OSMASTON TO OVERSEAL
A TO Z – DERBYSHIRE AND THE PEAK DISTRICT – CHAPTER 35
OSMASTON (near Ashbourne, off the A52 to Derby Road – SK200439)
Only a mile from the busy A52 that links Ashbourne and Derby, the visitor must think they are in another world when they arrive at Osmaston. Delightful half-timbered cottages under thatched roofs, lattice windows, a duck pond overlooked by a village green, an attractive church and an old-world pub all combine in a beautiful picture postcard setting. Thatched cottages are rare in Derbyshire, but at Osmaston, even the village hall has a thatched roof.
The two oldest cottages, both with thatched roofs, overlook the duck pond, where an unusual seat made up of discarded horseshoes stands. It looks uncomfortable, but it is not. If you prefer a more traditional seat, one has been provided next to the pond. A more recent addition in the middle of the pond is a duck nesting box. The four thatched cottages facing the car park were built to celebrate the coronation of King George VI, and the village hall opened on Coronation Day in 1937. It is used for various functions, including providing dining facilities for the children who attend the local school. A Post Office/Shop operates on a part-time basis in an outbuilding of the popular Shoulder of Mutton public house.
OVER HADDON (off the B5055 Bakewell to Monyash road – SK204664)
Over Haddon sits perched on a ledge with glorious views over Lathkill Dale. It is one of the most beautiful dales in England and the first designated as a National Nature Reserve in the county of Derbyshire. Charles Cotton, a friend of Izaak Walton, who wrote the best-selling book The Compleat Angler, said of Lathkill Dale, ‘It is by many degrees the purest and most transparent stream that I ever yet saw, either at home or abroad, and breeds it is said the reddest and the best trout in England.’
The reason for visitors flocking to the village in 1854 was quite different – a mini–Klondike Gold Rush took place when gold was discovered in one of the lead mines. News spread fast, and soon the little village was besieged by bounty hunters. A company was established, and hundreds of people invested money in the hope of a substantial return. Unfortunately, the gold was so deep and in such small quantities that the venture proved unprofitable. The company was closed, and the investors lost all their money.
Over Haddon seems an unlikely birthplace for a former head of MI6, a position Maurice Oldfield rose to when he was appointed Director of the Secret Intelligence Service in 1973 by Edward Heath. He was knighted in 1975 and died six years later. He is buried with his parents in the village churchyard.
OVERSEAL (3 miles south of Swadlincote, on the A444 – SK294153)
The village was once part of the district of Seal, which included several settlements, a term that probably indicates the area was once heavily forested. Historically, both Overseal and Netherseal were part of Leicestershire, but in 1897, they were transferred to Derbyshire. In their heyday, the mines were major employers in Overseal, commemorated on the grounds of the local primary school with the positioning of the winding wheel from Donisthorpe Colliery. The village also had pipe and brickworks, but it was the opencast coal and clay pits that marred the landscape. Fortunately, the arrival of The National Forest is gradually changing the landscape back from black to green.
