|
|
Print-friendly version
Longstone Guide
Deep in the heart of Derbyshire's White Peak, the ecclesiastical parish of Longstone is set in a vee of land between the glorious Derwent and Wye Valleys. The principal river settlements of Baslow can be found four miles to the east, and Ashford-in-the-Water and Bakewell a couple of miles to the south. The parish is comprised of two villages; Great and Little Longstone, which are set about a mile apart along an unclassified country road which runs from the B6001 Calver to Bakewell road at Hassop - to the B6465 Ashford to Wardlow Mires road at Monsal Head. These two limestone villages are sheltered from the bleak north winds by the mighty bulk of Longstone Moor, rich in mineral deposits and largely responsible for the growth and development of these settlements over the past thousand years. The Longstone settlements were originally single-street villages, with a mixture of limestone cottages and farm buildings straggling along either side of the same main road which runs through the centre of both.
The moor is criss-crossed by old pack-horse trade routes and there are tremendous views southward from the 1350 ft platform of Longstone Edge. Along with most White Peak villages, both Longstones owe much of their relative prosperity to the lead-mining industry which flourished here in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The last local lead-mine may have closed a century ago, but outcropping still continues for barytes and fluorspar up on the moor beyond Longstone Edge where the names Deep Rake, High Rake and White Rake bear testimony to the area's mining heritage and are firmly etched into a bygone and slowly healing industrial landscape.
Built originally in the late sixteenth century as two lead miners cottages, the Packhorse was converted into a country inn in 1787, and unlike others of its kind has retained it's original name for over 200 years. This excellent hostelry, ably run by landlord Robert Watson who came here from Altrincham 5 years ago, is renowned for it's folk music every Wednesday night throughout the year, and has a well merited mention in the A.A., Which, & Good Beer Guides. Down in the hollow and around the corner from the Packhorse stands the large farm complex and twin-gabled Elizabethan gem of Little Longstone Manor, the home for over 800 years of the Longsden family. Almost opposite stands The Stocks, a house of similar antiquity with a datestone of 1575.
This delightful village boasts beautiful architecture and features, including the little Victorian railway station along the lane leading to Thornbridge Hall. For trains from Bakewell this was the last stop before crossing the Monsal Viaduct, but the last train left Great Longstone Station in the 1960's and the old Midland line is now part of the Monsal Trail. Although popular with walkers and those enjoying the great outdoors, the Longstone villages have not suffered at the hands of tourism and will hopefully remain the quaint and peaceful selves for centuries to come.
|
|