Youlgreave, south of Bakewell, is a popular starting point for walkers in Derbshire. The Fountain or Conduit head bears a plaque showing that it was erected in 1829 by Youlgreave Friendly Society of Women to supply water to the village from a spring. It has a capacity of 1500 gallons. Youlgreave is in an area rich in prehistoric remains, including Arbour Low, the site of Bronze Age henge monument. Youlgreave is a village with a tradition of well-dressing and I visited in 2023 to see the display which is pictured at the foot of this article.
All Saints from the churchyard, 2023 | All Saints from the main road, 2006 |
Farmyard Inn, 2023 | 17th Century House, 2023 | |
Conduit Head, 2023 | Old Hall dating from 1650s. Taken 2005 | |
Methodist Chapel | Cottage Gardens |
All Saints dominates the village with its huge tower in the Perpendicular style. The interior of All Saints is well worth visiting. The first church was built around 1130 to 1150. The round columns and semicircular arches of the South Arcade are late Norman and can be compared with the later ones in the North Arcade in my photographs. The chancel dates from the 15th century as does the tower and timber roof. The south aisle windows date from about 1300 but the clerestory ones are late Tudor or early 17th century, contemporary with the nave roof. The church was restored in 1869/70.
Near the north wall of the chancel is a stone effigy of a knight with crossed legs holding a heart which is thought to be of Sir John Rossington. An effigy with crossed legs normally indicates that the man went on a Crusade. However, Pevsner gives a date of 1325 for it which is too late for the Crusades and John Leonard in his book also mentions it briefly as being 14th century. I would be pleased to receive clarification on this point.
The small stone figure in the north wall opposite the font may represent a pilgrim. There is a Jacobean monument of Roger Rowe dating from 1613 in the north aisle. In the middle of the chancel is the alabaster tomb of Thomas Cokayne, who died in 1488. His father is buried at Ashbourne. The arms shown on the west end of the monument are of Thomas Cokayne and on the south of his great-gret grandfather, Sir Richard de Harthill, and his great-grandfather, Edmund Cokayne, who died at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1404. Not shown in my picture is the south side with the arms of great-great grandparents Sir John Cokayne of Ashbourne who died in 1447 and his father, John Cokayne of Ashbourne.
The font dates from the 12th century and came from Elton where it was removed during the restoration in 1812. At the east end of the north aisle is an alabaster panel formerly in the the South Aisle. It commemorates Robert Gylbert and his wife Joan, the latter dying in 1492. The East Window, installed duirng the restoration work of 1876, is by Edward Burne-Jones and was made at the factory of William Morris. At that time a peal of eight bells was given and there are now ten. Under the tower is a board displaying the names of the vicars at the church from Hugo Man, appointed in 1589. However it is known that the first vicar was appointed in 1124.
North arcade with pointed arches | Norman columns and semicircular arches | |
Tomb in the chancel | Detail of tomb of Thomas Cokayne, who died 1488 | |
Altar & Burne-Jones window | Alabaster monument to Robert Gylbert and his wife | |
Roger Rowe monument of 1613 | Effigy of cross-legged knight in Sanctuary | |
The 12th century font | Possibly a pilgrim |
The school display | Circle of Life by the conduit head | |
Bank Top Well | Queen Elizabeth and the Coronation of King Charles |
The King's England, Derbyshire, by Arthur Mee, first published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1937, 6th impression February 1951.
The Buildings of England, Derbyshire by Nikolaus Pevsner, revised by Elilzabeth Williamson, first published by Penguin in 1953, Yale University Press edition, 2002.
Derbyshire Parish Churches, from the 8th to the 18th Centuries by John Leonard, Breedon Book, Derby, 1993, ISBN 1 873626 36 3
Information boards available in the church for visitors.