Winster

This attractive gritstone village was once a lead mining centre and market town, the last mine at Mill Close, two miles to the northeast, closing down in 1938. Today it is a conservation village, with a pleasant high street and some fine late 18th century houses. Less splendid than the surrounding houses, but no less interesting, are the ginnels - little alleyways - which run off the main street. The name ‘Winster’ is a corruption of ‘Wysterne’, the name under which it appears in the Domesday Book. It is thought to mean ‘Wyn’s thorn tree’, though who Wyn is no one knows. The most impressive building here, however, must be the Market House, owned by the National Trust and found at the top of the main street. This was the Trust’s first purchase in Derbyshire, back in 1906. The lower portion, with its built-up arches, is over 500 years old, while the upper portion was added on in the 18th century, and rebuilt in 1905 using old materials. The house is open to the public and acts as an information centre and shop for the Trust.

Within the Burton Institute, Winster’s village hall, is a more modern attraction, the Winster Millennium Tapestry. It took six years to make, and involved the whole village. For a payment of 25p, villagers could get their name woven into it.

Winster Hall was built in 1628 by Francis Moore, a local businessman, and like all good manor houses has its own ghost, which haunts the grounds. The ghost, in the form of a ‘white lady’, is said to be that of a daughter from the Hall, who fell in love with one of the coachmen. Her parents were horrified at her choice of husband and vowed to find a more suitable partner. However, before such a match could be made the girl and her lover climbed to the top of the Hall and jumped, together, to their deaths.

The Bank House is another building with a gruesome tale attached to it. It was built around 1580, and was occupied in the early 19th century by the local doctor, William Cuddie. The owner of nearby Oddo House, William Brittlebank, was visiting in 1821 and murdered Cuddie. He then fled and a reward of £100 (a vast sum in those days) was offered for his capture, but he was never heard of again.

The Parish Church of St John stands on the site of an ancient chapel built by the Ferrers family, who were given the manor soon after the Conquest. The nave was built in 1833, tacked on to a tower of 1721, which itself was added to the original Norman building. It has a curfew bell which still rings at 8pm every evening.

Finally, although Morris Dancing is traditionally associated with the Cotswolds area, two of the best known and most often played tunes, The Winster Gallop and Blue-eyed Stranger, originate from the village. Collected many years ago by Cecil Sharpe, a legend in the world of Morris Dancing, they were rediscovered in the 1960s. The Winster Morris Men traditionally dance through the village at the beginning of Wakes Week in June, finishing, as all good Morris Dances do, at one of the local pubs.