The story of the Hermitage and Dale Abbey beings with a Derby baker having a religious vision in which the Virgin Mary appeared and told him to go to Depedale (Dale Abbey), to live a life of solitude and prayer. So he did, and became a hermit carving out a home and chapel in a sandstone cliff. Here he worshipped in solitude until the local landowner Sir Ralph Fitz Geremund decided to evict him. Apparently, after learning of the hermit’s story he not only let the man stay but also endowed the formation of a chapel on the site of the present day church!
After the hermit’s death, the cult of the hermit achieved such significance that an abbey was founded at the turn of the 13th century. It doesn’t appear to have even been a large abbey, and that great abbey destroyer Henry VIII ordered its dissolution in 1538. Only one arch remains today, which is an ancient and protected monument. You will pass it in a few minutes.
Congratulations to Spire67 for the FTF Note added 1 week after going live:
Note added 1 week after going live: I have already had to attend to 4 of the 19 caches on this series. Please replace caches as you find them and feel free to email or leave a note if you find a damaged cache. It is clearly too much for some of our caching community to replace things as found, so intent are they on moving on to the next smiley.