12 stunning photos reveal long-lost drowned Peak District villages that vanished to create Ladybower Reservoir 80 years ago

The churches, pubs, farms, schools and homes of Derwent and Ashopton were submerged in 1943, and what remains today is usually hidden beneath the surface of Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire's picturesque Upper Derwent Valley.

What many visitors may not realise is that the two small villages were thriving, made up of little streets of pretty cottages.

Derwent had a small community with a school. The most famous building in the village was the Church of St John & St James which was built in 1867 with a tower added in 1873.

After the church was demolished in 1943 the church spire was left intact to form a memorial to Derwent and could be seen spookily emerging from the water. However, it was dynamited a few years later due safety concerns as people would swim out and climb the spire.

The village also boasted a country manor house, Derwent Hall. Built in 1672, Derwent Hall was an impressive building in magnificent gardens with ornamental trees and a large fishpond.

Ashopton was a larger village on the main road between Sheffield and Glossop.

It had a large, busy coaching inn, The Ashopton Inn.

This summer’s heatwaves and the drought conditions created by the historically low rainfall has seen water levels so low that the wreckage of those once-thriving communities have once again been exposed, giving visitors a fascinating insight into the area’s past.