Oakerthorpe From Pubs To History and Sweet Success Words, research, layout and photography by Frances Bell a year 10 pupil at Highfields School, Matlock "Theres Wingerworth and Tupton, From there to the Clay cross, From there I went to Chesterfield, Was almost cut to loss, There's Asher and there's Firbeck, And Stretton on the hill, There's Higham and Oakerthorpe, And so for wire mill" An excerpt from the Beggar's Ramble in the book Derbyshire Ballads. Oakerthorpe was named in 1341, at the time there were three different ways to spell and pronounce it's name, these being Ulgurthorpe, sometimes it was Ulkerthorpe, or Ulkethorpe; either way the last two names didn't matter as they still sounded the same. It belonged formerly to a family, surnamed from their residence De Ulkerthorpe. The name that is pronounced and read today is Oakerthorpe, everyone knows it by this name as it has not changed, in recent years, but no one can actually tell you when though, or by whom, as no one's actually one hundred percent sure. Today if you went into Oakerthorpe you would see that it hasn't any shops, only one phone box, a post box, a few bus stops and that's it. It's a very quiet little village but with a lot of history behind it. Most of the history you will find comes from the three pubs; The Butchers Arms, The Anchor and finally The Peacock, which has the most interesting history. The Peacock Hotel dates back as far as the 11th century; this was the earliest record of it. The hotel was then mentioned in the Domesday book when it was known as Ufton Barnsand. It was then rebuilt in 1613, and is situated near the Alfreton-South Wingfield crossroads, and is reputed to be the oldest inn in the county. In the days when there were no cars, just stage coaches, the Peacock was a changing post for the carriages , and there was also a service where the owners paid 2 shillings and 6 pence for feeding and fetching water for the horses. If you went into the "Inn" as it used to be called, you'd expect to see scenes of sports such as cock fighting. Although it's always been a pub and hotel, there also used to be a post office in the bar parlour of the hotel, and a blacksmiths shop and stables. The Post Office still exists today with its oak letter-box, sorting pigeon holes and parcel cupboard. If you go into the bar parlour to the left of th etoilets, you will see the doors where the letters were stored, and when they are open, inside are still the pigeon holes where the letters were held. When they were ready to be sent off to the right place, the postman would take them out of each pigeon hole, which would have all the destinations listed. Still toady, you can clearly see that one of the boxed sections in the smaller cabinet has Crich inscribed on it. Letters addressed to the Alfreton area were always written "Alfreton, etc., near The Peacock" the reason for this was because it was the post office of the district, all letters that were addressed to Alfreton were sent to the Peacock first, then were taken to the actual address. The blacksmiths stables have now gone, making way for parking spaces at the rear of the pub, and the crypt that was a secret underground stable has been filled in, also at the rear of the pub. When the blacksmiths was in use and there was still the secret underground passage, it was said that stolen horses were hidden down there temporarily as well as Dick Turpin's mare Black Bess. Dick Turpin was one of the most famous highwaymen, and legend has it that he used to stop off at the Peacock Inn, Oakerthorpe on his rides to York. Plenty of people have backed up this story by saying that a horseshoe found in the underground passage was Black Bess's that she'd kicked off when trying to jump over a nearby toll gate, and a pistol that was found was Dick Turpin's when he was trying to make a quick getaway. No one is actually sure if this is true, but still it makes the history of The history of The Oakerthorpe more impressive. If you ever come to Oakerthorpe, the most interesting history that you will hear is of the underground passage in the bottom of the cellar of The Peacock that has been reported to lead to South Wingfield Manor, and also to the railway bridge at the bottom of Bunkers Hill. The section of the tunnel that leads to the railway bridge at the bottom was a coal tunnel that was excavated by monks. It used to be near Kendle House when it went by that name, and is still there today but cannot be seen. At one point the coal tunnel sunk in, and inside you could have seen all the intrior but then it was filled in. There has been a lot of speculation regarding whether the tunnel leads to the Manor in South Wingfield. So to try and find out the truth, as no one was really sure, a local historian called Mr Reg Johnson went to explore. He estimated that the tunnel was about 200 years old and that it leads in a West-North-West direction, when Wingfield Manor lies West-South-West of the Peacock. He went on through the tunnel and entered a large cave where he could go no further, as there was a deep pool of water over thick mud. He said that the tunnel was around five feet four inches high and about four feet wide with parts bricked up, but most of it hacked from solid rock. Mr Johnson thinks that the tunnel was used for getting out coal from a seam under the hill behind the Inn. He says it would be impossible to drill through it from above the hill, because of a thick layer of rock that lies on the surface. I went down to take some photos and found that just as you go down the first couple of steps after getting to the floor of the cellar, you cannot go down any further as you are stopped by an almost clear water that's around 3ft deep, and I hadn't even entered a large cave. I have no idea if the tunnel leads to Wingfield Manor or not, but I would like to think it does,as it makes Mary Queen of Scot's imprisonment more interesting. The story of Mary Queen of Scot's imprisonment at Wingfield Manor in 1569 then in 1584 is very true, but when you get to the next art many people are very sceptical, after whats been said. It was said Anthony Babbington went down through the tunnel from Oakerthorpe's Peacock Hotel to South Wingfield's Manor where Mary was held, to try and free her from imprisonment. The end of the tale is that he got caught and punished for his crime, when he was beheaded in 1586 at Lincoln's Inn. Mary was beheaded at Fotheringay for her crime, the same year. Behind the legend, they have said that the escape route for Mary was through coal tunnels which are still to be found today, two storeys below the ground level under the pub's main body. Whether or not the legend is true, it helps to give the history of her imprisonment more depth and, of course, the pub a lot more character. Also part of Oakerthorpe's fascinating history is the sweet shop that was situated along the old Roman road which was called Rykneld Road, now called Four Lane Ends. This was there until around the end of the 1940's when Mary Betts, the owner died at the age of 89. It was then turned into a single cottage which is still there today. You will find cottage on the right, coming down from Alfreton Crossroads. When it was a sweet shop, Mary Betts worked in service for Lord La Selle, in a country house down South before retiring to Oakerthorpe. The cottage at the start of the nineteenth century was three smaller old cottages; on eof the old entrances used for a door can still be seen round the corner on the left side as a faint outline, and another one at the front of the house where it's also a faint out-line. Mary's front entrance that she used is still there today and is used for the same reason. She had an upstairs and downstairs that was used as a sweetshop is now a dining room. If you walk through the cottage by the front door today, you have to walk down two steps to get to the dining room, but when Mary owned it you walked straight in. when new owners took the house over from Mary around the 1950's they had the floor lowered to include some steps. If the old floor was still there today you would see the stone flag flooring and the very low beams, if you weren't careful you could easily hit your head. The beams still exist today but the floors been lowered. There is also part of the old dining room wall which is hollow - this is where the old sweet shop back entrance was. Walking through the front door to your left at the side of the room you would have seen the dresser where she kept all the sweets, and a biscuit tin with money in. This was used as a counter, it was also her living room and used to have a big table in the middle with a single oil burner on it, which was her main source of light. The sweets were delivered to the house and then sold by Mary. She would sell them at a half penny per quarter but the best sweets were one penny per quarter. Mary also used to sell home made bread, cream horns, cigarettes and chewing tobacco to the miners. The sweets were stored in a little cold pantry. There also used to be an old fashioned fireplace with a burning coal fire and a boiler for hot water, provided heat during the cold winter months. Access to the sweet shop was either the old road which was just before the Butchers Arms and re-built as Alfreton South Wingfield crossroads or via the front entrance. The old road led to a pathway across the back gardens. I would like to thank Norman Frogett, a distant relative of Mary Betts' who helped me with the information and history of Owl Cottage. His memories of the layout of the cottage provided a lot of background facts. If you're someone who likes to go for walks in the countryside and would like to sample some history, then the Castle Hill camp fortlet is perfect, In Oakerthorpe on the road to Ripley just past the Anchor on your left, you'll see a public footpath. Follow this route and you'll be walking over Roman history. Among the history of Pubs we also have The Anchor which dates back to 1742. It still has some original features including a stone wall surrounding the fireplace, also some beams that are believed to originate from ship's timbers, acquired by a former Duke of Devonshire. This also was a hotel stopping off place for weary travellers in horse-drawn carriages in the days before cars. While the horses were watered, the drivers would have a jar of ale and some light refreshments. Outside the Pub is also an 18ft anchor which is the main point seen at the front of the premises. Eight years ago when the Anchor was being refurbished, a scrap dealer from Street Lane, Heage, came to see Mr Henshaw the owner of the Anchor, asking if he wanted to buy an anchor. The anchor was either brought over from Portsmouth or Plymouth and originally came of the dredger ship. It was brought over by a lorry and had to be put into position by a crane. In the days of the 1st world war you would have found, that if you went behind the Peacock Hotel into the fields, there was an army camp, but it was there only for a short while. Behind Lane Farm when the monks were around, they used to keep salt and collect it in round buildings on the farmlands. There is also The Willows; this is on the corner next to the Butchers Arms at the Alfreton South Wingfield crossroads. The house is 200 years old and used to be a Coffin Makers and blacksmiths. The stables were round the back, and the horses were used to help pull the other horse and carriages up the hill to the Peacock Inn. Oakerthorpe Bridge was rebuilt in 1909. The dates of when it was first built though are unknown, and if you had a look today you would see that , inscribed on the plaque on the wall, is the name of the builders who rebuilt it. You will find the bridge on th way to Pentrich just before you get to the Anchor and the inscriptions on the right hnd side. Oakerthorpe may only be a small village, but it more than makes up for it's lack of size with the wealth of history, folklore and legend, to be found within the boundaries.