STONEY MIDDLETON, Derbyshire
Bibliography
- Stoney Middleton - A Working Village. Published in 2002 with the assistance of a Millennium Award, this booklet encapsulates life in Stoney Middleton over 2 centuries - a "must" for the Stoney Officianado. There are tales of village "characters - "Holy Joe" - Joe MASON, Churchwarden, who used to ring all 3 church bells by himself (the third one with his foot!) and a field named "Jinnie's Piece", so called as Jane GODDARD (nee SWIFT) used to sit there to scare the birds! It also records dates when many of the cottages in the village were built. It is on sale in village shops price £5 and during the Well Dressings 20th to 27th July.
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Census
- The parish was in the Tideswell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
| Census Year |
Piece No. |
|---|---|
| 1861 | R.G. 9 / 2543 |
| 1891 | R.G. 12 / 2777 |
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Church History
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Martin.
- The nave of the Church is octagonal in plan, built in 1759 to
replace the earlier nave which was destroyed by fire in 1757.
Legend has it that the first Chapel at Stoney Middleton was founded in
the 15th Century by Joan Eyre, formerly Joan Padley, heiress of
Padley, and wife of Robert Eyre, a minor land owner, to give
thanks for his safe return from the Battle of Agincourt (1415).
This building was, apparently a normal church in plan, but
now only the tower survives of that original building. If the legend is
true, however, its founding predates 1463, the date recorded for
Joan's death - she and husband Robert (d. 1459) are commemorated
on a memorial brass inside Hathersage Church.
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Church Records
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1715 and is in fair condition.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Eyam.
- A CD containing a transcription of
The Parish Registers of St Martin's Church
is available for purchase from Valerie Neal. Added 1 Dec 2007.
- The earliest Parish Register for Stoney Middleton begins in 1715,
and covers the period until 1812, and includes Baptisms and Burials,
with Marriages up till 1754 in a single book. Baptism Registers
are available covering the period 1813-1843, and 1844-78; and Burials
1813-1862; and there is a full complement of marriage registers from
1754-1947. These registers are all available
for searching at the Derbyshire Record Office on microfilm and coverage
dates are current as of January 2001 (thanks to Janet Kirk).
- There are Bishops' Transcripts (BTs) covering the period 1663 to
1864, but according to the catalogue, years 1669-70, 1686-90, 1702-07,
1712-13, 1774-5, and 1862 are missing (but see above for 1702-7); and I personally
found the period 1758-62 unreadable. As I understand it, batched entries in the IGI
have been entered largely from the BTs, so although those transcribing for the IGI
may have had greater success (or perseverance!) than I did over the 1758-62
period, it is nevertheless possible that if you are looking for an
event during 1758-62, or 1774-5, you may have better luck with the
parish register, than with the BTs or IGI. The years missing from the
BTs prior to 1715, are alas lost forever.
The original BTs are held at the Lichfield Joint Record Office, but have been microfilmed, so the film should be available on loan via your local Family History Center. There are two films - #0428943 (1663-1812), and #0498132 (1813-1864). - The church seats 250.
- The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1827.
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Civil Registration
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
- The parish was in the Tideswell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
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Description and Travel
"STONEY MIDDLETON is a chapelry, in the parish of Hathersage and hundred of High Peak, five miles E. from Tideswell, and four and a half N. from Bakewell. The houses forming the village are singular in their appearance, being scarcely distinguishable from the grey rocks which impend over them, and from which they appear to have been hewn. The church here is a small edifice, of octagonal form, remarkable for its neatness, erected principally at the expense of the Duke of Devonshire. It is dedicated to St. Mark: [Ed: No! St. Martin] the living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Vicar of Hathersage; the present incumbent is the Rev. Edward Parker. The lime works in this neighbourhood employ many of the inhabitants. The chapelry contained, in 1821, 635 inhabitants, but at the last census (1831) the number returned was only 479."
- "TO MANCHESTER, the Champion (from Nottingham) calls at the Moon Inn,
Stoney Middleton every day at twelve o'clock; goes through Chapel-en-le-Frith,
Whaley, Disley and Stockport.
TO NOTTINGHAM, the Champion (from Manchester) calls at the same Inn every day at twelve, goes through Baslow, Chesterfield and Mansfield."
[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]
Graham HOGG has a photograph of Stoney Middleton on Geo-graph, taken in 2010.
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Directories
- Ann Andrews provides a transcription of the Stoney Middleton 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 Stony Middleton from
the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.
- A transcription of the section of Cassell's Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland for Stoney Middleton in 1899, by Brian Willey. Added 2 Jul 2005.
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Military Records
- There is a list of the names on the War Memorial on the Roll of Honour site.
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Occupations
- In 1851, William JUPP aged 46 had arrived in Stoney Middleton from
Slaugham in Sussex, having been preceded by other Broommakers
- the JACKSONs (James, 50 and John, 45) and a William JOHNSON
in 1841, coincidentally, or otherwise also originating from villages
in Sussex.
"By 1901 William JUPP's old besom-making room was used
for storage by a firm of shoe makers."
[quote from Peakland Heritage item].
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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.
- As a result of the 1834 Poorlaw Amendment Act this parish became part of the Bakewell Poolaw Union.
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Population
Year Inhabitants 1881 354 1891 423
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Schools
The history of Stoney Middleton Village School dates from 1835, one of the earlier schools in the area, predating nearby Eyam and Grindleford Schools. The present building is situated part-way up the High Street, on the corner where it meets "The Dale Mouth". The School Motto:-
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
"Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it."
is inscribed on stone tablets which date from the school's foundation. Over the years, the inscriptions have become eroded, but in the late 1980s the tablets were restored. On 23rd November 1990, a Double Celebration took place at the school to pay tribute to the retiring Head-Mistress (who had started teaching at the school in 1952), and to inaugurate the stone tablets after their restoration.
Mr. Thomas E. Cowen, who wrote a History of the Village of Stoney Middleton (1910) was an earlier headmaster of the school.
Stoney Middleton also had a "Dame School", kept by a Mistress Oldfield, but now - of course - closed. It seems likely this "village academy" would have been attended only by the children of "better-off" parents, who were able to afford to pay for their child's education.