Report - Derwent Village - Derbyshire - Sept 22

[Bikin Glynn]

Derwent Village

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Tonight I bring you essentially a big pile of rocks!

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Derwent was a village 'drowned' in 1944 when the Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire, England was created. The village of Ashopton, Derwent Woodlands church, and Derwent Hall were also 'drowned' in the construction of the reservoir.

The buildings in the village had been (mostly) demolished by autumn 1943, and the impounded waters of the reservoir began to rise by the end of 1944.

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A 17th-century packhorse bridge in the village had a preservation order which prevented it from being demolished. In order to comply with this, the bridge was transported from the original location near Derwent Hall and reconstructed at the head of Howden Reservoir at Slippery Stones. It is now part of the footpaths and cycle tracks that run along the reservoirs. The bridge is a scheduled monument, and it is one of the very few structures from Derwent village to have completely survived the reservoir's construction and still be visible.

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The church held its last service on 17 March 1943. The bell from the church may still be heard in Derbyshire, however, since it was re-hung in St Philip's Church in Chaddesden, built in 1955. The stained glass from the east window of the church, designed by Charles Eamer Kempe, was saved and installed into the east window of St Michael and All Angels' Church, Hathersage. Bodies from the graveyard at Derwent had been exhumed in 1940 and were reburied in the village of Bamford The church spire was left intact to form a memorial to Derwent. However, it was dynamited on 15 December 1947, on the rationale of safety concerns.

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The site of the village has been revealed when the reservoir levels fell dramatically in 1976, 1989, 1995, 2003, 2018 and 2022.

In 2018, the appearance of the village due to low water levels caused unprecedented crowds to visit the rarely visible site. On 3 November 2018, a man had to be rescued by a mountain rescue team after getting stuck in extremely thick mud around the ruins of the village. On 17 November 2018 it was reported that the site had been vandalised by some of those visiting, with park rangers forced to stop visitors removing items from the site and with graffiti scrawled on some buildings

This appears not to be the first time graffiti has been scrawled

The amount of people on our visit was crazy though

Lots of window mullions & sills remain

Before we go a quick look at the dam, made famous of course as the dambusters training ground for the Dam Busters raids of ww2

Thanks For looking

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[Wastelandr]

That is awesome, proper lost place there!

 

[Mikeymutt]

Great report mate. I remember it being on the news. Something that does not happen very often.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Great report mate. I remember it being on the news. Something that does not happen very often.

Thanks mate, we didn't go up especially, think I was biking up there with my lad & we went for wander after without realizing it was viewable

 

[HughieD]

Nicely done mate. Did it a while back too when water levels were low. Not your normal explore and you need a bit of imagination but always nice to see something a bit different.

 

[Scoobysrt]

I was lucky enough to go round a few years ago before I moved away from the high peak when the waters were the lowest I have seen. I got some drone footage and pictures that I might add here if I can find them. I was able to ride around the ruins on my bike. There is also a very old village up on the banks with boards telling you what ruins were what buildings, my memory is vague but it's called somthing like the tin village or somthing.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Nicely done mate. Did it a while back too when water levels were low. Not your normal explore and you need a bit of imagination but always nice to see something a bit different.

Thanks yes I remember your report well.

I was lucky enough to go round a few years ago before I moved away from the high peak when the waters were the lowest I have seen. I got some drone footage and pictures that I might add here if I can find them. I was able to ride around the ruins on my bike. There is also a very old village up on the banks with boards telling you what ruins were what buildings, my memory is vague but it's called somthing like the tin village or somthing.

Nice, yeah drone shots would be cool

 

[Novice Explorer]

I still can't get over the quality of craftsmanship back in the day. Some great pics! One place I've wanted to visit for a while