Graves of the Grimshawes

Nov 10, 2015

The small mausoleum where the lead coffins were kept before burial has long since disappeared. It stood to the left of the graves. (Click to enlarge.)
Samuel Grimshawe died in 1883, leaving the Errwood Estate to his wife, Jessie. It was later inherited by their two daughters, Mary and Genevieve. All are inscribed on this stone memorial.
The small graveyard of the Grimshawe family and their favourite servants stands on top of the hill behind the ruins of Errwood Hall, providing magnificent views over the surrounding countryside. The main pathway up to the graves was through an imposing stone archway and up a flight of stone steps. Then arch has long since gone, but the steps remain (see below).

Today the path up the steps can get muddy and overgrown, but there is an alternative route up the hillside behind the ruins of Castedge Farm. (See my Goyt Valley Walk 2: Errwood Hall for details and walk description.)

The main gravestone is that of Samuel Grimshawe who died in 1883, his wife, Jessie, and son Arthur (also known as Samuel), who died in infancy. Other names inscribed on either side of this memorial are those of Mary (the last of the Grimshawes) who died in 1930, and her husband Helier Gosselin (d.1924). And Genevieve – the younger sister (d.1929) – and her husband Captain Preston (d.1901).

There are two rows of three crosses to the right of the main gravestone (back row, from left): Irma Niorthe (d.1855 aged 27). John Butler, Captain of the Grimshawe’s yacht, The Mariquita (d.1886 aged 65). Ellen Ferns (d.1889 aged 75). (Front row from left): Elizabeth Braddock (d.1903 aged 19), and her father, Thomas Braddock (d.1911 aged 71). I’m not sure who the iron crosses to the right commemorate – info to follow.

Click here for a detailed history of the Grimshawe family and their stewardship of the Errwood Estate, taken from Gerald Hancock’s book, Goyt Valley Romance.

Topic tags (click for similar posts): Errwood Hall | Grimshawe family | Grimshawe graveyard