Peak Experience

Although there has been a church here since King John’s reign, there is nothing left of the original building.  The oldest part of this building is the tower and spire, built in the 1200s.

 

A picture of St Annes, Baslow

 

You’ll see part of a Saxon cross in the porch.  The porch itself has an ancient coffin stone built into it, probably about 700 years old.

 

The Duke of Devonshire financed a restoration in 1852–53. The chancel was rebuilt in 1911.

 

Just by the door there is a glass case containing a whip.  Official ‘dog whippers’ were paid to whip dogs out of church services during the 1600s and 1700s.  You can find accounts of payments to these dog whippers in the registers of many churches.

 

The 1603 bridge behind the church is the only bridge across the Derwent never to have been destroyed by flood.

 

The church is kept open.  There are two pubs nearby and a café/bistro opposite the church.