Ashford, Derbyshire

Description
Ashford, a village and a parish in Derbyshire. The village stands on the river Wye, in a charming situation, surrounded by high hills near Monsal dale, 1 mile from Longstone railway station, and 2 NW of Bakewell, under which it has a post and money order office, and it carries on a trade in marble. Mills for cutting, turning, and polishing marble were erected in its vicinity in 1748, and are the oldest establishments of their kind in England. Marbles of many tints, but chiefly black and grey, are found in the neighbourhood, about 40 feet beneath the surface, in beds from 3 to 9 inches thick, and are manufactured at the mills into a great variety of ornamental articles. Ashford Hall is the seat of the Clifford Smith family, and the manor belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. Church Dale, Thornbridge, and the Rookery are mansions in the parish. A spot near the church was the site of the mansion of Edward Plantagenet of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, now traceable only by the moat. In this parish the curfew, and the pancake bell on Shrove Tuesday, may still be heard. The acreage is 2554; population, 661. The living is a vicarage, annexed to that of Sheldon, in the diocese of Southwell; joint gross yearly value, £260 with residence. Patron, the Vicar of Bakewell. The church is ancient, and was restored in 1869-70. There is a chapel for Methodists.