Errwood Hall and the Dolores Shrine

Back up to full strength this week we ventured out to the very western edge of Derbyshire on a visit to Errwood Hall.
The route took us north through Buxton and then onto Errwood reservoir and Hall.
The road down to the reservoir took us past a small shrine by the roadside and then we carried on to the car park just above the reservoir.

Roadside Shrine

Fernilee Reservoir

From the car park it was a steady climb through the woods and then onto the footpaths on the Errwood Hall estate, it wasn't long before we found the Hall.

The hall was built in the mid-1800s by a wealthy Grimshawe family from Manchester and was occupied by descendants of the family until 1930. Samuel Grimshawe II (born 1811) built the hall, and the family enjoyed a rich and abundant life there (including extensive foreign travel in a family yacht). However, there were no descendants of the family after Samuel’s grandchildren with the Grimshawe surname. Errwood Hall was demolished in the 1930s in connection with construction of nearby Fernilee Reservoir

The Hall was a turreted, double winged structure of millstone grit sandstone, of some Italian style, with a central tower and a chapel, which formed the upper storey of an extension to the northern end. A French window opened onto a terraced garden at the southern end, with wide steps leading up to the main entrance. The ruins have been consolidated, and are in the care of the Peak Park Authority. A staff of twenty were employed in the house and gardens and not far away, at Castedge, are the ruins of the servants' cottages, the laundry, greenhouses and the vegetable garden. The Hall also had its own coal mine further up the valley which was worked until 1929. There was also a private school attended by about thirty local children and their teacher was Miss Dolores de Bergrin, a Spanish aristocrat, who died on a visit to Lourdes. The family built a shrine to her memory in 1889 on the moor below Foxlow Edge. 

This is the Hall before demolition

The 3 arches are visible on the Hall photo above

We think the stone decorated tablet was probably site above this doorway.

Ruins of the Hall in a jungle like position.

Masonry details

Keystone in one of the windows

Ike in a very pensive pose.

After having a look around the Hall we headed north to find the Shrine of Dolores. We followed the footpaths through the woods and over several streams then on towards the Shrine.

Bit of a wavy bridge

I heard these first then got a couple of quick snaps

You can just see the birds off in the distance

Ike fooling about with a pseudo stoop

Looking back towards the Hall

  This tiny, lovely shrine is dedicated to St. Joseph. It was built in 1889 in memory of Miss Dolores de Bergrin, a spanish lady who taught at the private school owned by the Grimshawes, and who was a great friend of the family. The unfortunate lady died whilst on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. This tiny, beehive shaped building has two narrow windows and a low doorway. One expects to find the door locked and nothing inside, but the door is not locked and inside is a riot of colour, sentiment and charm. People bring meadow flowers in jamjars, prayers printed on scraps of paper, religious postcards, plastic figurines of saints, and all manner of trinkets and small items of spiritual sentiment. The altarpiece in this lovely little shrine is a representation of St. Joseph holding the Christ child.

 From the Shrine we went in search of the family's private graveyard.

This is Ike separating chocolate biscuits with his pen knife. The biscuits had melted together.

Breakfast stop before we went in search of the graveyard.

 We eventually found  the graveyard on top of a hill with fantastic views over the valley.

The Grimshawes private family cemetery at Errwood Hall. The graves of Samuel Dominic and Jessie Grimshaw and their three children – Samuel Arthur, Mary, and Anne Genevieve – as well as the spouses of Mary and Anne, are all in the cemetery . Also included are the graves of the former captain of the Grimshawe yacht, John Butler, and several of the servants of the family. 

The final resting place of Samuel Dominic Grimshawe died 20th April 1883

The gate into the cemetry

The view from the cemetery

Rob is actually on the footpath here coming down from the cemetery 

This looks  like the main entrance to the hall

 Errwood Reservoir is a drinking-water reservoir in the Peak District National Park, within the county of Derbyshire and very close to the boundary with Cheshire. The reservoir was the second of two reservoirs built in the Goyt Valley, the other one being Fernilee Reservoir. It was constructed by the Stockport Water Corporation at a cost of £1.5 million, with work being completed in 1967. The reservoir provides drinking water for the town of Stockport and its surrounding areas, and it holds 4,215 million litres of water.Errwood Sailing Club uses the reservoir for sailing training/racing,^[1] and fishing rights are controlled by Errwood Fly Fishing Club.

View of Errwood Hall on the path down to the car park.

This was another cracking walk and on the way back from the car park we travelled out along the one way track to Derbyshire Bridge and passed the old Goyt packhorse bridge on the way, thats another walk.
See you next week
Cheers