Clifton and Compton

The Cricket pavilion was used as a Reading Room during the winter months starting in 1907.

The nearby Ashbuorne Library is an excellent resource with a Local History section and a Family History section.

The Public Cemetery was purchased in 1904 and is just west of the A515 (Sudbury Road) at the south end of the village.

• The parish was in the Mayfield sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District prior to 1901.
   
• The parish was in the Ashbourne sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District after 1901.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• There was an older chapel of ease dedicated to Saint Mary, but this fell into disuse after the Reformation and was taken down in 1750.
   
• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
   
• The church was built in 1845.
   
• The belltower was added in 1868.
   
• David DIXON has a photograph of Holy Trinity Church hiding behind the trees on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2015.
   
• Chris MORGAN also has a photograph of Holy Trinity Church lychgate with the church in the background on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2017.

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1845.
   
• Make sure that you check the records for St. Oswald in Ashbourne.
   
• The church was in the rural deanery of Ashbourne.
   
• The Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1830 in Mayfield Road.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1860, also in Mayfield Road.

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   
• The parish was in the Mayfield sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District prior to 1901.
   
• The parish was in the Ashbourne sub-district of the Ashbourne Registration District after 1901.

"CLIFTON is a hamlet in the township of CLIFTON and COMPTON, and parish of Ashbourn, about a mile and a half from that town. Formerly a chapel belonging to the establishment was here, but the only place of worship, at present, is a neat meeting-house belonging to the Calvinists. The township contained, at the last census, 839 inhabitants."

[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]

The village is just off the A515 bypass just south of Ashbourne. Hanging Bridge (also Hangingbridge) is a hamlet in the parish.

Rail passenger service ceased here in 1963. David STOWELL has a photograph of the old Clifton Station on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2009.

The Ashbourne and Dove Valley Golf Club was established in 1910.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Rosemary LOCKIE provides a transcription of the Clifton entry under Ashbourne from Pigot & Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire (1835).
   
• Ann ANDREWS provides a transcription of the Clifton entry from Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland (1891).

• Mel LOCKIE provides a transcription of the Clifton entry from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England, 1831.
   
• The transcription of the section for Clifton from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin HINSON.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Clifton and Compton to another place.

Most of the parish land has been kept in pasturage for centuries.

David DISCON has a photograph of the Cock Inn on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2015. The inn is on the west side of the village.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK170453 (Lat/Lon: 53.004686, -1.747453), Clifton and Compton which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Bill BOADEN has a photograph of the War Memorial cross on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2014.

• Captain W. E. CLIFTON-SMITH of this parish died at the storming of Dargai, India, in 1897.
   
• There is a War Memorial outside of Holy Trinity Church in a Roadside Garden. A list of names is provided by the Imperial War Museum:
   

1. ?, ? (unreadable)
2. Astle, G. W., driver, RAMC
3. Braddock, J.
4. Chell, Charles, pte., Sherwood Foresters
5. Chell, H.
6. Deakin, A.
7. Grindly, ?
8. Leason, A., rifleman, 1st Btln. Rifle Brigade
9. Leason, Harry, pte., 14th Btln., Sherwood Foresters
10. Melbourne, Francis, pte., 6th Btln., Sherwood Foresters
11. Richardson, ?
12. Ridgeway, Frank, sapper, 26 Field Coy. Royal Engineers
13. Roe, G.
14. Roe, John Wiliam, trooper, Royal Tank Regiment
15. Simmonds, E.
16. Smith, W. R. S.
17. Tunnicliffe, Joseph, pte., 1st. Btln., Sherwood Foresters
18. Waywell, M.
19. Wilson, A.
20. Wright, E. B.

• This place was an ancient Chapelry in the western division of Derby county.
   
• In December, 1866, this Chapelry was incorporated as a separate, modern Civil Parish.
   
• This parish was in the ancient Morleston and Litchurch Hundred (or Wapentake).
   
• You may contact the Clifton Parish Council regarding civic or political matters, but they are NOT staffed to help you with family history questions.
   
• Ian CALDERWOOD has a photograph of the Village Hall on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2016. The Hall is named after Rev. Frederick Clifton SMITH. Stop in when they are open and ask to see the schedule of forth-coming events.
   
• District governance is provided by the Derbyshire Dales District Council.
   

• Bastardy cases were heard at the Ashbourne Petty Session Hearings every Saturday.
   
• There is a single Clifton Bastardy Paper held at the DRO on the Yesterdays Journey website. Select "Bastardy Papers" on the left side, then "Clifton" from the list of parishes displayed.
   
• With the passage of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a member of the Ashbourne Poorlaw Union.

A Public Elementary School (mixed) was built here in 1855 for 89 children. Average attendance in 1911 was about half that number.