BENTLEY, (FENNY) a township, parish, and village, situated in a valley watered by a small brook to which it gives name, and which is here crossed by a stone bridge of two arches, 2¼ miles N. from Ashbourn, and 7 miles S.W. from Wirksworth. It

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contains 976A. 2R. 30P. of land, and in 1851, had 62 houses and 290 inhabitants, of whom 144 were males and 146 females; rateable value £1,745 12s. 0d. The principal owners are Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert, Bart., Rev. Jeremiah Barnes, John Goodwin Johnson, Esq., Lord Denman, Wm. Hunt, Esq., Miss Van TuyI, and Mr. Bailey. The Church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdelen, a small ancient structure with nave, chancel, north aisle, and low tower with three bells. A handsome oak screen separates the nave and chancel. In 1850, the church underwent some repairs at the coat of Sir Hy. Fitz-Herbert, Bart. On the north side of the chancel is a curious altar tomb for Thos. Beresford, and Agnes his wife. On the upper surface are extended two alabaster effigies completely enveloped in shrouds, and on the sides and end are twenty-one similar ones for their children. The inscriptions are in English and Latin, by which it appears that this gentleman must have lived to a great age, as he is said to have distinguished himself at the battle of Agincourt. The living is a rectory, valued in the King’s book at £6 12s. 0d., now £124; the Bishop of Lichfield is patron, and the Rev. Garton Howard, incumbent, who has 30 acres of glebe. Here is a National school, at which about 65 children attend. The Hall, a neat secluded mansion, embowered with fine trees, ¼ mile N. from the village, is the residence of the Rev. Alleyne Fitz-Herbert, M.A., and the property of Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert, Bart. The Old Hall, now a farm house, formerly the property of Sir Simon Degge, is now the property of Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert, Bart. The family of the present occupier have resided at it for up­wards of two centuries. Bank Top Farm, was purchased about four ago, by the Rev. J. Barnes, M.A., by whom, a new house with very convenient out-buildings, has been erected on a new site, better adapted for the benefit of the farm, and commanding an extensive view of very beautiful scenery. The old house has since been converted into a neat cottage, and is used by him as a place of occasional residence. The Methodists have a neat brick chapel, erected in 1832. Here is an Odd Fellows’ Lodge. This parish partakes of the Rev. Francis Gisborne’s charity, and £5 10s. is annually sent to the incumbent, which is expended in warm clothing and given to the poor. (See Bradley.) The poor also receive 10s. annually, left by the Port family, which is paid by Jesse Russell, Esq. The manor of Bentley was part of the crown lands at the time of the Domesday survey; and in the reign of Edward I., was held by Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. In the reign of Henry VI., a younger branch of the ancient family of Beresford settled here, and their descendants for many generations held the manor. In the 13th year of Henry VII., William Basset, Esq., of Meynell Langley, died possessed of lands here. In the time of Henry VIII.. two families of Beresford owned estates in this parish, and the Bradburnes had also property here.

BONSALL, a township, parish, and considerable, village, 3½ miles N.N.W., from Wirksworth, 17 miles N.W, from Derby, and 8 miles N.W. from Ambergate, comprises Bonsall Dale, Upper Bonsall, and the hamlet of Slaley, which together contain 2288A. 3R.

BONSALL PARISH.                                                            409

24P. of strong land, partly grazing, and partly arable, and in 1851, had 337 houses, and 1,449 inhabitants, of whom 670 were males, and 779 females; rateable value £3,040 17s. The principal owners are William Pole Thornhill, Esq., M.P., Samuel Prince, Esq., Robert Clay, Esq., and Miss Mary Woodiwiss, with several smaller owners; the former lord of the manor. The Church, dedicated to St. James, is a handsome embattled stone edifice, having a tower, terminating in pinnacles, and supporting an octagonal spire, with six bells. It has a nave, chancel, and side aisles, and in the centre, over the pulpit, is a painting repre­senting Moses and Aaron holding the ten commandments. In the north west aisle is an ancient stone font. There are also several neat marble tablets to the family of Evans, and a brass one to Henry Hopkinson, who died 4th of December, 1635, containing the follow­ing lines:—

“A Barrester a Batchellor of Arte,

“A Practiser, that chose the better Parte,

“That pleaded more For Ivste Defence then Gaine,

“That For The Poore and common good Tooke Paine;

“That covnsel’d Peace For Hee Did Plaainely See,

“Too much Decrease By Svites That Triviall Bee;

“That knewe EY Lawe, Yes Soe Lov’d Neighbovrhood

“Noe man Did know Him Sve Or To Bee Sved,

“Hee’s Bvried Heere, His Sovle in Heaven Does Rest

“Withovt All Feare For Peace makers Are Blest.”

The living is a rectory, valued in the King’s book at £9 16s. 0½d., now £201, in the patronage of the Bishop of Lichfield, and incumbency of the Rev. Eden S. Greville, B.A., who resides at the rectory, a substantial stone building in the Elizabethan style, situated a little S.E. from the church. The tithes were commuted in 1849 for £131, and here are 68 acres of glebe. The Baptists have a small chapel here. In 1852, John Smedley, Esq., erected a handsome chapel for the Wesleyan Reformers, at a cost of £350, it will seat about 200 persons; and in the same year the Primitive Methodists built one of stone, at a cost of about £200, exclusive of £65 for the site; it will seat about 150. Here is a lodge of Odd Fellows, at the Queen’s Head, who hold their anniversary on the Wed­nesday near St. James’s day; there is also a sick club in the village. Here is an ancient cross, which is annually decorated with flowers, on the Saturday after Whit-Sunday, and the day is afterwards spent in rural festivity by the villagers. It consists of a pillar, bearing the respective dates of 1678, 1769, and 1800, resting on a base, formed by an ascent of 10 steps, and crowned by a ball. The extensive lead smelting furnaces of Mr. Alfred Alsop, in Via Gellia, give employment to a number of hands. Red and sheet lead is also made to a considerable extent. In Bonsall Dale, is the comb manufactory of Mr. Robert Hartle, of Matlock Bath.

SLALEY, a small hamlet, half a mile S. from Bonsall, is principally occupied by miners, each of whom occupy a few acres of land. The manor, Bunteshalle, at the Domesday survey, is described as a hamlet of the manor of Mesterforde, then in the crown, the site of which is not known. It was afterwards granted to the Earl of Lancaster, and remained with the duchy of Lancaster till 1630, when King Charles granted it to Charles Harbord, Esq., and others, who in 1632 sold it to Henry, Earl of Dover. It was purchased in the following year, by the copyholders, for whom it has since been hold on trust. The vicinity of Bonsall is greatly diversified, and the Dale of Bonsall is most interesting. Its geological formation consists of 4 strata of limestone and 3 of toad stone. The neighbouring hills abound with lime stone, lead ore, and lapis calaminaris are obtained to a consid-erable extent.

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CHARITIES.—The Free School, in Bonsall, was founded in 1717, out of the rents of land left by William and Elizabeth Cragge. The land is now let for the sum of £7 13s. 6d. per annum.

Elizabeth Turner, in 1737, vested certain freehold and copyhold lands, then let for £40 per annum, for the better support of the said free school; and she directed the funds to be applied for the instruction of 25 boys, 20 of whom to be children of the inhabitants of Bonsall, and 5 to be children of the inhabitants of Snitterton and Wensley; such children to be nominated by the trustees. The master receives the rents of Cragge’s charity, £7 13s. 6d., including that of £3 5s. 6d., for the lands in his own possession, for which he accounts to the receiver. He also receives £40 per annum from Turner’s charity, which salary was raised in 1807 to its present amount. In respect of these emoluments, he instructs 50 poor boys and girls in reading, writing, and arithmetic; 45 of the parish of Bonsall, and 5 from the townships of Wensley and Snitterton. 15 acres of land belonging to this charity are situated at Tansley; 21 acres, with a house and mill in Matlock parish, and upwards of 20 acres with a house and garden in the parish of Bonsall. Elizabeth Turner further directed a yearly sum of £10 to be paid out of the said lands in apprentice fees, for 2 boys belonging the free school to be instructed in useful trades; but there has not been, on an average, since the year 1806, more than one boy in two years thus apprenticed. The gross income of the school is £98 19s. 6d. and at the time of this investigation there was a balance in favour of the charity of £460 7s. 3d.

An unknown donor left £1 10s. per annum, which is distributed in bread on Good Friday.

A person of the name of Needham gave £2 18s. yearly, for the same purpose, and bread to that amount is given on St. Thomas’s day. This pariah partakes of the Rev. F. Gisborne’s charity.—(See Bradley.)

Post Office, at Wm. Pearson’s; Letters arrive from Matlock, at 8.15 a.m. ; and are despatched in summer at 6.15 p.m., and in winter, 4.30 p.m.

Marked 1 reside at Bonsall (Upper), and 2, The Dale.

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BRADBOURN parish contains the townships of Bradbourn, Aldwark, Ballidon, Brassington, and the hamlet of Lea Hall in the Wirksworth Hundred with the township and chapelry of Atlow in the Hundred of Appletree, containing together 9,966A. 2R. 33P. of land, and in 1851 had 272 houses and 1230 inhabitants, of whom 629 were males and 601 females; rateable value £10,964 15s. 3d.

BRADBOURN, a townhip and small pleasant village, 5 miles N.E. from Ashbourn, and 5½ miles S.W. from Wirksworth, contains l,433A. 1R. 39P. of land, mostly pasture, and in 1851 had 35 houses and 163 inhabitants, of whom 78 were males and 85 females; rateable value £1,320. The principal owners are Rev. German Buckston, Thos. Wm. Evans, Esq., Sir Hy. Fitz-Herbert, Bart., Mr. Thos. Watson, and Mrs. Alderson. The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient structure, having an embattled Norman tower with five bells. In 1846 it was renovated and repewed at a cost of about £300, raised by subscriptions, and in 1856 a stained glass window was placed at the east end of the chancel; in the south window are the remains of stained glass, amongst which are two shields of arms, and at the west end of the church is a square font lined with lead; the sides are cut into quarter-foils. There are several monumental inscriptions to members of the ancient family of Buckston, who settled here about two centuries ago. The present vicar is the represen­tative of that family. In the churchyard are several pieces of an early sculptured cross, being covered with figures on the front and back, and having the sides decorated with foliage and knotwork. The living is a vicarage, valued in the King’s book at £8 3s. 4d., now £107. The Duke of Devonshire, patron, the Rev. German Buckston, B.A., vicar, and the Rev. R. G. Buckston, resident curate. The tithes were commuted in 1843 for £107 10s. to the vicar, and £37 10s. to the impropriator. The vicarage is a pleasant residence on the south side of the Church. This Church was given by Geoffrey de Cauceis, in 1205, to the priory of Dunstaple. In 1608, the rectory was granted to Rogers and

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Fetherston, who sold most of the tithes to the landowners. The rectory-house and glebe lands were purchased in 1609, by Mr. George Buckston. In 1844, a school, with a house for the master, was erected at the expense of the late Wm. Evans, Esq., the Rev. German Buckston furnishing the stone from Standhill, a celebrated quarry of limestone, of a very close texture. It will accommdoate about 50 children, and the average attendance is 38. Thos. Wm. Evans, Esq., of Allestree Hall, contributes £40 a-year towards its support. The Hall, a good residence, a little east from the church, is the property of the Rev. German Buckston, and the residence of Nathaniel E. Curzon, Esq. Heaven (or Haven) Hill, a remarkable elevation, on a farm, the property of Thos. W. Evans, Esq., is a con­spicuous object for many miles round. Bradbourn Nether principally consists of scattered farms, 1 mile from the Church. The Old hall, 1 mile E. from the Church, is a substantial stone building, erected in 1684, the property and residence of Mr. Thomas Watson. Feast first Sunday after November 12th.

LEA HALL, an extra parochial hamlet, which keeps its poor with Tissington parish, but ecclesiastically it is in Bradbourn, with which it pays all other rates and taxes. It is 1½ miles S.W. from Bradhourn, and contains 425 acres of land, and in 1851 had 3 houses and 23 inhabitants, of whom 14 were males and 9 females; rateable value £395 10s. The principal owners are Lawrence Hall, Esq.. Mr. Wm. Harding, and Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert, Bart., who is also lord of the manor and impropriator.

CHARITIES.—Georqe Buxton, in 1655, left a rent charge of 20s. per annum for the use of the poor, out of land called Shelbroad close, which is distributed at Christmas, amongst the most necessitous poor of the parish.

The Rev. Francis Gishorne’s Charity.—(See Bradley.)—The annual sum of £5 10s. paid to the vicar, is laid out in course woollen cloth and flannel, which he distributes to the poor about Christmas.

ALDWARK, township and small retired village, 5¾ miles N.W. by W. from Wirksworth, contains 930A. 0R. 34P. of freehold land, a light limestone soil, and in 1851 had 17 houses and 79 inhabitants, of whom 37 were males and 42 females; rateable value £817 2s. Duke of Rutland is sole owner, and lord of the manor. The tithe has been commuted, of which about £2 is paid to the Duke of Rutland, and the remainder of the great tithe to the Duke of Devonshire. Aldwark Grange, which belonged to the monks of Darley, was granted by Edward VI., in 1548, to Sir Thos. Heneage and Lord Willoughby, who sold it the next year to Robert Gox or Goch by successive conveyances it passed to the families of Curzon and Manners. Feast, 1st Sunday after 12th November.

ATLOW township, small village and parochial chapelry, in the Appletree hundred, 4½ miles N.E. by E. from Ashbourn, contains 1,210A. 0R. 9P. of land, and in 1851 had 27 houses and 137 inhabitants, of whom 78 were males and 59 females; rateable value £1,551 0s. 9d. Haughton Charles Okeover, Esq., is lord of the manor and principal owner, John Wright and A. S. Bateman, Esqrs., are also owners. The Church is a plain building which stands in the corner of a field. The living is a perpetual curacy, value £148, in the patronage of H. C. Okeover, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. R. R. Vaughton, M.A., The tithe was commuted for £110, in 1839. 333 acres are tithe free. Richard Oke­over, Esq., in 1716, augmented the living with the tithes of hay and corn, and it was the first benefice in Derbyshire that was augmented by Queen Anne’s bounty. The vestiges of a moat, which formerly surrounded an ancient residence, are still visible near Mr. Saml. Hough’s, hence the name of “Moat Farm,” and “Moat Mill.” The manor, Etelawe, at Domesday survey, belonged to Henry de Ferrars. It was held under him or his immediate descendant by the ancient family of Okeover, and it has ever since continued to form part of the possessions of that family.

CHARITIES.—Mercy Okeover, in 1741, gave £5, and Mara Spencer, in 1742, gave £5. to the poor of Atlow. It is supposed these two sums were applied in repairing the chapel of Atlow; and 10s. is now distributed annually by the overseers of the poor as the interest thereof.

                                                                                BRADBOURN PARISH.                                                     413

BALLIDON, a small village, township, and chapelry 6½ miles N.E. from Ashbourn, contains 1910A. 1R. 12P. of fertile limestone land, and in 1851 had 17 houses and 99 inhabitants, of whom 53 were males and 46 females; rateable value £2,154 19s. 6d. The principal owners are the Rev. Richardson Cox and Brothers, Sir Matthew Blakiston, Bart., Earl of Mansfield, Wm. Wright, Esq., Thos. Greensmith, Esq., Thos. Bateman, Esq., and John Sleigh, Esq. The Church is a small ancient building, lighted by a window at each end. It is situated in an open field, a little S. of the village, and was repewed and thoroughly renovated in 1837, at a cost of about £80. raised by subscriptions. The living is a curacy annexed to the vicarage of Bradbourn. The tithes are paid by a modus of about £11 2s, per annum. The manor, Bolidene, at the Domesday survey, was the pro­perty of Ralph Fitzhubert; at a later period it was in the Herthill family, whose heiress brought it to the Cokaines, in the 15th century. Sir Edward Cokaine sold it to Sir Anthony Ashley, who soon after conveyed it to Baptist Trott and John Milward. In 1610, Trott’s moiety was sold and eventually divided into severalities; and Milward’s moiety was sub-­divided amongst the co-heiresses of his son. Royston Grange, 1¼ miles N.W. from the village, is the neat farm residence of Mr. Wm. Bunting, Ballidon Moor, 1½ miles N. from the village, a large farm with good residence, is in the occupation of Mr. John William Allsop. Mininglow, 2 miles N. by W., is another large farm, in the occupation of Mr. Thos. Smith, and derives its name from an ancient Barrow, near the road leading from Brassington to Pike Hall, which is thus described by Pilkington.—” The higher part of the mount seems to have been removed, several of the vaults being fully exposed to sight. The diameter is about forty yards, and the vaults appear to be carried round the whole circumference. The stones of which they are formed are very large. One of the vaults which I measured is between six and seven feet long, three wide and six deep. It consists of only five stones, one on each side and end, and the other for a corner. Some of them are a foot, and others half a yard thick.

CHARITIES.— William Harvey, in 1699, left a rent charge of 10s. yearly to the poor, of this chapelry, out of land called Harvey’s Croft. The sum of £1 per annum, left by an unknown donor, was formerly distributed to the poor. It appears to have been vested in Thos. Buxton, in 1786, but as no deeds of that charity can be found, we apprehend no claims on behalf of the poor can be substantiated.

Rev. Francis Gisborne’s charity.—(See Bradley.)—The annual sum of £5 10s. is distributed by the incumbent, in flannel and warm clothing, to the poor every year.

BRASSINGTON, a large well-built village, township, and chapelry, 4 miles N. by W. from Wirksworth, and 6½ miles N.E. from Ashbourn, contains 4021A. 2R. 19P. of land, and in 1851 had 173 houses, and 729 inhabitants, of whom 369 were males, and 360 females; rateable value, £4726 3s. The principal owners are, Thos. Bush, Esq., J. B. Storey, Esq., Lord Scarsdale, Rev. G. Buckston, Miss Dycot, Executors of the late Thurstan Dale, Esq., Mr. John Watson, Mr. John Gould, Mr. John Wm. Allsop, Mr. James Swindell, Mr. Wm. Walker, and Mr. Alexander Dean James; the former is lord of the manor. The Church dedicated to St. James, erected on an eminence overlooking the village, is an ancient edi­fice partly in the Normal style, with a square tower and three bells. The living is a per­petual curacy, valued in the King’s book at £10, now £50, has been augmented with £200 benefactions. £200 Queen Anne’s bounty, and £1,200 parliamentary grant. John Bainbridge Story, Esq., is patron and impropriator, and the Rev. Edward John Tompson, incumbent. At the enclosure, in 1803, land was allotted in lieu of tithe. A new Parsonage house is about being erected, towards which, £700 has been raised, viz. £400 in subscriptions, £200 from the Church Building society, and £100 from Queen Anne’s bounty. The Independents have a chapel here; a handsome stone building erected in 1845, at a cost of £600. The Primitive Methodist chapel, a neat brick building with stained glass windows, erected in 1852. A school was erected in 1832, by subscription, aided by a grant of £25 from the National School society. Twelve children are instructed free from Thurstan Dale’s charity. Here is also a school on the British system. Harbro’

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Rocks, are romantic masses and pillars of rock on a lofty mountain, one mile N.E from the Church, from which extensive prospects into Leicestershire for a distance of 40 miles are seen. All Saints’ Derby, and Burton-upon-Trent, may be seen from the same eminence. Here is a cave 28 feet by 24, denominated the Giant’s Hall; also a part of the rock called the Easy Chair—all worthy the notice of the tourist. The High Peak railway passes on the side of this hill, and crosses the Ashbourn and Bakewell road, by an iron arch cast by the Butterley company. Long Cliff Wharf l¼ miles N.W. from Brassington, forms a convenient depôt for coals or other goods brought on the line. Brassington Moor Lodge, a good farm, 2¾ miles N.W. from the village. Hoe Grange, 1½ miles N.W. of the village, and W. of the Ashbourn and Winster road; Holly Bush, an Inn, at Grange Mill, 3 miles N.E. from Brassington, on the Bakewell and Ashbourn turnpike road; with Mouldridge Grange, are in this township.

CHARITIES.—John Buxton, in 1699, left £100 out of an estate near Nottingham, the interest to be paid for apprenticing poor children of Brassington.

In 1655, George Buxton, left a rent charge of 20s. yearly, out of a close called Shelbroad.

Samuel Mather left 20s. a year out of Buckleather close.

German Buxton gave 30s. per annum out of lands in the parish of Bradbourn. These sums, with 30s. annually out of land the property of Ralph Toplis, and £3 3s. per annum, from the bequest of Robert Dale, the whole amounting to £8 3s., are dis­tributed to the poor shortly after St. Thomas’s day.

Thurstan Dale, in 1742, left the Long Cliff close, on trust, containing about 4 acres, and directed their rents and profits to be paid to a schoolmaster for teaching 12 poor chil­dren of Brassington.

The poor also partake of the Rev. Francis Gisborne’s charity.—(See Bradley.)

Hough Samuel & Son