Birchover is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...
National Park in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, England, five miles north-west of
Matlock. At the
2001 Census, it had a population of 362.
Eagle Tor is a small hamlet on the north western edge of the parish.
History
Birchover is near a number of features of geologic and historic interest: a rock formation called
Rowtor Rocks, consisting of numerous tunnels, carvings and caves; several prehistoric monuments, including
Doll Tor
Doll Tor is a stone circle located just to the west of Stanton Moor, near the village of Birchover, Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. Doll Tor is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, ...
; and a number of
stone circles on
Stanton Moor
Stanton Moor is a small upland area in the Derbyshire Peak District of central northern England, lying between Matlock and Bakewell near the villages of Birchover and Stanton-in-Peak. It is known for its megaliths – particularly the Nine La ...
.
Birchover is mentioned in the
Domesday book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
as belonging to
Henry de Ferrers
Henry de Ferrers (died by 1100), magnate and administrator, was a Norman who after the 1066 Norman conquest was awarded extensive lands in England.
Origins
He was the eldest son of Vauquelin de Ferrers and in about 1040 inherited his father's ...
,
[Henry was given a large number of manors in Derbyshire including ]Doveridge
Doveridge is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, United Kingdom, near the border with Staffordshire and about east of Uttoxeter. Its name may come from its having a bridge over the river Dove (i.e. Dove(B)ridge), a tributary of the River ...
, Linton, Breadsall
Breadsall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire, . The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 773. Breadsall Priory is nearby.
History
Breadsall was mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Henry ...
and Great Longstone
Great Longstone with Little Longstone is one of two villages in the local government district of Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, England. The population (including Hassop and Rowland, but not Little Longstone) as taken at the 2011 Census was ...
. and being worth eight shillings.
[''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.748]
In popular culture
Bradley Rocks near Birchover features as the location of the farm in the 1987 film ''
The Princess Bride The Princess Bride may refer to:
* ''The Princess Bride'' (novel), 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He ...
''. The horror writer Joseph Freeman based a story here, 'A Room of his Own', in his first book ''Love Stories of the Undead'' (later reprinted in 2008's "This Is My Blood"), and has had articles published in ''Saccade'' magazine and a charity anthology called ''Dog Tales'' based on real-life eerie events in the area.
Notable people
*
Eddie Shimwell – former
Blackpool football player; first full-back to score at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
See also
*
Listed buildings in Birchover
References
External links
www.birchovervillage.com
Villages in Derbyshire
Towns and villages of the Peak District
Civil parishes in Derbyshire
Derbyshire Dales
{{Derbyshire-geo-stub