The ancient village of Youlgreave (or Youlgrave as it is locally spelled) sprawls along the ridge of a south facing hillside above Bradford Dale deep in the heart of the scenic White Peak.

 

All Saints Parish Church with it`s 15th century square tower, reputedly the finest in Derbyshire, dominates the Main Street, which seems to shrink in awe of it`s mighty shadow. Earliest records suggest the church here had Saxon origins, and the current structure with it`s Norman pillars was built around 1130. It boasts a unique Norman font which features a stoup supported by the carved figure of a Salamander, a Continental symbol of baptism and the only one of it`s kind in England.

 

Westward of the church on the narrow Main Street stands the Bull`s Head, an old coaching Inn built in 1675 and almost opposite at the centre of the oldest part of the village stands a squat and incongruous circular construction known (almost as incongruously) as `The Fountain`. This is a reservoir which holds 1500 gallons and it was built in 1829 to provide water for the villagers, each household paying the sum of sixpence a year for it`s use.

 

The original village school was built in 1672 stands opposite the Fountain at the village centre, and the rest of the narrow main street in both directions offers a pleasant variety of stone built dwellings ranging from early 17th to late 19th century. One of the oldest and most impressive is the Old Hall built around 1640, and up a street nearby stands Old Hall Farm built in a similar style about twenty years earlier.