Heage is a true Derbyshire village lying between the larger towns of Ripley and Belper. The village is in two main parts, Heage itself, and Nether Heage.
The name is from the Anglo-Saxon 'Heegge' meaning high, lofty or sublime. Situated in the Amber Valley area, the village is now famous for it's community restored six-sailed windmill.
The oldest building in the village is probably Heage Hall, situated in Nether Heage, which is now a farm. Parts of the Hall date back to the 15th century. There have been many stories concerning the Hall over the centuries. One of the ghosts is said to be of the wife of George Pole, an eccentric dandy and owner of the Hall during the 17th century.
George so ill-treated his wife that when she died he paid for the rebuilding of Heage church in penance. His own ghost is supposed to have been seen either with his dogs in the fields or driving his coach and horses in the lanes.
Later occupants of the Hall were the Shore family, who also owned and worked Heage windmill and water mill (no longer in existence) at the bottom of Dungeley Hill. The windmill has six sails and is a landmark seen from miles around, especially from the west. It has recently been restored. Please visit www.heagewindmill.co.uk for more information.
The parish church, dedicated to St Luke, was originally built of wood, but was destroyed by a violent tempest in June 1545. Rebuilt in 1661 and enlarged in 1836, it has no square tower or spire, but an unusual octagonal bell tower on the north side of a barn-shaped structure, with the oldest part of the church at right angles to this.
In 1842 three men from Heage were involved in criminal activities which must have caused quite a stir at the time and gave rise to local sayings such as 'They 'ang 'em in bunches in Heage', and 'You can tell a man from Heage by the rope mark on his neck'. The three men Samuel Bonsall, William Bland and John Hulme, a tinker born in Leek, went to rob a house at Stanley Common one September night. The dwelling was owned and lived in by spinsters Martha and Sarah Goddard. Both were beaten by the robbers, Sarah survived but Martha died.
The post box in the wall of the village post office in Brook Street is of particular interest. It is one of a few in the country that is embossed with the initials of Edward VII.