Great Longstone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Great Longstone | |
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  Great Longstone shown within Derbyshire |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| District | Derbyshire Dales |
| Shire county | Derbyshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BAKEWELL |
| Postcode district | DE45 |
| Dialling code | 01629 |
| Police | Derbyshire |
| Fire | Derbyshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| European Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | West Derbyshire |
| List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire | |
Great Longstone with Little Longstone is one of two villages in the local government district of Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, England.
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[edit] History
A place called longsdune was mentioned in the Domesday book as belonging to Henry de Ferrers[1] and being worth thirty shillings; this is considered to be Great Longstone[2].
The church of St. Giles, in Great Longstone, dates from the thirteenth century. The manor house, Longstone Hall, has its origins in the following century, but was rebuilt in the mid 18th. That century was one of prosperity, with lead-mining and shoemaking (the public house is dedicated to St. Crispin, the patron saint of cobblers).
Little Longstone is further west, with a manor house from the seventeenth century and still has its village stocks.
To the north is Longstone Edge, a limestone ridge some 1300 feet in height, on an upfolding of the Derbyshire limestone known as the Longstone Anticline. It has been, and is, intensively quarried for galena, fluorspar and barytes, and more controversially, limestone. Since Longstone Edge is a noted beauty spot and is located within the Peak District National Park there is strong local pressure for the quarrying to stop altogether. Some of this quarrying is strictly controlled by the Peak District National Park Authority, but the Authority has been conducting a lengthy legal battle to try to stop other quarries which are operating outside of the authority's guidelines.
Further north is the White Cliff, where the exposed limestone contains fossilised corals.
There was a railway station, built by the Midland Railway in 1863, when it extended the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway towards Buxton. Originally known as "Longstone", in 1913, it was renamed "Great Longstone for Ashford" (Ashford in the Water). It closed in 1962, but the building, designed to match the nearby Thornbridge Hall, survives as a domestic residence, and the trackbed through the station is part of the 8.5 mile Monsal Trail, a walk and cycleway.
[edit] Famous residents
Lord Hattersley, former Labour party deputy leader
