Wormhill
OS Grid ref:- SK1245574182
The small attractive village of Wormhill is situated around 5 miles from the spa town of Buxton and is set amidst superb scenery to the north of the Peak District valley of Chee Dale.
An ancient settlement, it was referred to in the Domesday Book as being in the ownership of Henry de Ferrers. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon 'Wyrma's hyll'.
There was a long tradition of wolf hunting in Wormhill in the fourteenth century and an annual tribute of wolfheads was shown. Legend states that the last wolf killed in England was at Wormhill Hall in the fifteenth century.
St Margaret's Church in the village was founded in 1273 and is dedicated to St Margaret's of Antioch in Pisidia, a martyr of the early Church. Only the base of the church tower with a small stained glass window and an adjoining portion of the northwall survives from the medieval period, the rest of the building was largely rebuilt in 1864. The Rhenish cap or top to the tower is said to be a replica of the Saxon tower at Stomping in Sussex. In the churchyard stands the lower part of a Saxon cross shaft and its stepped base. Near the church, on the village green, the old village stocks can be seen.
Wormhill Hall (pictured left) dates back to 1697 but was heavily restored in the late nineteenth century. The hall was built by the Bagshawe family and after over three hundred years, still remains in their ownership. The non-conformist minister William Bagshawe (born 1628) who came to be known as the ‘Apostle of the Peak’, preached his first sermon at Wormhill.
Hargate Hall was built around 1900 by Joseph Wainwright and was once the home of Robert Whitehead, one of the chief landowners in the area.
The engineer Thomas Brindley, who built the Bridgewater Canal, was born at the nearby village of Tunstead in 1716 and worked at Wormhill as a boy. The village well, which is 'dressed' each year in late August or early September, is dedicated to Brindley.
The countryside surrounding Wormhill is very popular with walkers and climbers. Close by is the River Wye and some beautiful Derbyshire dales including Millers Dale, Chee Dale (where there is a nature reserve), Peter Dale and Monks Dale. There are also many footpaths stemming from the village including one that takes you to Wormhill Spring (said to be the largest of 20 limestone springs).
Nearby places of interest
Spectacular Chee Dale is a winding gorge, situated on the river Wye around 3 miles to the east of the spa town of Buxton , the dale is flanked by majestic sheer grey cliffs and imposing crags of carboniferous limestone which soar to 300 feet in places.
Scenic Millers Dale is situated on the River Wye between Buxton and Tideswell, in the White Peak area of the Peak District National Park. A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) it is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.