Faith

BBC Radio Derby's Nicholas Henshall has visited all the places listed on this page. In each case he had a guide - either Jo Bell, Richard Stone or Philip Heath. Use the links on the right to hear his reports.

Dethick Chapel

Hidden away, not far from Cromford, Dethick Chapel is quiet and secluded.

Simply collect the key from the Manor House next door and take a glimpse inside the chapel at the 13th-century features with a smattering of 16th-century trimmings. These trimmings were added by the Babbington Family. They're famous for their part in the Babbington plot in which Anthony Babbington conspired to replace Elizabeth I with new Catholic queen, Mary Stewart.

Later in the 1800s, the bells of Dethick Chapel welcomed Florence Nightingale from the Crimea to neighbouring Lea.

Druid's Caves

Behind The Druid's Inn at Birchover, go up the steps and you'll discover an almost lunar landscape.

The oddly shaped rocks of all shapes and sizes that surround you have been made more eccentric by the 18th-century curate.

Myth would dictate that these are Druidical caves but this particular curate certainly left his distinctive mark.

Stanton Moor

Bronze Age stone circles stand as markers of time, seasons, and the sites of ancient rites of passage. The formations on Stanton Moor are no exception. These stones still attract a wealth of visitors, protectors and protestors centuries on.

Nicholas Henshall and Jo Bell

Bakewell

Early Christian worship in Bakewell is represented perfectly in Bakewell churchyard by the 8th-century Saxon cross. Enter the church porch and you’ll discover further evidence of early Christianity in the host of stone fragments, tiles, broken statues and impressively stacked coffin lids.

Mam Tor

This shining, shivering mountain sits just below the start of the Pennine way. It has previously been described by local archaeologist Jo Bell as looking like a poorly turned out jelly!

Its earthworks, the site of an Iron Age fortress, are testament to its previous strategic importance. Evidence of later mines, the cement works, and the main road snaking round the foot of Mam Tor, confirms its continued importance. Although now, Mam Tor's significance is more spiritual than strategic.

St. Michael's at Melbourne

Melbourne, St Michael's

From The 14th Century, there have been two churches listed in Melbourne.

The original St Michael's has now disappeared and is buried beneath the site of an unused churchyard in the centre of Melbourne.

The second, the Melbourne church that dominates the surrounding area, was originally called St Mary's.

Confusingly, St Mary's has since swapped names with its previous counterpart and also become St Michael's. This church was probably built as a royal church for King Henry I in 1125, as its west end gallery is thought to be a special vantage point for the King if, and when, he visited.

Inside St. Michael's

After its restoration in 1860, another eye-catching feature was created: the chandelier-like hoop of bell ropes.

The ropes dip so low that the bell ringers can perform on the church floor, directly in front of the congregation rather than hidden away in the bell tower. 

The church has been likened to a mini-Durham Cathedral, and has a grandeur you wouldn't really expect in a small market town!

Boxed pews inside Foremark Church

Foremark Church

Foremark Church was built just after the restoration in 1662. Those with an eye for architecture would tell you that this church is a late example of English Gothic design.

Notable features include the boxed pews with their end doors, the elaborate screen, the three-decker pulpit, and the ornate ironwork by Robert Bakewell.

Robert Bakewell's work can also be seen in Derby Cathedral.

View through the windows, Anchor Church

Anchor Church

The naming of Anchor Church is derived from the term 'anchorite' fitting to its previous employment as a hermit's cell. Its chambers, hollows in the solid rock, were occupied from the 6th-century.

However, by the mid 18th Century, these caverns had been turned into an eccentric summerhouse for excursions and picnics organised by the local landowner.

Swarkestone Bridge

Swarkestone Bridge

Stretching three quarters of a mile, Swarkestone Bridge is the longest piece of medieval bridgework in the country. Whilst the Bridge was first recorded in 1204, most of the construction was done in the first half of The 14th Century.

It was designed to allow travellers to cross both the Trent and its flood plain with the original bridge even having its own chapel.

All Saints at Dale

All Saints church appears to be semi-detached, and historians will tell you one half of the building used to be the Bluebell Inn.

Legend has it that Alan-a-Dale was married there and the outlaws celebrated the marriage in the pub next door.

Was Alan-a-Dale was married here?

The benefactor was known as Godmother of the Dale who added to the church in the 12th century. When she persuaded her nephew to invest in a nearby Abbey, this church became its infirmary.

With a lay Bishop and administration that was outside the church's reach, All Saints became Derbyshire's answer to Gretna Green. Swift marriages became possible as no bans were required.

Dale Abbey

Dale Abbey's beginnings were made possible by money provided by the nephew of the so-called Grandmother of the Dale around the 1200s.

At its height, it housed about 24 Canons and a host of lay brothers and their servants. The monks were great preachers and farmers and by the time of the Reformation controlled some 28,000 acres.

If you visit the Abbey now, you're likely to find a friendly horned sheep in the nave, as only the huge archway and the some of the pillar bases remain.

Riddings

Stand in the churchyard of St James in Riddings and you'll see a striking memorial to William Shawcross, a framework knitter who ran a Sunday school. William's fellow labourers dedicated the stunning memorial to "the benighted inhabitants of the hamlet".

Shawcross Memorial

At the end of the 18th Century, Riddings, an agricultural village, was a hamlet. But on the turn of the 19th Century, this hamlet became a thriving industrial centre due its stores of coal and iron.

Riddings ironworks became the most productive in Derbyshire and in 1847 saw the erection of the world’s first oil refinery, shedding its previously "benighted" character.

James Oakes erected the oil refinery and was also responsible for building St James with its tall spire.

Want to find out more?

If you'd like to discover more about local history, use the form below to request a free information pack. Take a trip back in time and join a re-enactment society, unearth the past with a local history group or go behind closed doors and help out at a stately home. There's information on courses, family history and historic trails in the Peak District. Type 'history' in the subject box.