Ashbourne, Derbyshire

Ashbourne
Market Hall, Buxton Road
Ashbourne  Ashbourne shown within Derbyshire
Population	7,112 (Parish, 2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SK1846
Civil parish	Ashbourne
District	Derbyshire Dales
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ASHBOURNE
Postcode district	DE6
Dialling code	01335
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Derbyshire Dales
List of places UK England Derbyshire

Coordinates: 53°00′58″N 1°43′52″W / 53.016°N 1.731°W

Former Nestle creamery circa 2006, before demolition

Ashbourne is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales, England. It has a population of 7,112. It contains many historical buildings and many independent shops and is famous for its historic annual Shrovetide football match.

Due to its proximity to the southern edge of the Peak District and being the closest town to the popular area of Dovedale, the town is known as both the 'Gateway to Dovedale' and the 'Gateway to the Peak District'.

History

Ashbourne is a market town and was granted a market charter in 1257.^[2]

In medieval times Ashbourne was a frequent rest stop for pilgrims walking 'St Non's Way' to the shrine at Dunstable in Bedfordshire.

The forces of Charles Edward Stuart passed through Ashbourne during the Jacobite rising of 1745.^[3]

Government

Ashbourne Town Council is made up of 4 wards, Belle Vue, Hilltop, Parkside and St Oswald's, represented by 13 councillors in total. It is based in the town hall on the Market Place.

Geography

Ashbourne is located at 53°01′N 01°44′W / 53.017°N 1.733°W. Ashbourne Green and Sturston are hamlets close by. Henmore Brook, a tributary of the River Dove, flows through the middle of the town.

Demography

Ashbourne has a population of 7,112.

Economy

From 1910, Nestle had a creamery in the town, which for a period was contracted to produce Carnation condensed milk. The factory had its own private sidings connected to the railway station goods yard, which allowed milk trains to access the facility, and distribute product as far south as London. After milk trains ceased in 1965, the railway track was lifted and the railway station fully closed. The factory closed in 2003, and since demolition in 2006, has been redeveloped as housing and a light industrial estate, although the old loading ramp from street level up to the factory floor is still in situ.

Water from a borehole on the site was first marketed as Ashbourne Water in 1975, and was sold mostly to the catering trade.^[4] Nestlé retained the borehole after the factory shut, taking water by tanker to Buxton for bottling.^[4] Declining sales (1.3m bottles in 2005, compared to 90m for Buxton water) meant that they could not justify further investment and the brand was discontinued in 2006.^[4]

The town's proximity to Dovedale and the Peak District means that tourism has always been important to it, now more than ever.

Culture and community

The cobbled market place hosts a traditional outdoor market every Thursday and Saturday throughout the year, complementing the wide range of individual shops in the town. Although its market heritage is important, it came under threat of closure from Derbyshire County Council in November 2012. The people of Ashbourne have opposed any such moves by the council and started an online petition. Ashbourne became the 97th Fairtrade Town in March 2005 after many businesses, cafes, shops and community organisations started supporting Fairtrade.^[5]

Ashbourne Shire Horse Society and Ashbourne Show

According to the Ashbourne Show website:^[6]

"In 1881, four gentlemen founded a society, with the aim of improving the standard of Shire horses in the Ashbourne area. Originally known as the Ashbourne Cart Horse Society, later that year, they held their first a show on the Paddock, at Ashbourne. This was so successful, it was determined by public meeting to put the show on a permanent basis and apart from a few years lost to war and foot-and-mouth, an annual show has been held ever since. In 1888, the title Ashbourne Shire Horse Society was adopted and royal patronage was granted in 1899 by King Edward VII, who was President in 1901. Shrovetide Football although much older, did not become royal till 1928. Although there have been ups and downs over the years, the ambition of the founders has been fully justified. It has grown, changed and evolved, with cattle introduced in 1925 and sheep in 1957. Other sections have also been added, so that it has become the modern Ashbourne Show, now presented by the Ashbourne Shire Horse Society. However, what has not changed is the aim and ambition to produce a show for the encouragement of excellence in agriculture and animal husbandry and for the information education and entertainment of the local community and the visitors to the area each August."

Landmarks

Ashbourne has a large number of public houses for such a small town centre: there are currently 10 pubs trading, as well as 2 social clubs. However, the town's most famous establishment, the Green Man & Black's Head Royal Hotel, closed in 2012 and underwent a change of ownership in 2013. Part of it is being redeveloped into retail units and a bistro, and some of the hotel bedrooms are being restored but, as of February 2014, plans are also afoot to restore a pub function to the complex. The famous and rare 'gallows' sign across St John's Street does, however, remains a focal meeting point in the town. Local historians have noted that almost 1 in 4 buildings in the town have at one time or another been an alehouse, pub or inn or were redeveloped on the site of such an establishment.

Transport

The Tissington Trail, a popular recreational walk and cycle path, starts at Mappleton Lane on the northern outskirts of town, accessed by a large Victorian tunnel about 380 yards long running from the former railway station site in the town, and follows the course of the former Ashbourne to Buxton railway, running from what was Ashbourne railway station through the village of Tissington and joining the High Peak Trail (the old Cromford and High Peak Railway) at Parsley Hay.

Construction of the Ashbourne to Buxton line commenced in 1896^[7] and passenger services started to Buxton in August 1899 following the building of a joint railway station to serve both LNWR and NSR lines. The line closed to regular passenger traffic in 1954, and all services on the Ashbourne–Parsley Hay section, including excursion traffic, ceased in 1963. The line continued down the Dove to Rocester near Uttoxeter where it joined the main North Staffordshire Railway. This southern link had previously opened in 1852^[8] and in 1867 LNWR gained power to run over the line. It also closed to passengers in 1954, finishing completely in the early 1960s.

St. Oswald's Church

The Limestone Way does not enter the town but passes around it some 2 to 3 miles away, going through Tissington, Thorpe, Marten Hill and above Mayfield on its way to Rocester.^[9][10][11] Although there is no formal link to the Limestone Way from Ashbourne, there are a number of routes that walkers from the town could use to join up with the way.

Education

The main secondary school is Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, founded in 1585. It moved to its current site on the Green Road in 1909, and took over Ashbourne County Secondary School in 1973.

Religious sites

The 215 ft (66 m) spire of St Oswald's Church dominates the town. The church is Early English in style and was built around 1220. There are a few remnants of earlier Norman construction and in the south aisle is part of a Saxon cross shaft. The church of St John was built on Buxton Road in 1871 in a neo-Norman style. Ashbourne Churches Together (ACT) has a link with the Diocese of Patna in the ecumenical Church of North India.^[12] Regular visits take place in both directions and members of ACT are currently sponsoring the education of children in a school in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India.

Sport

Catherine Booth's birthplace: 13 Sturston Road, Ashbourne

Statue of Catherine Booth

Ashbourne is known for its annual two-day Royal Shrovetide Football Match, in which one half of the town plays the other at football, using the town as the pitch and with the goals three miles apart. As many as several thousand players compete for two days with a hand-painted, cork-filled ball. The game is played by two teams, the Up'ards and the Down'ards, over two eight-hour periods, subject to only a few rules. Shrovetide football has been played for centuries, perhaps even over 1,000 years. It is a moving mass (the Hug) which continues through the roads of the town, across fields and even along the bed of the local Henmore Brook. There were intermittent attempts to ban the game until the late 19th century, but none was successful.

Before the 1966 Football World Cup, the West German squad stayed at the nearby Peveril of the Peak Hotel and trained on one of Ashbourne's town football pitches (near the park).

Notable people

• Catherine Booth, 'Mother of the Salvation Army', was born here^[13] in 1829
• Sir Brooke Boothby, 6th Baronet, poet, was born here in 1704
• Thomas Brown, Garter King of Arms was born here in 1708
• Henry Cantrell, clergyman and religious controversialist, was born here in 1684^[14]
• George Hayne (died 1723), merchant and entrepreneur
• Francis Charles Robert Jourdain (1865–1940), ornithologist
• Catherine Pegge Mistress to Charles II, mother to Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth resident of Yeldersley.
• David Redfern (1935–2014), photographer
• Dave Tyack (1978–c. 2002), guitarist and singer
• Sir Aston Cockayne 1st Baronet Cockayne of Ashbourne
• William Corden the Elder (1795–1867), portrait painter
• Andrew Lewer (b. 1971), East Midlands MEP, lived in Ashbourne and attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Ashbourne

See also

• Royal Shrovetide Football

References

1. "Neighbourhood Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
2. Ashbourne Granted Market Charter
3. "A general ACCOUNT of the Conduct and Proceedings of the REBELS during their Stay at DERBY". Derby Mercury (findmypast). 29 November 1745. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
4. "Sales decline shuts Ashbourne Water". Ashbourne News Telegraph. 3 May 2006.
5. Ashbourne Fairtrade Town Initiative
6. "Aims of the Society". The Ashbourne Show. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
7. Bentley & Fox, J.M. & G.K. (1997). Railways of the High Peak Buxton to Ashbourne. Stockport UK: Foxline Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 1-870119-45-2.
8. Kingscott, Geoffrey (2007). Lost Railways of Derbyshire. Newbury Berkshire UK: Countryside Books. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-84674-042-8.
9. Derbyshire Dales District Council. The Limestone Way Walkers Guide. Matlock UK: Tourism Section DDDC. p. 22 -25.
10. Ordnance Survey (2009). Explorer OL24. Southampton UK: Ordnance Survey. ISBN 978-0-319-24111-0. and Ordnance Survey (2008). Explorer 259. ISBN 978-0-319-23725-0.
11. Long Distance Walkers Association. "Limestone Way". Retrieved 7 March 2013.
12. "The Patna Partnership". Ashbourne Churches Together. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
13. "Catherine Booth Biography". s9.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2007. Retrieved June 2007.
14. Cantrell, Henry, Church of England clergyman and religious controversialist by David L. Wykes in Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2004)

External links

• Ashbourne Town official website
• Visit Ashbourne site
• Thisisderbyshire.co.uk/ashbourne
• Ashbourne in the Domesday Book