The Braddock family had worked for the Grimshawes since the building of Errwood Hall. So it was a surprise to learn that they were a tight-knit band of notorious highwaymen.
Pages: Grimshawe family...
1846 Goyt Valley plans
Comparing the recently discovered 1846 plans of the valley with OS maps from the 1890s reveal some fascinating changes, but also poses the question of when Grimshaw turned to Grimshawe.
The two Alexanders
Two Alexanders were responsible for the design of Errwood Hall: Roos the young and talented architect, and the wealthy Beresford-Hope who recommended him to his friend Samuel Grimshawe.
A most romantic location
A description of Errwood Hall in a popular coffee-table book says it’s “probably the most romantic location in Derbyshire”. It contains some fascinating details, but quite a few inaccuracies.
Vault correction
Another long-held theory of mine goes up in flames, thanks to the discovery of yet another old photo from the archives; the Grimshawe’s hill-top vault wasn’t where I’d always thought it was.
Errwood Hall arch
A recently discovered photo of Errwood Hall shows the grand arch which once formed the gateway to the Grimshawe family’s hill-top cemetery. The arch has long since gone, but the steps remain.
The Heathers
Gunpowder Mill worker, Allen Heather, and his wife Annie, had four sons and five daughters. All of them went to Goyt’s Bridge School. And one paid the ultimate sacrifice during WW1.
Taxal Church memorial
A memorial to Anne and Samuel Grimshawe in Taxal Church poses some interesting questions. Had their son and daughter fallen out over Samuel’s conversion to Catholicism?
The shooting party
Fredrick Upton Gaskell was Samuel Grimshawe’s nephew, and appears in this series of four photos of an annual shooting party taken near Errwood Cottage during the 1880s.
Grimshawe vault sealed
Mr Oyarzibel took the opportunity of denying the stories that the bodies of the Grimshaws in the vault are embalmed in glass-topped coffins, and that the corpses still wear gold watch chains…
Samuel’s pseudo bishop
Samuel Grimshaw converted a top-floor room at Errwood Hall into a Catholic chapel, earning the condemnation of an irate letter-writer who complained it was unsuitable behaviour for a magistrate.
John & Hannah Butler
Captain John Butler has always fascinated me. He was the Master of the Grimshawe’s ocean-going yacht, The Mariquita, and is buried in the hill-top cemetery above the ruins of Errwood Hall.
Loveliest of Derbyshire drives
The road through the Goyt valley was described as “one of the loveliest in Derbyshire”. But Mrs Grimshawe once closed it due to the “disgraceful conduct of a char-a-banc party”!
Closure of Errwood grounds
Mary, the last of the Grimshawes, took such offence at the desecration of St Joseph’s Shrine that she closed public access to the entire grounds of the Errwood Estate.
The last of the Grimshawes
The death of Mary, the last of the Grimshawes, in 1930 marked the end of a century-long era in the Goyt Valley. Work on Fernilee Reservoir began soon after. And Errwood Hall was to be demolished.
Errwood Hall party (1895)
“A very interesting and pleasant gathering took place at Errwood Hall last Wednesday week, when Miss Grimshawe and Mrs Preston entertained the tenantry and tradesmen of the district to dinner.”
The Grimshawe family
The two sisters knew that the estate was to be compulsory purchased by Stockport Corporation to create the twin reservoirs. And soon after Mary’s death, the sale was completed.
Errwood Hall auction sale
Mary Grimshawe-Gosselin of Errwood Hall died on 23rd February 1930. The auction of the contents of Errwood Hall was held over five days – from June 16th-20th 1930. There were more than 1,800 lots in total.
Graves of the Grimshawes
The small graveyard of the Grimshawe family and their favourite servants stands on top of the hill behind the ruins of Errwood Hall, providing magnificent views over the surrounding countryside.
Goyt memories (1954)
Taken from a 1954 edition of the ‘Peakland’ magazine, Crichton Porteus recollects how the construction of the twin reservoirs led to the destruction of both Goyt’s Bridge and Errwood Hall.