Derbyshire
Geography
Status:	Ceremonial & (smaller) Administrative County
Region:	East Midlands
Area: - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 21st 2,625 km² Ranked 20th 2,547 km²
Admin HQ:	Matlock
ISO 3166-2:	GB-DBY
ONS code:	17
NUTS 3:	UKF12/13
Demographics
Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 20th 962,502 367 / km² Ranked 11th 739,253
Ethnicity:	96.0% White 2.3% S.Asian
Politics
Derbyshire County Council http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/
Executive:	Labour
Members of Parliament
Harry Barnes, Margaret Beckett, Liz Blackman, Paul Holmes, Bob Laxton, Tom Levitt, Judy Mallaber, Patrick McLoughlin, Dennis Skinner, Mark Todd
Districts
High Peak Derbyshire Dales South Derbyshire Erewash Amber Valley North East Derbyshire Chesterfield Bolsover Derby (Unitary)

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, which boasts some of England's most attractive hill and mountain scenery. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains part of the National Forest, and borders on Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.

It has a two-tier local government, with a county council based in Matlock and eight district councils. Apart from 13 towns with between 10,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, there is a large amount of sparsely populated agricultural upland: 75% of the population live in 25% of the area. Although Derbyshire is generally considered to be in the East Midlands, some parts, such as High Peak, are closer to the northern cities of Manchester and Sheffield and the people there overwhelmingly think of themselves as being northerners.

Before 1998 the county included the city of Derby. Derby is now a unitary authority, but remains part of Derbyshire for ceremonial purposes.

Contents

1 History 2 Settlements 3 Places of interest 4 See also

History

Main article: History of Derbyshire.

Derbyshire was traditionally divided into six hundreds, namely Appletree , High Peak, Morleyston and Litchurch , Repton and Gresley , Scarsdale , Wirksworth . These were based on the seven earlier wapentakes recorded in the Domesday Book, with the merging of Repton and Gresley wapentakes.

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.

Settlements

This is a list of the towns in Derbyshire; for a complete list of settlements see list of places in Derbyshire.

• Alfreton, Alton , Ashbourne, Ashford-in-the-Water
• Bakewell, Bamford, Baslow, Beeley , Belper, Birch Vale , Bolehill , Bolsover, Borrowash , Brassington, Bretby, Brimington , Burbage , Buxton
• Calver , Castleton, Chapel-en-le-Frith , Charlesworth , Chelmorton , Chesterfield, Chinley, Clay Cross , Clowne , Cressbrook , Creswell, Cromford, Crowden , Curbar
• Derby, Dronfield, Duffield
• Earl Sterndale , Eckington, Edale, Edensor , Eyam
• Fernilee
• Gamesley, Glossop, Great Hucklow
• Hadfield, Hartington, Hathersage, Hayfield, Heage, Heanor, Hope
• Ilkeston
• Little Hucklow , Long Eaton
• Marston Montgomery , Marston on Dove , Matlock, Melbourne , Miller's Dale , Morley
• New Mills, Newhaven
• Over Haddon ,Osmaston
• Parwich , Peak Forest
• Riber , Ripley
• Shipley , Shirebrook, Staveley, Stoney Middleton , Stretton , Sudbury , Swadlincote
• Tansley, Taxal , Thornhill, Tibshelf , Tideswell, Tunstead Milton
• Walton , Wardlow , Whaley Bridge, Whitwell, Wirksworth
• Youlgreave

Places of interest

• Alfreton Hall
• Alsop Hall
• Arbor Low Stone Circle - English Heritage
• Barlborough Hall
• Bradbourne Hall
• Bradley Hall
• Bretby Hall, see also: Earls of Chesterfield
• Buxton Hall
• Buxton Museum & Art Gallery
• Calke Abbey - National Trust
• Carsington Reservoir
• Chatsworth - a stately home, part of Treasure Houses of England; see also: Dukes of Devonshire
• Coxbench Hall
• Derwent Reservoir
• Derwent Valley Mills - a World Heritage Site
• Ednaston Manor
• Eyam Hall
• Fenney Bentley Old Hall
• Flagg Hall
• Glossop Hall
• Great Longstone Hall
• Haddon Hall
• Hartington Hall
• Heage Windmill
• Heights of Abraham
• Hob Hurst's House - English Heritage
• Howden Reservoir
• Ilam Hall
• Kedleston Hall
• Kinder Scout
• Ladybower Reservoir
• Longdendale chain of reservoirs
• Longdendale Trail, a long distance footpath
• Longford Hall
• Mam Tor
• National Tramway Museum, Crich
• National Stone Centre , Wirksworth
• Nine Ladies Stone Circle - English Heritage
• Norbury Hall
• Ogston Reservoir
• Parwich Hall
• Peveril Castle
• Renishaw Hall
• Riber Castle
• Speedwell Cavern
• Sudbury Hall - National Trust
• Sutton Scarsdale Hall - English Heritage
• Thornbridge Hall
• Tissington Hall
• Well dressing - an ancient custom
• Wingfield Manor - English Heritage

See also

• Derbyshire lead mining history