LITTON
PLAN YOUR DAY OUT
Location: One mile south of the A623 Baslow to Chapel-en-le-Frith Road, turn left after passing through Tideswell. Alternatively, approach through Miller’s Dale and turn right on the outskirts of Tideswell.
Visit: Monsal Head from where you get one of the best views in Derbyshire, of the Wye slowly winding its way down the Dale between meadows and the steeply wooded side of the valley. Monsal Dale viaduct is recognised as a triumph of Victorian engineering. Refreshments are available.
Refreshments: The Red Lion, a traditional country pub and the village community shop offer refreshments. Nearby, Tideswell has several pubs, restaurants, and a tea shop to suit all tastes.
Walk: Litton Walk takes you along picturesque dales, through woodland and lovely open countryside. The infamous Litton Mill and Cressbrook Mill, both now converted for residential purposes, are passed in the riverside stretch of the walk.
Special Places of Interest in the Locality: Bakewell is a picturesque old market town set in the heart of the Peak District. Visitors flock there in the summer, to shop and explore its many nooks and crannies, to admire its fine buildings, or relax by the lovely, clear, sparkling waters of the River Wye. – Tideswell is a large, very well-kept, upland village of considerable character, ablaze with colour in the summer with hanging baskets and flower tubs everywhere. – Any tourist visiting the beautiful village of Eyam for the first time, not knowing of its tragic history, rapidly becomes aware by reading the plaques on the walls of buildings.
INTRODUCTION
There is a sense of spaciousness about Litton; a wide grass verge runs down the side of the street of this attractive upland village, situated almost 1,000 feet above sea level. An old-world village pub and a small triangular green, complete with ancient wooden stocks, make up the idyllic picture.
The houses are of good quality, mainly built in the 18th century, although the oldest, Holborn House, dates back to 1639. Hammerton House (1768) and the Clergy House (1723), which face one another across the road, are excellent examples of the quality of workmanship, along with Sterndale House, hidden away behind the Red Lion.
A combined school, church and library was built in 1865, on a rather grand scale in the centre of the village by Canon Andrew, Vicar of Tideswell. Sixty-four years later, a new church was built on the outskirts of the village, and now only the primary School remains on the premises.
For its 125th anniversary, the School revived the local tradition of Maypole Dancing during Wakes Week. The tradition continues today, and the children also dress one of the two wells on display during Wakes Week. Well Dressings take place in Tideswell simultaneously, with the Tuesday of Wakes Week being given over to Litton, when there is a fair in the village and various other events and attractions.
Following the closure of Litton’s only shop, the post office was re-housed in the Village Hall, but the villagers were not keen on the new arrangements. After some market research, they found there was sufficient demand to sustain a shop. Next, they formed a friendly society, each villager buying a ten-pound share, found some derelict premises in what had once been the village smithy, obtained additional funding to that already raised by their own efforts and converted the premises into a shop, post office and meeting place for the community.
The Litton Community Shop opened for business on 26 September 1999, and was the first village-owned and run shop in Derbyshire. During that year, the shop project won a Peak Achievement Award from the National Park Authority. Volunteers mainly run the shop. It has been such a success that in 2003 it expanded. A wide range of goods is sold at Supermarket prices, and where possible, locally produced products are stocked. Visitors can sit outside and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of homemade cake.
William Bagshawe, the nonconformist minister who later became known as the Apostle of the Peak, was born in Litton. Early in 1652, he was appointed as Vicar of Glossop, where he happily went about his work for the next ten years. Then the Act of Uniformity resulted in the ejection of 1.700 of the clergy from the Church of England. Bagshawe refused to conform and went from house to house and village to village, preaching the gospel. To make matters worse for him, his family partially disinherited him because of his beliefs.
In the reign of Charles II alone, 8,000 nonconformists are estimated to have died in prison. In constant fear of fines and imprisonment, Bagshawe had to act with caution. Every Sunday morning and afternoon, he attended the parish church at Chapel-en-le-Frith. But in the evening, he took services at his own home, or at someone else’s. He visited Glossop once a month and established other congregations at several villages scattered around the area, travelling mainly on horseback. The Act of Toleration was introduced in 1689; he signed it and spent the rest of his life at Ford Hall, publishing several volumes of practical divinity.
The Red Lion, a 17th-century free house, is an absolute gem made up of three cottages. It has a cosy and relaxing feel. Log fires burn merrily away in the winter, beneath beamed ceilings, the walls and shelves adorned with a miscellany of interesting items. A few years ago, when you walked in through the front door, your first greeting as likely as not was from one of the friendly dogs who live at the pub. Ownership of the pub changed recently, but well-behaved dogs are still allowed to visit this lovely old pub.
TEN FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT LITTON
1. Litton stands on a high limestone plateau, almost 1,000 feet above sea level. The plateau is criss-crossed by a complex web of dry stone walls and incised by the deep valley of the River Wye.
2. Officially, Litton gained village status in the 18th century; the residents of this tight-knit community really have a village they can be proud of, from the appealing buildings to a well-kept village green.
3. The strength of community spirit is demonstrated in Litton by the manner in which the villagers reacted in setting up a community shop and post office. One third of English villages now have no shop of any description, let alone a post office.
4. The Red Lion on Church Lane originally consisted of three miners’ cottages; the pub first opened back in 1778.
5. The pub has been refurbished recently without taking anything from its traditional character. What surprises many visitors is that there are no fewer than three rooms with log fires. Many of the ales on offer come from local breweries.
6. The village hall faces The Green and was given to Litton in 1907 and originally designated as a Working Men’s Club.
7. Today, the village hall is a regular meeting place for the Women’s Institute and several other groups. It is also the venue for a Farmers’ Market held on the first Saturday of each month except January.
8. Litton Mill by the River Wye, now converted into apartments, was once owned by Ellis Needham, who employed scores of child labourers. Conditions were so harsh that many of his young employees did not survive into adulthood.
9. Litton grew during the 18th century in response to lead mining in the surrounding area and then again during the 19th century following the building of the cotton mills at Litton Mill and Cressbrook.
10. Christ Church is on the outskirts of the village on the road to Tideswell. Built in the late 1920s with funds donated by Miss Penfold of Sterndale House. Before that, villagers of the Anglican faith met in Litton School for Sunday services.
