payment, in 1806. The church is a spacious cruciform structure, partly Norman, and partly in the early English style: the central tower, which was surmounted by a lofty spire, becoming dangerous from the failure of the pillars that supported it, has been taken down. Within are several magnificent altar-tombs of alabaster, with recumbent figures, and a stone font of great antiquity; in the churchyard is a cross, decorated with rude sculpture. At Baslow, Beeley, and Buxton, are churches, the livings of which are in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire; and at Ashford, Chelmorton, Great Longstone, Monyash, Sheldon, and Taddington, are others the livings of which are in the gift of the Vicar. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and others. A free school was founded by Lady Grace Manners in 1636, and endowed with £15 per annum, which has been augmented with £35 per annum by the Duke of Rutland. St. John's hospital, for six aged men, was founded and endowed in 1602, by Sir John Manners Sutton and his brother; the income amounts to £40. A dispensary and a lying-in institution have been established. The poor law union of Bakewell comprises above 50 parishes and places, and contains a population of 31,319. Dr. Thomas Denman, an eminent physician, and father of Lord Denman, chief justice of the queen's bench, was born here in 1733.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.