|
A mile from the site of a Roman fortlet and near the Roman road that ran from Derby to Chesterfield, this hilltop village is charming with its brown-stone gabled houses, looking up to the sturdy church at the top of a picturesque flight of 48 steps.
The Normans built the lower part of the church tower with walls four feet thick; their arcades still lead to the aisles, and the bowl of the font, on a 17th century pedestal, back in the church after being found last century in the cellar of a house at Ripley, and which is also believed to be of Norman origin.
From the 15th century comes the top of the tower, the battlements of the rest of the building, and most of the windows.
It was here in 1817 that a small company of half-starved labourers and weavers met at the White Horse Inn (now the Post Office) and made wild plans for a march to London. Collecting recruits on the way, they set out to overthrow the government. Led by Jeremiah Brandreth, the rebels attempted to provoke a riot. It was soon quelled however, but it was made use of by the reactionary government to show what would be the result of further attempts at reform. Nearly 50 of the men were tried by a total of four judges at Derby, the trial lasting some 10 days.
In this trial the wild scheme of the deluded rioters, who had plundered a few farmhouses and shot a servant at Wingfield Park, was made to look like a serious revolution, and the men were accused of high treason and of levying war against the king. A few of them were pardoned, some were transported, but Brandreth and two others were sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered at Derby.
|
