Elmton

Infobox UK place
country = England
static_

static_image_caption= Elmton well dressing featuring Jedediah Buxton
latitude = 53.255
longitude = -1.247
map_type = Derbyshire
official_name =Elmton
population =
shire_district = Bolsover
shire_county = Derbyshire
region = East Midlands
constituency_westminster =
post_town = WORKSOP
postcode_district = S80
postcode_area =S
dial_code =
os_grid_reference = SK503733

Elmton is a linear village. It is located in the parish of Elmton-with-Creswell in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire approximately equidistant between Bolsover Castle and Creswell Crags.

History

There is evidence of human habitation since the Ice Age [ [http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=943193&type=&class1=None&period=None&county=Derbyshire&place=elmton&yearfrom=ALL&yearto=ALL&recordsperpage=5&source=text&sort=1&nmr=&defra=# Iron Age habitation at Pastscape] ] [ [http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/virtuallytheiceage/Exploring_objects/Details.asp?VTIA=89 creswell-crags.org.uk] ] , including an Iron Age fort [ [http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=318373 Iron Age fort at Pastscape] ] and possibly a Roman camp [ [http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=318464&type=&class1=None&period=Roman&county=Derbyshire&place=elmton&yearfrom=ALL&yearto=ALL&recordsperpage=5&source=text&sort=1&nmr=&defra=# Roman camp at Pastscape] ] . It was named Elmton (Helmetune) in Anglo Saxon times after the large number of elm trees that were once a major feature. By the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 the village was much the same size as today, as one of the manors belonging to Walter D'Aincourt"Domesday Book: A Complete Translation". London: Penguin, 2003. p.750 ISBN 0-14-143994-7] .

In 1707, Jedediah Buxton, the legendary mental calculator, was born here. Much of the village was rebuilt in the middle of the 19th C. when the local estate changed ownership: the 1886/7 Ordnance Survey map shows the village soon after this period [ [http://www.old-maps.co.uk/IndexMapPage2.aspx View by searching for Elmton at old-maps.co.uk] ] . Although there has been some redevelopment and infilling since WW2, the village remains similar in size and form to this day. Once belonging to the Dukes of Portland of Welbeck Abbey, the surrounding tenant farms today form part of the estates of Chatsworth House. Village wells are decorated with flowers in the Derbyshire well dressing tradition in late June / early July each year.

Natural history

Most of the older properties in the village are built out of the local magnesian limestone (see, for example, the village church [ [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=79294 Images of England] ] ). The limestone has provided the village green with rare flora and fauna, such as the Bee Orchid. The village is also close to the limestone valleys and gorges of Hollinhill and Markland Grips, a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust [ [http://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/index.php?reserveid=278&section=places%3Areserves Derbyshire Wildlife Trust] ] .

References

This article is drawn from a number of sources including the Elmton Village Walk, 2005, and the English Heritage, Creswell Crags, Ordnance Survey/Landmark and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust websites cited.

External links

[http://flickr.com/search/?q=elmton Elmton photographs (link to flickr)]