Tucked in a steep hillside high above the road to Ashover, looking out on a fine panorama where distance lends enchantment to the patchwork fields, the towers, spires, and distant chimneys of an industrial countryside, is a little grey ruin, roofless and alone, hidden from view by the chestnut trees around it, and glorying in the bracken which gives the place its name.
A soft green carpet grows within its walls, and wild flowers have rooted in the crevices, but the windows, the bell turret, and the two stone seats of what was once a porch tell the tale of an ancient chapel made new in the 16th century, and abandoned in the 19th when a new church was built.
The new church is about a mile from the ruin, down in the hamlet of winding lanes and fine trees. It shelters a few oak benches and the 15th century screen from the old chapel, the screen now against the west wall of the nave, with tracery in its bays.
To the north is the attractive Ogston Reservoir, completed in 1958 and now a favourite venue for sailing. The River Amber, flowing from it, bounds the park of Ogston Hall, an interesting building of many periods, from the early 16th to the 19th century. These days it is a private residence.
Various historic properties to be seen hereabouts....Brackenfield School for example was built in 1845 (at a cost then of £450). It is used today as the village hall.
Crich Stand is a lighthouse tower rebuilt in 1923 on the site of three previous towers, as a tribute to 11,400 of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment who lost their lives in the First World War. The annual pilgrimage of the regiment to the memorial is held on the first Sunday in July. The beacon light in the tower can be seen from five counties and stands on a ridge which is almost 1,000 feet high.
Look for Mather's Grave. There are various accounts concerning the death of one Samuel Mather. One story is that he was hanged for sheep stealing. However is is also said that a fellow of this name committed suicide in an old barn not far from Brackenfield Green. It is believed that Samuel Mather was buried about the year 1716. Tradition relates that he was drawn to his grave by bullocks and on the way to his resting place a raven ominously settles on his body when the oxen came to a stop. During widening of the road at a later date the body was found and re-interred beneath the wall bounding the cottage garden close by where the stone is situated.
