Great Longstone is a pretty Derbyshire and Peak District village, situated 2 miles north of Bakewell, lying under Longstone Edge, a ridge 5 miles long and rising to 1300 feet at Bleak Low. Human skeletons have been found in a barrow at Bleak Low, and from which, there are some fine views over Derbyshire.

Great Longstone village has some good 18th century cottages, a hall, a school and a public house. Its wealth is based on the lead mined from Longstone Edge. Until recently it was still being mined for fluorspar, a mineral the lead miners rejected as waste.

Great Longstone	Great Longstone
Great Longstone	Great Longstone
Great Longstone	Great Longstone

The village cross dates back to a time when Flemish weavers settled in this part of Derbyshire and established a stocking industry. There was also a shoe industry here, remembered in the name of the local pub, the Crispin Inn, Crispin being the patron saint of cobblers.

Great Longstone Hall was built in 1747 and is one of the more attractive of the smaller country houses in Derbyshire. It was the home of thw Wright family, one member of which was G.T Wright who compiled the Longstone Records, which is the authoritive document on both Great and Little Longstone alike.

Another building of interest is called the Shackly Building or Mary Fernihough's Yard. It dates back to 1600 and renovated into living accomodation. It is believed to have been the home and farmhouse of the Earl of Shrewsbury in the 17th century.

The Church of St Giles dates back to the 13th century with well preserved registers dating from 1638. The lower part of the tower and south doorway are 13th century, the priests doorway and nave arcades being 14th century. There are Perp battlements and pinnacles, a Perp clerestory and other windows. The chief pride of the church is the Perp woodwork, the splendid roofs with fine moulded beams, embattled cornices and bosses of flowers and foliage. The church also serves the neighbouring villages of Hassop, Rowland, Wardlow and Little Longstone. Inside the church are memorials to the Wright and Eyre families and a tribute to a well remembered hero of Great Longstone, a Dr Edward Buxton. In the early part of the 19th century, as an old man of 73, he sacrificed himself to tend the village during an outbreak of typus. Though the fever visited every house but one, nobody died.

Great Longstone Open Gardens

Saturday, 25th June: 11am – 5pm
Sunday 26th June: 1pm – 5pm
A variety of Gardens to visit
Refreshments Plants for Sale
Entry to all Gardens: £5; no charge for accompanied children
Car Park in Church Lane Proceeds to St Giles Parish Church

Closeby is Thornbridge Hall, a Georgian T shaped house, extensively altered in 1871, and now a conference centre. It contains woodwork from Derwent Hall and Church.

For more information on Great Longstone try the Great Longstone Village Website

and

Great Longstone - The village trail