DERWENT, Derbyshire

Bibliography

• Hallam, V.J. - Silent Valley - A History of the Derbyshire Villages of Ashopton and Derwent, now submerged beneath Ladybower Dam. Sheaf Publishing, 1983. ISBN 0-9505458-9-9.
  
  
• Robinson, Brian - Howden and Derwent: The Building of the Upper Dams of the Derwent Valley Water Board. Northend of Sheffield, 2004. ISBN 0-901100-49-8.

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Census

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

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saints James and John.
  
  
• The church seated 140.
  
  
• The church held its last service on 17 March 1943.
  
  
• Bodies from the graveyard were exhumed in 1940 and were rebuired in Bamford.
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1813 for baptisms and 1869 for marriages and burials.
  
  
• We have a pop-up window of Parish Register burials (partially) extracted into a text file for your review. Your additions are welcomed.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Eyam.
  
  
• The Chatholic chapel was built in 1877 and is dedicated to Saint Henry.
  

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Civil Registration

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  
• The parish was in the Chapel en le Frith sub-district of the Chapel en le Frith Registration District.
  

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Description and Travel

"One gets some charming glimpses of the valley scenery, and especially of the pretty village of DERWENT, with its ancient hall, stone packhorse bridge, and picturesque cottages. The Water Board have, this year, taken possession of the estate with a view to future requirements. But before we consider ourselves to have really reached Ashopton, let us set back to the Snake Inn."

[From The High Peak to Sherwood, by Thomas L. Tudor, pub. (London) R. Scott, 1925-6.
Transcription from an original copy kindly donated by Barbarann Ayars, 11th Jan 2001]

Most of the village and parish have been "drowned" by the Ladybower Reservoir, built between 1935 and 1943. Only the war memorial remains above the water level.

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Directories

• Ann Andrews provides a transcription of the Derwent entry from Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland (1891).

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Gazetteers

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

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History

• Most of the parish land has been used for pasturage in recent centuries.
  
  
• Most buildings in the village were demolished before the reservoir filled, with the exception of the church.

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Military History

• The Derwent Reservoir was used by the RAF as one of the test sites for the bombs used in the Dambusters attack during WWII.

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Politics and Government

• This Civil Parish of Derwent survived the reservoir flooding and serves a small population who live above the highwater mark.

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Population

Year	Inhabitants
1881	187
1891	191

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