The Hermits Cave of Dale Abbey sits in hermits wood behind the village, close to Derby in Derbyshire.

The caves were carved by a Derby baker after the virgin Mary spoke to him in a dream, telling him to go to Depedale, now Dale Abbey, and become a hermit and live in solitude and prayer. After following a woman taking to calves to Depedale, he then carved out a home in a sandstone bank. It was a wild and marshy place at that time.

He began his worship in solitude. One day the smoke from his fire was seen Ralph Fitz Geremund, a Knight and the owner of Depedale. His first intention was to drive the intruder away, but on hearing the hermit’s story,he allowed the hermit to remain, giving on him the tithe money from Borrowash Mill. The hermit then build a small chapel and home on the site of the present church.

After the hermit’s death, word spread of the religious significance of Depedale. Dale Abbey was founded around 1200.