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Birchen Edge

Folklore

A large swamp called Leachfield, situate about a mile from Baslow, on the road from that village which leads to Sheffield, is said to be the site of a buried village. Some people say that this buried village once belonged to one man who saw it all go down into the swamp one day as he stood on a hill. I am told that near this fen or swamp are two stone circles and two rows of unmistakeable stone-built barrows.

In Glover's Derbyshire (vol. ii. p. 86.) the following lines occur about this place:

When Leach-field was a market town,
Chesterfield was gorse and broom;
Now Chesterfield's a market town,
Leach-field a marsh is grown.

I have heard the last two lines repeated thus:
Now Leach-field it is sunken down
And Chesterfield's a market town.
From 'Household tales with other traditional remains' by S O Addy (1895).
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
7th February 2010ce

Comments (1)

Ah, Leash fen, take ya waders if visiting. megadread Posted by megadread
8th February 2010ce
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