Stoney Middleton

Contents & Site Map

Description of Stoney Middleton & St Martin's Church

The small village of Stoney Middleton is situated at the entrance to Middleton Dale. The houses are built close to and on the sides of the rugged cliffs. It is here where one of the famous 'Lover's Leaps' can be found and a small cafe below the overhanging cliff is said to mark the spot where a distraught girl tried to kill herself by falling from the cliff when her lover found someone else, However, she was saved by her large skirts acting as a parachute and landed safely. The steep winding lanes are almost too narrow for present day traffic.

The Church of St. Martin, erected in 1750 is very unusual as it is octagonal in shape. The original Church was built by Joan Padley as a thanksgiving on the return of her husband from the Battle of Agincourt. The original font was given by Joan and her husband.

A narrow road winds past the Church and the Hall and makes its way upwards to the cemetery, passing the old stone buildings of the open-air baths, now disused, but still filling with the water from nearby springs. These baths are believed to have been built on the site of a Roman Bath. The tepid spring mineral water flows in a small waterfall into a small pond and then falls downhill to join the brook which runs by the Church and through the village

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