Whitfield is a hamlet and former parish 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. It is half a mile (1km) south of

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 ...

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, south of Glossop Brook between Bray Clough and Hurst Brook. Whitfield was one of the original townships in the ancient Parish of Glossop. Up to the latter part of the 18th century the hamlet was devoted mostly to agriculture with an area of 2,608 statute acres. The area rises from about 169m to about 266m above mean sea level.

Natural England maps

Maps showing ''Access'', ''Designations'' and other criteria from

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

: * MAGiC MaP : Whitfield – Hob Hill. * MAGiC MaP : Whitfield – spot height 169.2m – Charlestown Road. * MAGiC MaP : Whitfield – spot height 205.7m – Hague Street. * MAGiC MaP : Whitfield – spot height 266.1m – Hob Hill. * MAGiC MaP : Whitfield – parish boundary. * MAGiC MaP : Whitfield –

Dark Peak The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern section but also extending south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire but parts are in Staffordshire, Cheshire, ...

SSSI 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 ...

. * MAGiC MaP : Dark Peak –

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

– Mill Hill.

Name

Name history

The name was recorded as ''Witfeld'' 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 manusc ...

of 1086 A.D. * Survey of English Place-Names:* * Witfeld (1086) * Whitefeld (1226) * Wytfeld (1282)

Name toponym

The name element ''wit'' is from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''wiht'' ("weight") which itself is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''vectis'' ("lever"). The name element ''feld'' is from

''feld'' ("field"). The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

might be: * Landmass that lifts upwards. * Field that elevates up a hill. * Field that rises towards the sky. Examples of place names that may have a similar

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

include the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

– "the island that lifts up out of the sea".

History

The Manor of Whitfield was conveyed in 1330 to John Foljambe. Though held with the manor of Glossop, the land in Whitfield was mostly not part of the Norfolk estate unlike most of the manor of Glossop. When it was enclosed by act of parliament in 1810 it was recorded as being . Included in Whitfield are the villages of Charlestown and Littlemoor. The Turnlee Paper factory was in Littlemoor. St James, Littlemoor, was consecrated in 1845 and is built in the Early English style, with tower and spire. There is a Methodist Chapel at Whitfield; the Wesleyan Reformers and Independent Calvinists had chapels at Littlemoor. When Glossop expanded, and the Howardtown Mills were constructed, Whitfield was subsumed into the new town. Power looms were introduced into these mills in 1825. In 1835 Whitfield church was extended to take the increased congregation, and a Church of England primary school was built in 1848; an infant school was added by Anne Kershaw Wood in 1913.

Local place names

Local place names suggest an association with Hob folklore:

Hob Hill

There are several references to "Hob Hill": * Hobb Hill Cottage * Hob Hill Farm * Hob Hill Meadows

Hobroyd

The area known as Hobroyd is on the lower slopes of Whiteley Nab to the south-west of Glossop.See

> Modern (20th and 21st centuries) > ...''Map of Glossop from 1954''. The name Hobroyd was recorded in 1843. The

might be "Hob hole in a wood". A map of Glossop from 1896 shows a mill with a "Rope Walk", suggesting that it may have a similar history to the Holehouse Mill at

Chisworth Chisworth is a hamlet near Glossop, Derbyshire, England. It is south-west of Glossop town centre, on the south side of the River Etherow, Etherow valley. The parish of Chisworth was formed in 1896, out of the parish of Chisworth and Ludworth. In ...

. A map of Glossop from 1954 shows a paper mill on the same site, which later became a farm and is now Pennine View nursing home.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * *{{cite book , editor1-last= OS Map 002/SE , editor1-first= John Levin , year= 1896 , publisher=

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universi ...

, title= 'OS Map name 002/SE', in Map of Derbyshire (Southampton, 1882-1896) , url= https://www.british-history.ac.uk/os-1-to-10560/derbyshire/002/se , access-date= 1 May 2023 Towns and villages of the Peak District Hamlets in Derbyshire Glossop