CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, is an extensive parish and ancient market town, pleasantly situated on an eminence, and embosomed in the mountains which bound the extremity of the county, 6 miles N. from Buxton, 10 miles S. from Glossop, l5 miles N.W. from Bakewell, 14 miles S.E. from Stockport, 22 miles W.S.W. from Sheffield, and 167 miles N.N.W. from London. The parish comprises 9,800 acres of land, principally arable and pasture land, and in 1851 had 711 houses, and 3,214 inhabitants, of whom 1677 were males, and 1,537 females; rateable value £9,526 2s. 2d. It contains the townships of Bowden Edge, Bradshaw Edge, and Combs Edge, the whole of which are occasionally called Bowden Chapel, and are separate townships for the highways; but for every other purpose are united. It has no township of its own name, the town being principally in Bradshaw Edge. The Duke of Devonshire is lessee of the manor under the crown, and the principal owners are John Slack, Esq., Thomas Slacke, Esq., M.D., H. M. Greaves, Esq., P. Arkwright, Esq., W. B. Greaves, Esq., Guy Gisborne, Esq., Adam Fox, Esq., J. S. Partington, Esq., Joseph Marriott, Esq., H. Bowles, Esq., A. B. Jackson, Esq., Edward Buckley, Esq., Samuel Webster, Esq., Mr. John Marchington, Mr. Thomas Bennett, Samuel Needham, Esq., Miss Jane Wood, Mrs. Jane Kirk, Richard Broom, Esq., besides several other small freeholders. Here is 74A. 3R, 5P. of glebe. Tithes have all been commuted; the incum­bent’s portion being £14 6s. 8d. per annum. The Church, dedicated to St. Thomas-a­-Becket, is a perpetual curacy, certified at £16 16s., now £150 in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield; it has been augmented with £400 benefactions; £400 Queen Anne’s bounty; and £300 Parliamentary grant. The freeholders and resident householders are patrons, and the Rev. George Hall, B.A., incumbent. The Church is a neat stone edifice, in the later style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower, in which are 6 bells. The tower with the south front, were re-built by the parishioners early in the last century; it was also repewed by the parishioners in 1828, at a cost of £500, and in 1856 a good clock was presented by J. Slack,.Esq., which were placed in the tower with two dials, at the expense of the parishioners, the whole amounting to a cost of £200. The parsonage house is a handsome stone residence, erected in 1849, a little W. of the church. A chapel was originally built here by the inhabitants, and consecrated by

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Bishop Savensby, between the years 1224 and 1238. By a record of the year 1317, it was then deemed a parish church. In the year 1719, Thomas Bagshaw, Esq., gave lands then let for £20 per annum, (now £62,) to the minister of Chapel-en-le-Frith. The market which was held on Thursday, is now obselete; but here are ten fairs, viz.—Thursday before February 14th; March 3rd and 22th; Thursday before Easter; April 30th, Holy Thursday, and the third Thursday after, for cattle; July 7th for Wool; Thursday after October 11th, and Thursday before November 23rd for cattle. The Feast, Sunday after July 7th. A Savings’ bank was established 19th November, 1840, and is held at the New Town Hall, and the deposits amounted 20th November, 1855, to £23,645 6s. 2d., belonging to 682 depositors, of whom 481 did not exceed £20, 40 did not exceed £50, 75 not exceeding £100, 4 not exceeding £150, and 14 above £150; with 18 Friendly societies, and 8 charitable societies. During the year, £6,146 14s. had been deposited. Actuary,—Rev. E. Glossop.

The Town Hall, in Market street, is a large handsome stone building, erected in 1851 at a cost of upwards of £2000, the cost being defrayed by Thomas Slacke, Esq., M.D.

The County Court is held at the Town Hall, and the district comprises the following places, viz.—Aston, Bamford, Buxton, Bugsworth, Chinley, Castleton, Derwent, Disley, Edale, Fairfield, Fernilee, Hartington Upper Quarter, Hope, Hope Woodlands, Ketlesholme, New Mills, Peak Forest, Texal, Thornhill, Whaley and Wormhill; J. T. Cantrell, Esq., Judge; P. Hubbersty, Esq., (of Wirksworth,) and Wm. Bennett, Esq., registrars; Mr. William Marsh, high bailiff; and Mr. William, Crossland, assistant bailiff.

Petty Sessions are held at the Town Hall, every month, but the magistrates meet weekly for the transaction of business. The division for magistracy business comprises the whole of the Chapel-en-le-Frith union, and also Bradwell, Hayfield, Beard, Ollerset, Whitle and Thornsett. The resident magistrates are John White, Esq., Thomas Slacke, Esq., John Slack, Esq., and H. M. Greaves. Esq.; Messrs. Bennett & Cheek, clerks.

A Court Leet is held annually in October before Joseph Hall, Esq., of Castleton, at the King’s Arms and Royal Oak Inns, alternately.

A Lock-up Prison, was erected at the cost of £550, in 1845, defrayed from the county rate. It contains four cells, and has a residence for the superintendent, Mr. Elijah Beacroft.

The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, at Chapel Town End, erected 1831, is a good substantial building, will seat about 400. In 1853, a Sunday School was erected by the Wesleyans, at a cost of £558, which will accommodate about 450. The Primitive Methodist (Bethel) Chapel, erected in 1852, at a cost of £700, is a handsome stone building and will seat about 400. The Presbyterians formerly had a chapel here.

A Subscription Library was established in 1843, and is held at Mr. Wm. Carrington’s. National Schools, for boys, girls, and infants, is a handsome stone building, erected by subscription in 1839, at the cost of £1200, to which the Rev. W. Bagshawe, M.A., was a liberal contributor. In 1853, the boys school was enlarged at a cost of £100, defrayed by subscription, about 230 children attend. The Mechanics’ Institution established 1853, is held at the Town Hall. The Library contains 200 volumcs, Mr. Peter Bramwell, secretary, and Mr. W. Lingard, librarian. In the Market place is an ancient stone cross, which is ascended by a flight of four steps. The town is supplied with gas from Messrs. Bennetts’ cotton factory. The Excise Office is held at the King’s Arms Hotel. Here are several Lodges of Ancient Foresters and Odd Fellows.

William Bagshaw, an eminent nonconformist divine, known by the name of the Apostle of the Peak, resided at Ford, in this parish; he published a work called the “De Spiritualibus Pecci,” being notices concerning the work of God, and some of those who have been workers together with God, in the hundred of the High Peak, 1702. The Rev. John Ashe, a dissenting minister of some note, nephew of William Bagshaw, and born at Matcalf, in this parish, published an account of his uncle, with his funeral sermon, 1704.

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The life and character of John Ashe was also published by the Rev. James Clegg, minister of the Presbyterian chapel, in 1736. On the extinction of the elder branch, the descendants of William Bagshaw above mentioned, became the representatives of the Bagshaw of Abney.

In the parish register, is an entry which records the preservation of one Phœnix, a girl about 13 years of age, a parish apprentice with William Ward, of Peak Forest, who on March 13th, 1716, went from George Boden’s house, Laneside, towards her master’s house; sat down on Peaslow, between two rutts, and staid there till the Monday following, when she was found alive about one o’clock, by William Jackson, of Sparrow Pitt, and William Longden, of Peak Forest, and after a slender refreshment of warm milk, was carried to her master’s house; she eat no meat during the six days, two of which, the 15th and 16th, were the most severe for snowing and driving, in the memory of man.

At Barmoor, about 2 miles E. is an ebbing and flowing well, and on a hill 2 miles S. are the vestiges of Roman encampment, near which human remains have been found; from this place is a road to Brough.

BOWDEN EDGE township extends from Chapel-en-le-Frith, about 3 miles N. and E., and contains 232 houses, and 977 inhabitants, of whom 534 were males, and 443 females. Bowden Hall, long the seat of the family of Bowden, who had large possessions in this and the neighbouring counties, was taken down some years ago. In 1844, John Slack, Esq., erected the present mansion on the site of the old hall, which is a handsome structure in the Tudor style, from designs by Richard Lane, Esq., of Manchester. It is delightfully situated on a bold acclivity, one mile E. from the church. The thriving plantations in the adjoining grounds adds greatly to the picturesque beauties of the scene. It commands a fine view of the vales of Chapel-en-le-Frith and Bugsworth, both of which present lovely but dissimilar features, and are divided by Eccles Pike, a conical hill of considerable elevation; the huge forms of the Chinley hills are seen in the distance, stretching their naked backs to the northern sky, and the bleak head of Coomb’s Moss, upon which still rests the remains of a Romish camp, from the horizon to the south and south east. This estate passed from the Bowdens, of whom George, who died in 1680, appears to have been the last male heir, to the Degge family, of whom Sir Simon Degge, who died about 1765, was the last male heir; afterwards it was the property of Robert Hibberson, and is now the seat and property of John Slack, Esq.

Slack Hall, three and a quarter miles E. from the church, is a handsome mansion, erected in 1836, in a commanding elevation, the property and seat of Thomas Slacke, Esq., M.D.

Ford Hall, an ancient mansion, two miles north from the church, the seat and property of Henry H. Greaves, Esq.; it was long the residence of the Bagshaw family. The Rev. William Bagshaw, the Apostle of the Peak, resided here, and also Samuel Bagshaw, Esq., who died in 1804.

Sparrow Pit, a small village on the Castleton road, 2½ miles east from Chapel-en-le Frith, partly on Peak Forest.

BRADSHAW EDGE constablewick forms a principal part of the town of Chapel-en-le ­Frith, and extends 3 miles west to the extremity of the county, and near to Whaley Bridge contains 399 houses, and 1,891 inhabitants, of whom 966 were males, and 925 females. The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolushire Railway Co. have extensive stone quarries in this township. Bradshaw Hal, 1 mile west, formerly the property and seat of the ancient family of Bradshaw, of whom President Bradshaw was a branch. All the Derby­shire Bradshaws have descended from this place. George Bradshaw, the last of the elder branch, died in 1735; his sister and heiress married Galliard. The co-heiresses of Galliard married Smith and Bowles, and this estate became the property of Humphrey Bowles, Esq. It is now a farmhouse, in the occupation of John and George Lomas.

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Cromwell House, a neat mansion, the seat of George Henry Hopkins, Esq.

Eccles House, 2 miles N.W. from the town, is the seat and property of Davenport Goodman, Esq.

Horwich House, 3 miles W. from Chapel-en-le-Frith, a large handsome mansion, the seat of John Welch, Esq.

Ollerenshaw Hall, 2 miles W., is at present unoccupied.

WHITEHOUGH, a small village, 1½ miles N.W. from Chapel-en-le-Frith. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel, built in 1840, near this place, and at Whitehall is the extensive paper manufactory of Messrs. Joseph Hughes & Sons, who reside in a handsome stone mansion here, the property of the Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Co. Da­venport Goodman, Esq., Joseph Barnes, and George Hollinshead, are the owners.

New Hyde Mill, near the east extremity of the town, is an extensive cotton factory, having a steam engine of 30 horses power, the property of Misses Alice, Nancy, and Sarah Ann Bennett.

Stodhart Lodge, ½ mile W. from the town, is the picturesque residence and property of John Bennett, Esq.

COOMES EDGE township extends 3 miles S.W. from Chapel-en-le-Frith, contains 80 houses, and 346 inhabitants, of whom 177 were males, and 169 females. Mr. Thomas Walton, of Tunstead, in this township, has in his possession a human skull supposed to be the head of a female, a Roman catholic. It has been at Mr. W.’s residence upwards of 200 years.

Bank Hall, a handsome stone residence, in the Italian style of architecture, 1½ miles S. of Chapel-en-le-Frith, is the seat and property of Mrs. Hannah Webster. In 1781, Samuel Frith, Esq., the owners was sheriff of the county.

Cadster Hill, a paint and colour manufactory, 2 miles W., having a steam engine of 16 horses power, in the occupation of Mr. Charles Robe,

The Ridge, 1 mile S. from the town, formerly the seat of a branch of the Bagshaw family, passed in marriage with the daughter of the last male heir, to Fitzherbert, and by sale to the father of the Rev. Thos. Gisborne, of Yoxall, now the property of Guy Gisborne, Esq., and residence of Mr. James Lomas.

Rye Flat, a neat house, the residence of Anthony Bellott Jackson, Esq.

A Reservoir, which covers 80 acres of land, for supplying the Peak Forest Canal, is in this division.

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH POOR LAW UNION consists of 17 parishes and town­ships, all in this county, and has 23 guardians, who meet every Monday fortnight at the Board-room, at 11 o’clock. The Union is divided into two registration districts—viz, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton. The Workhouse, situated at the west end of town, is a substantial stone building, erected in 1840, at a cost of £3,500, will give accommodation to 100 paupers, the average number of in-door paupers being about 25. The district embraces an area of 106 square miles, and a population of 11,496. The annual cost of the Union is about £2,118. The places comprised in the Union are—Aston, Bamford, Brough, and Shatton, Buxton, Castleton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Chinley, Bugsworth and Brownside, Derwent, Edale, Fairfield, Fernilee, Hartington (upper quarter), Hope, Hope Woodlands, Peak Forest, Thornhill, and Wormhill. Chairman, Thomas Drinkwater, Esq. Clerk and Superintendent Registrar, Mr. Wm. Bennett. Master and Matron, Thos. and Eliz. Walker. Registrars of Births and Deaths, Mr. Robt. Bardsley, for Chapel­-en-le-Frith, and Mr. Joseph Vernon, for Buxton district. Registrar of Marriages, Mr. Wm. Middleton, Chinley, for the whole Union. Surgeons, Mr. Geo. Henry Hopkins, Chapel-en-le Frith; Mr. W. P. Shipton, Buxton; and Mr. John Winterbottom, Castleton. Relieving Officer, Mr. Robt. Bardsley, for the whole Union.

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CHARITIES.—Mary Dixon, by will, 1696, devised to Henry Kirk and three others and their heirs, a messuage with lands thereto, at Horderon, in Chapal-en-le-Frith parish, (which were devised to her by her late husband, Edward Hudson, subject to the payment of a rent charge of 20s., to be distributed on St. Thomas’s day,) upon trust, that they should apply the clear rents of the said premises, the above-mentioned rent charge being first deducted, viz., 20s. thereof amongst the poorest inhabitants of the said parish on St. Thomas’s day, and the residue of the said rents to the use of a schoolmaster, to instruct the children of said parish, as well petties and incipients as grammarians, and those that should have attained to further proficiency in learning. The property is called Lee Field, and consists of a small house with outbuildings, and 17A. 1R. 20P. of arable and pasture land, besides five or six acres described as brow, wood, or clough land, and unproductive.

Robert Kirk, by will, gave Hazle Croft, the rent thereof, in case his niece, Mary Jackson, should die without issue, to be paid yearly to the schoolmaster who should teach in the school built in Cromwell Croft, on condition that he should teach three of the poorest children yearly. Mary Jackson died 29th November, 1763. The Hazle Croft contains about three-quarters of an acre, and is let for £2 10s. per annum. The school was formerly kept in a building erected by subscription, on a plot of land for which a small rent was paid, but the estate has been sold. The present master keeps the school in his own house; and in respect of the above donations, 19 children are taught reading and writing free, and are then removed, though it appears Mrs. Dixon contemplated establishing a grammar school.

John Marchington, by will, 1630, gave 20s. yearly to be paid to the parson and churchwardens of this parish, on Friday, three weeks after Ascension day, for ever, towards the education of five poor children of the parish, the same issuing forth of a messuage in Chapel-en-le-Frith. This messuage, formerly called Bradley House, on the south-west corner of the churchyard, is divided into two tenements, and is the property of George Chapel, who has since 1818, refused to pay the rent charge, on the ground that, by the deed of sale to Clarissa Ibberson, his wife, in 1809, the premises were conveyed free of incumbrance. Upon inspecting the title deeds, it appears that the charge is not noticed in that of 1809; but in all previous deeds it is expressly mentioned, and from 1809 to 1818, the payment was regularly made; and we consider that George Chapel is liable to make good the arrears now due, and pay the rent charge in future.

Mary Bagshaw, wife of William Bagshaw, of Ford, by will, 1749, directed that her trustees should pay into the hands of her husband the sum of £100, which she directed to be laid out in the purchase of lands to him and his heirs, upon trust, that the rents should be applied for the teaching of eight poor children to read, belonging to the parish.

John Frith, who died in 1782, had given the sum of £20 to the Bowden head school, now in the hands of Robert Needham, who pays 16s. yearly as the interest. The above two sums, amounting to £5, are paid to the Bowden head school, erected by subscription, about 1776, for the residence of a schoolmaster or schoolmistress. The house, with a garden adjoining, is occupied by a schoolmistress, rent free, who instructs for the above payment 14 children appointed from the neighbouring parts of the parish, to read, and the girls knitting and sewing.

William Walker, in 1625, bequeathed £40 to the poor of this parish, which was laid out in the purchase of 2A. 3R. of land, called Lesser Lane, now let for £4 per annum, and is under the management of the churchwardens and overseers, who distribute the money on St. Thomas’s day, with the five following charities.

George Bowden, in 1663, left to the poor, in land, £2 per annum, which is paid as a rent charge out of a pasture field at Upper End, in the township of Wormhill, parish of Hope.

Francis Bradshaw, in 1635, left to the poor, in land, 10s per annum, which is paid as a rent charge out of Bradshaw Hall estate.

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Edward Dain; in 1699, left to the poor, in land, 10s. per annum, which is paid as a rent charge from a piece of land called Broad Lee, in this parish, which was purchased by the governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, for the augmentation of the curacy of Baslow.

John Vernon, who died in 1730, left 10s. a year to the poor of this parish, charged upon his estate at White Hills. The owner pays the money, which is distributed as above.

Francis Gee, by will, dated 1st October, 1670, gave to his wife Elizabeth, and her heirs, his land and housing at Roeside, in this parish, they paying thereout yearly for ever, 20s. to Thomas Gee, and two others, in trust, for charitable uses, to be disposed of on or before the 21st December, yearly.

Francis Gaskell, by will, 1718, bequeathed to the minister and poor of this parish £100, the use thereof to be paid as follows,—viz. 20s., yearly to an orthodox minister at Chapel-en-le-Frith; 40s. yearly to the poor of Bradshaw Edge; 20s. yearly to the poor of Coombe’s Edge; and 20s. yearly to the poor of Bowden Edge. By an indenture dated 1722, it appears £20 was paid by Arnold Kirk and Ralph Gee, and others, trustees of the above charity, towards a house about to be erected by subscription for the minister; in consideration thereof, Thomas Shuttleworth conveyed to the said trustes a piece of land, on part whereof the said house was built for the minister, and it was provided the said house should stand a security for ever for the said legacy. The residue of the legacy, about £80, the interest thereof, is distributed on St. Thomas’s day.

Thomas Barber, by will, in 1687, gave to the poor of this parish land vested in Albany Wallis, producing £2 per annum, which is paid as a rent charge out of an estate called Clough, in this parish, and the sum carried to a fund for providing woollen cloth for the poor, distributed on St. Thomas’s day.

Francis Moseley, by will, 1704, gave to the use of the poor of this parish the residue of a sum of £600, and of all other his personal estate, after his debts, legacies and funeral expenses were paid, to be laid out at the discretion of his executors, German Buxton and James Carrington, and the survivor of them and his heirs, either at interest or in land, the annual produce thereof to be applied in buying convenient clothes for the oldest and more decrepid people, either male or female, within the parish. We have not been able to learn what was the amount of the residue, as applicable to the poor; however, it appears £50 and £20 were appropriated to this purpose by his executors, of which the £20 was laid out in a rent charge of 18s. issuing out of certain lands called Broken Banks, distributed to the poor on St. Thomas’s day. The £50 was laid out with £100, a legacy left by Mr. Mosely for the incumbent of the parish, and by inden­ture, 1818, three closes called Whickeside, were conveyed for £150 to trustees. The premises consist of nearly 30A. of land called Rushup Edge, let for £28 10s. yearly. Two-thirds of the rent are paid to the incumbent, and the remaining third, £9 10s. is received by the parish ofiicers, and carried to the fund for providing the poor with woollen cloth.

Parish Land.—One acre and a half of land was enclosed from the waste by the parishioners about the year 1806; it is now let for £6 per annum, which is carried to the fund for providing woollen cloth and linsey for the poor, distributed on St. Thomas’s day.

William Barber, by will, 1666, directed that one-third of his personal estate should go to his executors—viz, his wife and John Heywood; and he gave them power to dispose of the same for pious or charitable uses for this parish. It appears £82 were received as the one-third part of this bequest, which was, for several years, given to a Dis­senting minister, as it was said, contrary to the donor’s will. By an award, 1728, made by John Hall and four others, churchwardens and overseers, the arbiters stated that they considered the intention of the donor was, that the third part of his said goods was intended by him for the use of a Church minister that should serve this cure of the parish church, and to the use of the poor of the parish, and awarded that the parson of the parish, and his successors, should receive yearly, on St. Thomas’s day, the sum of

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£1 5s., one-third of the £4 2s. received as interest, and the sum of £2 17s., the residue thereof to be distributed amongst the poor of the parish; and they further awarded that the minister of the said parish should yearly, on St. Thomas’s day, read prayers, and preach a sermon in commemoration of the donor’s death. Of the sum of £82, a part appears to have been lost about 1786, reducing it to £67, afterwards secured on mortgage, which, in 1825, was paid off. Of the yearly sum, £3, the minister still receives £1 5s., and the residue is laid out in woollen cloth and linsey, and distributed on St. Thomas’s day.

Samuel Wood, by will 1763, gave to the Rev. John Byron and Edw. Bennet, £200, upon trust, that they and their executors should place the same out on the best security; and should lay out one-fourth part of the interest thereof in wheaten bread, and distribute the same on each Sunday of the year by equal proportions, in the parish church of Chapel-en-le-­Frith, amongst poor widows and poor fatherless children not receiving weekly pay; and that they should lay out one-fourth in wheaten bread, to be distributed in the Protestant Dissenting chapel, called Chinley Chapel, as above, and one other fourth to the minister of Chinley chapel, for permitting six poor widows to sit on the north side of the chapel, seat-free; and that they should lay out the remaining one-fourth part in woollen cloth, and distribute the same for ever, to poor belonging to the hamlet of Bowden Edge. The £200 was secured by the trustees on the tolls of the turnpike road from Nottingham to Newhaven. The interest has been paid irre­gularly; in some years nothing has been received, and in others, sums of £8, £9, £10, or £12, on account; but it is understood that the amount of one year’s interest at five per cent, will be in future paid, and will be distributed agreeable to the donor’s will.

Thomas Hibbert, who died in 1676, gave £60, the interest thereof, being £3, to be applied annually for the purpose of binding a poor child a parish apprentice, and to be paid to the overseers of the poor of the townships of Fernilee, Taxall, Coombs Edge, and Whaley, in rotation; and he charged “the said annual rent charge of £3,” upon his estate at Folds, in the township of Fernilee. The tenant of the estate pays the sum of £3 to the overseers of this township every fourth year, and is applied with other charities for placing out apprentices.

Henry Kirk, by will, 1703, gave to his nephews Thomas Kirk and Henry Kirk, all his personal estate, and devised to them and their heirs, his capital messuage at Eaves in this parish, with the land and closes thereto belonging, upon condition, that in respect thereof, they should pay the sum of £100 on trust, for the placing forth two of the poorest male children of the parish, yearly, apprentices in husbandry, or other manual occupations. The owner of the estate called Eaves, pays £5 per annum to the overseers when required, for the purposes of the apprentices’ fund.

John Frith, by his will, 1775, gave to Peter Steel, and two others, the sum of £125 upon trust, that they or their survivor of them should apply one half of the clear interest in putting out one of the poorest boys belonging to the parish, an apprentice, and the remaining part thereof, in woollen cloth, to be yearly for ever given to the poor of the parish, on St. Thomas’s day. One moiety of the interest is applied in clothing for the poor; and the other moiety has been paid when called for. From £2 10s. to £5 has been paid as premiums with the boys.

Mary Frost, by a codicil to her will, 1755, bequeathed to four persons £200 upon trust that they should place the same out on the best security, and apply one moiety of the interest in binding one or more boys apprentices, of the poorest inhabitants of the hamlet of Sheldon, and the other moiety for binding one or more boys of Chapel-en-le-­Frith parish.

In the Parliamentary returns of 1786, it is stated that the sum of £100 given by Mary Frost to this parish, was then vested in Samuel Frith, Esq.; and on a tablet in the church, it is stated that the sum of £100 was laid out on a mortgage of land at Water-

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fall, in the parish of Alstonefield, Staffordshire. We have applied to Mr. Firth, but can obtain no information whatever on the subject, or discover any evidence of payment in respect of this charity.

John Badiley Radcliffe, by will, 1784, reciting that he was entitled to the sum of £847, on bond, which was promised to be paid on the 24th June, then next; directed that the sum of £350 part thereof, should be paid to his father Thomas Radcliffe and another, their executors in trust, to place the same out at interest on land security, and apply the sum of £10 13s. 4d. part of the interest, for the benefit of the poor of Peak Forest, the poor of the parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith, the poor of Great Hamlet, Phoside and Kinder, and the poor of Beard, Ollerset, Whittle, and Thornset, in the parish of Glossop; and which he left as a satisfaction for his part of the charity mentioned to be charged on the property given to him by the will of Sarah Bower, deceased, and he directed that the remainder of the interest should be for the benefit of the poor of Beard, Ollerset, Whitle, and Thornset The charity of Sarah Bower was void by the statute of 9th George II.

The sum of £350 is secured on certain houses in the township of New Mills, and in Whittle, in the parish of Glossop, and was secured by indentures dated 24th and 25th May, 1823, at 4½ per ccnt. On St. Thomas’s day the receiver of these sums goes to Peak Forest, and from thence to Chapel-en-le-Frith, and to the chapelry of Hayfield, which comprises Great Hamlet, Phoside and Kinder, at each place meets the over­seers, and according to their recommendations, at each place distributes the above named sum of £2 13s. 4d. On the 2nd Wednesday in January he goes to New Mills, and dis­tributes the residue of the interest in that township, which comprises Beard, Ollerset, Whittle, and Thornset.

Elizabeth Scholes, by will, 1734, directed that a sum of £52 should be by her executors put out, and the interest paid to the churchwardens of Chapel-en-le-Frith for the time being, and laid out in buying twelve loaves, weekly, to be distributed every Sunday immediately after Morning service in the Church, to poor house­keepers or poor children. The yearly sum of 50s. is transmitted to the churchwardens, who provide therewith six twopenny loaves on fifty Sundays in the course of the year.

Needham’s Charity—(See Castleton.)—£2 to which this parish is entitled, is laid out in the purchase of linen cloth. This is sent to the incumbent and distributed about the 14th of February, amongst the poor.

Rev. Francis Gishorne’s charity.—(See Bradley.)—£5 10s. received in respect of this charity is laid out by the minister in the purchase of flannel or woollen cloth, and distributed to the poor on St. Thomas’s day.

Dorothy Suite, as stated on a tablet in the Church, died 1670, and left £20, the interest to be given to charitable and pious uses. We have not been able to obtain any information respecting this gift.

Rev. Wm. Bagshaw left £20 per annum, for the benefit of the National school, which is paid by the incumbent. He also left £40 per annum to the Chapel-en-le-Frith Auxiliary Bible society, to be paid by the treasurer.

Post Office at Wm. Carrington’s, letters arrive from Stockport by mail, (gig) at 8.30 a.m., and despatched at 6 p.m.; Money Orders granted and paid from 9 am. till 5.30 p.m., and on Saturdays till 8 p.m.

Those Marked * are in Bradshaw Edge. † Bowden Edge. ‡ Coombs Edge Township.

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DARLEY, on DARLEIGH, parish contains the township of Darley. principally in the High Peak Hundred, and the township of Wensley-with-Snitterton, in Wirksworth Hundred, which together contain 7004 acres of fertile land (including plantations, &c.), with a portion of limestone and light soil, mostly occupied in dairy farms, and had in 1851, 433 houses, and 1932 inhabitants, of whom 984 were males, and 948 females; rateable value, £6,118.

DARLEY, a pleasant rural village and township, usually called Church Town, is three miles N.W. from Matlock, to the south-west of which is Bridge Town, on the banks of the river Derwent, which is crossed by a good stone bridge of 5 arches. The river divides the two townships and the village of Bridge Town, the western side being in Wensley and Snitterton. It contains 4,999A. 0R. 13P. of land, and in 1851 had 298

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houses, 1,375 inhabitants, of whom 697 were males, and 768 females; rateable value, £3,601 4s. 8d. The Duke of Rutland is lord of the manor, which is freehold, and the principal owners are, Jph. Whitworth Esq., Mrs. Eliz. Potter, Mrs. Mary Potter, James Dakeyne, Esq., James Milnes, Esq., R. B. Barrow, Esq., Rev. D. Vawdrey, Mrs. Mary Goodwin, and Miss E. J. Barker, besides several other small freeholders. The Church, which is dedicated to St. Helen, is a rectory, valued in the King’s book at at £9 13s. 1½d., now £434, formerly in the north and south medieties, which were united in 1690. Bishop of Lichfield, patron, Rev. Daniel Vawdrey, M.A., incumbent. The church is an ancient Norman cruciform structure, and as seen through the trees, has a very rural appearance. It contains nave, chancel, and transepts with a handsome pinnacled tower and five bells. In 1854, it was thoroughly restored, at a cost of £1,600, raised by subscription, when it was new pewed and had a porch and chancel added. In the north aisle stands the pulpit, a handsomely carved stone one, presented at the res­toration by P. Walthall, Esq. It contains two handsome stained glass windows, one of which is a memorial to Emma V. Milnes. Several specimens of the coffin-shaped slabs, a very perfect one of later date is built in the wall of the porch, has a bugle-horn suspended from the shaft of the cross with which it is decorated; underneath the horn are some slight traces of an animal, but not sufficiently distinct to be figured. Against a window in the south transept in the church, is a recumbent figure, carved in sandstone, representing a Knight, with curly hair and beard, sword by his side, holding in his hands a heart, and having a rose at his feet; the legs are crossed in the same man­ner as in effigies supposed to represent Crusaders. It is supposed he is John, of Darley, who resided in this neighbourhood. Here are several antique monuments to the Rollesley and other ancient families; and a marble tablet to Thos. Garratt, of London, who gave to this church its communion plate, and was a great benefactor to the poor of Darley and Matlock. In the interior of the south side of the church is a chantry, or confessionary, which was founded in the reign of Henry I., or Stephen. An ancient stone font also stands in the south aisle. The Rectory, near the church, is a neat stone residence, rebuilt in 1850, and has 126 acres of glebe. The tithes were commuted in 1838, for £253. In the churchyard is an ancient yew tree, 33 feet in circumference, now in course of decay, supposed to be about 2,020 years of age. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each chapels here. Here is a National school, where about 150 children receive in­struction, for which they pay a small trifle weekly. Darley Dale, a district containing several scattered houses, situated on the road from Bakewell to Matlock. Two Dales, or Toad Hole, a pleasant, secluded village, on the Chesterfield road, 1 mile S.E. from Darley. Sydnope forms the eastern extremity, where an extensive flax mill was erected by Jas. Dakeyne, Esq., in 1826, and is now worked by a water power of about 60 horses, and gives employment to a large portion of the population. Farley, Hackney Lane, and Over Hackney, 1½ miles S. consist of scattered houses. Tinkersley and Little Rowsley, ex­tend 2½ miles to the north. Darley Flash forms the north-east extremity. Stan­cliff, an exellent quarry of gritstone, the property of Jph. Whitworth, Esq. Four lions, weighing 5 tons 10 cwt., were sculptured from stone got at this quarry, by Wm. G. Nicholl at a cost of £600, they are placed at the two front entrances of St. George’s Hall, Liverpool, on an elevation of 16 feet from the level. The Hall itself was built with stone got at this quarry. The farm, occupied by Mr. John Wall, of Fallinge, has been in the occupation of their family for upwards of 600 years. Darley Hall, ½ mile N.E., is a neat stone residence, the seat and property of Mrs. Mary Potter. The Man­chester, Buxton, and Matlock Branch of the Midland Railway passes through this parish and has a small station here, and also one at Little Rowsley. The Odd Fellows have a lodge here, held at the Square and Compass Inn. Fairs, May 13th and October 27th, were formerly held on the moors at Darley Flash, for cattle and sheep, but are now disused. Feast held the 4th Sunday in August, when subscriptions are made to augment the Charity School endowment.

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CHARITIES.—DARLEY SCHOOL.—Anthony Taylor, as stated on a tablet in the Church, left £40 to build a school, and £60 more for teaching of poor children to read and write.

Mrs. Ann Phinney, in 1703, left £60 to the said school, for teaching poor children.

Mrs. Rebecca Bromley, it appears by a memorandum dated 11th June, 1778, gave £10, and that £5 was, with the consent of the inhabitants of Darley and Little Rowsley, paid by the churchwarden of Darley, in order that the produce of the said £15 might be applied for teaching one poor child of the above two places at the Free school of Darley. The £40 given by Anthony Taylor was expended in building a school ad­joining the church. In 1809, the other small sums, amounting to £135 were, with £100, given for the poor of this parish, and £20 for the Sunday school, by the will of Mr. Thos. Garratt, and a further sum of £5, the origin of which does not appear, vested in the purchase of £260 stock, in the navy 5 per cents., in the names of the Rector of Darley, and 4 others; on the reduction of this stock from 4 to 5 per cent., the trustees became possessed of £273 new 4 per cent. stock; the dividends £10 l8s. 4d. are received by the rector, who makes the following distribution,—to the schoolmaster, £6 10s. 3d.; to the poor for Garratt’s charity, £4; and to the Sunday school, £1. This sum exceeds by 11s. 8d. the amount of the dividends. The school having been found too small, a sub­scription has been raised, to which an addition has been made by the National School Society, and new school buildings have been erected, consisting of two school rooms with apartments for the master and mistress. At our inquiry, these building were not completed. A sum of £500 was given by the Rev. Benjamin Lawrence, the late rector, as a further endowment, which was laid out on the 1st of February, 1827, in the purchase of £523 11s. 2d. new 4 per cent. stock, in the names of the said rector, and three others, and it was intended a further sum of £87 2s., arising from other donations lately given to the school, should be invested in the same stock. The National system is now introduced, and all the children of Darley, including those of Wensley and Snitterton, admitted; and the Day and Sunday schools united under the same master and mistress.

Thomas Garrett, of Hornsey, in the county of Middlesex, Esq., by will dated 23rd June, 1791, gave the rector and churchwardens of Darley, and their successors, £100 on trust, to invest the same in government securities; and on St. Thomas’s day in every year for ever, to distribute the dividends amongst 20 poor housekeepers; and he also gave to the trustees of the Sunday school at Darley, £20, to the use of that school. The distribu­tions to the poor are confined to persons not receiving parish relief, in sums varying from 3s. to 5s.

Rev. Frances Gisborne’s Charity.—(See Bradley.) The annual sum of £5 10s. is received by the rector, and laid out in coarse woollen and flannel, and distributed to the poor about Christmas.

WENSLEY AND SNITTERTON, form a joint township, situated in the Wirksworth Hundred, and together contain 2004A. 3R. 27P. of land, and in 1851 had 135 houses, and 557 inhabitants, of whom 287 were males, and 270 females; rateable value, £2586 15s. 4d. Peter Arkwright, Esq., Andrew Brittlebank, Esq., John Else, Esq., W. E. Nightingale, Esq., Henry Southern, Esq., the Misses Southern, Mr. Wm. Frost, and the Chesterfield Corporation, are the principal owners; the former in lord of the manor. The soil is mostly on limestone. Tithe, to the amount of £75, is paid by agreement. The district abounds in lead, and several mines are worked, the principal of which are the Bird Nest, Windmill, and Mill Close, from which there is a level for carrying the water to the Derwent. About 535 load is got per annum, from which no tithe is paid, but every 25th part goes to the lessees of the King’s Field, and 6d. per load is paid for lot and cope. John Alsop, Esq. is bar-master.

WENSLEY, a considerable, but irregular-built village, on a lofty eminence above the

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Derwent, commanding some extensive views, 1½ miles E. by N. from Winster, and 1½ miles S.S.W. from Darley. The Methodists have a chapel, built of stone, in 1830; will seat 150. The Wesleyan Reformers have also a neat brick chapel on Oker side, erected by subscription, in 1851, at a cost of £130; will seat about 90.

SNITTERTON, said formerly to have been called Snipetown, from the quantity of snipes frequenting this part. It is a district of scattered houses on a lofty range of hills. The Hall, a handsome ancient stone mansion, with pointed gables, in a valley 1¼ miles N.W. from Matlock, is the seat of Robt. Sybray, Esq., and the property of John Else, Esq. Lea Wood, a good farm house, near the hall; was erected in 1843, by Mr. John Garton, and is occupied by Mr. Wm. Yeoman. Cowley Hall, half a mile S. from Darley, is a neat and good residence, in the occupation of Mr. Clement Sarby.

At Cross Green, a commanding eminence, a district Church, dedicated to St. Mary, has been erected to accommodate 226 persons, of which only 12 seats are appropriated. The Rev. Benj. Lawrence, (late rector of Darley,) who died Feb. 18th, 1838, left £1,000 towards building this church, on the condition, that it was commenced within two years after his decease. The late rector soon obtained subscriptions amounting to £1,400, including £150 from the Lichfield Diocesan Church Building Society; and the first stone was laid 17th February, 1840, by Peter Walthall, Esq., and it was consecrated 19th June, 1845. It is a perpetual curacy, value, £60; the Rector of Darley, patron, the Rev. William Belcher, incumbent. It is a neat stone structure in the Norman style, with a tower, spire, and one bell, said to be a copy of a church at Troyes, in Nonnandy.

Oker Hill, a lofty eminence, said to have been a Roman station. Rents derived from it are, by Act of Parliament, applied to the poor rate. Various reasons are assigned for the name Oker; the most propable appears to be, that the Britons were driven from the lead mines in this district, with great slaughter, by the Romans, who afterwards erected a station here, called it Occursus or the hill of conflict, since Occuror or Oker hill. At Oker hill are two sycamore trees, said to have been planted by two brothers, conditionally that they should part for ever after these trees were planted; tradition states that this was the case and each taking a different direction, never met again.

CHARTTIES.—Ann Phinney, by will, gave to six poor widows, the sum of £200, to build them a house to live in; and made her nephew Henry Fanshaw, her sole executor, who, by deed, dated 28th March, 1721, purchased of Thomas Bagshaw, Esq., four cottages for £68 15s.; and two others from John Wall, for £27, to make six houses for poor widows. £14 was expended in fitting up the said six houses with garden walls, &c., so that the sum of £90 5s. remainded of the said £200 to be laid out in land, in the names of trustees for the purposes aforesaid. Thomas Southeran, as surviving trustee, conveyed the above houses to five other trustees, of whom John Allsop is the survivor. This charity is in its present state, productive of very little advantage; the houses are very small and inconveniently situated, and one of them about 1796, was thrown down by the bursting of the dam of a mine; the proprietors of the mine re-built the walls and the roof of the house, but laid no floors; it is considered that if part of a balance of £42 11s. 4d. in the hands of Mr. Allsop, was applied in altering the houses, and adapting them for three poor widows, it would be more useful, and what might remain of that balance added to the sum of £90 5s., which was in 1793, lent to Thomas Gregory, on mortgage of Butt’s Close, in Darley, at 5 per cent, amounting to £4 10s. 3d. Mr. Gregory not having paid the interest, thc property was sold.

Godfrey Hayward, of Wensley, by indenture dated 22nd June, 1732, in compliance with the request of Sarah his deceased wife, granted to Joseph Hayne, overseer of the poor of the hamlets of Wensley and Snitterton, and his successors, a clear yearly rent-charge of 20s., to be issuing out of two messuages situate at Broad Stones, in Wensley, with a

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stable and garden belonging thereto, to be distributed to poor persons. The overseer distributes the 20s. about Christmas, amongst the poor in sums of 1s. or 2s. each.

Elizabeth Turner’s Charity.—(See Bonsall.)—Five children of this township are instructed on the foundation of this charity.

DARLEY TOWNSHIP.

Post Office at Joseph Hallows’s, Church Town, letters arrive at 9.30 a.m., and are despached 4.30 p.m.

Marked 1 reside at Church Town, l½ Darley Dale, 2 Darley Hill Side, 3 Farley, 4 Hackney, 5 Little Rowsley,

6 Northwood, 7 Tinkersley, 8 Two Dales, 9 Wheatley, and the rest where specified.

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WENSLEY AND SNITTERTON TOWNSHIP.

Those marked 1 reside at Bridge Town; 2, Cross Grren; 3, Oker Hill; 4, Snitterton; and 5 Wensley.