Youlgrave, Alport & Middleton
in the Derbyshire Peak District

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A brief description of the villages

THREE VILLAGES STEEPED IN HISTORY

The area around Alport, Middleton, and Youlgrave has been in continuous occupation from early times.  Bronze Age barrows and monuments such as Arbor Low to the north of Middleton, the Nine Ladies on Stanton Moor and many other minor sites bear testimony to this.  There is evidence also that the Romans discovered lead in the area - Romano-British pottery was found at Smerrill in 1844.

ALPORT

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MIDDLETON

Emma to write . . .  

YOULGRAVE  

Youlgrave nestles on the hillside above the joining of the beautiful Lathkill Dale and Bradford Dale at Alport.  

Set within the Peak National Park it is the largest village with a population of 1500.  Three long distance paths: the Alternative Pennine Way, the Limestone Way and the White Peak Way all pass through the village, swelling the numbers of walkers.  Farmers, along with Park Rangers, increasingly see their business as maintaining, repairing and helping conserve the many paths, stiles, walls, meadows, ponds and sites of special interest that abound in this area.  

WHAT'S IN A NAME

The origins of Youlgrave’s name are uncertain but it is likely that it has reference to mining, which is a local industry.  Most favoured contenders are ‘Ye Olde Grebe’ which means ‘the old mine’ (rake).  Or from Giolgrave, meaning ‘yellow grove’.  Yellow refers to the colour of the ore.  Grove may not be to do with trees but from ‘groover’ which was another name for a miner.  Putting all these possibilities together points to one hippie conclusion, that it was perhaps where ‘the old groover’ lived!

SPELLING LESSONS

For those of you that are confused by the spelling of the village name,  I am pleased to give you a list of spellings of the name of ‘the most miss-spelt village’ as compiled by local historian and former teacher at Youlgrave school, Mr J W Shimwell. 

The option that Youlgrave Websight has gone for is not a universal choice, in fact it is only recently that the Highways Department has used 'Youlgrave' and Ordnance Survey still use 'Youlgreave', so the argument continues . . .

An article on this topic, amongst many other interesting local facts can be found in Julie Bunting’s book ‘ Derbyshire Superlatives’ available from the Post Office.

POINTS OF INTEREST  

Various products are mined locally.  Most extensively was lead which is largely exhausted now; but also products for the nearby Staffordshire Potteries industry.  These are chert and barytes.  As graves in the churchyard will testify, the mining enterprise at Mawstone Mine came to an abrupt end in 1932 when a gas explosion killed eight men.

The church of All Saints originally served the villages of Winster, Elton, Birchover, Stanton, Middleton-by-Youlgrave and Gratton.  Its mediaeval beginning and extensions in the14th, 15th, 17th and the 19th centuries have ensured it is one of the largest churches in the Peak District.  The rich and varying architectural styles and ornamentation are evident throughout the church and are explained in literature available on entering the church (usually by the southern door).

The painted glass window behind the altar was designed by Edward Burne-Jones and made in the William Morris workshops.  Morris himself evidently designed the four angels at the top of the picture.  HYPERLINK PLACES OF INTEREST.

Along the street, marking the centre of the village is the fountain, which is a large round stone edifice.  Visitors often mistake it variously as a tomb, an air vent, or perhaps a war memorial; it was in fact a reservoir that filled with fresh spring water, piped from the hillside behind Mawstone Mine through the night.  It was unlocked at 6am each morning.  This was back in 1829.  By 1869 the two inch diameter pipe was furring up and corroded and a further ten tap spots were installed around the village.  When the scheme was finished a day of celebration saw the rebirth of the custom of Welldressing and to this day the five village welldressings are located at, for close to, the original tap sites.  

In the late 1980’s Youlgrave was in the news as the village celebrated 150 years as a private water company, still supplying water to local residents.  HYPERLINK WELLDRESSINGS