News and Events
Meetings in 2019
January - “The History of Cromford Mill and Sir Richard Arkwright”- A talk by Jane Link of the Arkwright Preservation Society
Mike Holcombe began the meeting with a piece of historical trivia, reflecting how three nationally-regarded football clubs, Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United - all in close proximity to us - had their origins as cricket clubs! He then welcomed our speaker, Jean Link.
Jean has been a guide at Cromford Mill for eight years but she intended to focus this talk predominantly on Arkwright himself. Born in 1732 in Preston, Lancashire, the youngest of at least 7 children (there is some uncertainty), Arkwright had no formal education, being taught to read and write by a cousin. He became a barber but by his early 30s had demonstrated his entrepreneurship by expanding into wig-making and running a public house.
Travelling to collect hair for his wig-making brought him into contact with the spinning industry in Nottinghamshire. Jean explained that, at that time, cotton thread was produced by hand spinning, but the introduction of the flying shuttle by John Kay in 1733 led to machine weaving which required 6 hours of spinning to service 1 hour of weaving. Attempts to mechanise spinning itself in the 1740s failed because of inconsistent performance and thread breakages.
It is not known why Arkwright developed an interest in improving the process but, in conjunction with (a different) John Kay and Thomas Hughes, in 1769 he patented his spinning frame, sometimes known as a “waterframe” because of the source of power-generation. Arkwright was the sole patentee as Kay was a paid employee and, although Hughes challenged the patent in 1785, this was dismissed on the grounds that he had withdrawn from the original partnership.
Jean explained that the spinning frame had a number of innovations over previous machines to allow the production of a more consistent and reliable thread. These included using three rollers operating at different speeds to draw out the thread; incorporating a heavy weight on the rollers to compress the thread; and introducing a variable distance between the first two rollers to accommodate the different staple lengths of each batch of cotton. The design allowed any number of bobbins (onto which the thread was wound after spinning) to be incorporated in a single machine.
This machine revolutionised cotton production and Arkwright went into mill ownership. He needed financial backing from a number of investors and bankers including Jedediah Strutt who used the machines in Strutt’s Mill in Belper and Peter Nightingale (the uncle of Florence) who opened what is now Smedley’s Mill. Arkwright’s own first mill was in Nottingham and contained 8 waterframes each with 8 bobbins but in 1771 he built his first mill in Cromford. This was five stories high, yet was constructed within 6 months and was operative within 2 years. It became the blueprint for the modern factory system and the start of global industrialisation. The mill had to be reduced to three stories after a fire but remains part of the present Cromford mill complex.
Over the next 20 years, Arkwright expanded further with Hockley Mill (powered by horses), Masson Mill and Lumford Mill in Bakewell and rapidly became a very rich industrialist. This industrial revolution had profound social impacts locally. For example, the lead mining and smelting that was carried on distributed around the area, was displaced as people moved to work in the mills. This change in location led to Cromford’s rapid expansion as a factory village with housing and amenities provided by Arkwright and an imposing hotel (The Greyhound) to accommodate the many dignitaries and entrepreneurs who wanted to visit. Other changes were subtler as ways of working adapted to shift systems requiring more discipline and accurate time keeping and the workforce itself consisted of 70% children. Incentives and sick pay were introduced as compensation for a previous more autonomous life-style. Given this history and the large amount of the original buildings still in existence, it is with good reason that the Cromford area is designated a World Heritage Site.
Mike thanked Jean for her informative talk that left the group eager for the visit to the mill planned in April.
February - "Gardom’s Edge – Back from the Brink": A talk by Bill Bevan, archaeologist and writer. Gardom’s Edge is well known locally as the site of the Three Ships outcrop and the Nelson monument. There are also millstones in various stages of completion, that were abandoned when demand fell drastically. Bill spoke of the main findings from the archaeological dig on Gardom’s Edge that took place over six seasons from 1994-1999. This was a joint initiative of the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield and the Peak National Park Authority. The talk was very well illustrated with site maps and drawings.
During the excavation test pits were dug every 10 metres. Evidence was found from various periods:
6th– 4thmillennium BC– churnet and flint tools
3rd– 2ndmillennium BC(Bronze Age) – standing stone evidence of the change from communal to individual recognition of the dead.
Other notable features raised more questions than answers:
- The three men barrow on top of a platform. Was this perhaps a place for exposing the dead to the elements?
- The cup mark boulder. Perhaps the most well known feature on the Edge, this rock art has not been explained but does it mark the landscape in some way?
- A large cairn. Was this a possible burial mound, or maybe a clearance cairn? Some pottery and some burnt areas were found here on excavation.
- The Enclosure. Originally thought to be an Iron Age Fort, the boulder evidence points away from this interpretation and the original height was probably only around knee height. Post holes were radiocarbon dated to around 1100BC. It was therefore not Neolithic but late Bronze Age. It was not an enclosed settlement, as there were multiple entrances. Perhaps it was a communal gathering place?
- Houses on the site. Radiocarbon dating to 800-700BC post-dates the Bronze Age. The houses are marked by semicircular piles of stones, worked post holes, pottery fragments found outside doorways and quernstones used for grinding.
- Pit Alignment- late Iron Age – the most recent feature. These pits appeared to hold water and when excavated they were shown to be circular and lined with clay. Were these an attempt to drain the land as the climate became colder and wetter?
Bill discussed a number of other finds including: small hollow discs used for spinning hemp etc, bracelets made of very smooth pieces of gritstone, and a mysterious small lead object of unknown purpose (nothing similar has been found at any other site).
After the talk there were quite a number of questions from the audience. The archaeology findings were fascinating, they had answered some questions but given rise to many others. Gardom’s Edge was particularly interesting to the group being so close to Baslow.
Mike Holcombe thanked Bill on behalf of the group for such an interesting and thought provoking talk.
March: “Chatsworth’s Recent Restoration in Perspective” - A talk by Aidan Haley, Assistant Archivist, Chatsworth House.
This lecture was open to the general public and attracted an audience of 50 people. Aidan Haley was introduced by the Chairman, Mike Holcombe.
Aidan set out to illustrate the development of the fabric of Chatsworth House using the evidence available in the archives. He focused on 5 periods: the Elizabethan House, the Baroque period, the changes introduced by the 6th and 9th Dukes of Devonshire and finally the recent 21st century changes. He set the talk against the background of 16 generations of occupation, and the wide variations in occupancy of the house that sometimes was only a few days and, at most, 30 weeks per year (the Devonshires owning up to 9 major properties at one time). It is impossible to summarise the very comprehensive and detailed information presented, but some key points are:
In the Elizabethan period, Bess of Hardwick and William Cavendish bought the then house (and a considerable area surrounding it) for £640. There are no records of the pre-existing house but a couple of illustrations and a tapestry of c1570 show the subsequent Tudor building. The 21st C renovation of the current cellars has revealed some evidence of this Tudor House. When Bess later married the Earl of Shrewsbury, they initially added a fourth storey to Chatsworth (which rendered it unstable) but their focus then moved to building Hardwick Hall. Chatsworth was neglected and its lavish furnishings moved to Hardwick. The earliest map of Chatsworth dates from around this time and shows St Mary’s Bower and extensive lily ponds close to the Derwent and a small garden relative to the overall Park.
Chatsworth was then relatively neglected by the Cavendish family, with the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Devonshire spending very little time there. However, in the 1680s, the 1st Duke retreated to his Derbyshire home having fallen out of favour with the King and being fined £30,000 for an assault in the Palace of Westminster of Col Culpepper over a gambling dispute. Chatsworth was then in a poor state of repair and the Duke started to renovate only a small section of it. Once started, however, this rapidly expanded to the complete house. Work began 1687/9 and was completed in 1707. Illustrations in the archives show many changes of design. The best designers and engineers in Europe were employed and the resulting West Front was regarded as a masterpiece of the Baroque period. Plans also show formal gardens with parterres and a cascade and the house contained hot and cold running water, a bathroom and flushing lavatory (although this very early example of plumbing was not very effective!).
Over the next 50 years, the 3rd and 4th Dukes made only small incremental changes. The landscape was simplified with the removal of many of the formal gardens and a heated greenhouse was built. The 4th Duke was responsible for the Capability Brown landscape changes around 1770 establishing a “natural English countryside”, although this was, in reality, a very stylised design. Over 2300 trees and many hedgerows were removed and the kitchen gardens moved from beside the house to Barbrook. Paine’s Mill was erected and remained in use until storm damage in 1962.
The next major changes were made by the 6th Duke from 1811 onwards. During 9 phases of construction, the house was updated with the addition of a new North Wing and major alterations to the North and South Fronts and the introduction of the Sculpture Gallery and Library. A Grand Staircase was introduced in the Painted Hall. In 1827 Thomas Paxton regenerated the gardens introducing the Emperor Fountain (for a visit by Czar Nicholas) and many greenhouses (from 10 to 30) that became prototypes for Paxton’s later design for the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. Despite all this expenditure, the 6th Duke averaged only 16 weeks per year at Chatsworth.
Little more was done to the fabric of the building for almost 100 years. The 7th Duke inherited a poor financial position because of his predecessor's extravagance and it fell to the 8th Duke (a consummate politician, three times declining invitations to stand as Prime Minister) to restore the finances. The design of the Grand Staircase was altered (a change later regretted) and a hydroelectric generator (still in use) installed in 1893.
When the 9th Duke inherited in the early 20th Century, Chatsworth House became a family home for the first time in 200 years. Many of the 6th Duke's changes were reversed, a third Grand Staircase was built for the Painted Hall and amenities such as drainage, modern kitchens and central heating were introduced. The 10th and 11th Dukes continued these updates but little is catalogued in the archives. (Maps and plans were only made for practical purposes such as knowing where the drains ran, although these do allow a detailed knowledge of things such as the layout of the kitchens).
The present (12th) Duke, inheriting in 2004, has developed the current master plan for renovation. Intended to run between 2007 and 2017, it is still in progress although almost complete. Some idea of the scale is given by the statistics. 297 rooms are affected with 112 fireplaces; 1,704,233 cu ft of stone, 397 exterior windows, 1.3 acres of roof and 7837 panes of glass. The changes have needed 192 tons of lead, 117 skips, 2175 sheets of gold leaf and 2165 tons of building stone. The projected cost of £35m has been exceeded. The work has restored the orangery, modernised the décor, re-leaded all roofs and restored the belvedere. All stonework has been cleaned and iron rusting in the steel ties between stones removed. Complete re-pointing has needed the use of dentist drills because of the fine masonry work. Every external window has been removed and either repaired or replaced.
Alongside all this, the project has involved an historic buildings analysis, archaeological digs and environmental and ecological assessments. Changes to the landscape have been made to re-create the principles of the Capability Brown design. (But these are other stories!)
David Dalrymple-Smith, President of the History Group, proposed a vote of thanks to Aidan for this well-illustrated and highly informative presentation.
April: Visit to Cromford Mill
Our first visit this year was to the local World Heritage Site at Cromford and was a resounding success. We were given a full tour of the historic mills and the village built by Arkwright for his workers; and we attended the “Arkwright experience” where a 3-D representation of the man himself explained the significance of his inventions. There is no doubt that he is one of the least appreciated entrepreneurs in British history but this world heritage site sets the record straight.
There is too much detail to recount all that we learned but much relevant information is contained in the account of the talk we received in January this year (above). However, to truly grasp the importance of what is on our doorstep, a visit like this is essential. Even regular visitors will see that things have changed at the site in the last few years. Almost as remarkable was our helpful and informative guide who, despite the age of 85, did not sit down once in two and a half hours and who received heartfelt thanks from Mike Holcombe on behalf of the group. An excellent cream tea followed - good value for money.
May: Visit to Wentworth Woodhouse
Our tour of Wentworth Woodhouse was the best attended in the history of our group; hopefully some of the visitors will join the society next year! We were given a guided tour of the state rooms and learned about the development of the house, it’s subsequent decline and its’ more recent rescue from years of relative neglect. Our only regret was that we were unable to go on some of the other tours available showing, for example, the renovations from the rooftop, the areas not normally open to the public or the private family rooms tour. We shall have to return. After this we visited the Old and New Holy Trinity Churches and enjoyed lunch at the Wentworth Garden Centre.
June: Visit to Hope Cement Factory
On the afternoon of June the 4th, a dozen or so group members assembled at Breedon`s Hope Cement Works. Breedon had kindly agreed to give a tour of the quarry attached to the works, a tour of the works itself, and of particular interest to the group, a visit to the organisation`s museum.
The Assistant Quarry Manager took us first up to the two quarries situated on the hillside above the works, the smaller one for shale, and the larger one for limestone, together the prime ingredients in the manufacture of cement mix, and the reason why the works are situated in Hope. The limestone quarry was huge, comprised of 13 massive terraces of rock, cut like an enormous set of steps in the hillside. Each had been blasted wide enough to allow gigantic diggers and lorries to pass along them to work that level. It was explained though that restoration of the landscape as the workings are finished was a vital part of the company`s planning permission, and they have already turned one old quarry section into a nature reserve, are planting trees throughout the area (13,000 in the last 15 years), and smoothing over and grassing redundant quarry faces.
We then drove back down the hill to the works, following the same route as the raw material, and viewed the stockpiles of limestone and shale. Other materials ranging from shredded old tyres to pulverised fly ash are then added, and the constituent parts milled together to form a powder mix. This is then dropped through a heated tower (the building next to the chimney seen far and wide along the length of the Hope Valley) and then heated further in an extremely long circular revolving kiln. At a certain temperature, a chemical reaction takes place, and the cement mix is formed. After cooling, this is sent out in bulk, either by road or rail tankers, to Breedon`s depots around the country to be bagged and sold. Hope makes up to 1.5 million tonnes a year, which is 15% of UK production.
In the works museum, the company archivist explained that G & T Earle started the cement works in 1928, on the site of an old stone quarry. It has been an important large employer in the area ever since, with its canteen, social club, and sports club for employees, Ten years later, business was sufficiently good in 1938 for the laying of a branch line to the works with its own steam locomotive, the engine named “Nunlow” after the hill that was being quarried. There have been three chimneys on the site, dated respectively 1928, 1949, and 1971, but the latest now emits little or no fumes, as modern filters take dust from the heat tower which is bagged and removed. The cement used to be bagged on site before despatch, by a team of 33 ladies, many of them wives or daughters of the workmen, but no longer. In the 1960`s and 70`s the Earle`s Cement Lorries in their yellow livery were ubiquitous, proudly showing the famous Blue Circle logo. Before 1970`s Health & Safety rules demanded face-masks were worn to prevent dust inhalation, workers were given a pint of milk a day “to keep the dust down” ! The museum displayed numerous fascinating photos and items from the past 90 years, and it was clear there was very much a “family spirit” still imbuing the work force.
July: Visit to Crich Tramway Museum
This visit was cancelled.
August: No Meeting
September: Visit to Pleasley Pit - Mining Heritage Centre
Ten members of the Group had a fantastic afternoon visiting Pleasley Pit in the company of two expert guides who between them had worked in the coal industry for over 60 years. The Pit was sunk in the 1870s and produced coal until 1983. It still retains its headstocks, engine-houses and steam winders, one of which was installed in 1904 by Lilleshall Co. Ltd. and the other in 1922 by Markham & Co. Ltd. Pleasley Colliery is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is in the process of being developed into a mining heritage site.
We learned that a lease forthe extraction of coal at the site was granted to the Stanton Iron Company in 1872 by William Nightingale, the father of the famous Victorian nursing pioneer, Florence. During 1873, two 14.5 ft. diameter shafts and the engine-houses were constructed ready for the installation of two pairs of steam winding engines Iron Co. There were initial problems due to the high volumes of water encountered and four 18in. diameter pumps were installed with considerable impact to the surrounding area as wells and springs over a wide radius dried up and water disappeared from the Mansfield quarries almost 3 miles away. The Top Hard seam was eventually reached in February 1877 and, early in 1878, the main headstocks were erected. By the end of the year, the fitting-out work above and below ground was approaching completion and production commenced in 1879.
Pleasley pit was always productive thanks to its freedom from serious geological problems and by 1890 output averaged 1000 tons per day. Underground haulage of coal from the workings by ponies had become unsustainable and a 60HP electrically driven underground rope-haulage system - the first of its kind in the world - was installed to haul coal up the 1 in 12 roadway. During the next seven years, a further four electrically driven rope haulages were installed, freeing up 44 horses and raising output to 1700 tons per day.
By 1899 output was such that the maximal winding capacity had been reached and over the next two decades a series of changes were made to install more powerful winding mechanisms, boilers fans and new headstocks. Work commenced on deepening the shafts.
Further improvements in the 1920s and the opening of new coal seams, maintained production, despite the depression. In 1921 the deepening to the Black Shale seam was completed. By this time, most of the coal to the north of the River Meden had been worked out and production shifted to the reserves to the south. In 1938, 1,261 men were employed underground and a further 283 on the surface. Electric coal cutters had been in use since the early 1900s, but the coal was still being hand loaded, although now onto conveyor belts on the coalface rather than directly into tubs. A new 150 ton per hour washery plant was constructed which was to play a key role in subsequent years when mechanized loading was introduced and the demand for small coal for power generation soared.
After World War II, the development of newer seams accelerated although manpower was in short supply. In 1945, there were still 281 men on the surface but only 895 underground. In the late 1940s, following nationalisation, a major development program was begun. Tubs were replaced by 3ton mine-cars and on the surface, compact circuits were constructed, with fully automatic pneumatic systems controlling their movement and emptying.At the downcast shaft, a complete new pit-bottom and mine-car haulage system was constructed with the coal now being transported almost to the shaft-side by powerful trunk conveyor belts.
In the 1950s, 60s and 70s Pleasley saw the development and subsequent working out of a number of coal seams of variable size with the maintenance of significant output. However, the surface infrastructure was now feeling its age, and with the sinking of a large surface drift and the construction of new coal processing plant at nearby Shirebrook colliery it was decided to switch all output to there. With the cessation of coal-winding at Pleasley, the colliery had produced its last coal its last, but it continued to be used for man-riding until eventual closure in 1983.
At that time one shaft was converted to supply air to Shirebrook’s workings for several years. The work involved took time and gave the local authority the opportunity to have the site given a preservation listing just before it was due for demolition in 1986. It then continued in a state of limbo for several more years until 1995 when the preservation group Friends of Pleasley Pit was formed and the restoration began.
Throughout our visit we had the opportunity to learn about the working conditions of miners, their working techniques and how these had changed over the decades. We saw how the winding engines operated (now renovated and electric-motor driven) and the men in charge managed the operation to ensure safe passage of both men and coal up and down the shaft. The knowledge and passion of our guides was evident throughout and the plans for future development of the heritage site were impressive.
Much more information is available on the website of the Pleasley Pit Trust:
https://www.pleasleypittrust.org.uk/services
October: ‘In Pursuit of a Peak District Pensioner Criminal; The Life and Times of Annie Burke”- A talk by Tim Knebel of Peak in the Past.
This talk followed a brief business meeting and AGM of the History Group.
Tim Knebel is an archivist currently working in the Sheffield City archives. He developed an interest in Annie Burke when examining Derbyshire Police Criminal Records and noted a remarkable number of crimes attributed to this single person. He talked about her life and times but also used it to illustrate how criminal and associated records could be used in research; especially useful to anyone researching family histories who discovered such criminality close to home!
Tim started by saying that Annie was not from the Peak District - this was just a major site of her petty crimes, which were also committed in south and east Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire. Nor was she named Burke - this was just the commonest of several aliases which she used in her attempts to confuse the constabulary.
Tim discussed the sources of his information. Police Criminal Registers are useful places to start as they collated information across parish and county boundaries - a primitive but effective early database. The Metropolitan Police Habitual Criminal Register is one such that describes the aliases, offences, occupation, physical appearance and distinguishing marks of offenders. (Annie had a deformed finger on one hand that was particularly helpful in her identification). After-Trial Calendar of Pensioners and Proceedings of the Quarter Sessions Courts are also useful, containing similar information but also more detail of the offences committed. However, local newspaper reports of the crimes and subsequent trials are invaluable in fleshing out the details of the crimes themselves and the social circumstances of both the criminals and their victims.
Using all this information, Tim was able to describe Annie’s criminal career in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies. It lasted 35 to 40 years with over 50 charges for petty crime including 28 cases of drunkenness, obscene language and assault. She usually operated in well-to-do areas approaching vicarages and large houses with fabricated sob stories and asking for money to help an injured relative needing medical care. During the call she would act as an opportunist thief subsequently selling the stolen property, often to buy alcohol. One example was on the day of her release from Derby Gaol on the 18th August 1915. She stole clothes in Matlock and hawked them in Bakewell, Baslow and Calver before being arrested (drunk) in Stoney Middleton - all on the same day. For most of her crimes she was sentenced to prison with hard labour for periods varying between one and six months.
From the information available it seems clear that Annie Burke was illiterate, spent much of her life outside prison in the workhouse and never had regular work. She did, however, get married and had eight pregnancies producing four children. Her husband was a wife-beater and it is not clear how long the marriage lasted. They lived for a time in dismal accommodation in Narrow Marsh, one of the then worst parts of Nottingham Lace Market area. The last report of Annie appears in 1916 in Hull when she was imprisoned for two months for assault, after which she vanishes from the record.
This was a fascinating talk, illustrating how an incidental finding of an unusual entry in an archive can be used, with a little perseverance and knowledge of historical archives, can be used to probe the background to society and the legal systems of the past. The Chairman, Mike Holcombe, thanked Tim warmly on behalf of the whole group.
November - “The History of Footpath Development” - a talk by David Hurrell, Chairman, Peak and Northern Footpaths Society
David introduced himself and explained the early development of his society against a background of increasing industrialisation of our towns and cities in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The unhealthy living conditions led many to use their leisure time to walk into the surrounding countryside - the development of many walking clubs correlates with improvements in transport and increasing interest in natural history and archaeology. Many walking clubs were established in the Stockport, Manchester and Sheffield areas and David explained their subsequent affiliations to the Manchester Federation and ultimately to the Ramblers Association - now further developed into the “Ramblers”.
The routes used by the walkers were initially based on public footpaths and their associated rights-of-way. The origin of these pre-dated any other forms of transport as they originally connected village to village, farm to farm, church to church and so on. As the walking clubs developed, so did an interest in preserving and improving the footpaths themselves. The Peak & Northern Footpaths Society (PNFS) can trace its roots from that time. It was a successor to "The Manchester Association for the Preservation of Ancient Public Footpaths" (1826-66) and was formed officially at a meeting held on Thursday 16th August 1894 in the Young Men's Christian Association Hall, Peter Street, Manchester. It is the oldest surviving regional footpath society in the UK.
David then explained the early work of the society and especially its first major success in developing the Hayfield to Snake Inn route across Kinder Scout. At that time there was no national body overseeing rights-of-way and the problems encountered with autocratic landlords are well documented (Kinder has been in public ownership only for the last 30 years).
David then explained that PNFS covers an area of 6276 square miles with >20,000 miles of footpaths in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. It is a charity with 110 unpaid volunteer staff that monitor, protect, and improve the footpath network for the benefit of all.
The inspectors regularly walk 8000 miles of footpaths checking for problems and reporting them to the responsible local authority. They also monitor proposals affecting rights of way and work to get footpath problems resolved as soon as possible. They investigate planning proposals to ensure that the interests of walkers are properly taken into account. They erect signposts and bridges to help walkers. There are hundreds of such signposts and dozens of such bridges in the region, and more are being added all the time.
David illustrated these activities with specific examples of obstructions removed (including barbed wire, blocked gates, derelict farm equipment, deliberately altered signs, animals, etc) and of work with local authorities to assert the public’s rights (including taking legal action against individuals or the local authorities themselves where needed).
David concluded his talk by explaining some of the legal implications of the term “right-of-way”, by highlighting that 2% of the highways budget is earmarked for footpath maintenance but on average <0.5% is so used and by issuing a plea to the audience to support the work of PNFS by becoming members of the society! More information can be found on the website:
http://peakandnorthern.org.uk/index.htm
Mike Holcombe led a vote of thanks for such an interesting and well-illustrated talk.
December - “Conserving the Architecture of the Peak District” - A talk by Rebecca Warburton
Rebecca is a Conservation Officer in the Cultural Heritage Team of the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA). She outlined her experience of over 30 years in conservation in many sectors and abroad. She holds the only full-time post in her department although there are three other part time members.
Rebecca aimed to outline the everyday work of the team and began by emphasising that conservation was not the same as preservation and that approaches to it need to be guided by the overall aims of the PNDPA and the particular geography and geology of the area. In this regard, the area, covering some 557 square miles, falls into three distinct areas with differing features:
- The Dark Peak, characterised by carboniferous sandstone grit has buildings that follow its geology - weaver’s lights, converted mills and gentrified housing (e.g. North Leas Hall), all built in the same stone
- The White Peak uses its limestone for walls and enclosures as well as buildings, although gritstone may still be used for dressing the houses because it is more easily worked. Characteristic buildings include 17th century cruciform windows, lime kilns and water mills.
- The South-West Peak is sandstone but softer than the gritstone. Buildings may have timber frames and there are many Cruck barns and isolated field barns
A major part of their work is looking after the Heritage Assets of the area. These are defined in terms of their significance in archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic terms; but all these also need to be related to that element of heritage that arises from the setting of the individual building. Heritage Assets may be designated or non-designated.
Designated Heritage Assets may be in any of seven categories of which only four appear in the Peak Park: scheduled monuments, listed buildings, conservation areas and registered parks and gardens:
Scheduled Monuments include local stone circles (including Nine-Ladies at Stanton Moor) and our own Baslow Bridge. The latter is 17th century and the watchman’s hut is currently in a poor state. Rebecca’s team have been instrumental in ensuring this is closely monitored by Historic England and conservation measures are expected soon.
Listed buildings fall into three categories: Grade I (2%) such as Haddon Hall, Grade II* (7%) such as Hassop Church and Grade II (90%). Listings are undertaken by Historic England and must be >30years old to be considered unless in very exceptional circumstances. Baslow listings include St Anne’s Church, Park Cottage (17C), the stump cross in the churchyard (15C), the former Methodist church on School Lane and the “bobbin” mileposts at 13 bends.
Rebecca used the example of “Greystones” cottage to show how a listed building (grade II) could show evidence of changing styles as it has examples of 17C, 18C and 19C windows, each with their own distinctive features. She went on to explain other features used to date buildings that included the floorplans, chamfered roof beams, the style of masonry carving, fireplaces, staircases and date stones. Caution is needed, as some of these may have been re-used from other structures.
Next was discussed Listed Building Consent. Rebecca listed examples of alterations that need consent, including some surprising things such as cleaning of stonework; and things that do not, for example like-for-like replacement (although care is needed to ensure these really are like-for-like). Most listed church buildings do not need consent. She explained that there is no power to compel owners to repair listed buildings but those at risk from neglect can be subject to compulsory purchase. At one time “quinquennial reviews” of all listings were carried out but these cannot now be afforded and the PNDPA relies on volunteer surveys.
Conservation Areas refer to clusters of buildings where architectural or historic interests abound and which are considered important to preserve; there are 109 in the Peak Park. Specific Conservation Area Consent has been abolished but is, in effect, included in mainstream planning powers. In practice there are few specific restrictions and actions such as taking down chimneys, installing uPVC windows and solar panels may not need planning permission unless permitted development rights have been removed.
Registered Parks and Gardens fall into the remit of Historic England. There are only four in the Peak Park - Chatsworth House, Haddon Hall, Thornbridge Hall and Lyme Park, although others such as Hassop Hall are equally important. These areas have no statutory protection but planning authorities take a rigorous approach to planning proposals.
Non-Designated Heritage Assets are structures of some significance but are not protected. The Peak District has thousands of these ranging from lime kilns to isolated barns to historic farmsteads.
Rebecca concluded by outlining some of the current challenges to conservation including the lack of traditional materials and skills and climate change. As an example, Breton is the only quarry in the Peak District currently supplying roofing stone and the only other in the north of England is in Hexham. Such a lack leads to increase costs, rising demand for second-hand tiles and potential theft. Reduced use of these materials also leads to deskilled craftsmen. With climate change, there are clear conflicts between conservation of older styles of building and the need for greater energy efficiency. The concluding message was that solutions to these problems need to be specific in any individual case and early consultation with the Authority was important.
Mike Holcombe thanked Rebecca for a most interesting and informative talk.