| Elmton | |
Elmton well dressing featuring Jedediah Buxton |
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Jedediah Buxton blue plaque |
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Elmton
Elmton shown within Derbyshire |
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| OS grid reference | SK503733 |
|---|---|
| Parish | Elmton-with-Creswell |
| District | Bolsover |
| Shire county | Derbyshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WORKSOP |
| Postcode district | S80 |
| Police | Derbyshire |
| Fire | Derbyshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire | |
Elmton is a linear village. It is located in the parish of Elmton-with-Creswell in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire approximately equidistant between Bolsover Castle and Creswell Crags.
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There is evidence of human habitation since the Ice Age[1][2][3], including an Iron Age fort[4] and possibly a Roman camp[5]. It was named Elmton (Helmetune) in Anglo Saxon times after the large number of elm trees that were once a major feature. By the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 the village was much the same size as today, as one of the manors belonging to Walter D'Aincourt[6]. The Victoria County History has published a detailed online account of the history of Elmton from ancient times[7].
In 1707, Jedediah Buxton, the legendary mental calculator, was born here (a blue plaque was erected in his honour in 2011 after a public poll)[8].
Much of the village was rebuilt in the middle of the 19th C. when the local estate changed ownership: the 1886/7 Ordnance Survey map shows the village soon after this period[9]. Although there has been some redevelopment and infilling since WW2, the village remains similar in size and form to this day. Once belonging to the Dukes of Portland of Welbeck Abbey, the surrounding tenant farms today form part of the estates of Chatsworth House.
Village wells are decorated with flowers in the Derbyshire well dressing tradition in late June / early July each year.
Elmton has been voted Best Small Village in the East Midlands in Bloom competition in 2010 and 2011, with a Judges Award in 2011 for measures to protect the Bee Orchid[10]. The Elm Tree Inn, Elmton has been voted the Best Traditional Pub in Derbyshire at the Derbyshire Food and Drinks Awards 2011[11].
Most of the older properties in the village are built out of the local magnesian limestone (see, for example, the image of the village church below). The limestone has provided the village green with rare flora and fauna, such as the Bee Orchid. The village is also close to the limestone valleys and gorges of Hollinhill and Markland Grips, a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust[12].
The church (Church of England denomination) is dedicated to St Peter. The church was rebuilt in 1773; it is a simple Georgian building with an unfinished tower and a pulpit with a sounding board[13]. It contains an organ made by Charles Brindley of Sheffield in 1865, which was restored by Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn in 2005[14]. The church also contains a drawing of Jedediah Buxton made by a Miss Maria Hartley in 1764.
This article is drawn from a number of sources including the Elmton Village Walk, 2005, and the English Heritage, Creswell Crags, Ordnance Survey/Landmark and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust websites cited.