An ancient packhorse bridge over the River Derwent leads to the greystone cottages and riverside parish church of Baslow. At the village end of the bridge is a stone-built toll-house, thought to be the smallest in England. St Anne's church stands in a picturesque setting, its beauty enhanced by trees on all sides.
The church is mostly 14th century with a 13th century tower and spire. One of its clocks two dials has the words 'Victoria 1897' round the edge instead of figures. There are parts of a Saxon cross in the porch, and a dog-whip, once used to drive unruly dogs from the church, is kept just inside the doorway. Built into the church's porch is a coffin stone more than 700 years old, with a carved cross and two keys. In addition engraved coffin stones are built into the lintels of the clerestory windows. The low tower and its spire are themselves 700 years old, and from the 14th century come the nave arcades, and a doorway in which a stout old door still hangs.
Another part of the village, Goose Green, has thatched cottages and a trickling stream, Bar Brook, over which a bridge and a footpath lead to the Chatsworth estate.
Chatsworth House, home of the Duke of Devonshire, is about one and a half miles south of Baslow, and footpaths across the park give views of the Derwent Valley.
Baslow is one of the most attractive of Drbyshire villages surrounded as it is by magnificent countryside and moorlands and bounded on one side by Chatsworth Park. There are excellent hotels and public houses and the Cavendish Hotel (formerly the Peacock Inn) and the Devonshire Arms should be mentioned.
A lane from the packhorse bridge leads to the attractive hamlet of Bubnell. A 17th century hall there was the home of the Basset family for many generations, a family ever on the side of justice and liberty. One put his name to Magna Carta, another went on the Crusades with Richard Lionheart, a third sat in this countries first Parliament. The hamlet overlooks Bramley Dale and Baslow Edge, a bluff stone ridge across the river above Baslow.
