Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Encyclopedia
Ashbourne is a small market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 in the Derbyshire Dales
Derbyshire Dales
Derbyshire Dales is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. Much of the district is situated in the Peak District, although most of its population lies along the River Derwent....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It has a population of 10,302.

The town advertises itself as 'The Gateway to Dovedale
Dovedale
Dovedale is a popular dale in the Peak District, England. It is owned by the National Trust, and annually attracts a million visitors. The valley is cut by the River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale in the north and a wooded ravine near Thorpe Cloud and Bunster Hill in the south...

'.

Local customs

Ashbourne is known for its annual two-day Royal Shrovetide Football Match, in which one half of the town plays the other at football
Royal Shrovetide Football
The Royal Shrovetide Football Match occurs annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, England. It has been played since at least the 12th century, though the exact origins of the game are unknown due to a fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committee office in the...

, using the town as the pitch and with the goals three miles apart. As many as several thousand players compete for two days with a hand-painted, cork-filled ball. The game is played by two teams, the Up'ards and the Down'ards, over two eight-hour periods, subject to only a few rules. Shrovetide football has been played for centuries and possibly for over 1,000 years. It is a moving brawl which continues through the roads of the town, across fields, and even along the bed of the local river. There have been intermittent attempts to ban the game but none have been successful.

Tourism

The Tissington Trail
Tissington Trail
right|thumb|200px|The Trail at the site of the former Tissington station, now a picnic site.The Tissington Trail is a bridleway and walk/cycle path in Derbyshire, England...

, a popular recreational walk and cycle path, starts at Mappleton Lane on the northern outskirts of town and follows the course of the former Ashbourne to Buxton railway
Ashbourne Line
The Ashbourne Line was a railway from Buxton via Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was built by the London and North Western Railway using a section of the Cromford and High Peak Railway and it joined the North Staffordshire Railway at Ashbourne, proceeding to Uttoxeter with a junction onto the main...

, running from what was Ashbourne railway station
Ashbourne railway station
Ashbourne railway station formerly served the town of Ashbourne in DerbyshireThe original station was opened in 1852 by the North Staffordshire Railway on its branch from Rocester on its Churnet Valley Line.-History:...

 through the village of Tissington
Tissington
Tissington is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is part of the estate of Tissington Hall, owned by the FitzHerbert family since 1465. It is regarded as one of the most picturesque English villages and is a popular tourist attraction, particularly during its well dressing week. It also gives its...

 and joining the High Peak Trail (the old Cromford and High Peak Railway
Cromford and High Peak Railway
The Cromford and High Peak Railway in Derbyshire, England, was completed in 1831, to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge -Origins:...

) at Parsley Hay. The line, which had been built in 1894, closed to regular passenger traffic in 1954, and all services on the Ashbourne-Parsley Hay section, including excursion traffic, ceased in 1964.

The line continued down the Dove
River Dove, Derbyshire
The River Dove is the principal river of the southwestern Peak District, in the Midlands of England and is around in length. It rises on Axe Edge Moor near Buxton and flows generally south to its confluence with the River Trent at Newton Solney. From there, its waters reach the North Sea via the...

 to Rocester
Rocester
Rocester is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Its name is spelt Rowcestre in the Domesday Book.-Geography:...

 near Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter is a historic market town in Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. The current population is approximately 13,711, though new developments in the town will increase this figure. Uttoxeter lies close to the River Dove and is near the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and...

 where it joined the main North Staffordshire Railway
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire....

. This southern link had opened in 1899. It also closed to passengers in 1954, finishing completely in the early 1960s.

A branch of the Limestone Way
Limestone Way
The Limestone Way is a long-distance bridleway in Derbyshire, England. It runs through the White Peak of the Peak District National Park, from Castleton south east to Rocester over the county boundary in Staffordshire. It originally ran to Matlock, but was diverted to its current, longer route to...

 also starts in the town.

Ashbourne Churches Together (ACT) has a link with the Diocese of Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...

 in the ecumenical Church of North India
Church of North India
The Church of North India , the dominant Protestant denomination in northern India, is a united church established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the main Protestant churches working in northern India...

. Regular visits take place in both directions and members of ACT are currently sponsoring the education of children in a school in Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

, one of the poorest states in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Ashbourne became the 97th Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town is a status awarded by a recognized Fairtrade certification body describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fairtrade certified goods...

 in March 2005 after many businesses, cafes, shops and community organisations started supporting Fairtrade.

Notable people

  • Catherine Booth
    Catherine Booth
    Catherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Army Mother'....

    , 'Mother of the Salvation Army
    Salvation Army
    The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

    ', was born here in 1829
  • Sir Brooke Boothby, 6th Baronet
    Sir Brooke Boothby, 6th Baronet
    Sir Brooke Boothby, 6th Baronet was an English linguist, translator, minor poet and landowner in Derbyshire. He was part of the intellectual and literary circle of Lichfield which included Anna Seward and Erasmus Darwin. He welcomed Jean-Jacques Rousseau to Ashbourne circles in 1766 when the...

    , poet, was born here in 1704
  • Thomas Brown
    Thomas Brown (officer of arms)
    Thomas Browne , Garter Principal King of Arms, the second son of John Browne of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, became Bluemantle Pursuivant in 1737, Lancaster Herald in 1743, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms in 1761, and Garter in 1774 until his death...

    , Garter King of Arms was born here in 1708
  • Henry Cantrell
    Henry Cantrell
    Henry Cantrell was a high-church Church of England clergyman and religious controversialist.- Education :...

    , clergyman and religious controversialist, was born here in 1684
  • George Hayne
    George Hayne
    George Hayne was a merchant and entrepreneur who was responsible for the creation of the Trent Navigation in England and hence the development of Burton upon Trent as the pre-eminent beer brewing and exporting town....

     (died 1723), merchant and entrepreneur
  • Francis Charles Robert Jourdain
    Francis Charles Robert Jourdain
    The Reverend Francis Charles Robert Jourdain , M.A., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., was a notable British amateur ornithologist and oologist...

     (1865–1940), ornithologist
  • Catherine Pegge
    Catherine Pegge
    Catherine Pegge, born about 1635, was a long term mistress of Charles II. She had two children by him, Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth and Catherine FitzCharles....

     Mistress to Charles II
    Charles II of England
    Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

    , mother to Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth
    Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth
    Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth was the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England, by Catherine Pegge. He had a sister called Catherine FitzCharles who became a nun. His mother went on to marry Sir Edward Greene of Samford in Essex, but they had no further children...

     resident of Yeldersley.
  • David Redfern
    David Redfern
    David Redfern is an English photographer specialising in music photography. He has been a photographer for 45 years and has over 10,000 pictures in his collection. His collection includes many famous photos of the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. In 1999 he published a book about his life call The...

     (born 1935), photographer
  • Dave Tyack
    Dave Tyack
    Dave Tyack who also recorded under Dakota Oak, was a founding artist on the Twisted Nerve Records label....

     (1978-c. 2002), guitarist and singer
  • Sir Aston Cockayne
    Aston Cockayne
    Sir Aston Cockayne, Baronet of Ashbourne was, in his day, a well-known Cavalier and a minor literary figure, now best remembered as a friend of Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, Michael Drayton, Richard Brome, Thomas Randolph, and other writers of his generation.-Biography:Aston Cockayne was the...

     1st Baronet Cockayne of Ashbourne
  • William Corden the Elder
    William Corden the Elder
    William Corden the Elder was an English portrait painter and miniaturist known for his commissions from the Royal Family in the mid nineteenth century....

     (1795-1867), portrait painter

Geography

  • Ashbourne is located at 53°01′00"N 01°43′00"W (53.0167, -1.7167)1. Ashbourne Green
    Ashbourne Green
    Ashbourne Green is an area of Derbyshire, England. It is located in the Peak District, 1 mile north-east of Ashbourne....

     and Sturston
    Sturston, Derbyshire
    Sturston is a small area of settlement in Derbyshire, England. It is located on the A517 road, east of Ashbourne.Sturston Hall is mentioned in the Domesday Book as one of two manors held by Ulfkell and Wodi, each manor being of half a carucate each. The two manors were given to Henry de Ferrers...

     are hamlets close by.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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