Brief Description
This atchin tan is very close to the centre of Hartington. Follow Stonewell Lane from the duck pond. Gypsy Croft is the field on your right just before the new housing develpment on the site of the old cheese factory. In one corner of the field is the start of the public footpath to Sheen.
Hartington - Gypsy Croft
We don't know for how long this field has been known as Gypsy Croft. We assume it was given the name by locals who must have known this field in particular as one that Travellers camped in. It seems likely that Travellers used this field on numerous occasions and for perhaps many years for it to be named as it is.
Gypsy Croft is a good camp site. It has shelter from the wind, is on the edge of the village but close enough to the village pump.We know that in 1901 two Traveller families were camped in tents in Hartington because they are recorded in the census. They are members of the Smith and Holland families. From what the census tells us, it is not possible to pin-point exactly where in the village they are camped. However, Gypsy Croft
is the most likely place given the other places that the census recorder visited.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Holland were both cutlery grinders from Leicestershire. More about them can be found by downloading the database on our History page.
