Peak Experience

In 1657 Christiana, Countess of Devonshire – whose son Charles had died in 1643 fighting for the king – funded the building of a chapel here.  She was an enthusiastic monarchist, but it is very doubtful that she would have been so brave and foolhardy to dedicate it to Charles, King and Martyr at that time.  The dedication is more likely to have occurred after the Restoration.  The chapel was ‘extra parochial’ and was exempt from the control of the ecclesiastical authorities, though attempts were made to bring it back under control.

 

A picture of a chapel

 

Because of its independence, the chapel became something of a Derbyshire Gretna Green since it was able to conduct Foreign Marriages.  That is, couples from outside the parish could be married here.  And because the couples came from outside the parish, the usual legal requirement to call banns could be ignored, which allowed for quick weddings or weddings that others might object to.  Parliament put a stop to this in 1804 for being ‘productive of Bad Consequencies’.

 

In 1876 the 7th Duke of Devonshire paid for the church to be rebuilt.

The church is not kept open.