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Bradwell is a quaint village made largely of local limestone. Listed in the Domesday Book as belonging to William Peveril, along with Castleton, and named as Bradewelle. The name means large spring, or well.
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However, some are of the opinion that the name is a corruption of Broad Wall and relates to the Grey Ditch.
The area was rich in iron and heavily mined by the romans, some suggest that the miners were Christian slave labour.
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Others claim that French and Italian convicts were brought to work in the mines. "damnati in metalia".
Bradwell, small as it is, is divided into three parts - The Hills, Small Dale and Towngate.
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Samuel Fox was born in Bradwell in 1815. He began work in Hathersage, as an apprentice wire drawer. He is famous for inventing the Paragon umbrella frame - the first to use the now familiar U-shaped ribs.
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The Grey Ditch - a defensive barrier that ran from Shatton Edge to Mam Tor. It was possibly the boundary between Northumbria and Mercia. Originally standing as high as 1.2 metres, it would have been an excellent defence
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Close to Bradwell stood a tree, where it is said that a king was hanged after the battle on what would later by named Win Hill and Lose Hill. The tree was named Edwin's Tree, in time
becoming corrupted to Eden Tree. Now it is the location of the Eden Tree Caravan Site.
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It was once assumed that it was the site of the hanging of King Edwin of Northumbria. However, since history records that King Edwin won the battle, it is now thought that in fact he ordered the hanging here of his opponent, King Cuicholm.
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Bradwell is home to generation after generation of hill farmers. Farming the rocky, steep hills of the Hope Valley was a hard life. This subsistance hill farming was supported by the local lead mining. |
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Bagshaw Cavern was discovered by lead miners in the early 1800's. It is open to the public on summer weekends 19th century lead miners wore the Bradda (Bradwell) beaver hat
Picture by John Humble and reproduced here by kind permission of the Eldon Pothole Club |
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Climb to the top of Bradwell Edge for spectacular views of Ladybower (of Dambusters fame!), Kinder Scout, Win Hill, Stanage Edge and the sprawling fields of The Hope Valley.
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In roman times, there was a thermal spring and a Roman bathhouse close to where The Samel Fox now stands. Its remains were discovered when the hotel (originally named The New Bath Hotel) was built in the 1800s |
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