Peak Experience

You might be surprised at the number of well-known names associated with Derbyshire churches.

 

A picture of a stone figure A picture of the memorial to John Beaton

 

John F. Kennedy’s sister, Kathleen, is buried in the churchyard at Edensor.  You can also see a memorial to his visit here.  The Gladstonian politician Frederick Cavendish may no longer be well known, but Queen Victoria sent a wreath to his funeral and you can find that preserved here as well.  Look out for the memorial to John Beaton. Beaton served Mary, Queen of Scots while she was held captive at Chatsworth House.

 

Samuel Johnson was fond of Ashbourne church and you can find a plaque to him there.  You’ll also see young Penelope Boothby’s famously exquisite tomb.  Her parents were friends of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who came to stay with them in Derbyshire.

 

The celebrated angler and writer Izaak Walton was great friends with Charles Cotton.  They used to fish together in Dovedale.  You can still see the Cottons’ striking family pew in Alstonefield church.

 

A picture of the Cottons’ family pew

 

At Hathersage church you’ll discover a collection of memorials to the Eyre family.  Charlotte Bronte knew them.  Perhaps they inspired the name of her heroine, Jane Eyre.  And according to legend, Hathersage churchyard houses the (big) grave of Robin Hood’s fellow, Little John.  You can’t miss it!

 

Richard Arkwright, one of the fathers of the Industrial Revolution, is buried in Cromford church.  St Bertram’s tomb stands in Ilam  church.  Eyam, of course, is the church of the parsons Mompesson and Stanley.  In the 1600s, they led their village in voluntary quarantine to prevent deadly plague spreading into the countryside.

 

A picture of St Bertram’s tomb