Eaton and Alsop

Eaton and Alsop is wholly within the Peak District national park, and touches the parishes of Alstonefield, Hartington Nether Quarter, Newton Grange and Parwich.

[7][8] Eaton and Alsop is surrounded by the following local areas: The parish is roughly bounded by the River Dove to the west.

The only village of size is Alsop en le Dale, which is wholly situated along Dam Lane.

[9][10] Primarily farm and pasture land throughout the parish outside the populated areas, there are some small forestry plots throughout, with a stretch alongside the Dove Valley called Fishpond Bank and further north, Iron Tors and Biggin Dale.

[11][12] The River Dove forms the boundary to the west, with features including weirs, footbridges and stepping stones.

Eaton and Alsop was originally separate townships and manors in times past, with the first ever Derbyshire map by Christopher Saxton in 1579 indicating both as discrete settlements,[10] but these were later merged as a township within the ancient parish of Ashbourne, latterly becoming a standalone parish before 1883,[8] with many others being created in 1866 and councils being formed in 1894.

It is thought the field between the only remaining two farms at Eaton may have been occupied in medieval times, with more recent aerial photography lending weight to this with evidence of possible crofts.

There was a railway station by the A515 and Oxclose Lane road junction, it is now a car park for the Tissington Trail, which reuses the trackbed.

As well as the regularised agricultural roles because of its rural location, primarily for pasture farming, the area has also supported limestone mining and lime burning for many centuries which have provided stone for building and road making, with several pits and kilns previously recorded in the vicinity.

Coldeaton bridge - one of several foot crossings over the River Dove