Fairfield is a district of

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

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 ...

. The historic medieval village of Fairfield was centred around a

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

(known as 'the Green').

Location

Fairfield is located on the

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road connec ...

half a mile to the north east of Buxton's town centre, 340m above sea level. Fairfield is at the head of the narrow dry gorge of Cunningdale, which is part of the

Wye Valley The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; cy, Dyffryn Gwy) is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. The River Wye ( cy, Afon Gwy) is the fourth-longest river in th ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI).

History

The name Fairfield derives from the Germanic meaning 'fair open land', because of its good volcanic soil for pasture.

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monks and

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nuns founded

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely a ...

s at Fairfield in the early 1200s AD (Nunsfield Farm still exists). In the 13th century Fairfield (being north of the

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...

) was within the Royal Forest of Peak, a hunting ground for the king. Fairfield was a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

in the parish of

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

(whereas Buxton was in the

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census, ...

parish). Fairfield and Buxton shared a medieval corn mill on the Wye in Mill Dale, where Ashwood Park is now. Fairfield became a town in its own right, complete with town council. The township covered the land north of the River Wye, including The Park and Devonshire Park, until 1859 when a boundary change moved them into Buxton town. Fairfield remained an urban

sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

until 1894 and in 1917 it became part of Buxton

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

. In 1811, 1821 and 183 1, the chapelry of Fairfield returned a population of 482 inhabitants in the national

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

es.Pigot & Co (1835) The Commercial Directory for Derbyshire The first chapel was built in Fairfield between 1240 and 1255. Fairfield Church was built in c.1595 and was demolished in 1838 to be replaced by the present St. Peter's (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

). Lying just north of the 'Green', the church was built in 1839, designed by William Swan, the village schoolmaster. St Peter's is a Grade II listed building.

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

visited Fairfleld in September 1784. Fairfield

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

chapel on Waterswallows Road was built in 1868, replacing the first

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel which was erected in 1844. After 1887 it was used as the Fairfield Local Board Town Hall. The Bull's Head pub on Fairfield Road replaced the previous one which was demolished in 1903. George Kitchen, the Everton, West Ham United and Southampton goalkeeper, was born in Fairfield in 1876. He died in 1965. Fairfield Common Racecourse 1825

Fairfield Common

Fairfield Common was established centuries ago as common grazing land. It was originally known as The Barms Common. Buxton Racecourse was laid out on the common in the early 1800s. From 1821 horse racing and cock fighting meetings were held each year in June. The

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has be ...

commissioned a grandstand building which stood in the 1830s. In 1835 The Commercial Directory for Derbyshire wrote that an "excellent round course has been formed where

horse races Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

take place". Buxton racecourse closed in 1840 and the grandstand was pulled down.

Buxton and High Peak Golf Club Buxton and High Peak Golf Club at Fairfield near Buxton in Derbyshire opened in 1887. The course is long with a par of 69. It is the oldest golf course in Buxton and one of the oldest in Derbyshire. Peak Practice golf driving range at Barms ...

was founded in 1887, after a nine-hole course was laid out on Fairfield Common in 1886. The course was extended to 18 holes in 1893. The 9th par 5 hole is called Standside, which refers to where the grandstand once stood.

Fairfield Halt railway station Fairfield Halt was a railway station at Fairfield near Buxton, Derbyshire that was open between 1907 and 1939. The station was opened by the London & North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British ra ...

was open between 1907 and 1939. It was built on the Buxton to Manchester line, to serve the Buxton Golf Club. The Roman road between

Aquae Arnemetiae Aquae Arnemetiae was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement was based around its natural warm springs. Today it is the town of Buxton, Derbyshire in England. Aquae Arnemetiae means 'Waters of Arnemetia'. Arnemetia was ...

(Roman Buxton) and Melandra fort (near

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

) runs along the western wall of Fairfield Common.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Derbyshire Buxton

Location

History

Fairfield Common

See also

References