Baslow

"BASLOW was formed into a civil parish 13 July 1869, from Bakewell parish, and includes the hamlet of Bubnell. It is in the Western division of the county, hundred of High Peak, petty sessional division and county court district of Bakewell, rural deanery of Eyam, archdeaconry of Chesterfield and diocese of Derby, 8 miles west from Chesterfield, 12 south-west from Sheffield and 4 north-east from Bakewell, and is situated on the east bank of the river Derwent, over which is an ancient stone bridge of three arches leading to Bakewell, and a bridge erected by the Derbyshire County Council in 1925 at a cast of £30,000. The land for the site of the new bridge and approaches was given by the Duke of Devonshire K.C., P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., T.D.

The parish is bounded on the north-east and west by a range of lofty hills and by extensive moors, and the situation of the village and its fine adjacent scenery cause it to be much frequented in summer by the inhabitants of Sheffield and other towns.

Since 1883 the parish was governed by a Local Board, but under the Local Government Act, 1894, it now has an Urban District Council, and is supplied with water from reservoirs on Heathy Lea and Cupola Roughs, the latter the property of the Urban District Council. There are also gas works.

The church of St. Anne, charmingly situated on the eastern bank of the river Derwent, is a building of stone, consisting of chancel, derestoried nave, aisles with arcades of four arches, south porch, and a low tower at the north-west angle with octagonal broach spire and containing a clock and 8 bells, the 3rd and 5th mediæval, and the others dated respectively 1839, 1745, 1820 1754. There are five stained windows, four being memorials. The oldest existing portion is the tower and spire, erected at the close of the 13th century. The nave may be attributed to the 14th century, and its west window is a good specimen of the Geometric period. The heavy battlements of the porch, nave and aisles are Early Perpendicular, and the nave has a flat perpendicular roof. The rood loft, sedilia, some stained glass, and a memorial to Robert Eyre, existing about 1730, have disappeared.

In the north wall of the aisle is an iron plate in an oaken frame, with an inscription to Thomas Marple, 1742; and there are some small mural brasses to the names of Oddy and Grundy (1753-1790). The chancel has a mural monument to the Rev. John Barker M.A. for 30 years incumbent of Baslow (1824), and his eldest son, the Rev. Anthony Auriol Barker M.A. who succeeded his father, and held the living for the same length of time; another to the Rev. J. Stockdale M.A. 48 years vicar, who died Oct. 24, 1907, and to Mrs. Stockdale, who died at Baslow in April, 1892, and one to the Right Rev. Frederick Barker D.D. some time vicar of Baslow, and Lord Bishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of Australia (1854-84), whose remains were interred in the churchyard; he was born at Baslow, March 17,1808, and died at San Remo, April 6, 1884.

Built into the west wall of the porch is a coffin slab of the 13th century bearing a floriated cross. In the vestry is preserved the veritable whip of the last church "dog-whipper". The church was restored and enlarged in 1853, chiefly at the expense of the Dukes of Rutland and Devonshire. A new chancel and vestry were built in 1911, at a cost of about £1,000, to commemorate the coronation of H.M. King George V. At the same time a chancel screen and clergy stalls were added by the late Mrs. F. Stanton in memory of her husband.

There are 350 sittings. The churchyard, enlarged in 1878 by the enclosure of about a quarter of an acre, is very picturesque, owing to a fine row of stately elms on the side adjoining the river, with old yews and trees here and there, and contains some ancient stone coffins and a few curious slabs of stone. South of the churchyard remain the basement steps of an old cross, now supporting a modern pedestal and shaft, with a sundial. In the churchyard is a cross, erected in memory of the men connected with this parish who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-18.

The registers, once in a dilapidated condition, were thoroughly repaired by the authorities at the British Museum; they date from 1659, and contain numerous irrelevant interpolations.

The living is a perpetual curacy, net yearly value £330, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire K.G., P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O, T.D. (lord lieut.), and held since 1928 by the Rev. Alfred Edward Drew M.A of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. There is a Wesleyan chapel. The charities are of considerable yearly value.

The Stockdale Institute, a building of stone erected in 1900, contains reading, billiard and recreation rooms. The Duke of Devonshire K.G., P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., T.D. is lord of the manor and the principal landowner. The soil is clay and sand, on strata of sandstone and gritstone. The area, with the hamlet of Bubnell, of the civil parish and Urban District, is 5,808 acres of land and 26 of water; the population in 1931 was 854.

Post, M.O., T. & T. E. D. Office. Letters through Bakewell