The Legend of Charlesworth Chapel.
An old chapel at Charlesworth is said to have owed its foundation to
the circumstances narrated in the following tradition.
Once upon a time--it is impossible to say exactly when, because,
unfortunately, the records as to date have been lost, but it was
certainly in that halcyon period of English history which is generally
spoken of as "the olden time"--a traveller was on his way from the
northern parts of England to London. Here again the chronicles are
slightly obscure, because there is no mention of his name, and
opinions differ as to his occupation. Some state that he was an Irish
merchant, others that he was a priest. But be that as it may, all
agree that he made the journey, that he made it on foot and alone. For
the purposes of this story, therefore, it will suffice to refer to him
as "The Traveller."
He had reached that portion of Derbyshire known as the Peak, and was
journeying over that part of the Peak which includes Coombs Rocks and
the hills above the River Etherow, when he found himself overtaken by
the night-fall. The track he was travelling was but ill-defined; it
led through a desolate region--in fact, one of the wildest regions in
all Britain--and, therefore, was but seldom used. As a consequence it
was no easy task to keep to it in broad daylight, and when the
darkness enveloped the moor, the danger of losing it was very great.
To-day, when almost every acre of the country is cultivated and
drained, the neighbourhood though savage enough is comparatively a
safe one to travel, but in the time of which we speak there were
treacherous bogs on every side in which the unwary might easily be
swallowed up.
Accustomed as he was to the perils and vicissitudes of a wandering
life, the Traveller was, nevertheless, somewhat dismayed to find
himself be-nighted so far from any habitation, and in a country
altogether strange to him.
"Now may the good saints protect me," mused he, "for of a truth I am
like to need their intercession this night. Already the path grows
fainter, the skies seem charged with rain, and the wind moans eerily."
He wrapped his cloak tighter about his limbs, and stepped along at a
brisker pace.
"If only the night would clear," he said, "so that I could see distant
objects, then should I be likely to make my way in safety from this
desolate moor. But the darkness hangs heavy like a pall: it is damp as
though the clouds were settling on the heather, and--ha!"
The last exclamation was wrung from him by the slipping of his foot,
and the fact that he suddenly found himself standing up to the knees
in the sponge-like peat. He turned his face and tried to retrace his
steps, hoping to regain the path, but this was no easy task, and
presently he found that he was wandering hopelessly through the bog,
with every risk of becoming engulfed if he proceeded further. To make
matters worse, at that moment, a thick white choking mist settled down
on the moor, and it seemed to the Traveller that his fate was indeed
sealed. He stretched out his staff in despair, and by great good luck
it struck on firm grit, and in another moment the Traveller had hauled
himself upon solid earth. Once here, prudence told him not to stir,
either to the right hand or the left, lest all the horrors from which
he had just escaped should be again about him. There was nothing for
it but to wait patiently for the return of day, when he might be able
to thread his way through the mazy bogs in safety. But the night was
chill, the mist was like the icy touch of death, and in a little while
the Traveller was shaking in every joint. The keen cold went to the
bone, and it seemed as though he must now perish from exposure.
"Now indeed am I in a sorry plight," quoth he, "and I have need of the
Divine help; else I am lost."
Whereupon, being a good Christian, he fell upon his knees, and prayed
aloud to God for help, vowing that if he was permitted to reach his
home again he would return to those hills, and as a thankoffering
erect thereon a house of prayer dedicated to his patron saint.
Scarcely was the prayer ended when a great wind arose, the mists were
rolled away like a curtain, the hill tops stood out in the clear
night, the stars shone, and the moon-beams fell softly over the
landscape, and a shepherd came along as though a heaven-sent guide to
show him the path from the hills.
"Friend," said the shepherd simply, as he beheld the Traveller, "Hast
thou been long upon the moor? If so, thou shouldst indeed be thankful
to God, for thou hast run a great risk of losing thy life upon this
desolate wilderness of heather."
"Thou sayest truly," replied the Traveller, who then proceeded to
recount his experiences and his vow, and also asked the name of the
place where they stood. Then he marked the spot, which lay upon the
bleak hill-side above the present village of Charlesworth.
"I will surely come here again," said he, "if my life is spared, and
fulfil my vow."
On concluding his journey, and having discharged his business, he
immediately returned to the Peak, and on the spot of his delivery he
built a small chapel or oratory of bog oak, which was specially
brought over from Ireland. This building, says tradition, was erected
upon the site now occupied by the present Charlesworth Chapel.
Why Irish bog oak should have been the material used in building, the
present writer has not been able to discover, nor does the tradition
in this particular altogether agree with the following account of what
is therein stated to have been the original fabric.
"It was a small octagon chapel," says the historian, "the roof of
which was carved; the arched rafters resting on massive buttresses,
the walls rough blocks of stone, the floor earth covered with rushes,
the seats and altar simple and unpretentious."
Possibly the building mentioned in this account was a successor of an
even earlier structure, and to judge from other sacred buildings in
the neighbourhood, it is by no means unlikely that the earliest chapel
of all was one mainly composed of timber. But after all, what does it
really matter whether the chapel was built of wood or stone, so long
as the Traveller fulfilled his vow, and so long as the chapel served
the purpose for which it was erected?