725 



DERBYSHIRE. 



DERBYSHIRE. 



728 



together by currents, or the decomposition of the grit and micaceous 

 saudstone in the grit or limestone shale. 



The climate of Derbyshire varies according to the situation and 

 height of the land above the level of the sea. The quantity of rain 

 that falls in the mountainous parts is much greater than that in the 

 low country : at Chatsworth, for instance, the annual fall of rain is 

 about 28-41, and at Derby 24'77 inches. The time of harvest is 

 rather late in exposed situations, and is frequently much protracted 

 by abundant rams in the month of October. 



The wheat produced on the red land is good and heavy. When the 

 wheat has failed during the winter, and looks poor and thin in spring, 

 it used to be a common practice to sow barley amongst it ; the mixed 

 produce was called ' blend,' and was ground to a coarse meal of which 

 bread was made for the labourers. Spring wheat has been found a 

 better substitute, and blend ia now seldom met with. Haver cake 

 made of oatmeal is still a common bread of the labourers, although 

 wheaten bread is now very generally preferred. 



Potatoes are raised in considerable quantities, both in garden plots 

 and in the fields, where they are planted in rows and moulded up 

 with the plough. The produce on good loams, well manured, 

 especially on land ploughed up from grass, is very great. 



A large proportion of the lauds is in permanent pastures, of which 

 some are very rich. Derbyshire cheese is noted as of a good quality, 

 and the best is often sold for Cheshire or Gloucester when made of 

 the shape and colour of these cheeses. The common Derbyshire 

 cheese ia not generally coloured. It resembles some kinds of Dutch 

 cheeses, and keeps well. 



There are some very highly productive meadows along the course 

 of the rivers in this county, but an improved system of embankment 

 and irrigation is still wanting in many favourable situations. The 

 meadows along the Dove and other rivers are from their situation 

 very gubject to sudden floods, which endanger the safety of the cattle 

 grazing in them. Some of the upland pastures are very rich, and 

 will fatten the heaviest oxen. There are many woods and coppices 

 scattered through the county. The coppices are allowed to grow for 

 20 or 25 years before they are cut, in order that the poles may acquire 

 a considerable size, and be proper for supporting the roofs and sides 

 of excavations in mines and coal-pits, or fit to make ladders of. 



The horned cattle of Derbyshire have no peculiar character. The 

 various improved breeds are met with in the richer pastures, and 

 hardier animals on the mountains. The sheep on the hills are similar 

 to those found on the Cheviot Hills ; in the valleys the Leicester and 

 South Down breeds, and various crosses, are generally preferred by 

 the best farmers. The Derbyshire breed of horses is good, and many 

 are bred in this county which are fitted for the carriage and the 

 laddie, as well as for the farm, and form an important article in the 

 profits of some of the larger form.*. 



J'ifiiioin, Towns, ttc. The divisions of Derbyshire for civil purposes 

 were anciently called wapentakes ; and of these divisions the Domesday 

 Survey mentions five : Scarvedale (Scarsdale), Hamestau (supposed to 

 be what is now called the High Peak Hundred), Murlestan (Morleston), 

 Walecroas (supposed to be what is now the hunared of Repton and 

 Oresley), and Apultre (Appletree) ; besides a district called Peche 

 Fere (Peak Forest). A document of a somewhat later date (the 

 ' Hundred Boll,' A.D. 1273) si>eaks of the wapeutakes of Peck (Peak), 

 Scarvedale, Apeltre, Repindon (Repington or Repton), Greselegh 

 (Gresley), Littlechirch (Litchurch), and Wyrkesworth (Wirksworth). 

 Other records speak of the hundreds of Risley (Gresley?), and 

 Sawley. The present division is as follows. The Wirksworth division 

 ia still called wapentake : the others are called hundreds. 



1. High Peak, north and north-west, and central; 2. Wirksworth 

 west and central ; 3. Scarsdale, east and central ; 4. Morleston and 

 Litchurch, south-east ; 5. Appletree, south-west and central ; 6. 

 Repington or Repton and Gresley, south. . 



There is in Derbyshire only one parliamentary borough and market- 

 town, Derby ; the other market-towns are sixteen. Of the following 

 an account will be found under their respective articles : -Alfreton, 

 between Derby and Chesterfield, Ashbourne, Ashover, near the East 

 Moor, Bakewell, on the Wye, Belper, on the Derwent, Buxton near 

 the head of the Wye, Chapul-on-le-Frith, in the High Peak, Chester- 

 field, on the Rother, Crich, between the Amber and Derwent, Ilkeston, 

 in the valley of the Erewash, and Wirksworth, between Derby and 

 Matlock. Of the other towns, namely, Cromford, Dronfield, Heauor, 

 Tideawell, and Winster, with the town of Melbourne, wo subjoin an 

 account. There are several other places which formerly had 

 marketa. 



Cromford ia chiefly on the right bank of the Derwent; 15 miles 

 N. from Derby ; population of the township 1190. It lies in a deep 

 valley, inclosed on the north, south, and west, by lofty limestone 

 rocka. The late Sir Richard Arkwright erected here a spacious 

 cotton-mill on the left bank of the Derwent ; it is now occupied by 

 the Mensra. Arkwright, his grandsons, who employ in these mills and 

 those at Maaaon, a little higher up the Derwent, several hundred 

 persons. The houses and mills are chiefly built of gritstone. The 

 church is a plain building, begun by the late Sir R. Arkwright, and 

 finished by his son. There are places of worship belonging to the 

 Wesleyan Methodiate ; National and British schools ; and almshouses 

 for nix poor widows. Lead-mines are worked in the neighbourhood ; 



lapis calaminaris is ground and prepared, and red lead manufactured. 

 There is here a station of the Manchester and Matlock Junction 

 railway. The Cromford canal terminates here, and the Cromford and 

 High Peak railway joins the canal a short distance south of the town. 

 The market is held on Saturday, and there are two fairs in the course 

 of the year. 



Dronfield is on the road between Chesterfield and Sheffield, about 

 30 miles N. from Derby : population of the township, 2469. The 

 parish church is beautifully situated on a hill ; it has a fine tower 

 and spire, chiefly in the decorated style. There are meeting-houses 

 for Quakers, Wesleyans, and Independents. Some manufactures are 

 carried on, chiefly of iron goods, as railway wheels, cast-iron chains 

 and nails, axes, chisels, and other edge-tools, and agricultural imple- 

 ments. The market has been discontinued. 



ffeanor is 9 miles N.E. from Derby : population of the township 

 3427. The church is of the early English style. There are 

 Independent, Baptist, and Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist meeting- 

 houses in the parish. Heauor is well situated for trade, the Erewash 

 Canal passing through the parish, and the neighbouring district 

 having many coal-pits. There are manufactories for cotton goods, 

 hosiery, and bobbin-net lace. The market was on Wednesday, but 

 has, we believe, been discontinued. 



Melbourne, 8 miles S.S.E. from Derby; population of the town 

 2227. The church, which is partly Norman, contains several monu- 

 ments of the Hardinge family. The Independents, Baptists, Wesleyan 

 Methodists, and Swedenborgians have chapels. There are here a 

 mechanics institute and a National school. A customary market is 

 held on Saturday. Viscount Melbourne has a handsome seat here. 



Tideswell is about 35 miles N.N.W. from Derby ; population of the 

 township 2035. It is a small town situated in a bottom amid bleak 

 naked hills. The houses are low, irregularly situated, and ill-built. 

 A rivulet of clear water runs through the town; the ebbing well, 

 which is supposed to have given name to the town, has ceased to flow. 

 The church is a fine building in the form of a cross, built about the 

 middle of the 14th century. The chancel is lighted by nine richly 

 ornamented gothic windows, and contains the monument of Robert 

 Pursglove, suffragan bishop of Hull in the reign of Mary, and founder 

 of a Free school and almshouses for twelve poor people at Tideswell. 

 The Roman Catholics, Independents, and Wesleyan and Primitive 

 Methodists have places of worship in the town. The market is on 

 Wednesday. 



Winster is 24 miles N.N.W. from Derby : population of the town- 

 ship 928. This little town runs along the side of a steep eminence. 

 The houses are built of limestone, and are partly thatched and partly 

 covered with stone : they are intermingled with orchards and gardens. 

 The church has been recently rebuilt. The Wesleyan and Primitive 

 Methodists have chapels. The market is on Saturday. The inha- 

 bitants are chiefly engaged in mining. On the commons in the 

 neighbourhood of Wiuster are numerous barrows. 



The following are some of the more important villages, with their 

 population iu 1851, and a few other particulars: 



Aihford, 25 miles N.W. from Derby, population 777, adjoins Bake- 

 well, of which parish it is a chapelry. The church is ancient. In 

 the village are extensive marble works. There are also quarries of 

 limestone, and lead mines. The scenery of the Wye about Ashford, 

 particularly along Monsal Dale, is exceedingly beautiful, and is much 

 resorted to by tourists and anglers. Beauchief, 32 miles N. from 

 Derby, population 133, is noteworthy as containing some remains 

 of Beauchief Abbey, a Prernonstratensian monastery founded in 

 1183 by Robert Fitz Randolph. BeigUon, 34 miles N. by E. from 

 Derby, on the north-eastern border of the county : population of the 

 parish, 1123. The church is ancient. There are Methodist chapels 

 and a Free school. Scythes and reaping-hooks are largely manufac- 

 tured here, and at Hackington, a hamlet to Brighton. At Birley is a 

 spring of mineral waters, which has been much resorted to for bathing 

 and drinking. The North Midland railway crosses the river Rother 

 at Beighton by a very large and substantial bridge, and enters York- 

 shire. There is a station here. Bradwell, a large village 34 miles 

 N.N.W. from Derby : population, 1334. The inhabitants are chiefly 

 miners ; some hatmaking is carried on. The Wesleyan and Primitive 

 Methodists and Unitarians have places of worship. The village 

 possesses an Endowed Free school, and some parochial charities. Brad- 

 well cavern is an extensive natural cavern containing many recesses or 

 grottoes, and is remarkable for the beauty of its stalactites. Brailsford, 

 a large village 7 miles W.N.W. from Derby : population of the 

 parish, 708. The church is handsome and has a lofty tower. The 

 Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists have places of worship, and there 

 is a National school. Brampton, 27 miles N. from Derby ; the parish 

 is very extensive, being 7 miles by 34 miles : population, 4409. 

 Besides the parish church there is a new church at New Brampton. 

 The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists have places of worship, and 

 there is a National school. There are large factories of iron, earthen- 

 ware, and needles. Brimmington, 26 miles N. by E. from Derby : 

 population of the chapelry, 1103. There are here a church built in 

 1847, chapels for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, and a National 

 school. Coitleton, 35 miles N.N.W. from Derby : population of the 

 township, 867. The church is ancient, and has a tower with eight 

 beDs. There is a Wesleyan chapel. In the parish are some lead 



