After the cataclysm of the suppression of St Mary’s Abbey at Dale, little is recorded of the fate of the village itself during the 17th and 18th centuries. We have seen how the canons were pensioned off, and how some of them stayed in the area, even in the village itself: there are still Crosses here, and Wheatleys and Cadmans round about, and Powtrells in nearby West Hallam. That there was indeed a village in addition to the abbey is attested by a record of 1644 to the effect that 54 people in Dale owned their own hearth. The main house was Southwood Grange which had eight fireplaces, so was presumably a substantial residence; it is not known where this building was. Also at that time, 22 of 75 householders in the village were exempt from hearth tax due to poverty.

Some of the abbey’s buildings no doubt continued to be used as dwellings. Poplar farm, just a short distance from the abbot’s quarters, is a predominantly 18th century building, but it has a suspiciously good quality stone base and a 16th century timber front: perhaps it originated as an abbey guest-house.  Judging from the Buck and Stukeley drawings of the early 1700’s, the abbot’s range was still lived in for quite some time.

In all likelihood, farming would have continued much as before: these are clay lowlands with a heavy clay soil. Not far below the surface, however, lie coal measures, which will be increasingly exploited as the centuries go by. The growing of chamomile was recorded in 1740: this was sold to London druggists for use as chamomile tea, which was prescribed as a remedy for stomach disorders.