ASHFORD IN THE WATER ENGLAND ... throughout time

Ashford-in-the-Water is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. The village is on the River Wye, 2 miles (3 km) north-west of Bakewell..It is known for the quarrying of Ashford Black Marble[.(a form of limestone), and for the maidens' garlands made to mark the deaths of virgins in the village until 1801. Some of these are preserved in the parish church.. The civil parish population (including Sheldon) taken at the 2011 Census was 559.. History The name Ashford derives from the Old English æsc and ford, and means a ford where ash trees grow. In 926, the village was known as Æscforda and in the Domesday Book of 1086 it was Aisseford. The addition of "in-the-Water" occurred in the late 17th century, and reflected the proximity of the village to meanders of the River Wye.. In the Domesday Book, Ashford was described as one of the locations in the area where lead was refined.. In 1786, Ashford had mills for carving and polishing the local black marble. By 1848, it had 950 inhabitants.. The village passed to the Cavendish family in the 16th century (from the Nevilles) and was finally sold off in the 1950s to pay death duties.