Derwent was a village 'drowned' in 1944 when the

Ladybower Reservoir Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped, artificial reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through How ...

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 was created. The village of

Ashopton Ashopton was a small village in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Ashop. The village population was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Aston, Derbyshire. In the early 1940s, the village (along with neighbou ...

, Derwent Woodlands church, and Derwent Hall were also 'drowned' in the construction of the reservoir.

Demolition

All buildings in the village had been demolished by autumn 1943, and the impounded waters of the reservoir began to rise by the end of 1944. A 17th-century

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low Parapet#Bridge ...

in the village had a preservation order which prevented it from being demolished. In order to comply with this, the bridge was transported from the original location near Derwent Hall and reconstructed at the head of

Howden Reservoir The Howden Reservoir is a Y-shaped reservoir, the uppermost of the three in the Upper Derwent Valley, England. The western half of the reservoir lies in Derbyshire and the eastern half is in Sheffield, South Yorkshire; the county border runs th ...

at Slippery Stones. It is now part of the footpaths and cycle tracks that run along the reservoirs. The bridge is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, and it is one of the very few structures from Derwent village to have completely survived the reservoir's construction and still be visible. The church held its last service on 17 March 1943. The bell from the church may still be heard in Derbyshire, however, since it was re-hung in St Philip's Church in

Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chadd, is a large residential suburb of Derby, United Kingdom. Historically a separate village centred on Chaddesden Hall and the 14th century St Mary's Church, the area was significantly expanded by 20th-centu ...

, built in 1955. The stained glass from the east window of the church, designed by

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...

, was saved and installed into the east window of St Michael and All Angels' Church, Hathersage. Bodies from the graveyard at Derwent had been exhumed in 1940 and were reburied in the village of

Bamford Bamford is a village in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, close to the River Derwent. To the north-east is Bamford Edge, and to the north-west the Ladybower, Derwent and Howden Reservoirs. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,241 ...

. The church spire was left intact to form a memorial to Derwent. However, it was dynamited on 15 December 1947, on the rationale of safety concerns.

Remains

Slippery Stones Pack Horse Bridge - geograph

The site of the village has been revealed when the reservoir levels fell dramatically in 1976, 1989, 1995, 2003, 2018 and 2022. In 2018, the appearance of the village due to low water levels caused unprecedented crowds to visit the rarely visible site. On 3 November 2018, a man had to be rescued by a mountain rescue team after getting stuck in extremely thick mud around the ruins of the village. On 17 November 2018 it was reported that the site had been vandalised by some of those visiting, with park rangers forced to stop visitors removing items from the site and with graffiti scrawled on some buildings. Despite the fact that nearly the whole village was flooded, a few houses survive above the waterline. One source notes that five houses from the old village remain, as well as the village hall and several farms. There remains a

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 authority ...

of Derwent. At the time of the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, it had a population of 51. At the 2011 Census, the population remained less than 100. Details were included in the civil parish of Aston, Derbyshire. The most significant surviving reminder of Derwent Village is the village's

, painted in 1925 by the artist Stanley Royle. The bridge was transported and rebuilt at the head of Howden Reservoir at Slippery Stones where it now forms part of the paths and cycle tracks around the Derwent Valley reservoirs. The Derwent Valley Museum, formerly located on the Derwent Reservoir dam and run privately by the late Vic Hallam, told the history of the Derwent valley and of Derwent and

as well as the tale of RAF Squadron 617 ("The Dam Busters") and its training for ''

Operation Chastise Operation Chastise or commonly known as the Dambusters Raid was an attack on Nazi Germany, German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by No. 617 Squadron RAF, 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using sp ...

'' during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. There is no formal memorial to any of the villages. However, the site of the temporary village at

Birchinlee Birchinlee is the site of "Tin Town", a village built by the Derwent Valley Water Board for the workers (and their families) who constructed the Derwent and Howden Dams between 1902 and 1916. Most of the workers had previously been engaged in ...

, built to house the construction workers for the higher Derwent and

s, is marked by a plaque. The only marker of the location of Derwent is the village's War Memorial, which stands above

at a point to the west of the village.

Notable residents

* Charles Balguy was born at Derwent Hall in 1707.

References

External links

Peeping Tom statue moved from Derwent Hall to Castleton Hall YHA
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District History of Derbyshire Former populated places in Derbyshire British country houses destroyed in the 20th century Civil parishes in Derbyshire Forcibly depopulated communities in the United Kingdom High Peak, Derbyshire

Demolition

Remains

Notable residents

See also

References

External links