DERBYSHIRE was, in the time of the Britons, a portion of the district which constituted the kingdom of the Co-ritani. During the government of the Romans, it formed a part of Britannia Prima, and under the Heptarchy it was included in the kingdom of Mercia. It is situated nearly in the centre c∙f England, and is bounded on the cast by the county of Nottingham and a part of Leicestershire; on the west it is divided from Staffordshire and Cheshire by the rivers Trent, Dove, the Etlierow, and Goyt; on the north it has Yorkshire and a part of Cheshire, and on the south is Leicestershire. Its figure is very irregular, but approaches nearest to that of a triangle. The greatest length from south-east to north-west is about fifty-six miles, and its width from east-north-east to west-south-west thirty-three. It contains 972 square miles, or 622,080 statute acres.

This county is divided into the hundreds of High Peak, Scarsdale, Appletree, Repton and Gresley, Morleston and Littchurch, and the wapentake of Wirksworth. It contains sixteen market-towns, viz. Alfreton, Ashbourne, Ash-

over, Bakewell, Belper, Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Chesterfield, Crich, Cromford, Derby, Heanor, Ilkeston, Sideswell, Winster, and Wirksworth, lt consists of 117 parishes, is included as an archdeaconry in the diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, and is divided into six deaneries, viz. High Peak, Chesterfield, Ashbourne, Castíllar, Derby, and Repington. By the reform act this county returns four members to the House of Commons, and for that purpose it has been formed into two divisions. The northern part comprehends the whole of the hundreds of High Peak and Scarsdale, and so much of the wapentake of Wirksworth as is comprised in Bakewell division, and the polling-place is the town of Bakewell. The southern part comprehends the hundreds of Appletree, of Repton and Gresley, of Morleston and Littchurch, and the remainder of the wapentake of Wirksworth; and the polling-place for the division is the town of Derby. Derby gives the title of earl to the noble family of Stanley, Chesterfield the same to that of Stanhope, and Hartington affords the title of marquis to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire.

There is no English county which presents such a variety of scenery as Derbyshire. The surface of the southern district is, for the most part, pretty level, containing nothing remarkable in its hills, and consequently little of the picturesque. But the northern part abounds in hill and dale, and the scenery is in many places romantic and sublime. The county rising gradually from the south to the town of Wirksworth, and thence to the north, assumes a mountainous appearance, which it continues to possess to its extremity. These elevations are the commencement of that mountainous ridge which from thence divides the island and extends into Scotland. The highest points in the mountainous tract of Derbyshire are, Ax Edge, about three miles south-west of Buxton; Lord’s Seat, near Castleton; and Kinderscout, near the north-western extremity of the county. About the town of Derby, and to the south of it, the country is flat and low. In the hilly districts some of the valleys are very beautiful, particularly those of Castleton and Glossop; but what constitutes the most picturesque and singular scenery of this county is the great number and variety of smaller valleys or dales with which the limestone district abounds. These may differ in extent and some particular circumstances, but the general characteristics of them are precipitous rocks, of very singular and picturesque forms, with mountain streams and rivulets running through the lower parts of the dales, the sides of which are generally well wooded. The most celebrated of these are, Matlock-Dale, on the river Derwent; Monsal-Dale, the upper part of which is called Millers-Dale, on the river Wye; Middleton-Dale, Eyam-Dale, and Dove-Dale. In Matlock-Dale is a stupendous rock, called the High-Tor, rising almost perpendicularly from the river to the height of about 300 feet.

The soils of Derbyshire consist chiefly of clay, loam, sand, and peat, very irregularly intermixed. The southern part, which has been distinguished by the appellation of the fertile district, consists principally of a red loam, on various subsoils, which approaches to marl, clay, loam, sand, grit or gravel, according to the nature of the substratum, or its exposure to the atmosphere. Peat mosses are abundant in the northern part of the county denominated High Peak. The substrata of most of the southern portion of the county consist of gravel, intermixed with large portions of red marl of very irregular forms, in several parts of which are beds of gypsum of considerable extent. The substrata of the other parts of Derbyshire consist of limestone of various kinds, and toadstone; shale and gritstone; coal and indurated clay resting on each other, in alternate layers.

Derbyshire is a well-wooded county, and several of the [7:7:735]noblemen’s parks afford fine oak of very noble appearance. Those of Kedlestone Park, the seat of Lord Scarsdale, are supposed to be the largest and oldest in the kingdom, several being thought to be eight hundred years old.

The atmosphere and climate of Derbyshire vary very much in different parts. From its northern situation, even the southern part of the county is colder, and more frequently visited with rain, than many of the more central .counties. In summer, cold and thick fogs are frequently seen hanging over the rivers, and surrounding the bases of the hills, and hoar-frosts are not unfrequent even in the months of June and July. Owing to the great elevation of the northern parts, some kinds of grain will not grow at all in the Peak, and even that which is sown in the more sheltered places is seldom cut till late in the year. The winters are, in general, very severe, and the mountains attracting the clouds in their passage over them, cause this region to be distinguished from the others, by the greater quantity of rain which falls upon it.

The chief rivers arc, the Trent, the Derwent, the Wye, the Dove, the Etherow, the Earwash, and the Rother. The Trent does not intersect the county, but forms the boundary between it and Staffordshire on the south. The Derwent rises at the northern extremity of the county; its whole length is forty miles. It was formerly navigable from Wylne-Ferry up to Derby, but the navigation was abandoned when the Derby Canal was completed in 1795. The Wye has its origin a little to the north of Buxton, and falls into the Derwent near Rowsley. The Dove, which has its source in the High Peak, a few miles to the south of Buxton, is for many miles the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire; it falls into the Derwent near Newton-Sol-ney. The Wye and the Dove are celebrated for their trout and grayling fishing. The river Rother rises near Padley, and, after running by Chesterfield, enters Yorkshire near Killamarch. The Earwash flows from the skirts of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, and falls into the Trent near Long Eaton. The Etherow rises amongst the hills at the northern boundary of the county, flows nearly due south, dividing Derbyshire from Cheshire, and, meeting the Groyt near Marple, assumes the name of Mersey. The lesser rivers are, the Amber, Barbrook, Burbage, Ecclesburn, Goyt, Lathkill, Maese, and the Morledge.

Derbyshire has several canals intersecting it in different directions. The Trent and Mersey, or Grand Trunk Canal, communicating between Liverpool and London, and also with Bristol and Hull, was begun in 1776, by the celebrated Brindley, a native of the county, and completed in 1777, under his able successors Smeaton and Rennie. It passes through Derbyshire, from Burton to its termination at Wilden-Ferry, following the course of the Trent. The Chesterfield Canal was begun in 1771 by Brindley, and completed by his brother-in-law Mr Henshall in 1776. It enters the county at Killamarsh, and terminates at Chesterfield. The Langley Bridge, or Earwash Canal, begun in 1777 by Mr Jessop, commences in the Trent navigation, near Sawley, and terminates at Langley Mill. It runs parallel to the little river Earwash, and opens into the Cromford Canal. The Peak Forest Canal was commenced in 1794, and finished in 1800. It proceeds from the Ashton-under-Line Canal, near Dukinfield Bridge, and terminates at Chapel Milton, Derbyshire. The Cromford Canal was begun in 1789. Its line is wholly in Derbyshire, commencing at Langley Mill, where the Earwash terminates, and ending at Cromford. It was completed in 1794 by Mr Jessop. The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal, begun in 1793, but not finished until 1805, is connected with the southern part of Derbyshire; its line passing by Willesley and Measham. The line of the Derby Canal is entirely in this county; commencing in the Trent and Mersey Canal, north of Swarkstone, passing by Derby, with a branch to Little Eaton, and terminating in the Earwash Canal, half a mile south of Sandiacre. The Nutbrook Canal was made in 1793. It commences in the Earwash Canal, and, after running four miles and a half, finishes at Shipley Wharf.

This county is celebrated for its abundance of metals and minerals. They are various and plentiful, particularly in the limestone strata. Lead ore is found in several forms, but most commonly in galena or sulphuret of lead. That species called slickenside, having a smooth glossy surface, is found in the Odin and Castleton Mines. The portion of silver united to the Derbyshire lead is not sufficient to be worth while separating it. A carbonate of lead sometimes occurs. Calamine, or native oxide of zinc, is found at Castleton, Cromford, Bonsall, and Wirksworth. It occurs in various colours and of different qualities; sometimes in nodules, in the form of grapes, and in the ochreous state. Blende, or black-jack, another ore of zinc, is also obtained. Copper has been found in small quantities only. Pieces of considerable size, detached from any vein, have frequently been met with at Matlock and Bonsall; and a slender vein has been discovered between Tideswcll and Buxton.

Iron ore is found in very great abundance in all those tracts of the country where coal has been discovered. It lies at different depths; and frequently, from the great dip of the strata, appears upon the surface of the ground. The beds of ore are from two to twelve inches thick, producing generally that of the argillaceous kind; but the calcareous, or sparry iron ores, of a fine brownish red colour, sometimes bright yellow, scaly, or dirty brown, are found in amorphous masses near the surface, and filling insulated places. The principal founderies and forges are, Butterley, Codnor, Morley Park, Wingerworth, Chesterfield, Riddings, and Stavely.

The ore of manganese appears in various forms. The ores of arsenic and antimony are found in small quantities, united with lead ore, quartz crystals, various crystals of calcareous spar, and of fluor or fluate of lime, gypsum, selenite, and barytes, here called cauk. The most beautiful among the fossils of this county is that much admired fluor known by the name of Blue John, or Derbyshire spar, found in the fissures of the limestone, in the neighbourhood of Castleton. This substance, when polished, exhibits an infinite variety of blue, purple, red, and yellow shades; and its being transparent shows the colours to greater advantage. The red however is not natural, but produced by an artificial process, chiefly by the agency of fire. Petroleum, or rock oil, is found in the black marble at Ashford. Elastic bitumen, a substance peculiar to this county, resembling in appearance the common Indian rubber, is also found in the cavities of the Odin mine.

Coal is very plentiful, abounding in large fields in several districts. It is of different degrees of hardness, comes out of the pit in long stratified pieces of shining fracture, burns with a brilliant flame and crackling noise, and leaves a reddish-white ash. The limestone of this county is of various colours, white, gray, yellowy blue, and black; and is of various qualities, some being soft, and some sufficiently hard to be polished into beautiful marble. A new variety, of a deep red colour, similar to Rosa antiquo, has lately been found near New Haven. The Duke of Devonshire preserves it for particular purposes. Fine freestone, toadstone, shale, clunch, stalactitical concretions, and fuller’s earth, are also found in different parts. Impressions of leaves and plants, a great variety of coralline bodies, fossil shells, and even a small alligator, have been found imbedded in the limestone of this county.

The warm mineral and other springs have long been celebrated. The principal are those of Buxton and Matlock.
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The heat of the Buxton water is 82°, never varying on account of the temperature of the atmosphere. The water is remarkably pure, being very slightly impregnated with saline particles. It is used both for bathing and drinking, and is chiefly recommended for gout, rheumatism, derangement of the biliary and digestive organs, and diseases of the urinary passages, for all of which it is of considerable efficacy. There are several public and private baths, both for ladies and gentlemen, and one open gratis to the poor. It appears from several remains discovered at different times that these waters were known to the Romans; and from their time to the present they have been resorted to by invalids.

Matlock water is not so warm as the Buxton, the thermometer seldom rising to more than 68° of Fahrenheit. The springs issue from between fifteen and thirty yards above the level of the river; higher or lower the springs are cold, differing in nothing from common water. The water is very pure, and less impregnated with mineral substances than that of Buxton. There are also several baths at Matlock, which are much resorted to.

There is a tepid chalybeate spring at Bakewell, the temperature of which is about 59 degrees. It is tonic, and recommended for indigestion, debility, and chronic rheumatism. Here there is one bath. At this place there is also a spring, which has been found to contain in sixty quarts thirteen cubic inches of sulphuretted hydrogen. The tepid spring at. Stony-Middleton much resembles that of Matlock, but it is not so warm, being only 63 degrees. There are several other tepid springs in the county. Among the sulphureous springs, that of Kedleston is the strongest. It is like the Harrowgate water, and is used externally for most cutaneous diseases, particularly for those of an ulcerous nature; while it is taken internally as an antiscorbutic and diuretic. There are cold and warm baths. Other sulphureous springs are also found in many districts. The most celebrated chalybeate water is at Quarndon, three miles from Derby, which is a good deal frequented.

Among the wonders of Derbyshire, all authors mention the intermitting spring at Barmoor, near Tideswell. It is generally called the Ebbing and Flowing Well; but the intermission is not regular, for in dry seasons the ebbing and flowing ceases for several weeks, and in wet weather it often ebbs and flows every ten minutes.

The southern and south-eastern parts of this county are the best cultivated; for great quantities of excellent wheat and barley are grown there. The arable lands in the northern parts are chiefly cultivated for oats, of which grain there is a great consumption, oaten bread leavened being the principal food of the lower classes. The dairy country is around Ashbourne and the south-western side of the county, whence not less than 2000 tons of cheese are annually exported. In the neighbourhood of Chesterfield there are about eighty acres of land employed in the growth of chamomile. This useful plant was introduced into the county about 1740; and it produces from three to six hundredweight per acre, and is chiefly consumed at home and in America. Valerian and elecampane are cultivated in Ashover and North Wingfield in small quantities.

The breed of cows in this county has been very much improved of late years. They are in general horned, large, and handsome; yielding upon an average ten quarts of milk a day. They are most commonly speckled, with large well-turned horns, though of late the short-horned Lancashire breed has been introduced. Nature seems to have adapted the horses in Derbyshire to the different regions in which she designed them to labour. In the northern districts the breed is small, of light and slender make; in the southern parts they are in general of a strong and heavy kind; and in the stables of the country gentlemen this beautiful animal may be found in the full perfection of its symmetry. The sheep also vary in size; those that are bred on the borders of Leicestershire differ but little in weight from that county breed; but they gradually diminish in size as we proceed northwards, till they get as small as any in the kingdom. The parks in the county are well stocked with fallow-deer.

The woollen manufactories, for which this county was formerly celebrated, are now confined to the worsted-spinning at Derby, Melbourne, and Tideswell, and to the weaving a few blankets at Chesterfield. The first silk-mill established in this kingdom was introduced into Derby in the beginning of the last century, and the improved machinery of it was brought from Italy by the celebrated John Lombe. This mill is still worked with the original machinery; but very great improvements have been made of late years in the construction of the spinning apparatus; and the facility attained in working the several articles of silk manufacture has contributed to the extension of this branch of business in a very eminent degree. The manufacture of stockings was introduced into Derbyshire about 1717; and this acquired additional celebrity by the ingenious discovery of Strutt, who introduced a machine for making ribbed stockings about the year 1755.

The manufacture of cotton was introduced in the year 1771, when Sir Richard Arkwright, the inventor, established one of the first cotton-mills on the improved principles; and in 1773 he, in conjunction with Mr Jedediah Strutt and Mr Need, made at Derby the first successful attempt to establish the manufacture of calicoes in this kingdom. This county, therefore, is the cradle of the most important branches of the cotton trade; and, at the present moment, an immense capital is employed in the business, which is carried on to a great extent.

There are in several places manufactures of linen, and flax-spinning is carried on in others, but upon a small scale. White and red-lead works, various manufactures connected with the iron trade, marble and spar works, a long established and celebrated porcelain manufactory,and grindstone mills, are found in different parts of the county. In the town of Derby there is a considerable quantity of jewellery goods prepared, of good taste and quality.

Among the singular customs of Derbyshire may be mentioned that of rush-bearing, a ceremony of strewing the churches on a certain day with rushes. It usually takes place on the anniversary of the dedication of the church, or on midsummer eve. The ancient custom of hanging up in the churches garlands of roses, with a pair of gloves cut out of white paper, which had been carried before the corpses of unmarried women at their funerals, still prevails in many parishes of the Peak; and that of dressing wells and fountains with flowers is still preserved at Tissington, and Holy Thursday is devoted to the festival. The country wakes are generally observed here, on the Sunday following the day of the dedication of the church or chapel, or on the day of the saint to whom it is dedicated.

The British antiquities of this county are druidical circles, tumuli of earth and stones, rocking-stones, rock-basins, and some rude military works in the uncultivated parts of the county. The Roman remains deserving of notice are, the altar preserved in Haddon-Hall, the inscribed pigs of lead now in the British Museum, and the silver plate found in Risley Park. Several Roman roads, the remains of which are still visible, passed through the county; and many stations of consequence may be easily traced.

The ecclesiastical edifices of this county exhibit the taste of different ages. Of the Saxon period is the crypt under Repton Church, which is supposed to be the remains[7:7:737] of the conventual church, destroyed by the Danes in the year 874. Melbourne church is a very perfect specimen of the massive style of architecture which prevailed in the eleventh century. The desecrated church of Steetly exhibits a very complete specimen of the latter and more enriched style of Saxon architecture on a small scale. Other and numerous remains of Saxon architecture are to be found in this county.

Specimens of the early Gothic style are not frequent; and those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are inconsiderable, except the tower of All-Saints at Derby, which has been generally and deservedly admired: it is about 150 feet high, and richly ornamented with Gothic tracing.

The only monastic buildings in this county, of which any remains at present exist, are Dale Abbey, the arch of the east window of which still stands; Beauchief Abbey, now used as a church; part of the original Saxon monastery of Repton, and an ancient brick tower, which formed part of the prior’s lodging.

The ancient castles of Derbyshire whose ruins now remain are those of Castleton, Codnor, Horsley, and Melbourne. Castleton was most probably erected by William Peverell, to whom the manor was given by William the Conqueror; Codnor was the ancient seat of the Grey family; Horsley was built in the beginning of the thirteenth century, by Ferrers, earl of Derby; and Melbourne existed as early as the time of Edward the Third.

The most remarkable mansion-house in this county, in point of antiquity, is Haddon Hall, belonging to the Duke of Rutland. It has been erected at various times, but no part later than the middle of the sixteenth century. Hardwick Hall, belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, is another pile of the above description, exhibiting a complete specimen of the domestic architecture which prevailed among the upper ranks during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Balborough Hall is another handsome mansion of the sixteenth century. The manor-house of South Wingfield, a very splendid and spacious edifice, erected by Lord Cromwell in the reign of Henry VI., is now a mere ruin, having been suffered to fall into decay soon after the civil war in the seventeenth century.

The noblemen’s seats are, Chatsworth, the chief seat, and Hardwicke, the occasional residence, of the Duke of Devonshire; Elvaston, the seat of the Earl of Harrington; Sudbury, that of Lord Vernon; Kedleston, the elegant mansion of Lord Scarsdale; Bretby, the seat of the Chesterfield family; Doveridge, that of Lord Waterpark; and Hassop, that of the Earl of Newburgh. The baronets’ seats are, Ashbourne Hall, that of Sir Brooke Boothby; Wingerworth, that of Sir Henry Hunloke; Egginton, that of Sir Henry Every; Tissington, that of Sir H. Fitzherbert; Chaddesden, that of Sir R. Wilmot; Osmaston, that of Sir R. Wilmot; Foremark, that of Sir F. Burdett; and Stretton, that of Sir W. C. Browne. There are several elegant and extensive mansions belonging to the gentry of the county, the principal of which are, Sutton and Willersley, both the property of R. Arkwright, Esq.; Markeaton, of F. Mundy, Esq.; Longford, of E. Coke, Esq.; Radborne, of E. S. C. Pole, Esq.; Bridge Hill, of G. B. Strutt, Esq.; Hopton, of P. Gell, Esq.; Shipley, of E. Μ. Mundy, Esq.; Norton, of S. Shore, Esq.; and Alfreton, of H. C. More-wood, Esq.

By some ancient returns, of doubtful authority, it appears that the inhabitants were in 1377 only 24,289, but in 1789 they amounted to 124,465. By the more correct later returns they were found to amount in 1801 to 161,142, in 1811 to 185,487, in 1821 to 213,333, and in 1831 to 236,900. The value of the landed property, as assessed by the property tax of 1815, appeared to be L.887,659 annually.