Ashover combines heathland scenery with traces of its village and industrial history. When planning your visit, you can decide whether to focus on views and circular walks, a storytelling trail through the village or historic buildings.
Views and Heathland near Ashover
Ashover Rock is designated as Open Access Land, where visitors are free to roam. Highoredish Picnic Site offers views across Ogston Reservoir. Signposted circular walks start from the car park, and heather and bilberries grow at Highoredish. These natural attractions offer different experiences: Ashover Rock focuses on the designated right to roam freely, while Highoredish combines views across the reservoir with marked circular walks and heathland plants.
Village Stories and Walks
The Ashover Audio Trail can be walked around the village. This 1.5-mile audio trail passes through Ashover Village and tells the stories of eight people whose memories of the village go back to the early years of the 20th century. The route combines its length with a clear theme: personal stories of village life.
The Ashover Walk is four miles long and can optionally be extended to Cocking Tor. It crosses both the former route of the Ashover Light Railway and the River Amber. The route includes Gregory Mine, with its tall surviving chimney. In terms of length, the Ashover Walk is longer than the 1.5-mile Audio Trail; its optional extension gives you another choice of route. Check path conditions and signage before setting off.
The former Ashover Light Railway can also be explored as a walking theme: the Ashover Light Railway Society publishes themed walking booklets that let you explore much of the former railway using public rights of way. Much of the former trackbed is privately owned. The rights of way are therefore essential to determining which paths you can use to follow the railway route as a theme.
Church and Historic Buildings
The Church of All Saints is a medieval church with structural remains dating from the late 13th century and the mid-14th century. Its distinctive features include a lead font dating from around 1200, decorated with 20 figures. The chancel screen dates from 1511 and features Perpendicular Gothic tracery and a central Tudor arch. The different dates make the church a place where several building phases can be distinguished through specific details.
Further evidence of the area’s industrial history can be found at Stone Edge Smelt Mill and Spancarr Tower Mill. Stone Edge is considered one of the best-preserved examples of a bole smelting mill in England. Spancarr Tower Mill is a Grade II listed building. The roofless tower has four millstones; even this brief description clearly distinguishes it from the smelting mill at Stone Edge.
Reflecting its agricultural tradition, the Ashover Show is held in Ashover every year. If you would like to include the event in your travel plans, check the dates before your trip.
Discover more destinations: Cromford, Risley, Litton, Dronfield, Kirk Ireton, Repton, Smalley, Codnor
Back to the regional travel overview: Derbyshire.
