Hopton is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. 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 within its boundary of approx...

.

It is south west of Wirksworth

Wirksworth

Wirksworth is a small market town in Derbyshire, England, with a population of over 9,000.The population of the Wirksworth area including Cromford, Bolehill and Middleton-by-Wirksworth is about 12,000. Wirksworth is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086. Within it is the source of the River...

 and at the northern end of Carsington Water.

The village had a long association with the Gell

Gell Baronets

The Gell Baronetcy, of Hopton in the County of Derby, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 29 January 1642 for John Gell, Hopton Hall, Derbyshire, chief barmaster in the wapentake of Wirksworth from 1638–1644. The family gained importance and wealthy through their lead...

 family who had extensive lead mining

Derbyshire lead mining history

This article details some of the history of lead mining in Derbyshire, England.- Background :On one of the walls in Wirksworth church is a crude stone carving, found nearby at Bonsall and placed in the church in the 1870s. Probably executed in Anglo-Saxon times, it shows a man carrying a kibble or...

 interests in the Wirksworth area and lived at Hopton Hall

Hopton Hall

Hopton Hall is an 18th century country house at Hopton, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It is a Grade II listed building.The Manor of Hopton , anciently the seat of the de Hopton family, was acquired by the Gell family in 1553 by Ralph Gell who also purchased lands at Darley Abbey and Rocester.John...

. Notable members include Sir John Gell

Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet

Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet was a Parliamentarian politician and military figure in the English Civil War.-Background:...

 who was a Parliamentarian in the English Civil War and Sir William Gell

William Gell

Sir William Gell was an English classical archaeologist and illustrator.-Life:Born at Hopton in Derbyshire, the son of Philip Gell and Dorothy Milnes...

 who was an archaeologist.

The famous Hopton Incline

Hopton Incline

The Hopton Incline was a very steep section of a mineral railway in England worked by adhesion. Its gradient was 1 in 14 .-History:This incline on the Cromford and High Peak Railway was originally worked by a stationary steam engine but was modified later to be adhesion worked by locomotives...

 of the Cromford and High Peak Railway

Cromford and High Peak Railway

The Cromford and High Peak Railway in Derbyshire, England, was completed in 1831, to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge -Origins:...

, (now disused and part of the High Peak Trail and Pennine Bridleway

Pennine Bridleway

The Pennine Bridleway is a new National Trail under designation in Northern England.It runs roughly parallel with the Pennine Way but provides access for horseback riders and cyclists as well as walkers. The trail is around long; through Derbyshire to the South Pennines, the Mary Towneley Loop...

), is about 1 mile north of the village.