Mayfield

Mayfield is a large village on the edge of Ashbourne, divided into Upper Mayfield and Middle Mayfield. Though it is so close to Ashbourne, it actually lies in Staffordshire, as the border runs west of the village. Mayfield was originally a Saxon village, dating back over a thousand years and listed in the Domesday Book as Mavreveldt. The first Norman church was probably built about 1125 during the reign of Henry I, and the present Parish Church of St John the Baptist illustrates the progressive styles of architecture since that date, with a 14th-century chancel and a 16th-century tower. In the churchyard there is an original Saxon cross. The ballad writer Thomas Moore lived at Moore Cottage, formerly Stancliffe Farm. His young daughter, Olivia, is buried in the local churchyard, her slate tombstone reading ‘Olivia Byron Moore, died March 18, 1815’. Moore was friendly with Lord Byron, who visited him here.

On 7th December 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie and his army passed through Mayfield on their retreat from Derby, terrorising the local populace. They shot the innkeeper at Hanging Bridge as well as a Mr Humphrey Brown, who refused to hand over his horse to them. Many of the terrified villagers locked themselves in the church. The soldiers fired shots through the door and the bullet holes can still be seen in the woodwork of the west door. Legend has it that many of the rebels were caught and hung from gibbets on the old packhorse bridge, whose 500-year-old grey stone arches can still be seen, even though the bridge has been rebuilt.

There is however a road out of the village, leading to the main Leek highway, marked on the Ordnance Survey map as “Gallowstree Lane”, suggesting that those to be hung went their way via the bridge and Gallowstree Lane to Gallowstree Hill. Today it is a pleasant walk rewarded by a lovely view down the Dove Valley.

Mayfield Mill has been producing textiles for 200 years. The first mention of a mill occurs in 1291 when Mayfield, including its mill, belonged to the Priory of Tutbury. By 1793 there had been various owners of the site, which now included two corn mills, a leather mill and two fulling mills. Textiles were first produced in 1795. In 1806 the interior of the building and all its machinery was destroyed in a fire. The mill was eventually rebuilt with a cast iron framework and brick vaulted ceilings, which can still be seen today.

The spinning of cotton continued in Mayfield until 1934 when it was sold to William Tatton and Company who used the mill to process silk.