Stanton in the Peak

Stanton in Peak is an attractive mainly gritstone built village, with fine views over the River Wye towards north Derbyshire. Its main street winds its way steeply up the side of Stanton Moor, from where most of the stone used in construction of the village originated from. Stanton Moor, rising 1096 feet above sea level, overlooks the village. The Moor is an isolated gritstone outcrop in the heart of limestone country and one of the richest prehistoric sites in Derbyshire.

The village is very ancient, having been granted a Royal Charter in 968. Many of its houses date from the 17th and 18th centuries. The houses built in the early part of the 19th century, which carry the initials ‘WPT’, were built by William Pole Thornhill. The Thornhill family also built the tower on the eastern edge of Stanton Moor that bears the inscription ‘Earl Grey 1832’. This commemorates of Earl Grey’s Reform Bill, which led eventually to every Englishman having the right to vote. 

Stanton Hall hides behind a high wall along the village street, but to the west it commands magnificent views. The hall dates from the late 16th century and was extensively re-built in 1693, and extended further a century later by Bache Thornhill, although today it is reduced in size. It was the home of the Thornhill family for many generations, who were responsible for the majority of buildings in the village.

The Parish Church of Holy Trinity was originally built by the Thornhill family in 1839, as a private church for their own use, but later that century became the parish church. It has a tall spire and unusually the nave lies from south to north. Inside there is a bronze Italian water stoup from the workshop of Bellini. At the top of the village is the Methodist Chapel of 1829, recently closed.

One of the earliest and the most unusual houses in the village is the three-storey Holly House, which stands facing the main street with eight of its fourteen windows remaining blocked to this day. Originally the windows would have been blocked to avoid the dreaded window tax of 1697. Opposite is the village pub with the strange sounding name of Flying Childers. It was named after a famous 18th century racehorse owned by the fourth Duke of Devonshire and trained by Sir Hugh Childers. 

The reading room, now the village hall, was built by the Thornhill’s, as was the ‘The Stand’. Originally known as ‘The Belvedere’, it is a viewing platform with a stone seat, from where you get a magnificent panoramic view over the beautiful Wye Valley. On the southern edge of the village, the local cricket ground on its sloping site must have one of the prettiest views for any cricket pitch in the country.  

Stanton Moor, nearly 1100 feet above sea level and overlooking the village, offers genuine moorland terrain. Although it is relatively small in size, it has a feeling of isolation despite its close proximity to Stanton in Peak in the north and Birchover in the south. On the edge of the moor there are superb views of the surrounding countryside and on the bracken clad moor several impressive boulders and reminders of the past. 

The most famous of the Bronze Age relics on the moor are The Nine Ladies Stone Circle. Legend has it that the nine ladies danced here on the Sabbath Day and were turned to stone as a punishment, along with the fiddler who stands nearby.