Ilam in 1872

ILAM, a village and a parish in the district of Ashborne and county of Stafford. The village stands in a picturesque vale, under the high limestone ridge of Bunster, near the source of the rivers Hamps and Manifold, 1 mile W of the foot of Thorpe Cloud and the entrance of Dovedale, and 5 NNW of Ashborne; is a place of remarkable beauty; contains a highly-decorated hexagonal cross, erected in 1840 to the memory of Mrs. Mary Watts Russell; and has a post-office under Ashborne; The parish contains also the hamlets of Castern, Throwley, and Rushley. Acres, 2,939. Real property, £2,316. Pop., 243. Houses, 41. The property is divided among a few.

Ilam Hall is the seat of J.W. Russell, Esq.; was erected in 1823, on the site of an old mansion; is a noble edifice in the Tudor style; and contains a highly interesting collection of arms and pictures. The park around the mansion, or rather the entire vale of Ilam, abounds in beauty and romance; forms a great attraction to tourists through Derbyshire; and is said to have been Dr. Johnson's model of the Happy Valley in his "Rasselas." A grotto near the hall, still known as Congreve's Grot, was the place where Congreve wrote his "Old Bachelor," and part of his "Mourning Bride."

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £410. Patron, J.W. Russell, Esq. The church was beautifully restored in 1856; and contains an ancient font, S. Bertram's shrine, and other curious monuments. The old church had an ivy-covered tower, and was very picturesque. A small Grothic chapel stands over the burial vault of the Russell family, and contains a highly artistic monument, with group of statuary, by Chantrey, to the memory of D.P. Watts. There is an endowed school, with picturesque schoolhouse. 

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following places in Ilam is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Castern
• Rushley
• Throwley

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]