CLOWN, a parish in the hundred of SCARSDALE,
county of DERBY, 8 miles (E. N. E.) from Chesterfield,
containing 616 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in
the archdeaconry of Derby, and diocese of Lichfield and
Coventry, rated in the king's books at £7. 0. 10., and
in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated
to St. John the Baptist, has Norman portions, amidst
various later styles of architecture. Charles Basseldine,
in 1730, founded a charity school, with an endowment
of thirteen acres of land, now producing £26
per annum, with a house for the master and a schoolroom;
twenty children are educated upon this foundation,
and four others for £2 per annum, the gift of John
Slater, in 1727. In 1770 an information and bill were
filed in the court of Chancery, to recover some part of
the school property left by Mr. Basseldiue, when a decree
was given in favour of the charity, and the rectors
of Clown, Staveley, and Barlbrough, for the time being,
were appointed the trustees of the estate: but other
trustees were subsequently chosen upon the report of
the Master. Limestone is obtained here. There is a
chalybeate spring, called Shuttlewood Spa, in this parish;
and several rivulets, tributary to the stream
running down to Welbeck, flow through it: there is
also a piece of water called Harlesthorpe Dam, covering
about four acres.