Tideswell is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, and

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. It lies east of

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

on the B6049, in a wide valley on a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

plateau, at an altitude of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, and is within the District of Derbyshire Dales. The population (including Wheston) was 1,820 in 2001, increasing slightly to 1,827 at the 2011 Census, making it the second-largest settlement within the National Park, after

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known for Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, Derbyshire, River Wye, 15 miles (23 km) south-west of Sheffield. It is the largest se ...

. Tideswell Dale is a short limestone valley leading south from the village to the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

valley.

Name

There is some debate as to how the village got its name. The English Place Name Society accepts it as being named after a Saxon chieftain named Tidi, others that the name comes from a "tiding

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

" situated in the north of the village. This 'ebbing and flowing' well was declared to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak by

Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...

in his 1636 book ''De Mirabilibus Pecci.'' Tideswell is known locally as ''Tidza'' or ''Tidsa''. In addition, local residents are known as ''Sawyeds'', owing to a traditional story about a farmer who freed his prize cow from a gate in which it had become entangled, by sawing its head off. Today the story is re-enacted raucously and colourfully every Wakes week by a local mummers group called the Tidza Guisers.

History and heritage

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Tideswell was a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

known for lead mining. The Tideswell lead miners were renowned for their strength and were much prized by the military authorities. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 lists TIDESUUELLE as the King's land in the charge of

William Peverel William Peverel (died 28 January 1114), Latinised to Gulielmus Piperellus), was a Norman knight granted lands in England following the Norman Conquest. Origins Little is known of the origin of the William Peverel the Elder. Of his immediat ...

with fewer than five households. Tideswell is now best known for its 14th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, the Church of St John the Baptist, known as the "Cathedral of the Peak", which contains three 15th-century

misericord A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a p ...

Outside of St John the Baptist Church of England church in Tideswell

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

lies in the churchyard; it is positioned on steps which local historian Neville T. Sharpe thinks likely to be those of the village's

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosses ...

. A market and two-day fair were granted to the village in 1251. The Foljambe family, later the Foljambe baronets, were the principal landowners from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The town has a week-long festival near the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

known as the Wakes, culminating in "Big Saturday", which includes a torchlight procession through the streets, led by a brass band playing a unique tune called the Tideswell Processional, and townsfolk dancing a traditional weaving dance.

Markeygate House

Markeygate House on Bank Square is thought to be the oldest dwelling in Tideswell, built in 1432. It is an English Heritage Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

(Entry Number: 1288059) that has undergone significant remodelling over time, having served as an ale house and family butcher. File:Markeygate House.jpg, Markeygate House File:Detail of the door to Markeygate House.jpg, Detail of the door to Markeygate House

Taste Tideswell

In May 2009, Tideswell won a £400,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund's ''Village SOS'' programme. In a bid to help keep its village shops open and thriving—over 20 shops had closed in the preceding decade—''Taste Tideswell'' was created, to reconnect local people with their food and make Tideswell famous as a food destination. On 6 December 2010 the Tideswell School of Food opened, running full-priced cookery and brewing courses as well as subsidised community courses. The School of Food was intended to be the financial engine for the project that would help to develop work in the community. It closed during 2014 because of cashflow issues. ''Tideswell Made'' is a quality mark that local food producers, retailers, public houses and holiday accommodation can buy into. Ensuring products are sourced as locally as possible and made locally, ''Tideswell Made'' is marketed by ''Taste Tideswell'' and helps local business get wider recognition for their locally made produce. ''Taste Tideswell'' has an education service, visiting schools with a variety of food- and growing-related activities. School groups also visit the School of Food for practical hands-on activities. Behind the Parish Church, a small community garden has been developed to provide a training ground for those wanting to learn more about growing. There is also a small commercial kitchen available for hire by local food producers, particularly those who are looking to make the step up from home-based production. In May 2011, the first Tideswell Food Festival was held, attracting over 2,000 people, despite poor weather. On 7 September 2011, the ''Taste Tideswell'' story was broadcast as part of the ''Village SOS'' series on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. It showed the rapid development of the project, along with the individual story of Tim Nicol, the 'Village Champion' who moved to live in Tideswell for a year and helped the volunteer directors get ''Taste Tideswell'' established. As of August 2011, ''Taste Tideswell'' employed eight members of staff, most of whom lived in the village, and had ten visiting chef/tutors on its books. Although the School of Food had to close, Tideswell's annual Food Festival has continued to be a success each year.

Facilities and activities

Tideswell Sports Complex was built in 2001 following a £1.2 million Sports Lottery grant and substantial fund-raising in the village. There are two football pitches, a floodlit multi-use area with two tennis courts and five-a-side pitches marked out, a cricket ground, crown-green bowling area, a skate-park and two pavilions. The town has a football team, Tideswell United, and they play in the Hope Valley League 'A' Division. They also run a reserve side competing in the Hope Valley League B Division as Tideswell United Blue Star. The ground has floodlights for midweek games, one of few sides at such a low level to use them. The bowling club competes in local leagues, and the cricket and tennis clubs compete in local friendly matches. The village has a long theatrical tradition, Tideswell Theatre having been formed over 200 years ago to perform leading plays of the time. It was revived in 2002 to bring professional-quality theatre, music, dance and comedy to the area. Tideswell Community Players are one of the oldest drama groups in the country, formed in 1929. Until the 1960s the village also had its own cinema, The Picturehouse. Tideswell Cinema was revived in 2005 to bring film once more to the community, with screenings for three seasons at Bishop Pursglove School's hall, before relocating in 2008 to the upper storey of The George Hotel. A number of musical ensembles are also active in the village – notably Tideswell Male Voice Choir and the Tideswell Singers.

Media

Local TV coverage is provided by

BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...

and BBC East Midlands on

and

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

. Television signals are received from either the Emley Moor transmitter via the Tideswell Moor relay transmitter or the Waltham transmitter via the Stanton Moor relay transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Derby, Capital Midlands and Greatest Hits Radio Derbyshire (High Peak) (formerly High Peak Radio). The village is served by the local newspapers the ''Peak Advertiser'' and '' Buxton Advertiser''.

Notable people

*Sir Godfrey de Foljambe (1317–76),

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

*Blessed Christopher Buxton, Catholic martyr, studied at Tideswell Grammar school under Nicholas Garlickpublic-domain

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

of 1913 * Ric Lee, drummer of the blues/rock band

Ten Years After Ten Years After are a British blues rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Bi ...

, resides in Tideswell and participated in the male voice choir *Rev. J. M. J. Fletcher (Vicar of Tideswell),

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

*Blessed Nicholas Garlick, Catholic priest and martyr, was a schoolmaster here in the 16th century * Judy Leden, stunt flyer and three times world hang-gliding champion * William Newton, poet and philanthropist, was buried hereWilliam Newton at the

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

now in the public domain * Samuel Slack, notable bass singer born 1757 of local fame, reputedly sang before

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

*A monument in the south transept of Tideswell parish church is doubtfully identified as that of Sir Thurstan de Bower * Edwina Currie, former Conservative MP, current President of the Tideswell Male Voice Choir * Robert Pursglove, sixteenth-century bishop, buried in Tideswell church

References

External links

Tideswell and District Community AssociationThe Village Voice – the village newsletterVisit Tideswell – accommodation for visitors and holiday makersPeak District Online – TideswellLink to interesting search of Google Books on Tideswell with several good books fully online mentioning Tideswell.
G4TIFF page images, plus poorly OCRed HTML. This has a lot of information on Tideswell during the 11th to 13th centuries. {{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Derbyshire Dales