ASHBOURNE

 Ashbourne is such a pretty little town, and very well placed to get to from Matlock, Buxton, Bakewell, in fact, anywhere in Derbyshire.

These are the old Alms Houses in Church Street. Originally single storey dwellings, a plaque above the central ground floor windows in the centre of the building reads:"The Lower Story [sic] of these houses erected A.D. 1640. Repaired and the Upper Floor Added A.D. 1848".

Almshouses have sheltered elderly and poor parishioners, often at a peppercorn rent, since the founding of the first recorded almshouse by King Athelstan in York in the 10th century.

One of the most important buildings is St. Oswald's Church, widely said to be Derbyshire's finest parish church (Grade I listed), and one of the most important features is the Boothby Monument. The Boothbys are buried together in one area of the church. The Boothby family bought Ashbourne Hall in 1671.

This monument is to Penelope Boothby, who died in 1791 at the age of 5. It was carved in Carrera marble by Thomas Banks, and is so lifelike, she appears to be sleeping. She had already been immortalised whilst alive, by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

 

Her epitaph reads 'She was in form and intellect most exquisite; The unfortunate parents ventured their all on this frail bark and the wreck was total.'

It is believed that Penelope's parents separated at the child's grave and never spoke again. After Penelope's funeral, her mother, Susanna returned to her parents' home in Hampshire, and later settled in Dover. Her death was recorded under her maiden name, Bristoe.

There are many other worthwhile monuments in St. Oswald's Church, in particular those to the Cockane and Bradbourne families. This is the Cockane Memorial.

The Royal Shrovetide Football Match is a "medieval football" game played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in Ashbourne. Shrovetide ball games have been played in England since at least the 12th century from the reign of Henry II (1154–89). The Ashbourne game also known as "hugball" has been played from at least c.1667 although the exact origins of the game are unknown due to a fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committee office in the 1890s which destroyed the earliest records. One of the most popular origin theories suggests the macabre notion that the 'ball' was originally a severed head tossed into the waiting crowd following an execution. Although this may have happened, it is more likely that games such as the Winchelsea Streete Game, reputedly played during the Hundred Years' War with France, were adaptations of an original ball game intended to show contempt for the enemy.

I also managed to find an exquisite antiques shop.............................which just happened to be displaying my favourite kind of antiques