Whaley is a small village 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, located one mile from

Whaley Thorns Whaley Thorns is a former colliery village in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England, close to the Nottinghamshire border. Whaley Thorns lies just north of Nether Langwith and Langwith, south-east of Creswell, and west of Cuckney. It is ...

, 1½ miles from

Elmton Elmton is a linear village in the parish of Elmton-with-Creswell in the Bolsover (district), Bolsover district of Derbyshire approximately equidistant from Bolsover Castle and Creswell Crags. History There is evidence of human habitation in t ...

, 1½ miles from Langwith and 2½ miles from

Bolsover Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover (borough), Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from London, from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby, Derbyshire, Derby. It is the main town in the Bols ...

. The village has a garage and a former watermill, now a home, of which the large mill pond still survives. Set in arable farmland, the village was a farming settlement, and remains so to this day with several farming families living in the village. The Diocese of Derby archives record that there was an ancient chapel in the village, but no traces of that remain. A school, known as St Mary's Mission, and school house were built in the 1860s but both these are now residential. There are three pre-historic

rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...

s behind the former school, on Magg Lane and opposite the pub, the Black Horse. These are linked to the

Creswell Crags Creswell Crags is an enclosed limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, England, near the villages of Creswell and Whitwell. The cliffs in the ravine contain several caves that were occupied during the last ice age ...

. Scarcliffe Park, an area of woodland to the south end of the village, has

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

remains. It is surrounded by a Pale ditch. The village is a Conservation Area and has an active residents' association. The majority of the buildings are constructed from the local limestone. The Waterworks on Whaley Moor featured in Channel 4 series, ''

Grand Designs ''Grand Designs'' is a British television series produced by Boundless and broadcast on Channel 4 which features unusual and often elaborate architectural homebuilding projects. The programme has been presented by Kevin McCloud since it first ...

''.

Etymology

Whaley most likely comes from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

word ''Whallis'', meaning water. A tributary of the

River Poulter The River Poulter which rises near Scarcliffe in Derbyshire, England is a tributary river of the River Idle in Nottinghamshire. It supplied power to mills along its route, most of which are now gone, although their mill ponds remain. Cuckney mil ...

runs through the village, and there are a number of local springs. A well, now capped, was situated near Red Brick Cottage.

References

External links

Villages in Derbyshire Bolsover District {{Derbyshire-geo-stub