I.

Introduction

Derbyshire, county, central England, bordered on the north by the unitary authorities of Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire metropolitan counties; on the east by Nottinghamshire; on the south by Leicestershire; and on the west by Staffordshire and Cheshire. A small portion of Cheshire was added to the county as a result of the local government reorganization of 1974. Derbyshire’s boundaries were changed again on April 1, 1997, when the city of Derby was separated from the rest of the county, to become a unitary authority (see Population and Administration below). Derbyshire now has an area of 2,551 sq km (985 sq mi), compared with the pre-April 1997 area of 2,629 sq km (1,015 sq mi). Matlock is the administrative centre.

Derbyshire is a mainly rural county. It contains the larger part of the Peak District, one of the most beautiful parts of Britain, which occupies more than half the county to the north and west.

II.

Land and Resources

Derbyshire is very hilly in the north, where the southern end of the Pennine Hills forms a plateau that is sometimes called the Derbyshire Dome. The area is better known as the Peak District, and comprises a central plateau composed mainly of limestone (the White Peak), surrounded by gritstones (the Dark Peak) (see Peak District National Park). The area known as High Peak, lying between Sheffield to the east and Manchester to the west, reaches a height of 637 m (2,088 ft) at the flat-topped hill, Kinder Scout. On the eastern side of the county there is a coalfield, and in the south, which is mainly flat or undulating, the underlying material is marls, boulder clay, and pebble beds.

The main river is the Trent, which crosses the county in the south, entering from Staffordshire soon after Burton upon Trent. In the east, the Trent forms part of Derbyshire’s border with Leicestershire, before continuing into Nottinghamshire, just past Long Eaton. Other important rivers are the Dove, the Derwent, and the Erewash. The Dove forms the boundary with Staffordshire for most of its course, joining the Trent near Repton. The Derwent rises in the High Peak, then flows southward, joining the Trent near Long Eaton. The Erewash forms part of the boundary with Nottinghamshire. The Trent and Mersey Canal (Grand Junction Canal) crosses the southernmost part of the county.

The Peak District has been designated by The Countryside Agency as a national park. Dove Dale, in the Peak, presents some of the most beautiful river scenery in England. The valley of the Derwent also has great charm, especially at Derwent Edge in the High Peak, where there are curious rock formations, and from where the Derwent reservoirs can be seen. Miller’s Dale is where the River Wye runs between Buxton and Bakewell. There are several caves in the High Peak near Castleton, the most noteworthy of which is Peak Cavern, which, like Poole’s Cavern, near Buxton, has spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. Other caverns include Speedwell Cavern, which has a large underground lake at its centre (Bottomless Pit), and Treak Cliff Cavern. The Pennine Way footpath enters the north of the county and continues to the High Peak and the village of Edale. The High Peak Trail runs north-westward from High Peak Junction near Wirksworth. Mam Tor, known as the shivering mountain, is the site of an Iron Age fort.

III.

Climate

Derbyshire’s climate is moderate, but somewhat cooler and damper overall than that of the surrounding counties as a result of the high hills of the Peak District. Average annual rainfall is in the 635 to 760 mm (25 to 30 in) range in the south of the county, but rises to 1,520 to 2,540 mm (60 to 100 in) in the north. In winter, snow can fall heavily in the Peak District, making many of its roads impassable, especially, for instance, the A57 as it goes through Snake Pass.

IV.

Wildlife

The Peak District can be regarded as a vast nature reserve, populated by all manner of small animals, including hares, voles, and rabbits, and birds such as grouse, dunlin, goshawks, larks, and twites. Its varied soils bring forth a profusion of wildflowers, among them the giant bellflower and Jacob’s Ladder.

V.

Population and Administration

The population of Derbyshire is about 734,581 (2001). The principal towns are Chesterfield (2001, 98,852) and Bolsover (1991, 11,743). In addition to Matlock (1991, 14,680), the administrative centre, other towns of note include Alfreton (1991, 22,822), Bakewell (1991, 3,818), Belper (1991, 18,213), Buxton (1991, 19,854), Dronfield (1991, 22,985), Glossop (1991, 25,050), Heanor (1991, 22,180), Long Eaton (1991, 44,826), and Ripley (1991, 18,310).

Until 1974, Derbyshire was administered by a county council, and by eight second-tier local government district councils: Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak, North-East Derbyshire, and South Derbyshire. Following local government changes in 1974, Derbyshire also included the city of Derby. However, further changes resulted in Derby's separation from the county on April 1, 1997, to become a unitary authority responsible for all local government services, including those previously provided by the county council. For ceremonial purposes Derby remains part of Derbyshire county. The change was implemented under recommendations of the Local Government Commission, set up under 1992 legislation to review local administration in England. The police authority is the Derbyshire Constabulary, which has its headquarters in Ripley.

VI.

Education and Culture

Until the April 1997 administrative changes the main higher education institution in the county was the University of Derby (Derby College of Higher Education until 1992). Repton School, a public school, was founded in 1557.

Many of the small towns and villages in Derbyshire have wells, and “well-dressing” is a widespread custom. Elaborate floral decorations, including pictures made entirely of flowers, are placed over the wells. Wirksworth and Tissington are especially noted for the quality of their well-dressing.

Derbyshire’s most famous item of food is the Bakewell Pudding (never properly called “Bakewell Tart”). It is still made in Bakewell to a secret recipe, but its basic ingredients are known to be butter, eggs, sugar, and a little almond essence. These are mixed together, poured on top of pastry that has been spread with jam, and cooked. The county is also noted for its cheese. Derby is a mild cheese, which develops a more mature flavour if kept for some time. In many parts of the county various flavourings were added to the cheese, the most common of which was sage leaves. Sage Derby was traditionally made for eating on special occasions, such as Christmas, but has now become popular and generally available in foodstores all over the country.

Derby County FC is the region’s most successful football team. Chesterfield FC also plays league football, based in Chesterfield. Derbyshire is one of the premier cricketing counties and Derbyshire County Cricket Club has its headquarters in Derby.

Actors John Hurt and Alan Bates were both born in the county at Chesterfield and Allestree respectively. The Everest mountaineer Alison Hargreaves and the yachtswoman Ellen McArthur were both also born in the region. The designer Vivienne Westwood was born in Glossop, Francis Firth, the pioneering photographer in Chesterfield, and the inventor of the “bouncing bomb”, Barnes Wallis, hailed from Ripley.

VII.

Economy

Much of Derbyshire is devoted to agriculture, with many dairy and sheep farms. Mixed farming is prevalent in the lower land in the south of the county, while the hills of the north are much used for grazing. The county has suffered in the recent past from the failure of factories and the closure of coal mines, but opencast mining continues, and considerable efforts have been made to attract new industries. The main industrial activities are engineering, metals production, and the manufacturing of machinery, motor vehicles, textiles, clothing, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and bricks. The main focus of the textile industry is in the north of the county. Long Eaton in Erewash is famous for its lacemaking. Swadlincote in the south is a centre for the production of tiles and pipes.

Limestone is quarried near Buxton and Wirksworth, and the county has deposits of zinc, manganese, and particularly fluorite, which is mined for use in the manufacture of iron, and steel, and lenses for microscopes. Blue John, a variety of fluorite that has bands of colour, is found in the Peak District; it is used as a gemstone and for the manufacture of small ornamental objects.

Tourism is important: Buxton, Matlock, and Bakewell are spa towns, with medicinal springs that have been popular since Roman times.

VIII.

Places of Interest

The towns of Matlock, Buxton, Bolsover, and Chesterfield all have special attractions. At Matlock Bath the 230 m (750 ft) Heights of Abraham can be reached by cable car, for excellent views over the countryside. The spa town of Buxton has fine buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, including its Opera House. At Bolsover, the ruins of the “castle” are in fact those of a 16th-century house, rather than of the Norman fortress that stood there formerly. Chesterfield has the famous twisted spire of All Saints Church. Eyam, some 8 km (5 mi) north of Bakewell, has many mementoes dating from 1665 when the plague reached the village, which then cut itself off to prevent the spread of the disease to the surrounding population; after more than a year of total isolation, three quarters of the inhabitants had died. Repton, a small town 10 km (6 mi) south of Derby, was in the 7th century the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.

The National Tramway Museum, with working tramcars, is at Crich. Near Ripley the Midland Railway Centre, a recreation of an old steam railway, can be found. In Buxton, the Micrarium shows exhibits as seen through a microscope. In the village of Cromford, which was built to accommodate workers in the water-powered cotton mills of Sir Richard Arkwright, is a museum devoted mainly to Arkwright; a short distance from it is the Peak District Mining Museum. Derbyshire has a large number of elegant stately homes, including some of the most important in the country. They include Haddon Hall, near Bakewell, and Calke Abbey and Kedleston Hall, near Derby. Most memorable, however, are Hardwick Hall, in Glapwell, near Chesterfield, and Chatsworth House, near Bakewell. Hardwick Hall is an imposing Elizabethan mansion, built between 1591 and 1597 by Bess of Hardwick, probably the most powerful woman in the land after Elizabeth I. Chatsworth is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire. It has nearly 200 rooms and magnificent gardens, and is set in a large park through which both the River Derwent and a public road run. Derwent Valley Mills, a World Heritage Site, is a series of industrial settlements (of former mills and workers’ quarters) in the lower Derwent River Valley.

IX.

History

Limestone caves at Creswell Crags, in the north-east of the county, had human occupants from at least the early Stone Age. Taddington Moor, between Buxton and Bakewell, is the site of early Bronze Age burial chambers carved into the limestone; some 15 km (10 mi) south-east of Buxton at Arbor Low there are Bronze Age burial barrows, and a 4,000-year-old circle of stones, sometimes called the “Stonehenge of the North”. Between Matlock and Bakewell at Stanton Moor is another Bronze Age circle of stones, known as Nine Ladies, and a cave called the Hermitage, in which sacred carvings can be seen. There are Saxon barrows and burial grounds near Bakewell and Wirksworth.

The first invaders to settle in Derbyshire were Angles, who came to the area in the 6th century. By 848 the county was part of the kingdom of Mercia, and Repton was the seat of the Mercian council. The Danes captured Repton in 874, and, having extended their control, founded Derby (then called Deoraby), which became one of the five boroughs of the Danelaw. After the Norman Conquest, a large part of the county was granted to William Peverel, who also owned substantial areas of what is now Nottinghamshire. His son was disinherited in 1155 for having poisoned the Earl of Chester, and the estates passed to the Crown. During the Wars of the Roses, Derbyshire did not offer its support to either of the dynasties. At the start of the English Civil War the county was strongly Royalist, but soon changed to the Parliamentary cause, although the city of Derby, which had welcomed Charles I on a visit in 1642, did not surrender until 1646. In December 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, went to Derby, where he was well received. However, the town was the furthest point south that the Jacobites reached, and he was soon forced to retreat northward.

Until the 18th century, Derbyshire was a mainly rural area, although it was renowned for the production of lead during the Middle Ages. However, it played an important part in the Industrial Revolution. The first true factory in England is believed to have been the silk mill that was built in Derby in 1717 by John Lombe, using the Derwent as a source of power for the machines. The Derwent was also used by Sir Richard Arkwright and Jedediah Strutt when they opened the country’s first water-powered cotton mill at Cromford in 1771. Strutt had earlier invented a machine that made ribbed stockings, known as the “Derby rib”. The production of porcelain began in Derby in the middle of the 18th century.