Upper Langwith

Upper Langwith, once known as Langwith Bassett after the family who owned the village, is a tiny hamlet surrounded by pretty countryside. Langwith is actually a collection of 4 villages that sit astride the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border.

Though not as famous as Creswell Crags, the area was in use by Stone Age man. A human skull called the Langwith Cranium was discovered in a cave on the edge of the village. Dated between 40,000 and 60,000 years old, the skull is now in the Natural History Museum in London.

Langwith is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'long willows' probably from the willows that used to be found near the stream and which were used in basketwork. After the Norman Conquest, the lands came into the ownership of the powerful and wealthy Bassett family. They possessed large estates throughout the area for almost 300 years and, in 1330, they had 2 parks in Langwith. Later on, the lands passed into the ownership of the Hardwicks and, through Bess of Hardwick, to the Dukes of Devonshire.

The Church of the Holy Cross in Langwith dates back to 1140 and has one of the prettiest views from any church in Derbyshire. Although it has lost its Norman arch, it has kept other 13th and 14th Century features.

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