 | Bakewell, which is in Derbyshire and the Peak District, is a small, attractive market town located on the River Wye: close to Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall. It is crossed by a five-arched 13th Century bridge which is still open to traffic today.
Bakewell is well known for Bakewell Pudding: not to be confused with Bakewell Tart. Bakewell Pudding was accidentally invented at a hotel in the town when a cook got the intructions wrong and put the egg mixture over the jam rather than mixing it in pastry. So that, what was supposed to be a tart became a pudding! The famous Bakewell Pudding can today be bought at a number of shops in Bakewell town centre.
Bakewell is also famous for its connections with the novelist Jane Austen. She is said to have stayed at the Rutlands Arms Hotel in the town when she was writing the novel Pride and Prejudice and Bakewell is said to be Lambton.
It is thought that Bakewell was founded in Anglo Saxon times. Bakewell Parish Church, which is a Grade I Listed Building, was founded in 920. It has a 9th Century cross in its churchyard. The church and town were mentioned in the Domesday Book: indicating the importance, back then, of the town and church, which had two priests.
A bath house was built in the town back in 1697 and there was a bid to establish Bakewell as a spa town, much like Buxton.
Many tourists visit Bakewell and Monday: the town's market day, is particularly popular with visitors. There are also many fabulous annual events to enjoy here, including the Peak District tradition of well dressing; the annual Carnival week in July; the Bakewell Show in early August; the Bakewell Arts Festival, also in August, and the Peak Literary Festival, held in the Spring and Autumn each year. |
