St Anthony's Well, Coxbench. Simon Unsworth
The tiny hamlet of Coxbench sits by the modern day A38, which often - sadly - thunders by on the raised bank above it. The A38 is the longest ‘A’ road entirely in England; running from Bodmin Moor to Mansfield, making it just short of 300 miles long. Along its route, the A38 runs along old Roman roads and what was once a Saxon salt road, between Worcester and Birmingham. Barely a mile to the east, is the route of Ryknild Street, probably the main Roman Road that ran through this area, having crossed over the River Trent, into Derbyshire, at Sawley. Coxbench also stands close - or even upon - our old friend, the Portway.
At the end of Coxbench Road, in the shadow of the A38, you will find an odd brick building. This is St Anthony’s Well. A plaque on the iron barred gate reads:
"St Anthony's Well, Coxbench, was erected in 1611 in a cottage garden and moved to its present site in 1979. It was regularly used by monks and the waters were said to have healing properties."
The date of 1979, when the well was moved, coincides with the construction of the A38 that towers above you here. This well was undoubtedly on or very near to the Portway and if you wandered under the A38 bridge, crossed the road and took the right hand fork, you would be on the road to Holbrook; the road that still bears the name ‘Portway’. Historically, Coxbench may have marked the junction between the Portway and a northerly route, perhaps following the Bottle Brook (roughly parallel to the A38 here). St Anthony was a hermit and his connection to the area may suggest that a hermitage was nearby - after all, it would not be the only hermitage along the Portway.
At the end of Coxbench Road, in the shadow of the A38, you will find an odd brick building. This is St Anthony’s Well. A plaque on the iron barred gate reads:
"St Anthony's Well, Coxbench, was erected in 1611 in a cottage garden and moved to its present site in 1979. It was regularly used by monks and the waters were said to have healing properties."
The date of 1979, when the well was moved, coincides with the construction of the A38 that towers above you here. This well was undoubtedly on or very near to the Portway and if you wandered under the A38 bridge, crossed the road and took the right hand fork, you would be on the road to Holbrook; the road that still bears the name ‘Portway’. Historically, Coxbench may have marked the junction between the Portway and a northerly route, perhaps following the Bottle Brook (roughly parallel to the A38 here). St Anthony was a hermit and his connection to the area may suggest that a hermitage was nearby - after all, it would not be the only hermitage along the Portway.
The Portway, as it runs along the side of Horsley Castle. Simon Unsworth
Personally, I would ask you to take a moment here. Potentially, you are standing at the nexus of two ancient routes; one going - roughly - east west and the other going - just as roughly - north south. Essentially, you are standing at a crossroads, across which your human ancestors have travelled for - literally - thousands of years. With the modern traffic of the A38 thundering above your head, it can be a leap of imagination, but well worth the mental effort. Interestingly, both Coxbench and Horsley are mentioned in an old Derbyshire ballad, called ‘the Beggar’s Ramble’, which outlines a beggar’s route through many of southern Derbyshire’s towns (including some just over the border in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire). The traveller in question is searching for ‘Beggar’s Well’. The ballad records the beggar’s travels through Coxbench and Horsley thus:
There's Denby and Bottlebrook, from there to the Lane ends,
From there I went to Horseley, in hopes to meet a friend,
So turning down Coxbench, I made a sudden stop,
Thinks I I'll up the closes go, for Potters of th' hill top.
You’ll notice that the beggar makes a point of stopping at Coxbench; possibly for St Anthony's Well? The end of the poem seems to indicate that the beggar’s final destination is Breaston. He also gives two pieces of essential advice along his route; firstly, that the beer in Selston is of poor quality and that, in Leek “... at every door there stands a whore …” But I’ll leave that to your opinion! If you take a moment to go up Horsley Lane, to the right of St Anthony’s Well, you will find a small track/street, which is quaintly named ‘the Rockety’: this is the only street called this in the UK, making it quite unique, but, alas, I have no idea where the name originates from.
There's Denby and Bottlebrook, from there to the Lane ends,
From there I went to Horseley, in hopes to meet a friend,
So turning down Coxbench, I made a sudden stop,
Thinks I I'll up the closes go, for Potters of th' hill top.
You’ll notice that the beggar makes a point of stopping at Coxbench; possibly for St Anthony's Well? The end of the poem seems to indicate that the beggar’s final destination is Breaston. He also gives two pieces of essential advice along his route; firstly, that the beer in Selston is of poor quality and that, in Leek “... at every door there stands a whore …” But I’ll leave that to your opinion! If you take a moment to go up Horsley Lane, to the right of St Anthony’s Well, you will find a small track/street, which is quaintly named ‘the Rockety’: this is the only street called this in the UK, making it quite unique, but, alas, I have no idea where the name originates from.
Remains of Horsley Castle. Simon Unsworth
Before you wander under the A38, though, take the unmarked road to your left and you can follow a footpath up to the very little-known Horsley Castle, originally known as Harestan Castle. To be fair, if you didn’t already know it was there, you’d probably miss it. Harestan was a classic Norman tower keep castle, with a main keep surrounded by a wall and ditches and, in its day, would have commanded a magnificent view of the surrounding area. The castle here was created by the powerful Derbyshire barony of de Buron. Harestan Castle really came to prominence, though, during the reign of King John - England’s most wicked king - when a stone castle was built on the site and it became a royal castle.
Standing looking at the bare remains of Hareston Castle today, it’s hard to believe that it was once a place of such significance, more so, it would appear, than the nearby castles of Duffield and Codnor, both of which are also in ruined states. That said, ruins are a wonderful treasure trove to explore, particularly for the children (be careful, there are some very steep drops). Here at Harestan you can discover the remains of ancient walls, the keep and deep ditches, and quarries all around. At the top of the hill, barely a quarter mile north of the castle, you will find an area called ‘the Warren’. As its name might suggest, this place is still home to many rabbits, though possibly a little less than normal, after a recent (early 2020) brutal destruction of the gorse plants here. Rabbits aren’t actually native to Britain, though hares are and were originally introduced by the Romans. However, the rabbit population boomed with the arrival of the Normans, who - apparently - loved to eat them and encouraged warrens to thrive, near to their castles and strongholds, providing a ready source of rabbit meat. The surname ‘Warrener’ derives from the occupation of an officer, who was responsible for the management of game, on a park or reserve.
I had been thinking that I wouldn’t be able to discover any mythic or folkloric elements for Coxbench, being such a tiny settlement, until I recently discovered the tale of “the Devil’s Shovel Full”, in “The A-Z of Curious Derbyshire”. The Devil’s Shovel Full is the name ascribed to an earthwork mound, near to Castle Farm. It’s not marked on the OS map, but I will be setting out to find it, as soon as I am able. In a moment of pure serendipity, I had also been reading “Cloven Country: the Devil and the English Landscape”, at the time, which featured a version of this story within it. It is a relatively common story, which appears in a number of locations, mainly Herefordshire, Shropshire and Wiltshire.
The Derbyshire version has it that, one night, the Devil was travelling across the country, with a shovel full of Earth, which he intended to dam up the Derwent with, thus denying the people of Derby the benefit of its waters. Along the way, just outside Coxbench, the Devil lost his shoe. Unable to find it and, hence, unable to continue his journey, Old Nick dumped the earth where he stood and, thus, the mound was created. Other versions of the story all start with the Devil and his shovel full of earth, setting out to cause havoc; often rerouting or damming a river for nefarious purposes, just like our Derbyshire version. However, in these other versions, the Devil meets a cobbler along the way and asks for directions to his intended place of mischief-making. The cobbler, being fully aware of who the Devil is and his evil intent, proceeds to show the Devil a sack of worn out and holed shoes, claiming that he too - the cobbler - has been searching for the same location himself and that his sack contains all the shoes he has worn out in his journey. The Devil, suitably discouraged from his endeavour, dumps the shovel full of earth where he stands, thus creating a landmark in that very spot!
For me, this small area is important to our journey north. From here you can really start to see the Derbyshire Dales rising ahead of you. You can see that the only way forward is uphill. What you won’t see immediately, is that we’ll be leaving behind a ‘civilised’ Christian landscape to one that owes far more to its pagan and mythological past.
© Simon Unsworth 2025
Standing looking at the bare remains of Hareston Castle today, it’s hard to believe that it was once a place of such significance, more so, it would appear, than the nearby castles of Duffield and Codnor, both of which are also in ruined states. That said, ruins are a wonderful treasure trove to explore, particularly for the children (be careful, there are some very steep drops). Here at Harestan you can discover the remains of ancient walls, the keep and deep ditches, and quarries all around. At the top of the hill, barely a quarter mile north of the castle, you will find an area called ‘the Warren’. As its name might suggest, this place is still home to many rabbits, though possibly a little less than normal, after a recent (early 2020) brutal destruction of the gorse plants here. Rabbits aren’t actually native to Britain, though hares are and were originally introduced by the Romans. However, the rabbit population boomed with the arrival of the Normans, who - apparently - loved to eat them and encouraged warrens to thrive, near to their castles and strongholds, providing a ready source of rabbit meat. The surname ‘Warrener’ derives from the occupation of an officer, who was responsible for the management of game, on a park or reserve.
I had been thinking that I wouldn’t be able to discover any mythic or folkloric elements for Coxbench, being such a tiny settlement, until I recently discovered the tale of “the Devil’s Shovel Full”, in “The A-Z of Curious Derbyshire”. The Devil’s Shovel Full is the name ascribed to an earthwork mound, near to Castle Farm. It’s not marked on the OS map, but I will be setting out to find it, as soon as I am able. In a moment of pure serendipity, I had also been reading “Cloven Country: the Devil and the English Landscape”, at the time, which featured a version of this story within it. It is a relatively common story, which appears in a number of locations, mainly Herefordshire, Shropshire and Wiltshire.
The Derbyshire version has it that, one night, the Devil was travelling across the country, with a shovel full of Earth, which he intended to dam up the Derwent with, thus denying the people of Derby the benefit of its waters. Along the way, just outside Coxbench, the Devil lost his shoe. Unable to find it and, hence, unable to continue his journey, Old Nick dumped the earth where he stood and, thus, the mound was created. Other versions of the story all start with the Devil and his shovel full of earth, setting out to cause havoc; often rerouting or damming a river for nefarious purposes, just like our Derbyshire version. However, in these other versions, the Devil meets a cobbler along the way and asks for directions to his intended place of mischief-making. The cobbler, being fully aware of who the Devil is and his evil intent, proceeds to show the Devil a sack of worn out and holed shoes, claiming that he too - the cobbler - has been searching for the same location himself and that his sack contains all the shoes he has worn out in his journey. The Devil, suitably discouraged from his endeavour, dumps the shovel full of earth where he stands, thus creating a landmark in that very spot!
For me, this small area is important to our journey north. From here you can really start to see the Derbyshire Dales rising ahead of you. You can see that the only way forward is uphill. What you won’t see immediately, is that we’ll be leaving behind a ‘civilised’ Christian landscape to one that owes far more to its pagan and mythological past.
© Simon Unsworth 2025