I wasn't aware of the wishing side of things to this outcrop.....
I remember it from raves in the Butts Quarry in the early 90's when we would set off across Ashover and up the hill to watch sunrise from here.....and maybe try to break into the cold war listening station that's buried 30ft away.
On the rocks that surround the Fabrick are also nicely carved animals such as ducks, dogs and a donkey.
Parking spots at the T-Junction at the top of the hill and the rock is a pleasant flat walk of a quarter of a mile.
There is a stone called "the wishing stone" in a wood known as the Faybrick at Ashover, in Derbyshire. If you sit upon it and wish three times your wish will be granted.
I think it's less of a wood now, but it's marked on old maps as Fabrick Wood, and the stone is renowned locally if the discussions on Rootsweb are anything to go by. Some say it was used to build the church (which is 14th century) which gives a bit of a holy link. But it's pronounced 'Fay Brick' - could it be named after the fairies? The rootsweb forum mentions someone local who 'always believed it was a 'fairy stone'.' Just be careful with the wishing. You might get what you ask for.
In 1691 the 'remarkable Ashover personality of later Stuart times', Leonard Wheatcroft, wrote in his autobiography "And in that yeare I bu(i)lde(d) the fabrick upon the top of Ashover Hill, upon which I made a song which you may find in my booke of poetry'. This records how on April 11 1689 Wheatcroft had lit a bonfire on the hilltop to celebrate the coronation of King William of Orange and Queen Mary Stuart and that he had decided to "bu(i)ld me up a fabrick, to behould each pleasant day". It was obviously intended as a kind of rustic folly or summer house where he and his friends could celebrate the Protestant Succession. We have some knowledge of the appearance of his 'Fabrick' as it was recorded on a plan and elevation by Hayman Rooke in 1784. This shows that the natural rock outcrop sloping from north-east to south-west had been built up with squared stone to create an oval tower-like structure measuring 9 ft by 6 ft. The top of the wall has the effect of being battlemented, but this may simply be the result of years of decay. An entrance was left at the south-east side and around the inside of the horseshoe-shaped wall was a continuous stone seat. The top of the rock seems to have been made up with earth or stones to form a flat but sloping floor, in the middle of which stood an oval stone 'table'. The sketch agrees with Wheatcroft's own description of the structure. "This fabrickes bu(i)lded like an ovall, 'tis neaither square nore loung nor round". He also mentioned that "in it there is but one doore". Whether it ever had a roof or any type of wooden superstructure is not clear but no trace of this artificial building now remains.
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Posted by Rhiannon
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