721 



DERBYSHIRE. 



DERBYSHIRE. 



722 



In its progress the Derwent receives on the right bank the Westeud 

 River, the Ashop, and the Noe : on the left bank it is joined by the 

 river Wye, and the brooks Burbage and Barbrook. The Wye rises 

 near the Axe Edge Hill in the principal ridge of the Pennine chain, 

 and flows to the south-east through Miller's Dale and Monsal Dale, 

 and past the town of Bakewell into the Derwent : its whole course 

 is more than 20 miles. From the junction of the Wye the Derwent 

 continues to flow in a south-south-easterly direction to Derby, and 

 receives on the left bank the river Amber, and on the right bank the 

 Ecclesburn. Below Derby the Derwent runs south-east with a sinuous 

 course of about 1 2 miles into the Trent. Its whole course is about 

 60 to 65 miles. The scenery of the Derwent is very varied and 

 frequently very beautiful. The banks are often luxuriantly wooded, 

 but in some places they rise into bare precipitous rocks, while the 

 stream itself at times flows in a smooth still current, and at others 

 forces its way impetuously over a rugged rocky bed. The course of 

 the Wye is generally through narrow dells with precipitous sides : 

 it receives a small tributary, the Lathkill, just before it falls into the 

 Derwent. 



The Dove rises on the border of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, in 

 the slope of the Axe Edge Hill, and is throughout its course the 

 boundary between the counties. Its course is nearly south, with but 

 little variation eastward for about 20 miles, to Hanging Bridge by 

 'urne, near which it receives a stream which comes from the 

 village of Parwick, and the Schoo, which rises near Wirksworth, 

 and (lows by Ashbourne into the Dove, after a course of about 

 10 miles. The Dove, in the upper part of its course, and especially 

 along the famous Dove Dale, is one of the most beautiful of English 

 streams. In parts the mingling of graceful foliage with the pic- 

 turesque rocks which rise abruptly from the bed of the river, and the 

 clear sparkling water with its brilliant reflections produce a richness 

 and beauty of effect which, in its way, can scarcely be surpassed. 

 After receiving the Schoo, the Dove is joined by the Churnet, its 

 largest Staffordshire tributary, and by several minor streams, and 

 falls into the Trent just below Burton. The whole course of the 

 Dove may be estimated at 45 miles. The waters of this river have 

 a clear blue tint, deepening through various shades to a dark purple. 

 It frequently overflows its banks in the spring ; and the fertilising 

 effect of these floods has given rise to the distich - 

 " In April, Dove's flood 



Is worth a king's good." 



Sometimes, however, the waters rise with such rapidity and violence 

 as to be very destructive. 



The Erewaiih rises in Nottinghamshire, near the village of Kirkby, 

 and flowing west-south-west for about three miles reaches the border 

 of Derbyshire, and then flows, first south-west and then south by 

 east along the boundary of the two counties into the Trent. Its 

 whole course is about 20 miles. The Meae rises in Leicestershire, 

 near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and flows first south-south-west, then west, 

 and then north-north-west into the Trent. Its course, which is about 

 20 miles, is for a short distance in the detached portion of Derbyshire, 

 partly on the border of the county, and partly beyond the border hi 

 the counties of Leicester and Stafford. 



The Trent crosses Derbyshire in a direction nearly north-east. It 

 touches the border five or six miles north-east of Lichfield, just at 

 the point where the Mease falls into it, and flows about 10 miles 

 nearly north, along the border of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, past 

 Burton-upon-Trent, in Staffordshire, near which, after receiving the 

 Dove, it quite the border and runs nearly due east through Derby- 

 shire for about 11 miles to the border of Leicestershire. It then 

 turns east-north-east and runs for about 10 miles along the border, 

 separating Derbyshire from Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, till 

 it receives the Erewash, after which it quits Derbyshire altogether. 

 The Derwent falls into it about 5 miles above the junction of the 

 Erewoah. About 31 miles of the course of the Trent are thus upon 

 or within the Derbyshire border. The Trent is navigable from 

 Burton-upon-Trent, but in 1805 the navigation was given up by 

 agreement with the proprietors of the Trent and Mersey Canal, 

 which runs by its side, and the navigation of the river now commences 

 at the junction of the Derwent. 



The Goyt rises near Axe Edge, and flows north-north-west along 

 the border of Derbyshire and Cheshire, about 14 miles, till its 

 junction with the Etherow, which has a south-west course of about 

 15 or 16 miles chiefly on the border of the same counties. The 

 springs of the Etherow are in Yorkshire and Cheshire. The united 

 stream of these two rivers flows into the Mersey at Stockport. They 

 receive many small streams from the adjacent part (the High Peak) 

 of Derbyshire. The Rotlier rises in the East Moor, a mile or two 

 east of CbatBworth Park, and flows eastward about 8 miles to Chester- 

 field, where it turns to the north-east and flows into Yorkshire. 

 About 23 miles of its course belong to Derbyshire. It joins the Don 

 at Uotherham in Yorkshire. The Dawley (10 miles long) is its only 

 Derbyshire tributary that requires notice. This rises on the Notting- 

 hamshire border and flows north past Bolsover. The Sheaf, which joins 

 the Don at Sheffield, the Wallin, the Poulter, and the Ryton, whose 

 waters flow directly or ultimately into the Idle, rise in Derbyshire. 



Derbyshire has several canals and railroads. The canals are 1, 

 Grand Trunk, or the Trent and Mersey Canal ; 2, the Erewash Canal ; 



OEOO. DJV. VOL. II. 



S, the Derby Canal ; 4, the Cromford Canal ; 5, the Nutbrook Canal ; 

 and 6, the Chesterfield Canal. The Peat Forest and the Ashby-de- 

 la-Zouch Canals have a small portion of their extent just within the 

 county, but rather belong, the former to Cheshire and the latter to 

 Leicestershire. We shall not therefore notice them here. 



The Trent and Mersey Canal belongs to Derbyshire from its 

 commencement in the river Trent, at Wilden Ferry (at the junction 

 of the Derwent), to Monk's Bridge, where the canal is carried for a 

 mile and a quarter over the flat meadows of the Dove valley on an 

 embankment 13 feet high, with aqueduct bridges over the Dove and 

 one or two other streams, containing 23 arches of from 12 to 15 feet 

 span: 12 of these arches are over the main branch of the Dove. 

 This canal was begun in 1766, and its whole extent is 93 miles. It 

 extends through Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire. 



The Erewash Canal commences in the Trent, midway between the 

 junction of the Derwent and that of the Erewash River, and runs 

 northward along the valley of the Erewash, first on the west and 

 then on the east side of that river, and terminates in the Cromford 

 Canal at Langley Bridge; that part of its course which is on the 

 east side of the Erewash belongs to Nottinghamshire. Its whole 

 length is nearly 11 miles. It has aqueduct arches over the Nut 

 Brook and the Erewash River. 



The Derby Canal is described under the town of DERBY. 



The Cromford Canal commences in the Erewash Canal at Langley 

 Bridge, and runs northward to the Codnor Park Iron-Works, following 

 the valley of the Erewash, and having the first part of its course on 

 the east side of that river in Nottinghamshire, and the latter part 

 on the west side in Derbyshire. From Coduor it sends off a branch, 

 two miles and a half or three miles long, along the valley of the 

 Erewash, on the right or Derbyshire side of that river, to the village 

 of Piuxton, while tho main line of the canal turns westward to the 

 valley of the Derwent, crossing the river Amber in its way ; it 

 then turns to the north-west, and follows the valley of the 

 Derwent, first on the left and then on the right side of that 

 river, to Cromford Bridge, where it terminates : the length of 

 the canal is nearly 15 miles. Between the valley of the Erewash 

 and that of the Derweut, this canal is carried through the higher 

 ground by a tunnel more than a mile and a half long. There are 

 three aqueduct bridges on the line of this canal. One is over the 

 Erewash ; one, Bull Bridge aqueduct, which is over the Amber, is 

 600 feet long and 50 feet high : the third aqueduct is over the 

 Derwent, at Wigwell, and is 600 feet long and 30 feet high ; the span 

 of the river arch is 80 feet. A railway from Mansfield communicates 

 with the Pinxton branch, and the Cromford and High Peak railway 

 communicates with the main line of the canal near its termination 

 at Cromford Bridge. 



The Nutbrook Canal commences at the collieries at Shipley, on 

 the right of the road from Derby to Mansfield, and runs nearly 

 south for four miles and a half into the Erewash Canal. Several 

 railways lead from the neighbouring collieries to the Nutbrook Canal, 

 the conveyance of coal being its chief object. 



The Chesterfield Canal commences in the tideway of the Trent, 

 below Gainsborough, and has the greater part of its course in 

 Nottinghamshire, and a small part ill Yorkshire. It enters Derby- 

 shire from Yorkshire near the village of Kilmarsh, in the valley of 

 the Rother, and runs southward along that valley to Chesterfield. 

 Its whole length is 46 miles, of which about 12 miles are in Derby- 

 shire. Many railways communicate with the canal, and are intended 

 to convey coal and iron from the collieries and iron-works. 



The principal mineral railway is the Cromford and High Peak 

 railway. The others are chiefly private property, and are designed 

 to convey the produce of mines, collieries, and iron-works to the 

 various canals. The Cromford and High Peak railway commences at 

 the Cromford Canal, near its termination at Cromford, and runs in 

 an irregular line north-west to the Peak Forest Canal, which it joins 

 at Wtaley Bridge, three or four miles west of Chapel-en-le-Frith. It 

 passes near Wirksworth and Buxton. Its length is nearly 34 miles, 

 and it has six inclined planes. 



The passenger railways of Derbyshire are chiefly connected with 

 the Midland line, which has its great central station at Derby. The 

 west branch of the Midland railway enters the county a short distance 

 north of Burton, and proceeds in a direction generally northward 

 past Derby and Chesterfield, a few miles beyond which it enters 

 Yorkshire ; its length within Derbyshire is about 40 miles. From 

 Derby a branch is carried eastward to meet the Nottingham branch 

 of the Midland at the Long Eaton station ; its length in Derbyshire 

 is about 9 miles. From tho Ambergate station of the Midland 

 railway a line called the Manchester, Matlock, and Midland Junction 

 is carried westward through Matlock and along Darley Dale to 

 Rowsley. The length of the Mutlock line, which is wholly in Derby- 

 shire, is 11J miles. The North Staffordshire railway, which leaves 

 the Midland at Burton, runs along the border of Derbyshire and 

 occasionally within the county, but it belongs more properly to 

 Staffordshire. A short branch of the North Staffordshire railway 

 leaves the main line at Rocester, and runs near the boundary of 

 Derbyshire and Staffordshire to the town of Ashbourne, about 

 7 miles. The Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire railway skirts 

 the northern boundary of the county, and has a short branch to Glossop. 



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