England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Beeley St Anne

The Parish

The chapelry of Beeley is a chapelry licensed for marriages within the vast Peak District parish of Bakewell, it is located in northern central Derbyshire about 4 miles east of Bakewell, itself. Beeley is a small and compact village sitting immediately east of the B6012 road which connects Baslow & Rowsley and lies immediately south of the famous Chatsworth Estate of the Dukes of Devonshire. Beeley has a valley setting, sitting on the eastern banks of the River Derwent, and would have been a pastoral farming settlement. Today tourism, particularly outdoor activities, play an increasingly important part of the area's economy as part of Britain's first National Park. The Derwent drains Beeley southwards, joining the Trent to the southeast of Derby and thence to the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Beeley is sited at around 120 metres above the sea but sits within an upland setting, local heights rise to almost 370 metres on nearby Harland Edge. Upland parishes and chapelries tend to cover large swathes of territory and beeley chapelry was no exception, it covered just over 3,200 acres and would have supported a population of about 400 parishioners. In Domesday times beeley was a personal possession of King William but was a tiny place offering just a single plough.

The Church

St Anne's church sits alongside the B6012 to the north of the main area of properties and is accessed by the one-way street of Church Street. Sadly this is not some mediaeval masterpiece but a Georgian rebuild from 1819. Pevsner does, however, point to some reused portions that indicate the dates and nature of the predecessor. The southern doorway is Norman Romanesque and probably 12th century and portions of the chancel show Early English Gothic styles of 13th century. Most of the fabric, however, dates from the 1819 rebuild or from the later restoration of the 1880s which restored the church and replaced most of the fenestration. Church Street is one-way eastwards but is narrow so parking has to be careful. Entry is by the junction or midway along the site, the churchyard is relatively free from photographic obstacles.