History of Derbyshire

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Derbyshire is a county in England with a very long history. People have lived there for more than 10,000 years, since the last Ice Age. The county’s name comes from the Old English word for a “shire,” a district with its own ruler, and Derby was its main town.

Geography and landscape
- The White Peak in the north of the county gets its name from the light-colored limestone of the Derbyshire Dome. This limestone sits on a high, flat plateau about 200–300 meters above sea level.
- To the west, north and east lies a horseshoe of younger sandstones and shales called the Dark Peak.

Prehistoric and ancient sites
- Derbyshire has many ancient monuments. Creswell Crags near the border with Nottinghamshire holds cave art, stone axes and animal bones.
- Arbor Low is the largest Neolithic stone circle in the county, along with other sites like Doll Tor, Nine Ladies, and Nine Stones Close.
- Lismore Fields in Buxton has evidence of early Stone and Mesolithic settlements.
- There were Iron Age hillforts at Castle Naze, Fin Cop and Mam Tor.

Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods
- In Roman times, Derbyshire was part of the province Flavia Cæsariensis and earlier people lived in the land of the Coretani. The Romans built forts at Little Chester (Derventio), Chesterfield, Glossop (Melandra) and Navio (near Buxton), plus many roads and mines.
- A famous Roman bath town formed around Buxton’s natural springs, called Aquae Arnemetiae. Lead mining thrived in the Wirksworth area (Lutudarum).
- After the Romans, Derbyshire was part of the kingdom of Mercia in Anglo-Saxon times. Repton was a important center on the River Trent. The Vikings also occupied Derby for a while, and Heath Wood near Repton contains a Viking cemetery—the only known Scandinavian cremation site in the British Isles.

formation of Derbyshire as a county
- After the Norman Conquest, Derbyshire developed in a system of hundreds for administration. The Domesday Book lists several hundreds here, and there were some cross-border changes over time, including a small part that belonged to Leicestershire for many years. Some parishes later moved to nearby Sheffield in South Yorkshire, while Derbyshire itself kept eight traditional divisions for much of its history.

The Peak Forest and landscapes
- The Royal Forest of Peak was a large hunting area stretching over much of north-west Derbyshire, managed by William Peverel.

Elizabethan era to Civil War
- In the late 16th century, several grand houses were built, including Chatsworth House, Hardwick Hall, Padley Hall and Barlborough Hall.
- Mary Queen of Scots was kept at Chatsworth at times during the 1570s–80s, and she could visit the Buxton spa for rheumatic problems with guards watching over her.
- During the English Civil War (1642–1646), Derbyshire supported the Parliamentarians. Derby was fortified, and battles and sieges occurred nearby. The Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth fought for the Crown and later returned after the Restoration in 1660. Eyam famously quarantined itself during the Great Plague of 1665–1666.

Industrial beginnings and growth
- In the early 1700s, Richard Arkwright built cotton-spinning mills by the River Derwent at Cromford and Matlock Bath, helping to start the factory system. The Derwent Valley Mills area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- The Cromford and High Peak Railway opened in 1831 to move goods between waterways.
- Quarries and lime burning around Buxton supplied lime for industry, and lead mining continued in the region with mills and newer machinery improving production.
- Derby grew as an engineering hub and became a major railway manufacturing center with the North Midland Railway.

Spa towns and tourism
- Buxton and Matlock Bath developed as spa towns in the 18th and 19th centuries, attracting visitors from across the country.

Local government in modern times
- Derbyshire County Council was established in 1889 and later reformed in 1972.
- The county is divided into eight boroughs. Derby, the county town, became a separate unitary authority in 1997 but remains part of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire.