The history of Derbyshire can be traced back to human settlement since the last Ice Age, over 10,000 years ago. The county of Derbyshire in England dates back to the 11th century.[1]
The origins of Derbyshire
Derbyshire is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1048 in Manuscript D, known as the "Northern Recension".[2] Its creation appears to be a result of the dismemberment of the Mercian Kingdom's province of the Peak District and the chronicle says, under 1048: “her wæs eac eorðstyrung on Kalendas Maias on manegum stowum, on Wygracestre on Wic on Deorby elles gehwær, eac wæs swiðe mycel mancwealm orfcwealm, eac þæt wilde fyr on Deorbyscire micel yfel dyde gehwær elles.” ("This year also there was an earthquake, on the calends of May, in many places; at Worcester, at Wick, and at Derby, and elsewhere wide throughout England; with very great loss by disease of men and of cattle over all England; and the wild fire in Derbyshire and elsewhere did much harm").[3]
Some old sources wrongly refer to a charter from 926 for land at Hope and Ashford as being “in Derbyshire” but the original of the charter does not say Derbyshire, it just says Hope and Ashford. On the other hand, the later and final appearance of the Mercian Kingdom's province of the Peak District occurs in a charter of King Edgar in 963, where land at Ballidon near Wirksworth is being granted. This charter refers to the land as being “in pago Pecset” not "on Deorbyscire".[4]
Administrative change of the Mercian provinces is often attributed to King Edgar and if this were so then his charters would reflect it, but the Ballidon charter of 963 does not. Therefore, it is more likely that the shiring of Derbyshire and the dismemberment of the Pecsaete took place after 975 in the reign of Æthelred the Unready[5] with the remainder of the Peak District being hived off to Nottinghamshire (two hundreds); Cheshire (one hundred) and Staffordshire (one, possibly two, hundreds), the remaining seven forming Derbyshire.
The name Derbyshire is derived from the Old English word shire, meaning a division of a kingdom with its own governor, with the town of Derby being its administrative centre.[6]
Natural history
The White Peak area of the county is named after the limestone landscape of the Derbyshire Domeanticline. The carboniferous limestone was formed about 300 million years ago and the plateau is generally between 200m and 300m above sea level. This limestone outcrop is surrounded on the west, north and east by a horseshoe-shaped formation of younger sandstones (gritstones) and shales, known as the Dark Peak.[7]
Prehistory
Paleolithic remains of human settlement have been discovered at Creswell Crags (between Chesterfield and Worksop), in Dowel Cave and Fox Cave near Buxton and in Ash Tree Cave and Langwith Cave near Bolsover.[8][9][10][11] The finds in the caves at Creswell Crags gorge include ancient rock art, stone axes and bones from hyena and woolly rhinoceros.[12][13]
The Romans established military forts, roads and lead mining in Derbyshire, during their occupation of the province of Britannia during the 1st to 5th centuries. Forts were situated at Derventio (Little Chester near Derby), Chesterfield, Melandra (Glossop) and Navio (Brough-on-Noe). Each fort had a civilian settlement (vicus) around it. Aquae Arnemetiae (waters of the goddess of the grove) was a Roman bath town, founded around the natural warm springs of Buxton. Lutudarum was the Roman lead-mining centre in the area of Wirksworth and Carsington.[21]
The Viking cemetery at Heath Wood near Repton (south of Derby) contains a series of 59 barrows (burial mounds), which is the only known Scandinaviancremation site in the British Isles.[23]
Derbyshire was traditionally divided into Hundreds, namely Appletree, High Peak, Morleyston and Litchurch, Repton and Gresley, Scarsdale, Wirksworth. These were based on the six earlier Wapentakes recorded in the Domesday Book, with a split of Walecross Wapentake into Repton and Gresley and a split of Hamenstan Wapentake into High Peak and Wirksworth taking place, among other gradual changes in the Hundred or Wapentake names.[27] Derbyshire had a detached part in north-western Leicestershire, surrounding Measham and Donisthorpe. This escaped regularisation in 1844, and was incorporated into Leicestershire in 1888 when the county councils were set up. The thin strip of Leicestershire between the exclave and Derbyshire, containing Overseal and Netherseal, is now considered part of Derbyshire. Apart from this, some parishes in historic Derbyshire, including Dore, Norton and Totley, are now in the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, having formerly been in the Scarsdale Wapentake.
From the time of the Norman Conquest the Royal Forest of Peak was established as a royal hunting reserve and it covered most of the north west of Derbyshire. It was administered by William Peverel and in 1305 it extended over about 100 square miles.[28]
During the Great Plague of 1665–1666, the village of Eyam famously isolated itself to prevent spreading the bubonic plague to the surrounding towns and villages.[39]
Limestone quarrying and lime burning has taken place around Buxton for centuries. Demand for lime (also known as quicklime) grew dramatically during the Industrial Revolution. The arrival of the Cromford and High Peak Railway through Buxton generated further expansion of quarrying. During the 19th century lime from Buxton was supplied to make soda ash in Northwich for the Lancashire cotton industry and for glass manufacture in St Helens.[42]
Lead has been mined in Derbyshire since Roman times. In the late 16th century watered-powered smelting mills, with furnaces fired by wood or charcoal, were introduced to smelt lead ore on an industrial scale. Magpie Mine near Bakewell, Lathkill Dale mines and the Beans and Bacon mine near Bonsall adopted innovative machinery to increase production throughout the 17th to 19th centuries.[43][44][45][46]
Derby developed as an engineering centre in the 19th century and became a major railway manufacturing centre as the base for the North Midland Railway.[47]
Georgian and Victorian
Buxton and Matlock Bath were developed as spa towns during the 18th century. The Dukes of Devonshire commissioned the building of the Crescent and Buxton Baths for Buxton to rival the spa towns of Bath and Harrogate. In 1698 warm springs were discovered at Matlock Bath and by Victorian times it had become a fashionable spa destination. The advent of the railways in the 19th century brought much greater numbers of visitors from London and Manchester into the Peak District towns.[48][49]