YOULGREAVE
A TO Z – DERBYSHIRE AND THE PEAK DISTRICT – CHAPTER 60
YOULGREAVE (3 miles south of Bakewell, off the A6 Matlock to Bakewell road – SK210642)
Apart from the narrow road through the village, one problem visitors have is knowing how to spell the name. The sign on the western entrance to the village says ‘Youlgreave’. A quick check on the Ordnance Survey agrees, but the post office says ‘Youlgrave’. Local people use the latter spelling, which is how the name is pronounced. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ‘Giolgrave’ and according to research, there are over sixty different spellings of the name!
Surrounded by glorious countryside, the ancient village of Youlgreave winds its way carefully along a narrow limestone shelf, between two of the area’s loveliest valleys. Bradford Dale to the south drops sharply downhill with pretty little cottages and their gardens clinging to the side of the valley. A little further away to the north, on the other side of the hill, is Lathkill Dale, considered by some to be Derbyshire’s finest dale. Near the church is a group of rather grand Georgian houses. Further west is the Old Hall, a distinctive-looking Manor House, which is said to be haunted. According to the datestone, it dates to 1656, but it may be older than that. At the rear is Old Hall Farm, another charming stone-built house dating back to about 1630.
Tiny Thimble Hall, ‘one up and one down’, situated in the marketplace, is the smallest hall in the country. Nearby, a three-storey Victorian building used to be the Co-operative store and still carries the advertising, but is now a thriving youth hostel.
YOULGREAVE – BRADFORD DALE
On the eastern side of the village, the area where the cottages run down to the river is known as Bradford, after the beautiful valley of Bradford Dale. The dale contains a series of attractive little bridges, including a clapper bridge and three packhorse bridges. A succession of weirs and pools constructed to encourage trout to breed adds to the beauty of the dale.
YOULGREAVE – ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH
The long, narrow village street at Youlgreave runs for about one and a half miles along almost the only level ground available; the footpath being lost altogether by the church. Here, pedestrians, who do not want to run the risk of getting run over, walk through the churchyard. All Saints’ Church is a magnificent structure, second only in size to Tideswell in the Peak District. Norman in origin, the font with its projecting stoop is unique in this country. Do not miss the small, intriguing figure in the church of a pilgrim with a staff and wallet, reputedly carved by a travelling friar in return for hospitality. An unusual entry in the churchwarden’s accounts for 1799 is that ‘Dog whippers had to be paid’, for whipping dogs out of the church during divine service.
YOULGREAVE – THE FOUNTAIN
In the centre of the marketplace is a huge circular water tank or conduit head, known locally as ‘The Fountain’. Since 1829, it has supplied soft water to the villagers, initially at an annual charge of 6d. It certainly was more efficient than carrying water on the torturous journey up from Bradford Dale.
