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Bakewell, the unofficial capital of the Peak District, is the largest town within the Peak District National Park.
It stands about 120 metres above sea level (much of the Peak District is about 300 metres high or more) and owes its existence to the River Wye. The Wye rises on the gritstone rock of Axe Edge, flows down into Buxton through a succession of beautiful limestone dales, past Ashford-in-the-Water and through Bakewell to join the River Derwent at Rowsley.
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Bakewell in winter (River Wye in foreground)
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There are traces of Mesolithic activity (around 6,000-5,000 BC) in the area around Bakewell and it is known that Neolithic people (around 3,000 BC) brought farming to the White Peak.
The first real evidence of settlement at Bakewell is the hill fort at Ball Cross dating from around 1,000 BC. The Romans left little trace in Bakewell, though they may have used the warm springs for bathing. It is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles as Badecanwylla which can be translated as Badecca’s Well or Bath Well.
There was possibly a Saxon minster on the site of the present church. Saxon fragments, including carved heads, can be seen at the church There are also two Saxon crosses, the larger of which is said to have come from near Hassop Station; the smaller was taken from the moors towards Chesterfield.
In 924 Edward the Elder (son of Alfred the Great) started building a fortification at Bakewell, probably to protect the river crossing. The mound now known as Castle Hill is the site of a later Norman castle.
Domesday and Beyond ......
By the time of the Domesday book in 1066, Badequella was a very large parish (much larger than the present town or parish of Bakewell) including several settlements, a lead smelting words and a church. Two priests are listed which indicates the importance of the town - the only other Derbyshire town with this honour was Repton. The church was rebuilt around 1100 and was added to and altered over the centuries.
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Trains of packhorses carried wool and many other goods to and from Bakewell and Holme bridge was built over the river in 1664. The date of the main bridge is uncertain.
HADDON HALL
Lying close to Bakewell, Haddon Hall has many attributes of a Medieval great house. It was the seat of the lords of the manor of Bakewell for centuries (when it lay inside the early larger Bakewell parish).
Originally built by William Pevril in the 12th century the Hall passed to the Vernon family and then the Manners family through the marriage of Dorothy Vernon and Sir John Manners in the 16th. The Manners family (first Earls and then Dukes of Rutland) left
Haddon and it remained unchanged and unaltered until the 20th century, when the decay was sensitively repaired and the house restored to its former splendour.
For many years, sheep farming and lead mining remained the most important industries around Bakewell, bringing propsperity to the area. Limestone and gritstone were quarried for local use and during the 18th and 19th centuries other industries grew up.
- In 1772 Josiah Wedgwood started to quarry chert, a very hard stone used to grind flint for the pottery industry.
- In 1778 Richard Arkwright built Lumford Mill, a cotton mill which was the first factory in the world to be powered by a river (rather than the streams of his earlier mills at Cromford). This new industry brought an increase in population (350 workers in 1780) and changes in local employment. Arkwright Square was built as housing for the mill workers. The mill itself burnt down in 1868 but the water courses remain interesting.
- A significant 19th century industry was the production of marble ornaments as an expansion of the black ‘marble’ industry at Ashford.
Agriculture remained important in Bakewell with a gradual increase in dairy farming. A range of products, including cheese were once produced.
During the 20th century a variety of small businesses moved out of Sheffield and into the Bakewell area.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS
In 1815 the Buxton to Bakewell turnpike road opened the town up to regular traffic and by 1818 crowds of travellers were calling at the Bakewell hostelries. By 1829, several stage coaches travelled in and out of Bakewell every day, from Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham, Derby and London.
The Railway Connection
With the building of the railways in the 19th century, there was a long debate as to whether the railway should continue beyond Rowsley up the Derwent valley through Chatsworth Park or the Wye valley past Haddon Hall and Bakewell. Eventually in 1862 the latter route was built. A shallow tunnel was constructed behind Haddon Hall to preserve its peace. While Bakewell station served the Duke of Rutland, Hassop station nearby was built to serve the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth.
The line from Matlock to Buxton (through Bakewell) was closed in the railway re-organisation of 1968 and was later bought by the National Park Authority and opened to walkers as the Monsal Trail. Planning permission has been granted to reopen the railway line through Bakewell, linking Buxton and Matlock.
BUILDINGS IN BAKEWELL
Houses in Bakewell are mostly built in local stone, some using limestone with gritstone sills and cornerstones, some in gritstone alone (gritstone is a coarse sandstone). A number of the buildings in the centre of the town date originally from the Tudor and Stuart periods. These include the former Market Hall (now the National Park and Tourist Information Centre), Bagshaw Hall, the former Town Hall, St John’s Almshouses and the Bath House. This was built in 1697 for the Duke of Rutland who aimed to establish a spa. Unfortunately Bakewell’s spring water was colder than that in Buxton and the spa was not a success.
The Old House (now the Museum) has a timber framed medieval core, later clad in stone. The elegant Georgian buildings include the Rutland Arms Hotel, Rutland Terrace, Queen’s Arms Hotel, Peacock Hotel and Victoria Corn Mill. Victorian buildings include the present Royal Bank of Scotland, Trustee Savings Bank and Burton Closes. The church was substantially rebuilt in the 1840s and many other buildings were rebuilt or ‘improved’.
Since 1951, when the Peak District became England’s first National Park, any new building has been strictly controlled. The historic core of the town became a Conservation Area in 1980, so that the character of the area could be maintained. Some buildings in this area have been restored and others have been adapted to new use.
Even outside the historic core of the town, any new building must be in keeping with the character and style of the existing buildings - using natural stone, traditional sizes and shapes for windows, slates for roofs and neutral colours for woodwork.
BAKEWELL MARKET
There has been a market in Bakewell ‘from time immemorial’ and its charter was confirmed in 1330. Held every Monday, the market once sold butter, pots and pans, corn, horses, cattle sheep and pigs, in various streets of the town. In 1826 the market was moved to a site in Granby Road, to clear the streets and relieve the congestion.
It was later confined to cattle and sheep with a stall market for food and household goods. The livestock market has now moved across the river to the new Agricultural Business Centre. Two footbridges link it to the town centre.
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