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Farming the Derwent Valley

The bottom and lower sides of the Derwent Valley have been extensively farmed for at least 2000 years and probably much longer.

Typical Derwent Valley farmland, with hedged fields, on the low shelves west of the river at Handley Bottom south-west of Pilsley

At Ashford, the river emerges from a gorge in the limestone plateau and flows through the Wye Valley,  to its confluence with the Derwent.  Between the two valleys there is a series of low gritstone shelves that have also been extensively used.   Here there are also higher areas at Eyam Moor, Calton Pasture and Stanton Moor that are in effect outliers of the East Moors.

The village of Ashford, sited at the interface between the Wye Valley and the limestone plateau, was a royal manorial centre in the Norman period which equalled Bakewell in importance

For more information on the geology of the area go to place.

Settlement

The sheltered valley and shelves provide locations for villages, hamlets and scattered farms.  Many date back to the Medieval period and some may have significantly earlier origins.

The Derwent Valley between Matlock and Darley, with the fine 17th century hall at Snitterton in the foreground

Focal points are provided by the medieval market centre at Bakewell, which together with Ashford, Darley and Matlock were royal manorial centres in the Norman period.  Hathersage, Calver, Baslow, Edensor and Eyam are also relatively large villages.  Some settlements, such as Grindleford and Padley, have grown from humble beginnings because of their proximity to Sheffield and the desire to commute in the first half of the 20th century, aided by the opening of the Sheffield to Manchester Railway in the 1890s.

Other Medieval settlements are now deserted, as at Nether Haddon.  Smaller hamlets and farms, many documented in the medieval period, occupy narrower and less-advantageous parts of the valleys as well as higher locations.

There are several fine medieval churches in the valley, including examples at most of the villages noted above.   Baslow and Bakewell have strong stone bridges of medieval date over the rivers and Eyam is well known for its 17th century plague associations.  Mills at Bakewell and Matlock Bath for example date back to the late 18th century and were built by Sir Richard Arkwright during the industrial revolution.

Edensor is exceptional.  Those parts visible from Chatsworth House were demolished in the early 19th century.  The remaining buildings rebuilt or re-faced in a variety of architectural styles under the direction of the 6th Duke of Devonshire and Joseph Paxton, to create a picturesque if eclectic estate village.

Houses in Edensor facing the Park and main public approach road to Chatsworth from the north, illustrating some of the architectural styles employed in the early 19th century when this village was radically re-designed to create an ornamental feature within the estate landscape

Fields and Woods

The fields of the area, traditionally used for cattle, sheep and crops, have been created and altered over many centuries.

In some places there are as many hedges as there are walls.  The varied fields, reflecting the mixed settlement and farming pattern, are the product of a greater mixture of influences at different dates compared with those on the limestone plateau and patterns of development are not as clear-cut.

Many places on the sides of the Derwent Valley, as here below Froggatt Edge, have small irregular fields created and modified over several centuries, with ancient woodlands above

There are more woodlands on the upper, rocky slopes of the valleys here than anywhere else in the Peak District.  Some of these have survived because of the influence of large estates such as those of the Dukes of Rutland and Devonshire, who wanted to create wooded backdrops to Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall as well as providing a long-term cash crop.  Many other woods survived because for several centuries they were vital to local industry, providing timber for lead miners and fuel for lead smelting.  Often they were carefully coppiced in order to grow suitable timber.

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