Monyash (/muhn-ee-ash/ munyash) 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 ...

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, west of the market town Bakewell. It is centred on a

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

above sea level at the head of Lathkill Dale in the limestone area known as the White Peak.Monyash website
/ref> At the 2011 census, it had a population of 314. Tourism and farming (milk, beef and lamb) are the predominant activities of the village. The area was once an important meeting place, a watering point for drovers’ animals at the intersection of several trade routes, and industrial centre supporting the local lead mining industry.Johnston, Robert and Shirley Johnston, (2010), Monyash: The Making of a Derbyshire Village, The Horizon Press, Ashbourne,

History

People have been living in and around Monyash since Neolithic times (3750–1750 BC) and probably before then. The nearby impressive stone circle and henge,

Arbor Low Arbor Low is a well-preserved Neolithic henge in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It lies on a Carboniferous Limestone plateau known as the White Peak area. The monument consists of a stone circle surrounded by earthworks and a ditch. ...

, was likely built around 2000 BC by people living in the village who also farmed the relatively fertile soils at the head of Lathkill Dale. The village can attribute its existence, and its name, to water. Lying underneath the centre of the village is a narrow band of clay deposited during the Ice Age. This resulted in pools of standing water, a highly unusual feature in a limestone area. Over time meres (ponds) were fashioned into the clay by the villagers that enabled life before piped water. Only one remains today, called ''Fere Mere'', which is situated behind the Primary School. 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 ...

of 1086 names the village as ''Maneis'', a berewick of Bakewell''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.1379 and owned by the King. The name ''Maneis'' means "many springs or waters". In an Anglo-Saxon

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

on Benty Grange farm, in the south of the parish, the famous

Benty Grange helmet The Benty Grange helmet is an Anglo-Saxon boar-crested helmet from the 7th century AD. It was excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1848 from a tumulus at the Benty Grange farm in Monyash in western Derbyshire. The grave had probably been loot ...

was discovered in 1848. During the 14th century Monyash prospered from the mining of lead and with the granting of a charter for a weekly market. Indeed, over the next few hundred years Monyash grew into a major

lead mining Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, l ...

area with its own Barmote Court. Besides farming, other activities included limestone quarrying and marble polishing. As a result of all this activity, by the middle of the 19th century, Monyash was a busy place, with a population of some 500 inhabitants, almost twice what it is today, with a wide range of trades including blacksmiths, cobblers, butchers, wheelwrights, wool merchants, joiners, dressmakers, shoe makers, and five pubs.

Buildings and structures

St Leonard's Church, the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, was founded sometime between 1100 and 1192. It has a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

and

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

. The building is a patchwork of additions and developments. The major enlargements took place around 1199, 1250, 1348 and 1370, followed by two major restorations in 1886–1888 (by

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was born in Lon ...

) and 1996–2006. The church also contains a 15th-century font. Today the church is a grade II* listed building of national importance. John Gratton (1640–1711), who lived in Monyash for 34 years, encouraged the development of the non-conformist movement, and from the late 18th century the village became a Quaker stronghold, often visited by the Radical Quaker statesman, John Bright. Many of the lead mines were in fact operated by the London Lead Company, a Quaker firm. On his death, Gratton left his cottage and some land, the cottage becoming the Friends’ Meeting House, the ‘Quaker Chapel’. Bull's Head Hotel at Monyash - geograph

The present Methodist Chapel was built in two parts. The original Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in 1835 and is now the church hall. A new Primitive Methodist Chapel was joined onto it in 1888. On the village green are the 'King' and 'Queen' trees, planted to celebrate the Coronation of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and Queen Mary in 1910. The Pinfold, a pound, is located on the edge of Monyash, on the road towards Flagg. Stray cattle and sheep were rounded up by the Pinder into this small walled enclosure, from which they could be retrieved, after payment of a fee. Today there is only one remaining pub (the Bull's Head), which dates from the late 17th / early 18th century. (During the Cold War, an early warning system was installed in the pub, circa 1981.)10 of Britain’s most eccentric villages
/ref> There is also a cafe (The Old Smithy Tea Rooms), and there are Public Toilets on the Bakewell side of the village, nearer Lathkill Dale. The village has a newly refurbished play area which was designed by children from the local school.

Festivals

Monyash also participates in the local custom of

well dressing Well dressing, also known as well flowering, is a tradition practised in some parts of rural England in which wells, springs and other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. The custom is most closely associated with ...

. It has a school, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

(The Bull's Head), a church, a chapel and a

Quaker Meeting House A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ...

. The prehistoric Stone Circle

is also just 2.8 miles from the village.

References

External links

Monyash website

{{authority control Towns and villages of the Peak District Villages in Derbyshire Derbyshire Dales

History

Buildings and structures

Festivals

See also

References

External links