Froggatt Village

Froggatt, Curbar and Calver is a Parish within Bakewell District Council, having written extensively about Curbar in a previous blog, it is now the turn of Froggatt to be highlighted.

Nestling below the escarpment of gritstone named after the village, Froggatt Edge, and with the River Derwent running ribbon like on its Western boundaries, the village is more linear than orbital.

Where does such an unusual name of Froggatt derive from?

Although there is no mention of Froggatt in the Domesday book, there is historic documentation of it being originally named in the 13th C as Froggecot, and a century later as Frogcot. It is likely that its name derived from two words, Frog and Cot. Frog being the home of many frogs, and Cot indicating a dwelling.

In the low lying and moist location, once home to seventeen natural springs, you can imagine it being an ideal home for our amphibian friends.

In the thirteenth century the manor of Baslow was divided into two moieties, (ownership), One going to the Vernon family and the other to the Bassetts. Froggatt or Froggecotes as it was known at the time was held by the Bassetts. In around 1290, John Froggecotes of Froggecotes bought land and property including a grove of trees from Simon Basset. This land, plus more that was purchased over time, remained in the family until 1752 when the senior branch of the family died out. John Froggecotes has many living descendants from a junior branch of the family headed by Thomas Froggott of Folds farm, Calver.

Spooner Lane bridleway

From the North, Spooner lane enters the village from Grindleford and Froggatt woods. You are grateful for the old bridleway flags that still exist from centuries past, as they give refuge to your feet from the muddy patches caused by spring water seeking its path downhill to the river Derwent below.

Passing by several of the seventeen picturesque and quaint cottages built by the Duke of Rutland as estate workers homes, brings you to the road junction of Moorlands Lane and the Grade II listed Rose cottage. All the Dukes cottages were included in the 1922 sale as part of the beginning of the break up of the Dukes Longshaw estates.

Rose Cottage

Across the road, sits the Wesleyan Reform Chapel founded in 1832 and eventually built in 1834. Although this is no longer a place of worship it is one of several Reform chapels left in the Peak District. It has seating for 100 people and was originally just the Wesleyan Chapel, but in later years they joined the reformists movement.

Wesleyan Reformists Chapel

Adjoined to the Chapel are several seventeenth century Grade II listed cottages. All in all, this is the most charming area of Froggatt village.

Continue on your journey through Hollow Gate, a Viking word for a sunken way, a raised footpath to your left raises the curiosity, but alas no documented reasoning for this exists.

Froggatt Bridge

The seventeenth century and perfectly formed Froggatt Bridge is the next place of interest. Built by the Stoney Middleton gifted builder, James Booth, the same person that built the octagonal church at Stoney Middleton and the rebuilding of Stoke Hall. Adorned with its two different styles of arches, two rounded arches and one central pointed arch, makes this a very unusual bridge. There is a story to the reason for this unusual configuration. When Calver weir was constructed further down stream, the river slowed and subsequently started to widen in parts up stream. This prompted the building of the second smaller arch to accommodate the new span of the river. With only room for one vehicle at a time, the twin refuge receptacles are a blessing and an ideal viewing point. Stoke Lane leads up to the toll bar at Stoke Hall mentioned in the history of my Grindleford blog.

Not quite opposite the bridge runs, The Green. A steep incline through a scattering of picturesque properties, all worthy of closer inspection. The road eventually turns into a path that appears on the Sheffield road. Turn right here to the Chequers Inn. A characterful former coaching inn that was part of the Duke of Rutlands Longshaw estate. Thought to have derived its name from the Dukes agent that would set up shop here using chequers to help in his accounting in the collecting of the rents from the villagers.

The Green Path

Jack Carnall and his sons Tommy and Albert, lived in one of the cottages below the Inn, and in around 1916 they were photographed resting after mowing and scything the grass.

Jack Carnall and sons

The original building on this site was built around 1591 when George Marples and his family lived there. It was opened as an ale house by Jacob Marples, one of Georges children. Legend has it that some local grave snatchers from Eyam, use to call here for the odd flaggon of ale before carrying out their macabre deeds in the graveyards of Sheffield. The present building was built in 1735 by Thomas Marples.

Present day Chequers Inn

The cottages, that were once upon a time separate dwellings to the Inn, have over the years become part of the old coaching inn but have nonetheless have lost non of their charm.

19th c Chequers Inn

Opposite the Inn, where the car park is now sited was Rileys cowshed, which was a place for the local population to get together to celebrate events. One such event was the coronation of King George VI and Queen Mary in June 1911.

Rileys Cowshed Coronation celebrations

A very interesting piece of Froggatt history was played out near to the Chequers Inn. An Holiday Fellowship building existed here after it took over the Froggatt Edge Guest House in 1923 and extended it to a further 20 bedrooms. during the next ten years there were 5,000 – 6,000 guests. The Holiday Fellowships were originally set up to give affordable holidays to the working classes, and still exist in varying forms all over the country. This particular one however, welcomed child refugees from the Spanish civil war. In October 1937, 25 children aged 7 to 15 years arrived with their Spanish female escorts, and stayed for six months. Over 4,000 child refugees were welcomed from General Francos Spain by Great Britain at the time.

     Children being called to dinner at the Froggatt colony

More information can be found about this fascinating period by searching,   “Basque Children Froggatt”.

 Holiday Fellowship

Dining Room

Across from the Inn and at the bottom end of the car park, there are remains of an old building, just below this you can take a quite boggy path back down to the road at Froggatt and the Derwent.

Derelict building

On arriving at the tarmacked road, turn right back along the lane to Froggatt bridge. On your right just before the bridge, you will see a building called The Nurseries. Once upon a time this was the only dwelling to have running water. The lands used to run all the back down the lane to Riddings farm. Over the years and with influx of new people and with the demand for housing rising, new properties have replaced the once worked fields.

One final property worthy of mention is Frog Hall near the top of Moorlands Lane. Originally named Moorlands Hall and built for the industrialist, Charles Markham Paxton in the early 1800s when he bought most of the Haddon estate in the area.

 

Moorlands hall

Frog Hall

Thank you as always to the various sources of information that enables me to put everything in one place .