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Tideswell History
Tideswell dates back earlier than Roman times but in the Domesday Book was recorded as a Demesne and Berewick in the Royal Manor of Hope, given by William the Conqueror to his illegitimate son, William Peverell who occupied Peverell Castle at nearby Castleton.
In 1207 Tideswell was granted to Thomas Armiger together with a market charter the following year, allowing five markets or fairs to be held annually, the last being at the start of the 20th century. Tideswell also became a leading producer of wool and lead bringing wealth and prosperity and a rapid growth in the population.
The markets are no more, but the towns early affluence is reflected in its magnificent church, dedicated to St John the Baptist and often referred to as the Cathedral of the Peak, which was started and completed in the 14th century.
The Saxons ruled in Tideswell after the Romans had departed and in the 7th century Tideswell was named ‘Tidi’s Wall’ after the Saxon Chieftain Tidi whose burial ground is at Tideslow to the north. The name remained with a variety of spellings until the 17th century.
At the side of the Manchester Road, and contained within a private garden, is the Ebbing and Flowing Well referred to as the third of the Seven Wonders of the Peak. The well ceased to function however when a new drainage system was laid early in the 1900’s, although Hutchinson’s Guide to the village in 1809 reported that it was choked up even then. At one time the well was another theory as to how Tideswell gained its name.
Records show that Edward I, Edward III and Henry IV all visited Tideswell for stays of up to seven days.
The textile industry came into prominence in Tideswell Village around the 19th century with small factories to be found which were involved in the hand weaving of silk scarves and handkerchiefs for the Macclesfield silk industry, whilst the nearby mills at Cressbrook and Litton produced cotton.
Tideswell is famed for its Well Dressing ceremony which is generally held in June during the church’s Patronal Festival around St. John the Baptist Day. The Well Dressings are displayed during Tideswell Wakes Week when the village comes alive with merriment. There was at one time another local custom which has since died out that was known as ‘sugar cupping’. On Easter Sunday liquorice was embellished with sugar or honey and given to children to take with water from the wells in the village.
Tideswell is a hotchpotch of character cottages, individual houses and architectural gems, all contained within a tight network of alleys, lanes and narrow roads around a combination of ‘squares’. On a corner in the centre of Tideswell is the National Westminster Bank, the building originally having been constructed as the District Bank in 1905 on the site of the old smithy and guildhall. There are many other notable buildings in Tideswell including the spectacular Oddfellows Hall of 1872 which stands in an elevated position at the rear of the market square.
In the centre of the village, Bank Square Gardens are dedicated to Norman Gratton CBE, JP, MA, and Chairman of the Peak National Park 1956-77.
Behind the church are the buildings of the former Robert Purseglove Grammar School which was founded in 1559 by the distinguished churchman and educationalist who was deprived of office twice because of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The present building which dates in part from 1742 incorporates Eccles Hall and Blake House, both acquired in the 19th century to accommodate staff and students. The school was finally closed in 1927 and its former ‘halls of residence’ now provide a home for the books of Tideswell Library.
East of the church is the George Inn which was built in 1730 and has the most attractive 18th century Venetian windows. The Hon. John Byng (later Viscount Torrington) on a visit here in 1790 wrote:
“At Tideswell I stopt at a comfortable public-house, The New George, where being instantly served with cold roast beef and pigeon-pye, I felt very contented”
More than two hundred years later the ‘New’ has been dropped whilst the only pigeons to be found are those that occasionally roost on the rooftop!
A walk around the centre of the village reveals a plethora of architectural features including mouldings, mullions, decorated gables and impressive facades, mainly utilising the local limestone or Derbyshire gritstone with a smattering of red brick sourced from the south of the region.
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