Chelmorton and Area

Now that summer is on the way and the sun rises nice and early we thought a 06:00am start would be the norm from now on.
Surprisingly everyone was ready and we set off for the villages of Flagg and Chelmorton.
We drove through Flagg with nothing there to investigate, there were a few fancy farms with grand titles but that was it so we just continued on to Chelmorton.
We parked at the top end of the village close to the one and only pub called The Church Inn.
Chelmorton has a couple of claims to fame, one being the highest village in Derbyshire and possibly the highest parish in England. St. John the Baptist Church is at 1209 ft above sea level.
Chelmorton is also known for the medieval field system, where the villagers each owned strips of land. This was before the enclosure act and there are still signs of this ancient farming system.

Town End Farm is a grade 11 listed building dating from 1630

We started from the top of the village and walked down towards Town End Farm a grade 11 listed building dating from 1630.
The first building which took our attention was the pub, aptly named The Church Inn which stands opposite the church.

The Church Inn which used to have a blacksmiths at the rear .

Just a bit further down the street we came to the Chelmorton Troughs. These troughs are the last remaining pair of seven, which were located down the west side of Main St. The water originates from a spring at the foot of Chelmorton Low and originally ran through the village as a stream known as Illy-Willy-Water. This water used to supply all the villagers and farms but the supply now comes from Ladybower reservoir.

Ike in photo mode

The Chelmorton Troughs

Lock up your daughters.

Not many of these about, a stone telephone box.

I hope this brings luck to the owners.

 After passing several very interesting buildings we arrived at the Chelmorton Pinfold. This pinfold was used until the end of the 19th century, where the village Pinder was responsible for the welfare of stray livestock until the owner collected them. The last Chelmorton Pinder was sworn in in 1845. If the animals were not claimed they would be sold at market.

Chelmorton Pinfold.

After leaving the village we turned right on the main road, past a couple of houses and brother Rob spotted some stones on top of a hill and thought we should go and have a look. It was quite a steep climb with some great views. Near the top someone is rebuilding a dry stone wall and it looks terrific.

Nice dry stone wall under construction.

Breakfast stop

Tunstead quarry in the distance.

Another old barn just ripe for a bit of TLC

Ike studying an old bit of farm machinery.

Thought to be a potato spinner of some sort.

Hole in the wall

Beautiful cloud formation.

Geoff's just overdone the eye makeup this morning!!!

When we got back into the village we had a walk into the church which was unlocked and very nice inside.

The Parish Church of St John the Baptist, one of the highest situated churches in the land, dates partly back to the early 13th century, though its building history is a little complex. It has a broad, low west 13th century tower capped with a 15th century spire. The south arcade is 13th century, but was lengthened by one bay to match the North arcade when that was built. The 4th bay opens into the south transept which has lancet windows and dates back to around the 14th century.It contains some interesting relics, these include several stone coffins, the 14th. Century chancel screen and the stone font that dates from the 15th. Century. The tall spire that is a landmark for many miles is topped by an unusual weather vane in the shape of a locust, in commemoration of the church dedication to St. John the Baptist.

Ike & Geoff  in the graveyard.

St. John the Baptist Church

Geoff, last one back to the car.

It was then back to the car and set off for home, but we stopped on the hill overlooking Chelmorton to view the village nestled beneath Chelmorton Low which has 2 ancient burial mound dating from the bronze age.

The village of Chelmorton is the highest in Derbyshire.

There will only be three of us next week, one of our group is off to Scotland for a few days rest.
See you next week
Cheers