Honeypot Shrine – Goyt Valley

This tiny stone chapel with stone flagged roof was built in 1889 as a memorial to Dolores de Bergrin who died whilst only in her 40’s. She was a Spanish aristocrat and governess to the children at Errwood Hall. The shrine is located about 1/2-mile from the remains of the hall up a path leading between Cats Tor and Foxlow Edge.

Errwood Hall had been built by Samuel Grimshawe, a staunch Catholic Lancashire industrialist who acquired the site in 1830 and set our to build a lavish and opulent Victorian residence. It was intended that a large Romanesque chapel be built on the south side of the mansion, to be connected to the house by a covered passageway, but Samuel Grimshawe died in 1851 before this was undertaken and the chapel mound was then turned into a simple family graveyard which can still be found.

The Grimshawe family lived lavishly with many servants and entertained on a grand scale. They had an ocean going yacht named The Marquita, whose captain is buried in the graveyard.

After the death of Samuel Grimshawe the hall passed to his son and later to a relative. In 1930 it reached the end of the family line and passed to the Stockport Corporation when it was let briefly to the Youth Hostel Association. After 1934 it fell into disrepair and subsequent ruin, and the grounds ran wild. When the Errwood Reservoir was planned around 1960,. the hall was mainly dismantled and the remans stabilised. The Peak Park Authority then took control of the site together with the Forestry Commission and extensive paths and trails were laid for the public to enjoy.