Bakewell


Bakewell is a small market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known for a local confection, Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census the civil parish of Bakewell had a population of 3,949. The town is close to the tourist attractions of Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall.

History

Although there is evidence of earlier settlement in the area, Bakewell itself was probably founded in Anglo-Saxon times in the Anglian kingdom of Mercia. The name Bakewell means a spring or stream of a man named Badeca or Beadeca,) so deriving from a personal name with the Old English suffix wella. In 949 it was called Badecanwelle and in the 1086 Domesday Book Badequelle.
Bakewell Parish Church, a Grade I listed building, dates from 920 and has a 9th-century cross in the churchyard. The present building was constructed in the 12th–13th centuries, but it was virtually rebuilt in the 1840s by William Flockton. By Norman times Bakewell had gained some importance: Domesday Book mentions the town and its church having two priests. motte and bailey castle was built in the 12th century. In the early 14th-century, the vicar was terrorised by the Coterel gang, which evicted him and confiscated his church's money at the instigation of the canons of Lichfield Cathedral.
A market was established in 1254 and Bakewell developed as a trading centre. The Grade I-listed five-arched bridge over the River Wye was constructed in the 13th century and is one of the few remnants of that period. Another Grade I-listed bridge, Holme Bridge, dates from 1664 and crosses the Wye on the north-eastern outskirts of the town. A chalybeate spring was discovered and a bath house built in 1697. This led to an 18th-century bid to develop Bakewell as a spa town in the manner of Buxton. Construction of Lumford Mill by Richard Arkwright in 1777 was followed by the rebuilding of much of the town in the 19th century.

Geography

Bakewell is in the valley of the River Wye in central Derbyshire. Its centre is near the river at about above sea level, with the highest parts of the town at about on the valley sides. The town is in the Derbyshire Dales district and about south-west of Sheffield, south-east of Manchester, and north of Derby. Nearby towns include Matlock to the south-east, Chesterfield to the east and Buxton to the west north-west. Villages near Bakewell include Ashford-in-the-Water, Elton, Great Longstone, Monyash, Over Haddon, Sheldon, Rowsley, Pilsley, Youlgreave and Baslow.

Economy

Bakewell attracts many domestic and foreign tourists. Monday is popular with visitors as the town's traditional market day. The cattle market is held in a new purpose-built agricultural centre across the river from the main part of the town. A medium-sized stall market is held in the town centre.
A major employer is the Peak District National Park Authority at Aldern House on Baslow Road. Its task is conserve, enhance and promote understanding and enjoyment of the local area. Opposite Aldern House is another major employer, Newholme Hospital, an NHS cottage hospital providing outpatient services to the local community. Establishment of a branch of Costa Coffee in the town caused a protest among some local businesses.

Landmarks

is a Grade I-listed church founded in 920, in Saxon times. The churchyard has two Saxon crosses. One is the Beeley Cross, unearthed in a field at a disputed location near Beeley and moved for some years to the grounds of Holt House near Darley Bridge. Although only the base and lower part of the shaft survive, it stands over 5 ft/152 cm high and is carved on all four faces. The other is the Bakewell Cross, 8 ft/244 cm high and almost complete. It was carved in the 7th–8th centuries and shows scenes that include the Annunciation. This may originally have stood at Hassop Cross Roads. During restoration work on the church in the 1840s, many carved fragments of Saxon stonework were found in and around the porch, along with some ancient stone coffins.
The church contains a selection of medieval and Anglo-Saxon cross fragments and carved stones collected by Thomas Bateman and donated to Weston Park Museum in Sheffield, before they were moved to Bakewell in 1899. They include a notable alabaster memorial to Sir Godfrey de Foljambe, who acquired the manor of Bakewell about 1350, and to his wife Avena.
The town's Old House Museum occupies a 16th-century dwelling house originating from the time of Henry VIII and extended under Elizabeth I. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Transport

Railway

The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, which opened Bakewell railway station in 1862, became part of the Midland Railway and later of the LMS main line from London to Manchester. John Ruskin objected to what he saw as desecration of the Derbyshire countryside, also to the fact that "a Buxton fool may be able to find himself in Bakewell in twelve minutes and vice versa." In return for the Duke of Rutland's permission for the line to pass through his estate at Haddon Hall, Bakewell station buildings on the hillside overlooking the town are more imposing than expected and the Duke's coat of arms are carved into the stonework. Such pandering to landowners was common at the time, as their support was needed to pass the Act of Parliament allowing the line to be built; however, the inconvenient altitude of the railway forced Bakewell station to be placed out of town, as the Duke insisted it run out of sight of Haddon Hall. These station buildings are now used by small businesses, as the line between Matlock and Buxton was closed in 1968. Most of the track has been designated the Monsal Trail, a motor traffic-free track for walking, cycling and horse riding.
Commercial trains now run from Derby via Ambergate only as far as Matlock, and from Manchester only as far as Buxton. There have been repeated efforts to reopen the remaining Wye Valley portion of the line, which would run through Bakewell and over the famed Monsal Dale viaduct.
Peak Rail, a local preserved railway venture, has shown the way by reopening the line from Matlock to Rowsley, a village a few miles east of Bakewell, near Haddon Hall. Reaching Bakewell is one of Peak Rail's long-term ambitions. To keep up intentions for a future return of the railway, Derbyshire County Council currently protects the track bed from development.

Cuisine

Bakewell is known for Bakewell pudding, a jam pastry with a filling enriched with egg and ground almond. Bakewell tart is a different confection, made with shortcrust pastry, an almond topping and a sponge and jam filling. Mr Kipling also made "Cherry Bakewells", often also known as Bakewell tarts. The origins of these are not clear, but the popular story goes that the combination began by accident in 1820, when the landlady of the White Horse Inn left instructions for her cook to make a jam tart with an egg and almond-paste pastry base. The cook, however, spread the eggs and almond paste on top of the jam instead of mixing them into the pastry. When cooked the jam rose through the paste. The result was successful enough for it to be a popular confection at the inn. Commercial variations, usually with icing sugar on top, have spread the name.
Three shops in Bakewell offer what they each claim as the original recipe. The Bakewell Tart Shop and Coffee House sells four variations of the confection: "Bakewell Tart", "Iced Bakewell Tart", "Moist Bakewell Tart" and "Traditional Bakewell Pudding". The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop and Bloomers of Bakewell both sell a "Bakewell Pudding" as well.

Demography

In the 2011 census, Bakewell was 99.1 per cent White, 0.2 per cent Asian and 0.5 per cent mixed/multiple.

Education

In 1888 William Storrs Fox, a Cambridge graduate and naturalist, founded S. Anselm's Preparatory School in Bakewell. The school is now coeducational, with some 250 day and boarding pupils aged 3–16. Lady Manners School, is a coeducational secondary school with about 1450 pupils. The town's primary schools include All Saints Church of England School and Bakewell Methodist Junior School. There are other primaries in neighbouring villages. It is also home to the Brew School, the UK's biggest dedicated brewing and distilling school, established in 2014 at the historic Rutland Mill.

Sights

The Peak District traditional well dressing takes place in June; colourful images made of petals embedded in clay appear at several places throughout the town. This is followed by Carnival week, culminating in a procession through the town at the beginning of July. August brings the Bakewell Arts Festival, a music and theatre event that began in 1997. The Peak Literary Festival is held in the spring and autumn of each year. The spring festival starts on the last Friday in May and the autumn on the last Friday in October.
Until 2017 The Bakewell Agricultural Show was one of the largest covered agricultural shows in the UK and attracted about 65,000 visitors. It took place on the first Wednesday and Thursday in August at the Bakewell Showground. Known also as the Little Royal, the show was founded by Wootten Burkinshaw Thomas in 1819. In 2018 and 2019, the Bakewell Show was suspended in favour of more lucrative commercial events.

Sport and recreation

is played regularly in the town by Bakewell Mannerians RUFC, which currently competes in Midlands 2 East.
The town is represented by an association football team, Bakewell Town F.C., which competes in the Central Midlands Football League, Division One South.
Bakewell has a recreation park to the east of the town centre, with tennis courts, a children's playground, and football and cricket pitches. In the town itself, near the library, is a municipal swimming pool and gym. The River Wye provides a popular riverside walk.

Stephen Downing case

The Stephen Downing case involved the conviction and imprisonment in 1974 of a 17-year-old council worker, Stephen Downing, for the murder of a 32-year-old legal secretary in Bakewell Cemetery. After a campaign by a local newspaper, his conviction was overturned in 2002, by which time Downing had served 27 years in prison. This is thought to be the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, and attracted worldwide media attention.

Media

In literature

Bakewell is named by the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet as the town from which she travelled to Pemberley in Chapter 43 of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

On television