Arbor Low

Arbor Low, Derbyshire is a prehistoric henge monument, that is, it consists of a circle of stones set inside a circular ditch with a bank enclosing the complete structure.  It is unclear what henges were used for but it seems likely that whatever went on there was designed to be seen only by a few chosen people. The bank around the monument would have made it impossible to see activities within the stone circle from outside. Perhaps observers sat on the inner side of the bank, but it would still have been available to only a restricted few.

Bank and ditch arrangement

The site is a Neolithic one, built around 5,000 years ago from locally quarried limestone. Superimposed on it is a burial mound dating from the Bronze Age, which was excavated in the 19th century and found to contain two urn burials.  The stones would originally have been upright but they are all now fallen over. There are a number of entrances to the circle that show as gaps in the bank and there is some evidence that a processional way might once have led from the south because there is a linear earthwork close to the southern entrance.  About 250 metres away on a horizon to the south west is another Bronze Age burial mound called Gib Hill. It too lies over an earlier monument, a Neolithic long barrow that probably pre-dates the circle.

Arbor Low stands on private land behind a farm at the top of a fairly steep hill. The view from the site is extremely dramatic as it is possible to see for a very long way. Whoever built the site must either have wanted the mound to be visible from a great distance or to be able to see anyone approaching it.
(This post was originally published as part of the HistoryAnorak website.

Bolsover Castle

On a recent misty day we took a trip up the M1 to north Derbyshire and Bolsover Castle. Unlike many similar structures, it is genuinely right in the heart of the town.

In 1617 William Cavendish, who was to become the First Duke of Newcastle, inherited Bolsover Castle from his father Charles.

Charles died in the middle of creating the Little Castle, a mock Norman keep intended to act as a retreat from the family seat at Welbeck a few miles away.  William continued work on the site, completing a range of luxurious interiors depicting life from earthly pursuits to heavenly wonders.

William employed architect Robert Smythson, who was also responsible for the design of William's later home, Hardwick Hall, and Longleat House, now home of the Marquis of Bath.

Bolsover's Little Castle was the perfect place to hold lavish parties and to impress visitors with its exquisite detail. Elaborately carved fireplaces, Italian-inspired stonework and richly decorated panelling combined to show off the host's taste and fortune.

Guests entered through a Gothic doorway and into an ante room which was decorated with brightly painted panels.

Banquets and dinner parties were held in the Pillar Parlour, which gets its name from a central pillar formed by its arched ceiling. The panelling is decorated with faux graining and gilding, and at the focus of each arch the panels contain a painted illustration of one of the five senses.

The grand hall is decorated with paintings that depict the labours of Hercules.

They are designed to create an illusion of additional space because they incorporate pictures of the ceiling vaulting.

Perhaps the most impressive room on the upper floors is the Star Chamber, the main room used by the castle owners. Only family and very close friends would have been invited to see it. Again the panelling is richly decorated and English Heritage, which now manages Bolsover, has restored almost all of the paintings. Two have been left to show the actual state of the originals. The restored ceiling is wondrous.

Garden features: topiary

Topiary at Levens Hall

Topiary -  or curious greens as it was once called - was imported to England from the Netherlands, where it was a passion of Dutch gardeners. The first designs were simple, geometric shapes such as spheres and pyramids, but ambitions grew gradually until all manner of strange shapes were created from box and yew.

One of the most important topiary gardens in the UK is at Levens Hall in Cumbria. The garden was first laid out in the 1690s and has changed very little since. It is believed that some of the trees there are from the original planting. It was designed by Guillaume Beaumont, believed to have trained under Le Notre at Versailles, and one time gardener to James II.

Victorian taste at Elvaston Castle

The elaborate tree shaping soon went out of fashion, however, making way for complex planting schemes, parterres and sweeping vistas, and did not return to favour until Victorian times. The grounds at Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire were given a topiary revival in the 1830s.

Today topiary is mainly restricted to a few extremely elaborate structures in smaller gardens, designed to create one showpiece, rather than a large display.

A modern example (Not my photo. Used with thanks.)

Birdcage

The Birdcage Arbour

There's a rather obscure hall and garden on the edge of South Derbyshire, which is very little known in spite of its architectural and historic importance. It's called Melbourne Hall, and it's in the village that ultimately gave its name to the Australian city, albeit via a rather roundabout route.

One of the reasons so few people have heard of it is because it's not open very often. Weekends and Wednesdays, April to September, with occasional extra days in August. and then only for four hours at a time. I live five miles from it and it's taken me 10 years to get there. I tried a few weeks ago but there was a blackboard at the entrance with "Gardens closed. Flood." chalked on it. Second attempt was more successful.

For anyone who bothers to check, Melbourne Hall has one of the most unspoiled gardens of its era - the very early 18th century. The original design was drawn up in 1704, but it was already becoming out of date by the time it was finished a couple of decades later. The likes of Lancelot "Capability" Brown and his ilk were doing away with the French style of geometric ponds, regimented lawns, classical statuary and long vistas by the 1730s, to make way for a more 'natural look'. (Of course their kind of nature frequently required re-routing streams and rivers, and the removal of whole villages if they spoiled the view. A most unnatural form of nature.)

Looking up through the dome

The view back to the house

But the then owner of Melbourne Hall, the Rt.Hon.Thomas Coke, decided enough had been spent on his gardens already, and he was unwilling to waste any more money bringing it up to date. Subsequent generations have followed suit, so Melbourne is now acknowledged as one of the best preserved examples of the style.

It's packed full of statuary, almost all of which is listed Grade I, but its crowning glory is undoubtedly its Birdcage Arbour, which stands by the pond at the southern end of the garden. It's exquisite.  It was designed and built by local blacksmith Robert Bakewell and is extremely ornate wrought iron, topped with a cupola rising to a tall finial. It is decorated with leaves and scrolls, caricature faces and sun disks.  Bakewell was paid the then princely sum of £120 for his work, but its production left him penniless. However, it vastly increased his reputation and he managed to find other work in and around Derbyshire, including the chancel screens at Derby cathedral and Staunton Harold church.

And how did Melbourne pass on its name to the Down Under town?
Well, in the mid 19th century it was the home of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne and Prime Minister of the UK. It was named in 1837 by Governor Sir Richard Bourke to honour him. Clearly the scandal caused by his wife Lady Caroline's affair with the poet Byron in 1812 had been forgotten by that time. A week is a long time in politics, as they say. Twenty five years is obviously even longer!

Logboat

Logboat

I don't think I've said but I once studied archaeology at university. I concentrated on British prehistory and had a special interest in maritime matters. That means I was fascinated by all kinds of craft from the simplest dugout canoe to a clinker-built Viking longship.

Derby Museum and Art Gallery has a rather impressive specimen in its archaeology department.  It's known as the Hanson logboat, because it was found in Hanson's gravel Quarry at Shardlow. (For those who are interested, Shardlow was an inland port during the height of canal transport. It still offers pleasure boaters a link from the Trent and Mersey Canal to the River Trent.)  If you ever drive east along the A50 you can see the quarry just before you reach junction 24 of the M1.

The boat was made from a single oak tree, about 3,400 years ago, during the Bronze Age. Scientists used radiocarbon dating methods to reach that conclusion.  Dendrochronolgy (tree ring counting) is a more exact science and it is possible with some wooden artefacts to determine exactly when the tree was cut down, but it requires the bark to define the last year of growth. If the bark is missing it's only possible to give a terminus post quem (time after which) for the object. In other words, if the outermost ring grew in 1434 BCE you can say for sure that the tree was cut down some time after that. But they haven't used dendrochronology on this boat.

The prow

On the other hand, they know that the tree was at least 400 years old when it was felled, because of its size. Such trees only grow in virgin forest and there are none of a similar size in the UK any more.

The boat contained large sandstone blocks, believed to have been its cargo. The rock was quarried a few miles away and was transported downstream, possibly to help build a causeway across the River Trent.

Wanted

Extracts from the Derby Mercury (1771/81) promising employment and good wages to the right people if they wanted to work at Arkwright's Mill. The world’s first successful water powered cotton spinning mill, built in 1771 by Sir Richard Arkwright at Cromford in Derbyshire. He was the first person to mechanise the whole process of cotton preparation and spinning, and subsequent weaving. From bale to cloth - all under one roof   - with machines driven by the passage of river water over a wheel.

"Framework knitters and weavers with large families" (so they could do piece work at home and include the kids on the team).
"Boys and young Men may have Trades taught them, which will enable them to maintain a Family in a short Time." (Ditto. The bigger the family, the more people working for the mill!)

And yet Arkwright wasn't a bad man, by the standards of his day. He looked after his employees and provided homes in the village in sturdy, stone-built houses with gardens. Many of his workforce had probably been lead miners or agricultural workers and their mill conditions must have seemed almost luxurious by comparison.

Bonnie Prince Charlie

In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart) led a rebellion in a bid to restore the British Throne to the House of Stuart. With the support of Highland clansmen he headed south and reached Derby before being beaten back. (He was finally defeated at the Battle of Culloden and fled to France with a price on his head.)

However, during his campaign southwards he stayed in Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and while there he declared his father to be the rightful king - James III.

Bonnie Prince Charlie statue in Derby

For such a significant event in history there is remarkably little to mark the spot where it happened. There is a very subtle plaque on a wall in the market place, which would be very easy to miss. In fact it is almost overshadowed by a second plaque marking the death of one Tom Fearns, aged 40, who died in 1930 after the balance bar of the town fire bell broke and hit him. 

Cruck cottage

The little market town of Wirksworth in Derbyshire has a wealth of unusual and old buildings but perhaps one of its most striking now consists of only one wall. It's the end wall of a cottage with Medieval beams that date from the 15th century.

It's called a cruck cottage, because of the shape of the beams. The word comes from Middle English crok(e), from Old Norse krāka, meaning "hook". This is the same stem as crooked, or a shepherd's crook (or cruck) which has a curved handle. 

This type of construction consists of long, generally naturally curved, timber beams that lean inwards and form the ridge of the roof. These posts are then secured by a horizontal beam forming an "A" shape. 

The wall was discovered in 1971 during demolition of two cottages that once stood on the site. It is now the outer wall of the Wirksworth Brewery building.

There are actually several cruck cottages in the area of Derbyshire and Leicestershire and they are relatively easy to spot in older houses.

Chatsworth

Looking towards the Emperor Fountain

A couple of weeks ago I went to Chatsworth. My main intention was to visit the Beyond Limits sculpture exhibition in the grounds, but I had a trip round the house as well.  Here's a potted history. Be warned - it's a long post, even though I've hardly scratched the surface of all this house has experienced!

One of the most powerful women in Elizabethan England (after the Queen) was Elizabeth Talbot, known as Bess of Hardwick. Her four successful marriages also made her one of the richest women of the time.

Husband number two was Sir William Cavendish, a Suffolk lord who benefited immensely from Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. When he married Bess in 1547 she persuaded him to sell off his East Anglian properties and move to her native Derbyshire. That's how the Chatsworth estate was established. Since then the estate has passed through 16 generations of the Cavendish family.

The house that Bess built

Bess's fourth husband was Earl of Shrewsbury George Talbot, who was appointed custodian of Mary, Queen of Scots by Elizabeth I. As a result Mary was held prisoner at Chatsworth for several periods during her incarceration.

Bess's second son, William, was made her heir and on her death in 1608 he inherited her vast fortune, including land in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Virginia in the USA. He was made Earl of Devonshire in 1618.

During the English Civil War the house changed hands several times but returned to the Cavendish family after the Restoration of the monarch when the third earl -another William - moved back in.

Various Cavendish heirs were involved in significant events, such as the fourth earl (want to guess his name?) being one of the seven noblemen who supported the establishment of William of Orange as king. In exchange ther fourth earl became the First Duke of Devonshire.

Successive dukes made the right political decisions as kings came and went, amassing even more money and power and enabling them to modernise Bess's original Elizabethan building. The fourth duke made changes to Chatsworth park, demolishing the neighbouring village of Edensor (because it was in the way) and employing Lancelot Capability Brown to create the surroundings as they exist today.

In 1774 the fifth duke married Lady Georgiana Spencer, daughter of the 1st Earl Spencer. (Yes, that family which later gave rise to Lady Diana; mother of the current second in line to the UK throne.)

It wasn't just the direct line of dukes and earls who were successful. Henry Cavendish, grandson of the second Duke of Devonshire, was a scientist who first recognised hydrogen as an element.  Much of his library of 12,000 books and papers is now at Chatsworth.

An inhabitant of the sculpture gallery

The sixth duke - yes I know this is getting silly but he was called William - never married, but he spent a lot of time and money extending the house. His changes included the installation of a purpose-built sculpture gallery and the famous Joseph Paxton developments: the massive rock gardens, the impressive Great Conservatory and the spectacular Emperor Fountain. The works were expensive and he was forced to sell off land in Yorkshire to pay for them. On his death in 1858 the house and land passed to William's cousin - William.

William the seventh duke was the clever one of the family. He was made Chancellor of London University at the ripe old age of 28, then Chancellor of Cambridge University, and he founded the Cavendish Laboratory there.

During World War II Chatsworth was used by a girls' boarding school to keep its pupils safe from coastal bombing. In 1949 the house opened to visitors and 105,000 people turned up in the first year. a year later the duke died unexpectedly and 80% death duties forced the family to sell off many of the artworks and to hand over Hardwick Hall - Bess's old home - to the National Trust in lieu of taxes.

The eleventh duke - Andrew! - married Deborah Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters who earned a degree of notoriety for their links to Hitler's Germany.

The current duke is the twelfth, who took over on the death of his father in 2004. The family are keen art and sculpture collectors and their modern pieces sit happily alongside the amassed treasures collected by previous owners.

Another romantic bridge

The 13th century Swarkestone Bridge and Causeway, at almost a mile in length, is the longest stone bridge in England. Some historians think that the stone bridge was constructed to replace an earlier wooden one. At one time a chapel and toll house stood on the causeway but there is little sign of them now.

The structure's 17 arches cross the River Trent flood plain between Swarkestone and Stanton-by-Bridge. It is still a significant route for travellers passing from Derby to Melbourne: believe it or not there is a regular bus service across it!

According to local legend the causeway is the work of two local sisters whose fiancés drowned while trying to cross the flood plain in high water. The horrified sisters saw the men swept away by the river and vowed that no-one else would suffer the same fate. They spent the rest of their lives building and maintaining the causeway and bridge and so were penniless when they died.

Listed Grade I and Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Well dressing

The origin of well dressing is not known. At one time it was mainly carried out around Derbyshire, but over the last couple of decades it has spread across the Midlands. In spite of the name the events are not always centred on a well, although the longest-running traditions still are.

Many people believe that the tradition grew up from pagan practices that honoured water gods. The ceremonies ensured villages would maintain a clean drinking supply. However, the tradition does not date back indefinitely into the past.

During the 17th century many villages in Derbyshire were affected by the plague, and it is possible that well dressing was revived by the Church of England to give thanks for those who survived.

Some villages, such as Youlgrave (which is Youlgreave if you check the sign at the other end of the village!) began the ceremonies when piped water arrived. Those events were called tap dressings and took place at the parish pump.

Originally the wells were celebrating by placing quite small posies of flowers but over the years they have become more elaborate. These days huge wooden frames are filled with clay and then flower petals and other natural objects are pushed into them to create pictures. They can be traditional or contemporary - serious or comic.

The choice of materials can be very creative. The dressing in the photo was the main one of nine at Aston-on-Trent this year.  A list was posted next to it describing what had been used. It included alder cones, leaves, bark, coal, coconut, fresh and dried parsley, coriander, sage, dog hair, feathers, grass, lavender, leeks, oats, pebbles, millet, wool, twigs, shells, soot, rice, tapioca, turmeric, peppercorns, sand and coffee, among other things!

The events carry on across the district throughout the summer. The frames are left in place until the flowers fade - usually about a week or 10 days. The exact time depends on the placement. North-facing lasts longer, and it's best to avoid direct sunlight. At some point a procession or blessing ceremony will be held to consecrate the dressing.

The pictured dressing commemorates Robin Gibbard, an Aston resident who established the modern tradition of holding a well dressing in the village. He has been the driving force behind many recent dressings and some parts of this one - the owls and the otter - reference his past designs. There isn't actually a well on the spot these days, but the name of the adjoining cottage - Pump House - shows that there once was!

Bringing history to life

Derby Arboretum is celebrating 175 years this year. It's the oldest public park in Britain and was the inspiration for New York's Central Park. As part of the celebrations photographer Howie Johnson has staged an exhibition of pictures that show off the park in a different way.

One of Howie's merged photos

He has merged old photographs with modern shots, in a series he has called Ghosts of the Park. And he has created life-sized images on mesh, which are on show throughout June among the trees, as if the ghosts have come to life. Some of the ghosts are from original pictures of the park, but some are photographs he has created using modern models in Victorian costume.

For one day only, people were invited to dress in Victorian costume and take a picnic to the park, to see the ghosts and be part of its ongoing history. There was a good turnout, and people of all ages and races joined in. Derby is a multi-cultural city and the history of some ethnic groups in the town is as long as the park's.

The arboretum was the brainchild of industrialist Joseph Strutt. The silk merchant and cotton mill owner gave the land to the town in 1840 because he was concerned about the lack of fresh air for residents of the increasingly industrialised area. Ironically, pollution levels killed many of the 1,000-plus species that were planted in the park.

Strutt wanted the arboretum to be both a place for exercise and recreation, and educational. His instructions were that no species was to be repeated across the 11 acres, to encourage people to walk all the way around it.

The layout was designed by Joseph Claudus Loudon, a 19th century horticulturalist who had strong views on social responsibility. He felt rich factory owners of his time had a duty to look after their workers, and had already expressed a desire to create a public park.

The current exhibition clearly attracted a lot of attention and local people were engaged with it. Wandering around the park, seeing the translucent figures of Derby residents past and present walking alongside, was a great way to consider the park in a new light. Many of the visitors to the picnic event had never been to the park before.

He's offering peppermint
cough preventative!

It's likely that the majority of Derby residents don't even know the park exists (it's not central) let alone its historical significance. It's to be hoped that this exhibition goes a long way towards letting the town know what it has and how much it should value it.

By the end of the 20th century vandalism and neglect (and WWII bombing) had taken their toll on the arboretum and it was very much the worse for wear. However, a Heritage Lottery Fund grant enabled the city council to make an investment in it. Much of the park was restored, including a replica of the Florentine Boar (see photo above). According to an information panel in the park, Strutt commissioned sculptor W J Coffee to make a ceramic replica of a boar statue to be found in Florence, Italy.

Strutt originally had the work at his own home, but donated it to the park for the official opening. The boar survived until a bombing raid in 1941 caused severe damage, then it was taken away. The current boar is a bronze replica, of the replica!