BAKEWELL, Derbyshire

Bibliography

• Brighton, Trevor - Bakewell: The Ancient Capital of The Peak. Halsgrove, 2005. ISBN 1-84114-419-3.
  
  
• Hudson, Paul - Ann Summers : Creator of the World Famous Bakewell Pudding. Pynot Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9552251-7-8.
  
  
• Robbins, Linda and Draper, Lesley - The Book of the Bakewell Show. Halsgrove, 2003. ISBN 1-84114-310-0.
  
  
• Taylor, Keith - Bakewell in Old Photographs. Country Books of Little Longstone, 2009. ISBN 978-1-906789-12-1.
  
  
• Tuffrey, Peter - Bakewell and the White Peak. Tempus, 2003. ISBN 0-7524-3042-4.

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Census

• The parish was in the Bakewell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• The original Christian church was founded here in 920.
  
  
• The present Anglican church was built in the 12th and 13th centuries.
  
  
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
  
  
• The Vernon family of Haddon Hall were the providers of much of the funding for building Bakewell Church, including their own "Vernon Chapel". The postcard shows the monument to Sir John MANNERS who died in 1611, and his wife Dorothy VERNON, of Haddon Hall, daughter of Sir George VERNON, the so called "King of the Peak". It is sited at the north end of the Chapel; at the opposite end is a similar monument to their son Sir George MANNERS (d. 1623), and his wife Grace PIERREPOINT - "Grace, Lady Manners" who founded the Lady Manners Grammar School. The Chapel also contains the tomb of an earlier John MANNERS who died in 1477.
  
  
• Most of the church was rebuilt in the 1840s.
  
  
• The church is a Grade I listed building with British Heritage.

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Church Records

• A CD containing a transcription of The Parish Registers of All Saints Church is available for purchase from Valerie Neal.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Bakewell.
  
  
• Here is a list of Bakewell Parish Registers available on Microfilm from LDS Family History Libraries. Film Numbers are reproduced on GENUKI by kind permission of the Genealogical Society of Utah:
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  
• The parish was in the Bakewell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
  

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Description and Travel

"BAKEWELL, a market town and township, in the extensive parish of its name, and in the hundred of High Peak, of which district it is termed the metropolis; is 153 miles from London 36 S.E. from Manchester, 25 N.N.W. from Derby, 16 N. from Ashbourn, 12 W. from Chesterfield, 12 E. by S. from Buxton, 10 N.W. from Matlock, and 6 N. from Winster. Bakewell is an ancient town, situate at the foot of a hill, on the western bank of the river Wye, whose stream abounds with trout and other fish affording ample reward to the patience of the angler; while the rich and romantic scenery, enhanced in beauty by the noble appearance of wood-clad hills, present strong and almost not to be resisted inducements, to the visitors of Buxton and Matlock, to tarry a time in this vicinity."

[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]

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Gazetteers

• The transcription of the section for Bakewell from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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History

• A market was established here in 1254.
  
  
• The bridge over the River Wye was constructed in the 13th century and is now a Grade I listed structure with British Heritage.
  
  
• Transcription of section of Lysons' Topographical and Historical Account of Derbyshire, 1817, for Bakewell by Barbarann Ayars.
  
  
• The Bakewell Pudding - for those who aren't familiar with the dish, it might be more aptly called a Tart, having a pastry base, which is smeared lightly with jam, and then covered with an almond-flavoured filling, and baked in a medium oven. The recipe is allegedly based on a cooking disaster-turned-success - a mixture of ingredients assembled by mistake whilst the cook was preparing a meal at what is now the Rutland Hotel, for a special guest.
  
  
• There are two shops in Bakewell, both claiming to serve puddings based on the original recipe, which in both cases is a jealously guarded secret, having been passed down through the family from the original cook... Personally I don't think it matters which, if either or both establishments follow the original recipe, as both taste quite delicious!
  

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Politics and Government

• This parish was in the ancient High Peak Hundred (or Wapentake).

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

The Bakewell Almshouses - subject of a recent restoration project which began in 2003 - are a familiar feature in South Church Street. The present row of cottages dates from 1709, built behind the then Town Hall to accommodate six inmates; however the Almshouse Charity associated with their administration predates their construction by over 100 years, being founded by deeds of 30th April 1602 and 26th April 1605 by Roger Manners and John Manners of Haddon Hall "so that we can give charitable disposition towards the relief of poor people inhabiting the town of Bakewell". It was to be called the St John's Hospital, with its income raised from rents levied on lands at Bradmore in South Nottinghamshire, and granted by John Manners to Roger Manners, Roger Collumbell, Rowland Eyre and George Bowne for administration. The 1602 provision was for accommodation for four men, each of which was to receive a pension. In 1605 this was increased to six Almsmen, together with an increase in their pension allowance, and an increased allowance to the laundress (who lived elsewhere).

The first accommodation was described in the Deed of 1602 as "so much of a newly erected house, being part of the chapel, as contained four lodgings below and having the Town Hall over it, and the backside or garden-stead and shall remain a hospital for ever and the same should be called St John's Hospital". Evidence of the sleeping cells was found during alterations some years ago. A dining hall for the Governor and poor is then mentioned in the document of 1605.

The Almsmen were to be "single and unmarried and wear a gown, upon the left breast of which was a cross of blue and yellow to be continually worn", and in the event of an inmate being "an alehouse haunter, drunkard or notorious offender or found begging" he was to be expelled. Church-attendance was mandatory, on penalty of a fine of twelve pence.

[Information summarised from history provided by www.bakewellalmshouses.com, which is no longer online]

• A photograph of St. John's Hospital is at the Images of England website.
  

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Schools

• The earliest known education in Bakewell was provided by the Chantry Priest in the Chantry of Our Lady, founded by the Vernon family of Haddon in the 13th century. One source suggests the Chantry property still exists, now as separate cottages in South Church Street, sited just below the Church; however the present buildings (recognisable until quite recently by their thatched roofs) are of a later date, being built in the early 18th century as Almshouses. Nevertheless it seems likely - whether or not anything of the original building survives, that the location is correct, as the more comprehensive definition of ‘Chantry’ in The Catholic Encyclopedia explains how it was quite common for the Chapels to be sited in buildings separate from the Church, but within, or connected to the churchyard, as these properties, or their predecessors must once have been.
  
  The abolition of Chantries in 1547, in Edward VI's reign resulted in the loss of this, and other schools funded by the Chantries. After this time, other religious movements stepped in, leading to the founding of Charity Schools, either dependent on a benefactor, or on public subscription.
  
  
• The first Lady Manners School may be counted amongst these latter, Charity Schools. It was founded in 1636 by Grace, Lady Manners as a free school for the education of boys from Bakewell and Great Rowsley, and has survived successive revolutions in education to become today a Secondary Comprehensive School, in Shutts Lane.

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