In the previous six parts of this series we have seen the features for which Dale Abbey is most well known including the Cat and Fiddle Mill, the Hermit's Cave, All Saints Church and of course the ruins of the Abbey. As we near the completion of our walk around the village there are still a number of buildings that deserve our attention and in this part we shall look at a number of them.

Briefly leaving the main route a short diversion into Tattle Hill reveals the first of these buildings. This is a small timber framed thatched barn that was built as a cow shed to house just four cows and was last used for this purpose in the 1940s. It was also re-thatched about that time. The name Tattle Hill is thought to have been derived from the words "tittle tattle" and it is not difficult to imagine cottagers in a bygone age stopping in the lane for a neighbourly gossip.

Returning along Tattle Hill and turning left into The Village, the first building on the left and the next of interest is Poplar Farm. This half-timbered structure dates from about 1500. It has a brick extension on a former stone outbuilding that was possibly constructed some two hundred years later about 1700. Today, roadside trees overhang a well tended lawn surrounded by beds of glorious summer flowers and act as a disguise for its former use as a farm. Only the name "Poplar Farm" on the gatepost points to the original use of the building as all of the former outbuildings have now been converted to form desirable dwellings.

Across the road is a somewhat unremarkable building known as The Bungalow. Newish brickwork between the tops of the windows and door and the original lintels is evidence of some refurbishment but the diamond shaped plaque above the door shows that it was originally built in 1845. The building was formerly the Village Institute.

Back on the same side of The Village as Poplar Farm and adjacent to it is the Gateway Christian Centre which was originally the village's Methodist Chapel. A Wesleyan Chapel was here between 1791 and 1892 and it was rebuilt in 1902. It remained in use as a chapel until the 1970s. At a public auction in 1985 the building was purchased by the Parochial Church Council and is now opened on Sundays and Bank Holidays "to continue the Abbey's ministry of hospitality." It is also used on occasions for other events, one of which back in 2002 was to stage an exhibition of a local artist's work. I've revamped a web page I created at the time for inclusion here and you can see it by clicking "Barry Sutcliffe - A Local Talent"

A footpath runs by the side of, and behind the Gateway Christian Centre which can be seen here, looking back from the path, towards the right of this picture. We can also see, although partly obscured by a tree, another building. This is what remains of the Abbey Gatehouse which at one time was used as a jail to shelter prisoners being transferred from Nottingham to Derby and vice-versa. The "Dale Abbey Society for the Prosecution of Felons" (see also Ilkeston Cam's Ockbrook series Part 4) had their annual dinner cooked in the Gatehouse until severe weather in the winter of 1935/36 severely damaged the oven.

The footpath behind the Gateway Centre leads across the fields to Dale Flourish - but that's for another day. Our way now is back to The Village to regain the Arbour Hill/Moor Lane junction at the Carpenters Arms (straight ahead). Although this will complete our walk around Dale Abbey, it does not complete the series. There is still one more part to come in which we shall visit another half a dozen interesting sites within the Parish but which are a little way removed from the village itself. In this series so far we have taken a clockwise route around and through Dale Abbey but most of the sites in the first seven parts are within easy access of the centre of the village. Visitors who park with consideration and respect the villagers' privacy will be made most welcome.

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