Tideswell

From Free net encyclopedia

Tideswell is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It lies six miles east of Buxton, off the B6049, in a wide dry valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of over 1000ft above sea level.

There is some debate as to how the village got its name. Some say it takes its name from a Saxon cheiftain named Tidi. Others say that the name comes from a "tiding well" situated in the north of the village.

In the Middle Ages, it was a market town known for lead mining, but it is now best-known for its fourteenth century parish church. The Church of St John the Baptist is known as the "Cathedral of the Peak".

Nearby forested areas were rich with game, in the Royal Forest of the Peak, were often referred to as the “Kings Larder” because they were used for royal hunts for centuries.

The town has a week-long festival near the summer solstice known as the Wakes, culminating in "Big Saturday" which includes a torchlight procession through the streets, led by a brass band playing the repetitive Tideswell Processional tune, and townsfolk dancing a specific weaving dance.

Tideswell is locally called "Tidza" (alt. "Tidsa"), and the folk known as "Sawyeds" due to a traditional story that when a farmer's cow got its head stuck in a gate, the farmer got it free by sawing off its head.Template:Derbyshire-geo-stub