I. THE CHURCH AND PARISH OF HOPE.
F the prehistoric races who inhabited Britain, few
parts of
England retain more abundant evidence than the Highlands of Derbyshire, in the number
of
'tumuli' and stone circles still existingand, the frequent occurrence of the suffix
‘low’, the Anglo-Saxon equivalent for 'tumulus,' in the place names of
the district.
The
wild inhabitants of Britain found a retreat among these mountain solitudes
before the advance of the Roman legions; and there are traces yet of
British earthworks at Carl Wark near Fox House, on Mam Tor, and elsewhere,
as well as of Roman outposts at Brough (Anavio), Melandra near
Glossop, and at Buxton. These races were probably never completely
subjugated by the Romans in this part of England, and they retained their
hold upon this country for a century and a half after the final withdrawal
of the Roman garrisons. Probably no very widespread Saxon or English
settlement existed in the district of the Peak before the eruption of the
Danes into the kingdom of Mercia in the ninth century. It is to the Danes
that the county town and county owe the name of Derby, or Deoraby, the
settlement near the Deer.1 The name suggests the propinquity of forests,
and a big game country the Peak remained for many centuries. It was a
Royal Forest before the Conquest, and continued so until the reign of
Charles I, when the inhabitants of the district, “ being desirous to be
freed
- ‘ Deor’ (Anglo-Saxon)
signifies a wild animal, hence Deer, as also the Danish 'Dyr ';
'by' being, of course, of Danish origin. Some writers derive
Derby from an old British word ' Dwr,' signifying water.
1
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
from
the severity of the forest laws and customs and the incom-modiousness of
deer, lying and feeding in their corn and grass, and other
inconveniences,” petitioned the King; and in or about the year 1640 the
said forest was disforested and the deer therein destroyed.1
Most
of this country was probably only forest in the sense of waste land
appropriated to sport, as in the Scotch ' Deer Forests' of to-day.
Deer and wild boar were the principal objects of the chase, and
wolves lingered here as late as the reign of Henry VII.
A
very considerable portion of the forest was included in the ancient parish
of Hope, which down to very recent times was one of the largest parishes
in England. It included
Shall-cross and Fernilee in the valley of the Goyt beyond
Chapel-en-le-Frith ; Fairfield, now a part of Buxton ; the district round
the Snake Inn known as the Woodlands or Hope Woodlands ; the present
parish of Bradwell; and in ancient times Tideswell, the two Hucklows,
Wardlow and Foolow. On the east the parish extended to beyond Stoke Hall
and Nether Padley. At the
census of 1841 Hope parish was returned as containing 36,160 acres of land
and 4,434 inhabitants.
At
the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, the Manor of Hope was returned as
embracing the seven ' berewicks' of Edale, Aston, Shatton, half of
OfFerton, Tideswell, Stoke, and ' Muchedswelle '; the latter a vanished
place-name which modern research has failed to identify. The manor was the
property of the Crown before the Conquest, in the reign of King Edward the
Confessor, and formed part of the extensive domains granted by the
Conqueror in 1068 to William Peveril. Less than a century
- A copy of a Decree in
Chancery, March 8th, 1711-12. now in the Sheffield Central Reference
Library, in which the Township of Hope is mentioned as comprising “
the Hambletts of Castleton, Bradwall, Aston, and Thomhill,” refers
to the disforestation of the High Peak in the 10th year of Charles I
(1634-35). It was not actually carried out until.1640. The subsequent
enclosure of the land was deferred, owing to the Civil War, until the
reign of Charles II.
2
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
besides
the more complete examples to be seen at Eyam and Bakewell. By an order of
Parliament in 1643 "all crosses in any open place " were to be
removed and destroyed ; and it was most probably the enforcement of this
order during the Puritan regime that accounts for the use of this ancient
cross as building material in the reconstruction of the school house in
1655. An ancient circular
font has also been rescued from the vicarage garden by the present vicar,
and restored to its proper function in the church. The period to which it
belongs is a matter of uncertainty. Six
octagonal steps, in the churchyard near the south porch, now supporting a
sundial, probably formed the pedestal of a churchyard cross.
Built
into the churchyard wall, close to the north gate and facing the Edale
road, may be seen some stones which once formed part of the village
stocks. At the north west corner of the churchyard, fronting the main
road to Castleton, some old buildings, which were used as the Shambles,
once stood. They were only demolished in 1887.
The chancel of Hope Church was entirely rebuilt in
1882, leaving a fourteenth century piscina and sedilia in situ. The
east end of the chancel was again rebuilt in 1908, with enlargement of
the east window, the erection of a stone screen and marble reredos behind
the altar, and the insertion of several beautiful Kempe windows, by Mr. E.
Willoughby Firth. The chancel contains some good examples of wood carving,
old and modern; the latter executed by the late Mr. Micah How, an
inhabitant of the village and one of a family possessing hereditary talent
in this direction. The older carving includes the pulpit, upon the door of
which is inscribed in rather crude lettering: "Thomas Bocking Clairke
1652" and on the south panel: Thomas Bocking teacher—The
Churchwardens this year Michael Woodhead, Jarvis Hallom, John Hage, 1652
". Upon
5
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
the
schoolmaster's chair from the old school, also now in the chancel, is the
date 1664 and the words: " Ex torto ligno non fit Mercurius." The side walls of the chancel are panelled with carved oak
from the old pews which were broken up when the body of the church was
restored in 1887, at the expense of the late Mr. Edward Firth of
Birchfield. Upon this
panelling figure the arms quarterly of Eyre and Padley, the same impaling
Reresby, and an elaborate shield of Rereaby quarterings.
The
great Derbyshire family of Eyre seems to have originated at Hope. " William Le Eyr " of Hope, in the reign of Henry
III, held lands there of the King in capite by service of the
custody of the Forest of the High Peak; and his son " Robert Le Eyr"
of Hope under the same tenure of Edward I. They were what were called
Foresters of Fee, under the chief official or Bailiff.
Their descendant Robert, the third son of Nicholas Eyre of Hope,
married, in the fifteenth century, the heiress Joan de Padley, and was the
ancestor of the Eyres of Padley. Edward Eyre of Hope, in his will dated
May 6th 1559, leaves his body " to be buried in the Parish Church of
Hope in St. Nicholas Quere."1 This will was drawn by "Francis
Langton, schoolmaster of Hope ".
From
the parent stock at Hope descended the Eyres of Highlow, Offerton, North
Lees, Hassop, Hoime Hall, and Hopton ; and their alliances included the
families of FitzWilliam, Neville, FitzHerbert, Foljambe, Barlow, Strelley,
Balguy, Gell, and Reresby. By
marriage into the family of Gell an Eyre became possessed of the Hopton
estate, assuming the surname of Gell, and his descendants were allied with
the Jessops of Broom Hall, and became part patrons of the living of
Sheffield.
1 Dr. Cox refers to the existence of a Chantry in the Church at Hope. as
shown by the 'Valor Ecclesiasticus' (27 Henry VIII), and suggests that it
was dedicated to St. Nicholas, in view of the terms of this will. In the
Chapter Records at Lichfield a brawl is recorded in Hope Church in 1530,
when Robert Eliot maliciously struck Edmund Eliot on the nose before the
altar of St. Nicholas, for which the culprit was ordered to receive
corporal punishment by Canon Edmund Strettehay.
6
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
The
only fragments of old stained glass now in the windows of Hope Church
represent the arms of Eyre quartering Padley in one window, and those of
Gell of Hopton in another. The Gells acquired the Rectorial Manor of Hope
by purchase in the reign of Edward VI.
The
family of Balguy, with whom the Eyres were allied, held considerable
property in the neighbourhood. Their
original house appears to have been Aston Hall, still standing on the
slope of Win Hill in Hope Parish. They also inhabited Hope Hall, now the
principal inn in the village, Rowlee in the Ashop valley, and Henry Balguy
of Hagg and Rowlee built the older part of the present Derwent Hall, in
1672. In 1715 John Balguy esquire of Hope Hall procured a
grant for a weekly market at Hope and four fairs. The market was
discontinued for a time subsequently and revived in 1843. It is now held
on alternate Wednesdays. There
is now only one fair held, on May 13th, old May Day; and it used to be a
Statutes Fair, the lads and lasses standing in the churchyard, until this
was stopped by Vicar Cave.
There
is a small brass in the chancel to the memory of Henry Balguy, who died
17th March 1685 in the 77th year of his age.
It bears the figure of a man in pointed hat and doublet, having a
pen in one hand and a book in the other, the arms of Balguy, and a Latin
couplet with English translation
as
follows:
''
A mundo ablactans oculos tamen ipse reflecto Sperno flens viciis lene
sopore cado. W ained from the world, upon it yet I peepe, Disdaine it,
weepe for sinne, and sweetly sleepe,"
On the walls of the old
chancel was a coat of arms, now represented by a marble tablet,
commemorating another ancient family, the Woodroofes. Their name was no
doubt derived from the office of wood reeve, or wood steward, held in
connexion with
7
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
the
forest. The last heir male of the main stem of this family, Ellis.
Woodroofe, died in 1634. He was a barrister by profession and reader to
the Inner Temple, but ended his days at Hope. He was the son of Roger
Woodroofe esquire by Alice daughter of John Thorne and Frances bis wife;
the latter being the eldest daughter of Sir James Foljambe of Walton, near
Chesterfield, by his wife Alice FitzWilliam. Ellis Woodroofe's eldest
daughter and co-heiress, Jane, was married at Hope 19th September 1642 to
Peter Foljambe, who succeeded to the Foljambe estates, on the death of Sir
Francis in 1640, as next of kin. The eldest son of this marriage was
Francis Foljambe of Steveton and afterwards of Aldwark in the county of
York. In the Parish Registers of Hope the following entry occurs: "Georgius
Foulgam generosus de Aston," buried at Hope December 30th 1685.
He was the third son of this Foljambe-Woodroofe marriage, and he
took to wife Jane, daughter of Thomas Balguy of Aston.
Francis
Foljambe of Aldwark, a descendant of the above-named Francis Foljambe, and
ancestor of the Foljambes of Osberton, Co. Notts, is mentioned in a deed
of 1740, in the parish chest at Hope, as a landowner in the parish, and
then the sole surviving trustee of the old Free School of Hope.
Close
to the church at Hope is an inn, still bearing the sign of the ' Woodroofe
Arms', where a branch of the family of Woodroofe continued as innkeepers
and parish clerks for many generations.
A Nicholas Woodroofe was parish clerk at the time of his death in
1628, a Thomas Woodroofe in 1667, and a Nathan Woodroofe in 1676.
There would appear to have been a short break in the family
connexion with the office at this time, as in the Churchwardens' Accounts
John Stephenson is mentioned as parish clerk in June 1691. Anyhow, the
Accounts show that Ellis Woodroofe was clerk in 1710. He was succeeded,
8
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
on
his death in 1731, by his son Nathan; and the latter by his son, another
Nathan Woodroofe. The last mentioned had a son Nathan, baptized in 1773,
who appears to have held office as parish clerk, and kept the inn until
1854. It would seem therefore that the office of parish clerk was
hereditary in the Woodroofe family for more than two hundred years.
The
Parish Registers commence in February 1598-99 ; and the earlier pages are
dirty, stained, and in many places quite illegible. They appear also to
have been freely used by members of the Woodroofe family for practising
their signatures. These
Registers were, I believe, for a long time kept at the Woodroofe Arms;
and they suffered a serious mutilation during this period, to which I
shall refer later.
It
was the invariable custom of the Parish Clerk at Hope, until very
recently, to conclude the marriage service with the words, spoken audibly
in the Church, " God speed you weel ". I cannot ascertain that
this was done in the neighbouring parishes, but I came across the mention
of an exactly similar custom, even to the precise words used, in a parish
in the south of England. Another custom at weddings in Hope Church, still
occasionally indulged in I believe, was to place a rope across the church
door as the couple were leaving and demand toll. This was not uncommon in
Derbyshire parishes.
The
Churchwardens' Account Book commences in 1686, and the earliest entry is
an assessment of the parishioners of Hope dated July 26th 1661. Out of a
total of ^"10, raised by a "penny lay or score" (rate), the
Woodlands district yields the largest amount, viz.: ^2 10s. Following upon
the 1661 assessment is an entry made in 1845 of the result of the church
rate levied in Hope parish in that year; and it is very curious to find on
comparing the two lists that Hope village itself yielded, on a penny
rate, exactly the same sum, {,\ 5s. 6d., in 1845 as it did in 1661.
9
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
During
the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the entries in the accounts
for ale and other refreshments occur with extraordinary frequency.
Possibly the fact that during this period the Parish Clerk was also the
principal innkeeper in the village may afford some explanation. Thus we
get entries such as: To ye Clerk's bill for Churchwardens dinners ale
etc., £'3 9s. 5d.", and a similar entry for {£1 Os. 5d. The
office of Churchwarden had its compensations in those days. "Paid the
clerk his wages £2'. paid him more for ale drunk when we went ye
procession 13s.".
Paid
for liquor etc., at different Vestry meetings £1 ". Were the Vestry
meetings held at the Woodroofe Arms, I wonder ? All interviews and
bargainings required much liquid and other sustenance. " For meat
and drink when we agreed with the plumbers and came to view the work
" ; " Spent in ale and meat when we came to bargain with ye men
that came from Highlow " ; 'to ale at hanging the great bell"; '
to ale at putting new bellropes to the bells"; "to ale when the
timber was layed on the Hearse House".
There was also ale when ye Parishes (Parishioners) went to view ye steeple
". Apparently some protest was occasionally raised, for we read:
" Paid for ale and bread in going with procession, which is to be
omitted for ye future till further order " ; and again "To
dinners and liquor for Mr. Barber (the curate), the clerk, and ourselves
at Easter, 9s. 8d.; this is not to be continued". Nevertheless there
are numerous entries of ale for the ringers, and the singers, the sexton
Shepley, and William Jeffreys, who played the bassoon in church (thirsty
work no doubt), and of dinners for the latter. No wonder the accounts
required much rectifying, and we have "Spent at several times in
rectifying our accounts 7s. 6d.". The items for the Sacramental wine
each year are also very considerable, thus: ' For 9 gallons of wine at
Easter and fetching, 2 Ib. 15s. Od. " ; "bill for wine, 13
gallons & 1 at 7s. per gallon, 4 Ib. 14s. 6d.". In 1689 there is
an entry:
10
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
Paid
for a man and horse to Bakewell and Tideswell for wine against Christmas,
and there was none." In such an extensive parish considerable
journeys were necessary to administer the Sacrament to the sick folk at a
distance, and we find such entries as these : " Spent on ye Parson
and myself and ye Clerk when we went 3 days to give ye Sacrament to sick
people " ; and ' Spent in tending the Communion at Easter 5 days
10s.". There were also, of course, the expenses of attending the
Archdeacon's Visitations, and various official journeys to Lichfield,
Bakewell and elsewhere.
Special
collections in the parish were frequently made ' by virtue of Letters
Patent", or a Brief. The Brief, which was read out in Church, was a
mandate from the Privy Council ordering collections to be made for special
objects outside the parish, such as building churches, relieving sufferers
by fire, refugees, suffering Protestants abroad, &c. A large number of
these Briefs received at Hope, which are entered in the Churchwardens'
Book, are for losses by fire. There was a certain collection by Brief in
1686 for "French Protestants"; and another in 1689 for
"Irish Protestants". "For losse by Fire in ye parish of St. George in
Southwark" in 1690; "for casualties at sea" in 1692;
"for losse by fire in Hedon, concomitant with yt for ye redemption of
captives" in 1693; and again in 1700 "Paid to ye Brief for ye
Captives 10s. 2d." : "for ye poor distressed Palatines",
the inhabitants of the Palatine States of Germany, in 1709. There is an
interesting entry in 1752: "Collected upon the Brief for the
Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts". The Society known as the
S.P.G., the oldest of the Missionary Societies, was founded in 1701. There
are also entries for the "Colleges in America", and for the
relief of the distressed clergymen in America" in 1763 and 1779
respectively. Collections in Church were sometimes made for personal
objects, such as the purchase of a cow
11
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
for
some poor parishioner, so I am informed by an old resident of Hope. These
were called "boons."
There
are many entries in the Accounts of small sums given in charity to "travellers"
and others; some of them "by ye Parson's orders"; one by the
order of the Squire, Mr. Balguy ; but most of them "with a letter of
request", which was an order from the Churchwardens or Overseers.
There is an entry " to a traveller that was dum 6d.", and
another to " four seamen Is. " ; and one mysterious entry in
1697, "given to a distressed Knight 3s.". There are also entries
" Paid to a person directed to all Ministers and Churchwardens",
and " Paid to a passenger with some Justice hands at it."
The
mysterious " processions ", which were the occasion for the
consumption of so much ale, recur from time to time in the Accounts,
without any statement as to their object. On one occasion, however, the
word " Perambulation " occurs, and this certainly suggests the
beating of the bounds, which survived until recently in some parishes.
There are also frequent references to " Proclamations ". Thus in
1687 we have : " Paid for a book and Proclamation for ye 30th of
January ", the anniversary of the execution of Charles I. " Paid
for a book " is a common form of entry connected with these special
occasions; thus in 1688: " For a book of prayers for a day of
thanksgiving for ye Prince of Wales 3s. 6d.". This would be for the
birth of a son to James II, afterwards known as "the Old
Pretender". Again, in the same year, we find " Paid for book of
prayer for ye Prince of Wales and ye good prosperitie of the King from his
enemies 3s. 6d.". This was in the troubled times immediately
preceding the Revolution and the abdication of the King. In 1748 we have
" Paid for a Prayer for ye Distemper in Cattle Is." ; "
Paid for Beast Orders and a Fast Book 5s."; and "Paid to ye
Court about Horned Cattle 2s. 6d."
12
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
Coronation
Day, Royal Anniversaries, and victories of the British Arms and those of
our Allies, were duly honoured in the Parish by payments to the ringers
for ringing the bells, and the usual consumption of ale at the public
expense.
The
purchase of material and the making of the vicar's surplice figure as
items in the accounts: and there was also an annual payment of 10s. to the
vicar's wife for washing the same. For a number of years the vicar
received a gratuity of ^2, which was increased considerably in
1698; witness the following entry : " Given to ye vicar as a poore
acknowledgement of our thankful-ness and his greater merit 9 Ib. 10s. Od.".
Three years later, in 1701, the gratuity appears for the last time, owing
to complaints :
Paid
to Mr. Cresswell as a gratuity for this year, which for ye future, upon ye
complaints of some, he doth acquit, 9 Ib. 10s. Od.". Upon the decease
of Mr. Browne, the vicar in 1696, there are several entries of expenses
incurred in providing for the duty being taken before the appointment of a
successor: " Paid ye charges of Parsons yt came to preach 9 Sundays
at 4s. fid. a time"; "Paid to messengers to get Parsons to
preach"; " Expended when ye Parish mett about Parsons and other
extraordinary things".
Besides
the vicar's surplice, there are frequent entries for cloth and for making
clothes and breeches for Thomas Marshall, who for many years acted as
sexton. There is also an entry of a bell for Thomas Marshall, and of a
whip for " whipping ye dogs"; so it would appear that he
combined the offices of bellman, dog whipper, and sexton. In a minute of a
vestry meeting at Prestwich, near Manchester, thirteen shillings a year,
and a new coat every other year, are voted to George Grimshaw"for his
pains in wakening sleepers in ye church, whipping out dogs, keeping ye
children quiet and orderly, and keeping ye pulpit and church walls clean
". Dog whips are still preserved as curiosities
13
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
in
some country churches, as at Baslow, and sometimes an instrument on the
principle of a " lazy tongs ", with sharp spikes, was used to
drag the unfortunate dog out of church. In the Castleton Accounts of 1722
there is an entry: " Paid to sluggard waker 10s.", and in the
Hope Accounts there are entries for "wans" (wands), which were
probably used for disturbing the slumbers of inattentive members of the
congregation. In some churches a forked stick was applied to the nape of
the sleeper's neck, and the individual who performed this duty was known
as a " bobber ". At Warrington the following doggerel referred
to a family variously engaged in services connected with the church:
" My father's the clerk, my sister's a singer, my mother's the
'bobber', and I am a ringer".
A
mountainous country usually produces good voices and a taste for music,
and the Peak district is no exception to the rule. Tideswell had a great
reputation for its glee singers in the eighteenth century, and Hope also
appears to have been a musical place. There are payments to singers from
Bakewell, Bradfield, Bamford, Castleton, Edale, Mottram, Peak Forest,
Sheffield, and other places; and in reference to Hope itself such entries
as: " To Ellis Pedley for instructing young men to sing 5 Ib. 5s. Od.";
"Robert Barber's bill for instructing singers 12 months, 15 Ib. 18s.
Od."; besides annual payments to the singers in church. In 1759
"the inhabitants of the parish of Hope in vestry assembled agree to
pay the sum of sixteen shillings and sixpence towards paying for a Bassoon
and Hautbois to be used in the Parish Church ". There are also
entries in the accounts referring to the organ from 1809 onwards, and the
organist's salary of ^"10. We have also : " Mr. Marshall for
instructing the organist to play, £6 6s. Od." in 1817. In 1811 there
is an entry: " Benjamin Gleadhill for pricking tunes, 5s. Od.".
" Pricking tunes" or "pricking music" appears to have
been a local
14
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
expression
for copying music down to comparatively recent times. In 1777 there is an
entry : " Paid for a collection of Anthems by Hall of Sheffield 6s.
Od." ; and in 1788 : " Paid Mr. Hall of Sheffield for church
music 10s. Od.". John Hall of the Park, Sheffield, was a local
composer of oratorios. He
produced "The Resurrection" on April 5th, 1790, in Sheffield,
and in the Sheffield Register in the year 1793, it is announced
that he is engaged on a new oratorio to be called "The
Creation". He died in poverty in the Shrewsbury Hospital at Sheffield
in 1794.
In
the Churchwardens' Accounts at Hope a source of income which occurs from
time to time is entered thus: " Received from Lay Stalls", and
" For laying down 2 Lay Stalls in ye church."
The term is now obsolete, but it would appear to refer to a burial
place, and was probably confined to those within the church. The
definition given in the "New Oxford Dictionary" of "Lay
Stall' is of what we generally speak of as a
midden", or place where refuse is deposited.
There
is an entry in 1749 : " For removing ye garlands to make ye church
lighter." These garlands were probably similar in origin to those
which hung from the roof beams of Ashford Church, near Bakewell, until
recently. The Ashford garlands were made of paper rosettes, and had long
paper streamers, and in some cases paper gloves, attached to them. They
were borne before the coffin at the funerals of unmarried girls, and were
finally suspended from the roof, where they were suffered to remain. The
custom was once a common one in Derbyshire, and not very long ago several
churches had them. At Ashford it was customary to inscribe upon them the
name, age, and date of death, with often an appropriate, or what passed
for appropriate, verse. Miss
Anna Seward, the Derbyshire poetess and the
15
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
daughter
of a former Rector of Eyam, refers to them in speaking of her native
village, in 1792 : " Now the low beams with paper garlands hung,
In
memory of some village youth or maid, Draw the soft tear, for thrilled
remembrance sprung :
How
oft my childhood marked the tribute paid ! The gloves suspended by the
garlands' side,
White
as its snowy flowers with ribbons tied. Dear village ! long these wreaths
funereal spread— Simple memorial of the early dead ! "
A reference in ' Hamlet', in connection with Ophelia's
obsequies, " Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants "—crants
being the German name for these garlands—shows how old and universal a
custom it was.
Over
the south porch of the church at Hope is a small niche, which once
contained the figure of the patron saint, St. Peter. Here at one time it
was customary to suspend the remains of foxes killed in the parish. Foxes
were formerly a great source of trouble to the farmers in the .Hope
valley, and were from all accounts of a singularly bold and fierce breed,
more like wolves in fact, making great havoc among the lambs. In the
Churchwardens' Accounts there are frequent entries of sums paid for the
destruction of foxes; the price put upon a fox's head was the old lawyer's
fee of six and eightpence. Other entries of a similar kind in the Accounts
refer to "Raven Heads", "Urchin Heads" —urchins were
hedgehogs, there was no Herod at hope in those days—and"Boson
Heads". The boson, bowson, sometimes spelt boason, was the badger. In
Scotland a cow with a white mark down the forehead, like a badger, is
called a boasand cow. Similar entries of " Boson Heads" occur in
the Parish Accounts of Wortley near Sheffield. It is a term to be found in
Hunter's Hallamshire Glossary and in the New English Dictionary,
but in no other dictionary that I have consulted, and it is unknown at
16
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
the
present day in Hope, but so are badgers. The term Brock for badger is well
known, and "the Brocco" and "Brocco Bank" are familiar
place names in Sheffield. There are also entries in the'Hope Accounts for
the destruction of otters.
Many
old words, more or less obsolete now, occur in the Accounts, such as:
"a pair of gimmers " for hinges, " wiskitt" for
basket, "feath and gravel"—feath is a term still in use for
the spar refuse from the lead mines, used in making garden paths and for
asphalting, and in recent years as a valuable flux in smelting— piggin
", a small wooden vessel, and yates ", often used for gates,
also "yate" for gate in the sense of a road. A Scotch friend
wrote me that in Scotland they do not talk of a gate into a field or road,
but a " yett". They say " Shut the yett", " Open
the yett", and often " Dumfoound him ! He's lert the yett open,
and the kye got oot ".
The
ancient roads were generally distinguished by the name of gate, as Batham
Gate-", the old Roman way from Brough to Buxton, and Doctor's Gate
", between Brough and the Roman camp at Melandra, above the Snake Inn
on the road to Glossop. In some title deeds of a property near Hathersage,
which I had the opportunity of inspecting not long ago, tha word "
yate " occurs several times, as "the Yate House", and
"Cowhey Yate", in reference to property along the line of the
old Roman road from Brough over Stanage Edge, connecting with the "
Long Causeway " or Redmires road into Sheffield.
In
a book of accounts kept by a farmer in the Woodlands (Hope Woodlands) in
1740, which I had lent to me, several interesting old words occur. In a
list of funeral expenses is the item, paid to Mr. Wormald the vicar of
Hope, " for a Mortuary 10s.". As the " heriot" was the
payment on death to the Lord of the Fee of the best beast or its value in
money, so the " mortuary " was the ecclesiastical heriot, due to
the rector or
17
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
vicar
of the parish, of the second best beast or its equivalent in money ; and
this equivalent in the Hope district was fixed at 10s. The late vicar of
Castleton informed me that the same sum was exacted in Castleton in former
times. In default of a beast, in the Peak district, the vicar could claim
the best wearing apparel of the deceased, and even hives of bees and
articles of furniture were sometimes exacted in medieval times.
There
were some curious payments formerly as rent in connection with some of
the property around Hope. For some land at Aston, I was informed by the
then owner, the rent covenanted for by an old deed was " two fat
geese to be delivered in Hope Church porch on St. Thomas's Day ".
Many obligations were discharged in kind in old times, and in a MS. diary
of the Rev. Edward Bagshaw, Vicar of Castleton in 1742, he records
collecting his tithe at Edale in geese, calves, and lambs.
To
return to the farmer's account book, another word which occurs frequently
is " joyst ", still in use in the district and pronounced
" jist", with the ' i' long. It is an abbreviation of the word
" agistment", and is applied to a charge for pasturage on
someone else's land. " Paid for loosing a sheep from ye waif ".
The word " waif " is evidently here used for pinfold or pound.
In Johnson's Dictionary waif is defined as " goods found but claimed
by nobody ", as in waifs and strays ".
A thrave of straw" seems to have been an old measure. The
Dictionary meaning is two dozen, and it is said to be used in connection
with a drove or herd.
The
prices realized for stock by the Woodlands farmer, and the cost of
provisions and labour, in 1740, are not less interesting than the old
words to be found in the pages of his account book, one or two examples of
which I have mentioned. The usual price for agricultural labour then was
only 4d. a day ; and the highest annual wage paid by the farmer, according
to his account book,
18
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
was
£"5. The servant probably lived in the house and was fed. The keep
of a cow for a whole year for another farmer was priced at £"3. A
pair of oxen sold for ,£"12 10s. ; five cows for £18 5s. 6d.; and
two calves for £'1 15s. Two fat sheep fetched 14s. the pair, and a sturdy
sheep sold at ve wintering " only realized 2s. lid. A ram fetched
from 15s. to a pound. Sixty-four ewes were sold for £"17 14s. 2d.,
and fifty-one wethers for ,£24 19s. Farm horses could be bought for £"3
and £'5, and a mare and foal for £"7 6s. A good price for beef was
3d. a pound, a shoulder of veal cost Is. 6d., and a loin of veal lOd. A
quarter of mutton was only 2s., geese 2s. 6d. a couple, and a peck of
potatoes 6d.
The lady to whom I was indebted for the loan of this
account book told me that her father had remembered hearing his great
uncle, the farmer to whom the book belonged, speak of a visit from the
followers of Prince Charles Edward to the Woodlands in 1745; and of how
the farmers buried their silver and other treasures on hearing of their
approach. I had heard something previously of a similar tradition of the
Highlanders having visited the Woodlands ; but all historical accounts,
and some entries in the diary of a local Nonconformist minister, show that
the main army at all events pursued another route, both in their advance
and retreat. The following are the entries referring to the movements of
the Prince's army, from the diary of the Rev. James Clegg, minister of
Chinley Chapel and Doctor of Medicine. The original diary is at Ford
Hall:— Dec. 1st 1745—The Rebels left Manchester in ye morning and
entered Macclesfield soon after noon and lodged there that night.
Dec. 2nd—The Rebels rested all day in Macclesfield,
but soon had eaten up all their provisions, and made filthy and ruinous
work in their houses.
19
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
Dec.
3rd—The Rebels left Macclesfield and took the road to Congleton, Leek,
and Ashbourne.
Dec. 4th—Very early I sent my man to Derby with
letters for son Ben, but he could not meet with him. He left the letters
and made haste out, and saw the Rebels marching very near to Derby as he
came, and his mare narrowly escaped being pressed for the use of ye
Rebels. He came back in good time at night, having travelled about 54
miles that day. Dec. 6th—We hear ye Rebels, apprehending ye King's
forces to be near them, returned in haste from Derby towards Ashbourne.
Dec. 7th—A rumour prevailed that ye Rebels were just coming upon us,
which occasioned great confusion, but they were only advancing towards
Macclesfield. Son Middleton was there on my mare, but made haste out of
town. Dec. 10th—Ye Rebels have all returned to Manchester. They took
several persons with them from Stockport. Blessed be God ye Silk mill is
safe.
Dec. 12th—The last of ye Rebels left Manchester on
Tuesday, and carried off at this time 2,500 pounds in cash. It is not,
after all, unlikely that on the retreat of the Prince's forces some
stragglers from the main army did find their way into the Woodlands, en
route to Lancashire. The Prince, we know, was sulking, and his
officers were occupied in quarrelling amongst themselves, and the rank and
file probably were even less under discipline than they were during the
advance to Derby.
Within
the boundaries of the ancient parish of Hope are several old Halls, or the
remains of them, now humble farmsteads. Hazlebadge, once the residence of
the Vernons of Haddon, now in the parish of Bradwell; Aston Hall, formerly
the home of the Balguys, before referred to; Offerton Hall, under the
shadow of Shatton Edge; and Highlow with its Jacobean gate-
20
The Church and Parish of Hope.
way,
on the road from Leadmill to Abney—the two last originally inhabited by
branches of the numerous family of Eyre.
There
are other farmsteads bearing names which are found in documents of the
Tudor period, or in the reigns of the earlier Stuarts, once identified
with families of yeoman rank. Of the history of most of these families
there is not much to be gleaned, beyond the simple record of their births,
marriages, and deaths, to be found in the Hope Registers. They had not
much opportunity of distinguishing themselves. Though doubtless the Hope
valley did not entirely escape the backwash of hostilities in the Wars of
the Roses and the struggle between Charles I and Parliament, its
tranquillity seems to have suffered little disturbance, and its
inhabitants mostly pursued the even tenor of their way engaged in the
peaceful avocations of agriculture and mining. The hills and extensive
moorland upon every side shut off the valley from much of the turmoil and
bustle of the outside world. Until the close of the eighteenth century,
few carriage roads existed in the district. The Sheffield and the
Chapel-en-le-Frith turnpike, the main road through the valley, was only
constructed in the early part of the nineteenth century, and the Glossop
Road through Ashopton and the Woodlands in 1820. Pack-horses traversed the
bridle roads through the Peak from Sheffield and Chesterfield to
Manchester and Stockport down to the time of the battle of Waterloo, and
women still rode on pillions behind their menfolk.
Of
all the local families the Eyre family was the most important and
prolific, and I have already alluded to their dispersal over the
surrounding district and numerous alliances with families of distinction.
Their original place of residence or its site does not now appear to be
positively known ; but amongst the collections of the late Mr. William
Swift, at the Sheffield Reference Library, I came across the following
extract from a
21
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
diary
of the Rev. William Bagshawe of Banner-cross, one of t e Ford Hall family
: " Friday Jan 18th 1793—Visited the ruins of a house near Hope,
formerly the residence of Nicholas Eyre •who had 12 sons, many of whom
became the heads of considerable families."1 This was the Nicholas
Eyre who is said to have commanded a local company of archers at the
battle of Agincourt in 1415, and whose third son Robert married the
heiress of Padley.
Amongst the Swift papers I also found the following
note in reference to this Robert Eyre, which I have since found in the
Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society for 1902, with a
reference to Add. MSS. 28, III British Museum. In the latter publication
it is stated that " Robert Eyre fought at the battle of Agincourt
under the banner of his father Nicholas Eyre of Hope." 8 Hen. 6
(1431) " Robert Eyre of Padley gen' was indicted before John Dunbahem,
one of the King's Coroners for the said County of Derby, for the murder of
William Woodrove of Hope gen'.; and on his trial before Peter Pole and
Gerard Maynel the King's Justices, assigned to deliver his gaol at Derby
of the said Rob Eyre on Monday next after the Feast of St. George the
Martyr 8 : Hen: 6, the following circumstances appeared:
On the Sabbath Day next after the Feast of the Holy
Cross in the 7th year of the reign of the then King, the said Robert and
William were riding friendly together from the town of Chesterfield to the
town of Hoime, when a quarrel arose between them and some approbrious
words passed, and the said Robert wishing to put an end to the quarrel
said to the said William Friend
you well know that we are kinsmen
1. I have been recently informed that there is a tradition that the seat
of the Eyre family at Hope was called ' Nether Hall,' and that it was
situated at the east entrance to the village, on the site or immediate
neighbourhood of the house now occupied by Mr. Joseph Hoime; and that a
meadow close to this house was long known as Nether Hall Yard. ' Higher
Hall' or ' Upper Hall' on the Edale Road, leaving the village, is said to
have been the house of the Woodroofe family.
22
and
called honest men, and therefore it is disgraceful for us to fight and for
the whole country to hear us quarrel." On which the said William got
off his horse, drew his sword, and struck the said Robert on the back part
of his head and would have killed him but for a large red handkerchief
which was tyed several times around his head; and the said Robert being in
fear of death retreated to a hedge, and when he could get no further, in
order to save his life, he drew his sword to defend himself and struck the
said William on the head, of which wound he languished without speaking
till the second day and then died. The Jury found the said Robert not
guilty of the death of the said William; but said upon their oaths that
one Peter Swordsman of Brecknock in Wales labourer at Hoime aforesaid, the
day and year aforesaid, the said William feloniously did kill; therefore
the said Robert was thereof quit and the said Peter Swordsman taken."
Was the above verdict a form of legal fiction, equivalent to ' justifiable
homicide,' of the same character as the fictitious ' John Doe and Richard
Roe ? '
THE
CHURCH BELLS.
The
bells in the tower of Hope Church were recast in 1733 and a new bell
added, making six in all. They bear the following inscriptions :
1st Bell: "N. W. CLARK.
DANIEL HEDDERLY MADE
VS
ALL IN 1733."
2nd Bell: "jarvis
bawgey great benefactor 1733." 3rd Bell: "SOLI DEO gloria
IN excelsis 1733."
and
below " W. hatterley. C.W.
4th
Bell: “THO: WORMALD. VIC : R : B. W : H. N : C.
CHURCH
WARDENS 1733.”
(Robert Booking, William Hattersley, and Nicholas
Chapman were the Wardens.)
23
Notes
from a Peakland Parish.
5th
Bell: "DANIEL HEDDERLY FOUNDER 1733."
6th Bell: "1733. ovr sounding is TO each
a call TO SARVE THE LORD BOTH GREAT AND SMALL."
Below, on the waist, are the arms of the Duke of
Devonshire, who probably presented this bell.
THE
CHURCH PLATE.
1.
Large Silver Flagon: inscribed "Hope Church 1715. 60 oz."
2.
Silver Cup and Cover: with lettering "x W.B x C x A.I. x Vx Hx".
3.
Silver Almsdish or large Paten : inscribed " Anno Dom 1711. The gift of
Wal: Relict of Hen: Balguy of Hope Esq" to ye Prsh: Ch : x I.
Creswell vie: x R.Key. I.H. T.M Ch:dns."1 (The initials refer to
Roger Key, John Heald, and Thomas Morton, Churchwardens in 1711.) The
donor of the above was Walburge, daughter and co-heiress of Anthony Senior
of Cowley near Darley, Co. Derby, gent, by his wife Frances, daughter and
heiress of George Columbell of Stancliffe Hall, Co. Derby, Esq. She was
the widow of Henry Balguy of Aston, in the parish of Hope, who was buried
at Hope 10th July 1711, the year in which the alms-dish was presented. The
donor herself was buried at Hope, 21st August 1723, and she is reputed to
have given the flagon and cup. Her
husband was the son and heir of Henry Balguy of Hagg, who built Derwent
Hall about 1672. The latter died 17th March 1685, and was buried at Hope.
He has been previously referred to in connexion with the curious memorial
brass in the chancel of the church.
4.
Modern Silver Chalice, an anonymous gift, inscribed : " St. Peter's
Church, Hope, 1907."
5. Silver Almsdish: inscribed "September 1908 ". The gift
of
E. Loxiey Firth.
1
Entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts for 1711-12: "For ingravening
Letters of ye plate yt Madam Balguy give to ye Church." The Flagon,
from an item in the Accounts of 1715, appears to have been in part at
least the gift of the congregation. (See page 82.)
24
The
Church and Parish of Hope.
THE
STAINED GLASS IN HOPE CHURCH. All the stained glass in Hope Church is
modern, with the exception of two small armorial shields, bearing the arms
of Eyre quartering Padley, now incorporated in a modern window at the east
end of the north aisle, and those of Gell of Hopton in the corresponding
window of the south aisle, now concealed by the organ.
The
modern glass is exceptionally good in colour and design. The chancel
windows form a series, representing events of the Passion and the
Resurrection of Our Lord; particularly those events in which S. Peter, the
Patron Saint of the Church, figured prominently.
All five windows were designed by the late Mr. C. E. Kempe and
executed by his firm. The
east window, and the two smaller windows on the north side of the chancel,
were given by Mr. E. Willoughby Firth of Birchfield in 1906 and 1908 ; the
two windows on the south side by the Vicar, the Rev. E. C. Vincent, in
1906 and 1907. The two windows in the north aisle were designed and
painted by Mr. F. C. Eden. The one above the altar, representing the Annunciation,
was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Freckingham, in memory of their
daughter, in 1914. In
this window is incorporated the old stained glass representing the Arms of
Eyre before referred to. The
other window, in the north wall, represents the Nativity of Our Lord,
and was the gift of the late Mrs. Vincent in 1919.
The
window in the south aisle is by Messrs. C. E. Kempe and Co., the subject
being the Deliverance of S. Peter by the Angels out of prison. It was
given by Miss Annie Middleton, in 1922, in remembrance of the long
connexion of the Middleton family with Hope and its church.
There
is a small window in the west wall of the tower, representing the Draught
of Fishes, given by Mr. E. Nicholson of Brough, in memory of his uncle,
the late Mr. Joseph Nicholson.
25