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BASLOW,

STONEY MIDDLETON, AND EYAM.

INNS AT BASLOW.-Wheat Sheaf-Bed 1s. to 1s. 6d., breakfast 1s. 4d., dinner 2s. 6d., tea 1s. 4d. Peacock; Devonshire Arms. INNS AT EYAM-Bull's Head; Miners' Arms. INNS AT STONEY MIDDLETON-Moon; Lovers' Leap; Grouse; Miners' Arms.

Baslow from Chesterfield, 8 m.; from Bakewell, 6 m.; from Hathersage, 6 m.; from Castleton, 12 m.; from Haddon Hall, 7 m.

THE routes from Chesterfield to Chatsworth, Castleton, or Buxton, pass through the clean little village of Baslow. Here visitors to Chatsworth from the north usually refresh themselves, and leave their conveyances. The village is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Derwent, about a mile from Chatsworth Hall; the population is little above a thousand. The church is a neat and commodious building, standing on the edge of the river. In the churchyard are some interesting ancient slabs and stone coffins. Much of the moorland property in the neighbourhood belongs to His Grace the Duke of Rutland, who formerly spent about a week annually at the village. Near the beautiful park lodges at the east end of the village, is a neat little Italian villa, the residence of Dr. Condell. Two days may very pleasantly be spent at Baslow. The first will, of course, be devoted to Chatsworth House and grounds, and the second to the wonders of Stoney Middleton, Cucklet Dale, and the world-renowned Eyam. The road to Middleton continues for about a mile and a half on the east side of the Derwent, whose banks are beautifully diversified with rock, wood, and cultured leas. Near a large cottonmill, called CALVER MILLS, we cross the river, and enter Calver, two miles from Baslow, a small village of lime-burners and cotton-spinners. The road here begins to improve wonderfully, thanks to the care of the late Lord Chief-Justice Denman, whose plain but substantial seat of Middleton Hall is passed on the right, just before entering the village of Stoney Middleton. The Baths are near the Church, and are said to be of Roman origin, and to have been dedicated to St. Martin. The water is tepid,

and the baths are beautifully situated in a quiet sylvan spot, shaded by trees, and the grounds intersected by winding paths. "That this bath was established by the Romans," writes Rhodes, "may not be easily established at this remote period of time; but when we consider that they long occupied this part of the kingdom, and that the use of the tepid bath was probably introduced by them into this country, the opinion appears not altogether groundless. The form and composition of the wall that formerly surrounded it, and which was evidently Roman, may likewise be deduced in support of the supposition. The finding of Roman coins in the vicinity of the bath is another circumstance of no trivial importance. So late as the summer of 1814, some workmen employed in removing the soil from a part of the limestone rock, near where the road branches out of Middleton Dale to Eyam, discovered a quantity of Roman coins, about one hundred of which are now in the possession of Mr. Bird of Eyam; they are chiefly copper, but some of them are covered with a thin silvery coating; they are in a good state of preservation, and bear the inscriptions of the Emperors Probus, Gallienus, etc.; and of Victorinus, a successful usurper of imperial power."

The village is remarkably picturesque, and is thus described by Mr. L. Jewitt :-"About the centre of the village is the toll-gate, a characteristic little modern gothic octagonal building, resting upon arches, beneath which the stream, after running the entire length of the dale, empties into a large milldam. The village mill, worked by a ponderous overshot water-wheel, has recently been rebuilt apparently in such a style of superiority and convenience as is but seldom seen. The view from the centre of the village near the toll-bar is picturesque in the extreme; immediately in front of us is a steep rough ascent leading to the upper part of the village, on each side of which the cottages are seen rising tier above tier in the wildest confusion, and built in such nearly inaccessible places as would almost seem to preclude the possibility of their being approached. In some places the solid rock has been cut away to admit of room on which the buildings might be erected, while in others, outhouses have literally been scooped out of the immense stony masses, and the doors of some of the residences may be seen opening above the chimney tops of others. Intermingled with the houses are projecting masses of rock from which tall trees in some places grow out in wild profusion. To our left is the toll-gate, where two roads converge; the one leading by the village cross to

Baslow, etc., and the other to the lower part of the village and the church. Immediately behind the house from which we are examining this striking view, the rock rises perpendicularly above the roof to a considerable height and frowns down upon the valley below in majestic silence, bearing on its crest, immediately over our heads, two chapels and several cottages, between which a rugged and steep path ascends to the top of the cliff, while to our right the wild majestic dale opens its rocky portals, beneath which the houses appear to nestle for shelter and warmth, to receive us. The interest of this fine scene was, on our last visit, greatly heightened and enhanced by the picturesque groups of village children playing around the doorways, by the poultry congregated around the farm buildings opposite, by the ducks waddling about the road or driven to the water by an elderly matron in thorough rustic garb, with her bonnet drawn closely forward over her eyes, and her blue cotton dress tucked up round her waist, and showing a spacious and well filled pocket, and by a fine old goat, whose long uncropped beard gave him a thoughtful and venerable appearance as he lay near our feet. Throughout the village, picturesque combinations, effects, and groupings are constantly seen, and the eye of the artist or the poet needs little more than it will here meet, to inspire him to noble conceptions and great works."

MIDDLETON DALE is a long narrow vale with a rapid stream running through it. "The glory of Middleton," says Mr. L. Jewitt, in "Nooks and Corners of Derbyshire," "is its Dale, at the opening of which the rocks gradually rise in all their nakedness, on the right towering above the houses, whilst on the left the rugged slopes are thickly wooded between the habitations. On entering the Dale, the first grand object which attracts attention is the celebrated rock called the Lover's Leap, rearing its bold blackened front perpendicularly to a prodigious height above a substantial inn bearing the same name, kept by 'mine host' Mason, romantically situated at its base. The circumstance which gave rise to the singular name -the Lover's Leap-by which this rock is known, occurred in about the year 1760, when a love-stricken maiden, named Hannah Baddeley, finding that her affections were not returned by a young man to whom she was madly attached, and who instead treated her with coldness and disdain, in a moment of deep despondency and despair threw herself from its summit, in the hope of destroying her life, which had become so burthensome to her. Her fall was, however, fortunately

broken by some small trees which grew out of the crevices, and she fell into a sawpit in an insensible state, where she was found, and having been removed home, gradually recovered from the serious injurious she had received; and although she was crippled ever afterwards in consequence, lived a single and most exemplary life for about two years, when she died. In the church-yard a mutilated and almost worn-out gravestone shows the place of her burial; and although the inscription is now nearly obliterated, the spot is well remembered by the villagers, who almost seem to venerate the memory of this melancholy love-martyr.

"From here masses of rock jut out one above the other all the way up the dale on the right-hand side, while on the left the steep ascent is for the most part covered with herbage, with here and there circular masses of solid masonry, used as lime kilns, and whose strong archways and tower-like fronts give them a castellated appearance, and remind us of the strongholds of a race of giants. A little way above the Lover's Leap are the Barytes Works, where that material, having been ground, washed, and afterwards bleached with vitriol, is converted into white paint; and adjoining is the lower Cupola, or smelting works, for extracting the lead from the ore. Opposite this is the Grip,' an opening between the rocks, leading by a steep and dangerous ascent to the cliffs above.

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Close to the Grip a giant Tor rises perpendicularly to an immense height, towering above the dale in absolute awe and majesty, and, unlike most of the rocks in the dale, its broad front is almost unbroken, and appears as one compact and solid mass; one portion being thickly overgrown with ivy, seems but to render the appearance of the rest more sterile and bare, and, contrasting with its cold grey front, seems to add to its solemnity and grandeur; up its sides grow tolerable trees, while tufts of grass fringe the ledges formed by the almost horizontal lines of strata, and thousands of martens flit to and fro, and keep up a continual chirping as they light on their suspended nests. From here the chain of rocks continues forward to the glory of the dale, the Castle Rock, standing out in front of the rest, the intermediate space being crowned by sloping greensward through which enormous pinnacles of the massive rock rise up perpendicularly towards the sky. The castle rock is of immense height, and is not inappropriately named, for its front is flanked by two tower-like projections, spreading gradually out to their base like natural buttresses. About mid-way up its front is a narrow shelf of rock, leading to a sort of natural alcove, called

the rock garden, which venturesome people sometimes visit. Above this, growing out of a small cleft in the face of the rock, is a large ash tree, spreading out its branches, and affording shelter for numberless birds, whilst below a portion of the bold projections are overgrown with luxuriant ivy.

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From this point the strata of the rock is very distinctly seen lying, layer above layer, almost horizontally, and seeming to the eye as though in the first formation of the earth, the great hand of a giant builder had carefully spread out one course of liquid stone, and having levelled it, and smoothed its surface, had, after it had become hardened, again poured over it course upon course, and thus continued his work until the enormous pile of rock was complete; or like layer upon layer of lava, as if it had flowed out in a stream from some gigantic crater on successive eruptions, burying in its course the thousands of living animals which still remain petrified on the surface and sprinkled over the broad front of this piece of regular natural masonry. Beyond this the rocks again fall back from the roadway, and one turret or pinnacle rises high up in the air far above the rest, like the watch-tower on a castle wall, and so completely is it detached from the rest of the rock, that the clear blue sky can be distinctly seen through the cleft on its side. On this point of rock more than one daring person has, with consummate foolhardiness, we are told, stood on his head; and it is related that one of the villagers, in a drunken frolic, having enlisted into the army, was, in a more sober mood, desirous of withdrawing his rash promise; upon this, the officer offered that if he would stand on his head on this frightful pinnacle he would give him his discharge; this, to the astonishment of all, he did, and having descended in safety, was rewarded by having his liberty granted.

"Under this rock the stone has been quarried very considerably, and large mounds of the waste material, overgrown with grass, now cover up its base, and in one portion of it is a cavern, which, if at money-making Matlock, would be made quite a fortune to the owner. A little beyond this point a deep chasm or cleft separates the rock from crown to base, as though cracked in two by some mighty convulsion, and in front a clump of luxuriant trees contrasts strongly with the whiteness of the rocks, and adds in appearance much to their imposing altitude. A little farther on is a cavern, known by the names of Carl's Work,' and 'Scotchman's Hole,' in the lower part of the solid perpendicular face of the rock. In this cavern the water sometimes rises to a considerable height, and rushes out into the open dale; this circumstance was the cause of the discovery

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