Wirksworth
Encyclopedia
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 Ecclesbourne. The town was granted its market charter by Edward I
in 1306. The market is held every Tuesday in the market square in the busy town centre. Perhaps the finest building in Wirksworth is St. Mary's Church, which was one of the first centres of Christian teaching in England and is believed to date back to around 653 AD. The ancient Wirksworth Hundred
or Wapentake was named after the town.
Wirksworth is on the border of Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales districts
Historically, it developed as a centre for lead mining
, but then later on, it branched into quarrying.
Many of the institutions in the area have connections with the Gell family, of Hopton Hall
, whose most famous member was Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
, who fought on Parliament's side in the Civil War
. One of his predecessors, Anthony Gell, founded the local grammar school, and one of his successors, Phillip Gell, opened the curiously named Via Gellia
(possibly named in allusion to the Roman Via Appia), a road from the family's lead mines around Wirksworth to the smelter in Cromford
. (In the middle of the last century the Anthony Gell School became one of the first comprehensive schools and remains a model for local, community-based education in a rural area)
Wirksworth is rumoured to be the ancient Roman town of Lutudarum, although there is much speculation as to the exact whereabouts/origins of this settlement. This used to be the capital of the area and up until the later Industrial Revolution
, the town was the 5th biggest in Derbyshire, after Derby
, Chesterfield
, Matlock and Buxton
. In 2009, a small team of volunteers undertook a project to discover a Roman fort near the vicarage but the attempt was unsuccessful.
period (between about 359 and 299 million years ago), Wirksworth was under tropical oceans, thus giving it vast quantities of limestone
for quarrying. There is an extensive history of quarrying, which scars the surrounding of the town, whilst Dene Quarry is still operational in the neighbouring village of Cromford
.
Close to Wirksworth in the Carsington
Pastures is the Dream Cave, where the remains of a Woolly Rhino were found in the late 19th century.
The area may well have been visited by Homo erectus
as long as 150,000 years ago, during warm inter-glacial periods. An Acheulean handaxe from the Lower Paleolithic
has been found at Hopton
nearby. From other remains found in the county there would seem to have been human presence at least periodically until the Romans arrived and found a thriving lead industry.
Perhaps the finest building in Wirksworth is St. Mary's Church, which was one of the first centres of Christian teaching in England and is believed to date back to around 653 AD. The ancient Wirksworth Hundred
or Wapentake was named after the town. There is a tiny carving in the church of a miner with his pick and "kibble" or basket. This carving is also claimed by nearby Bonsall
, where it was found. The ore was washed out by means of a sieve, the iron wire for which had been drawn in Hathersage
since the Middle Ages
. Smelting was carried out in "boles", hence the name Bolehill. The lead industry, the miner, the ore and the waste, were known collectively as "t'owd man".
One of the rectors of Wirksworth was Anthony Draycot
who served from 1535 to his imprisonment in 1560. Draycott was the judge at the heresy trial of Joan Waste
.
and thence to the garrison at Derventio (Derby
) and to Rykneld Street and possibly but not certainly, to the ports on the Humber
. In Anglo-Saxon
times there were many mines owned by the Abbey of Repton
. Three lead mines are identified in the entry for Wirksworth in the Domesday Book.
Every man had the right (and still does) to dig for ore wherever he chose, except in churchyards, gardens or roadways. All that was necessary to stake a claim was to place one's "stowce" or winch on the site and extract enough ore to pay tribute to the "barmaster."
Henry VIII
granted a charter to hold a miners' court in the town called the Bar Moot, which still exists, though the present building dates from 1814. Within it is a brass dish for measuring the levy which was due to the Crown. Even into the 20th century, the punishment for stealing from a mine was to have one's hand nailed to the stowce. One then had the choice of tearing oneself loose or starving to death. The Barmote Court
is still held today and controls all matters of lead mining.
There is a tiny carving in Wirksworth Church, taken from Bonsall
Church during a restoration project and never returned, of a miner with his pick and "kibble" or basket. The carving is known as "t'Owd Man of Bonsall
." The ore was washed out by means of a sieve, the iron wire for which had been drawn in Hathersage
since the Middle Ages
. Smelting was carried out in "boles", hence the name Bolehill. The lead industry, the miner, the ore and the waste, were known collectively as "t'owd man."
By the 18th century there were many thousands of mines, all worked individually. Defoe gives an eye-witness account of a lead miner's family and of the miner himself at work. At this time, the London Lead Company
was formed which brought in the finance to dig deeper mines, with drainage channels, called sough
s, and bring in Newcomen
steam engine pumps.
There was a workhouse
in Wirksworth from 1724 to 1829. Called Babington House, it was located on Green Hill and housed 60 inmates.
leased the land and premises of a corn mill from Philip Gell of Hopton and converted it to spin cotton
, using his water frame
. The Haarlem Mill
(as the mill came to be called) was the first cotton mill in the world to use a steam engine
, which it used to replenish the millpond that drove the mill's waterwheel. This mill was adjacent to another, the Speedwell, owned by John Dalley, a local merchant. These mills still stand close together at Miller's Green next to the Derby road.
The Haarlem Mill was sublet in 1792, when Arkwright's son, Richard
, began to sell off the family's property assets in his move toward banking. It was given that name in 1815, when it was converted to weaving tape, by Madely, Hackett and Riley, who had established the Haarlem Tape Works in Derby in 1806. In 1879 the Wheatcroft family, who were producing tape at the Speedwell Mill, expanded into Haarlem.
The two mills together employed 230 people, and it was said that their weekly output equalled the circumference of the earth, and that Wirksworth was the primary producer of red tape
for Whitehall
.
Both mills still exist. The Haarlem produces narrow fabrics, while the Speedwell produces cavity wall and roof insulation.
's The Mill on the Floss
(although it is arguably also based on somewhere down south).
The Snowfield in George Eliot's Adam Bede
is also said to be based in Wirksworth; Dinah Morris, an important character in that novel, is based on Eliot's aunt, who lived in Wirksworth and whose husband ran the silk mill, now Wirksworth Heritage Centre.
One of D. H. Lawrence
's houses (Mountain Cottage), in which he lived with Frieda in 1918–19, stands below the B5023 road on the outskirts of Middleton-by-Wirksworth
, approximately 1½ miles northwest of Wirksworth. Lawrence also reputedly spent a lot of time at Woodland Cottage on the opposite side of New Road. While staying in Middleton in the bitter winter of 1918–19, Lawrence wrote the short story A Wintry Peacock (published in 1921).
(2003), as well as playing occasional roles in its forerunner Peak Practice
. More recently, part of Mobile
was filmed on a train on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
, and a large amount of an episode of the BBC
's Casualty
was also filmed here.
was curate
of Wirksworth in the 18th century and did important early work in electricity
, in association with Erasmus Darwin
. There is a memorial plaque in Wirksworth Church and a portrait by an unknown artist.
The surgeon and author Frederick Treves
was in medical practice in the town, 1877–79 and a house on Coldwell Street is named after him.
There are five schools in Wirksworth: (Church of England
and county infants, and regular combined but on two sites), Wirksworth Junior School, Anthony Gell School and Callow Park College. Anthony Gell was an outstanding local man who was requested to build a grammar school for Agnes Fearne on her death. The original site for the school is now a private house on the edge of the churchyard. The current school is now a thriving 11-18 comprehensive on a larger site beside the Hannage Brook. It currently has approximately 800 pupils, including its Sixth Form. There are four school houses, each named after a significant local: Fearne (Agnes Fearne), Arkwright (Sir Richard Arkwright), Wright (Joseph Wright of Derby
), and Gell (after Anthony Gell himself). The current headteacher is Mr David L. Baker, who took up the position in September 2006. Most pupils come from Wirksworth itself, and the surrounding villages of Middleton
, Carsington
, Brassington
, Kirk Ireton
, Turnditch
, Matlock Bath
, Cromford
and Crich
. The Anthony Gell School is a Sports College
.
In the Derbyshire Dales district, the town is the second largest in terms of both population and area after Matlock.
Fanny Shaw's Playing Field, just out of the centre of town, is the principal recreation area for the north of the town. It houses a new skate park and play area. In the south of the town, there is the "Rec", where there is another children's play area, along with cricket and football pitches.
The town is also a popular location from which to explore the Derbyshire Peak District and consequently features a range of accommodation for visitors. Many of these buildings are historic, such as the 18th century Old Manor House on Coldwell Street or the Old Lock-Up guest house which dates from 1842. Moreover, the town features a large and very grand coach house, which was originally built for Sir Richard Arkwright
, but has now been converted into a holiday cottage.
The Wirksworth Heritage Centre is a wonderful centre just off Market Place in Crown Yard (adjacent to Crown Yard Kitchen). Within, is an extensive history of Wirksworth, from its prehistoric Dream Cave and Woolly Rhinos, through its Roman and lead mining histories, all the way to the modern era.
Wirksworth's well dressing
was adapted after the arrival of piped water so that not only wells but also taps were decorated. Although the resulting creations are still advertised as well dressings. and carnival
A one-place-study of "Wirksworth and five miles around" is available on the web (see external link below). This includes: census, church monuments, crimes, church wardens' accounts, maps, a transcription of "Ince's pedigrees" , monumental inscriptions, old photos, parish registers and wills.
Events
Inspirational work from international and national artists is shown alongside the very best local and regional artists.
Some visitor attractions include:
on 4 November 1902, he has lived in Derbyshire since 1947 and served as a minister at the United Reformed Churches in Wirksworth and nearby Matlock for some 20 years until his retirement in 1980. He also helped form the Dalesmen Male Voice Choir in the late 1980s and is now life president of this organisation. John Woodward
the naturalist (1665-1728) "may have been" born here.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in 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...
, England
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...
, with a population of over 9,000.
The population of the Wirksworth area including Cromford
Cromford
Cromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
, Bolehill
Bolehill, Derbyshire
Bolehill is an area of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England. It is located in the north of the town and has connections to the lead mining industry. Originally a village in its own right, Bolehill became part of the outskirts of Wirksworth upon the town's expansion during the 19th and 20th...
and Middleton-by-Wirksworth
Middleton-by-Wirksworth
Middleton-by-Wirksworth is an upland village lying approximately one mile NNW of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, formerly known for its lead mines and high quality limestone quarries, including the remarkable underground quarry site at Middleton Mine...
is about 12,000. Wirksworth is listed in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086. Within it is the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted its market charter by Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
in 1306. The market is held every Tuesday in the market square in the busy town centre. Perhaps the finest building in Wirksworth is St. Mary's Church, which was one of the first centres of Christian teaching in England and is believed to date back to around 653 AD. The ancient Wirksworth Hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
or Wapentake was named after the town.
Wirksworth is on the border of Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales districts
Historically, it developed as a centre for 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...
, but then later on, it branched into quarrying.
Many of the institutions in the area have connections with the Gell family, of 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...
, whose most famous member was Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet was a Parliamentarian politician and military figure in the English Civil War.-Background:...
, who fought on Parliament's side in the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. One of his predecessors, Anthony Gell, founded the local grammar school, and one of his successors, Phillip Gell, opened the curiously named Via Gellia
Via Gellia
Via Gellia is a steep sided wooded 'dry' valley and road in Derbyshire.It is probably named after Phillip Eyre Gell in a mock Latin style; he was responsible for building the road through the valley, and the Gells claimed Roman descent...
(possibly named in allusion to the Roman Via Appia), a road from the family's lead mines around Wirksworth to the smelter in Cromford
Cromford
Cromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
. (In the middle of the last century the Anthony Gell School became one of the first comprehensive schools and remains a model for local, community-based education in a rural area)
Wirksworth is rumoured to be the ancient Roman town of Lutudarum, although there is much speculation as to the exact whereabouts/origins of this settlement. This used to be the capital of the area and up until the later Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, the town was the 5th biggest in Derbyshire, after Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
, Matlock and Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
. In 2009, a small team of volunteers undertook a project to discover a Roman fort near the vicarage but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Early history
During the CarboniferousCarboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
period (between about 359 and 299 million years ago), Wirksworth was under tropical oceans, thus giving it vast quantities of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
for quarrying. There is an extensive history of quarrying, which scars the surrounding of the town, whilst Dene Quarry is still operational in the neighbouring village of Cromford
Cromford
Cromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
.
Close to Wirksworth in the Carsington
Carsington
Carsington is a village in the middle of the Derbyshire Dales, England; it adjoins the hamlet of Hopton, close to the historic town of Wirksworth and village of Brassington.Population - 111-History:...
Pastures is the Dream Cave, where the remains of a Woolly Rhino were found in the late 19th century.
The area may well have been visited by Homo erectus
Homo erectus
Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
as long as 150,000 years ago, during warm inter-glacial periods. An Acheulean handaxe from the Lower Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
has been found at Hopton
Hopton, Derbyshire
Hopton is a hamlet in the English county of Derbyshire.It is south west of Wirksworth and at the northern end of Carsington Water.The village had a long association with the Gell family who had extensive lead mining interests in the Wirksworth area and lived at Hopton Hall...
nearby. From other remains found in the county there would seem to have been human presence at least periodically until the Romans arrived and found a thriving lead industry.
Perhaps the finest building in Wirksworth is St. Mary's Church, which was one of the first centres of Christian teaching in England and is believed to date back to around 653 AD. The ancient Wirksworth Hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
or Wapentake was named after the town. There is a tiny carving in the church of a miner with his pick and "kibble" or basket. This carving is also claimed by nearby Bonsall
Bonsall, Derbyshire
Bonsall is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales on the edge of the Peak District.-Geography:Bonsall is about from Matlock and about from Derby...
, where it was found. The ore was washed out by means of a sieve, the iron wire for which had been drawn in Hathersage
Hathersage
Hathersage is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies on the north bank of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles west of Sheffield...
since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. Smelting was carried out in "boles", hence the name Bolehill. The lead industry, the miner, the ore and the waste, were known collectively as "t'owd man".
One of the rectors of Wirksworth was Anthony Draycot
Anthony Draycot
Anthony Draycot was an English Roman Catholic churchman and lawyer. During the reign of Queen Mary he held a diocesan position as chancellor; his role in condemning numerous Protestants to death is detailed in Foxe's Book of Martyrs.-Life:He was from Staffordshire, and became Principal of White...
who served from 1535 to his imprisonment in 1560. Draycott was the judge at the heresy trial of Joan Waste
Joan Waste
Joan Waste was a blind woman who was burned in Derby for refusing to renounce her Protestant faith.-Biography:Waste was born blind in 1534, with her twin brother Roger, to a Derby barber, William Waste and his wife, Joan...
.
Lead mining
It is not known when lead mining began, but certainly it was flourishing in Roman times. A possible Roman road led to a ford between Duffield and MilfordMilford, Derbyshire
Milford is a village in Derbyshire, England, on the River Derwent, between Duffield and Belper on the A6 trunk road.Until the end of the 18th century it was no more than a few houses near the point, about a quarter of a mile further south, where a roman road from the Wirksworth lead mines forded...
and thence to the garrison at Derventio (Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
) and to Rykneld Street and possibly but not certainly, to the ports on the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
. In Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
times there were many mines owned by the Abbey of Repton
Repton
Repton is a village and civil parish on the edge of the River Trent floodplain in South Derbyshire, about north of Swadlincote. Repton is close to the county boundary with neighbouring Staffordshire and about northeast of Burton upon Trent.-History:...
. Three lead mines are identified in the entry for Wirksworth in the Domesday Book.
Every man had the right (and still does) to dig for ore wherever he chose, except in churchyards, gardens or roadways. All that was necessary to stake a claim was to place one's "stowce" or winch on the site and extract enough ore to pay tribute to the "barmaster."
Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
granted a charter to hold a miners' court in the town called the Bar Moot, which still exists, though the present building dates from 1814. Within it is a brass dish for measuring the levy which was due to the Crown. Even into the 20th century, the punishment for stealing from a mine was to have one's hand nailed to the stowce. One then had the choice of tearing oneself loose or starving to death. The Barmote Court
Barmote Court
The Barmote Court is a court held in the lead mining districts of Derbyshire, England, for the purpose of determining the customs peculiar to the industry and also for the settlements of any disputes which may arise in connection therewith.The Barmote Courts were set up in 1288, their jurisdiction...
is still held today and controls all matters of lead mining.
There is a tiny carving in Wirksworth Church, taken from Bonsall
Bonsall, Derbyshire
Bonsall is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales on the edge of the Peak District.-Geography:Bonsall is about from Matlock and about from Derby...
Church during a restoration project and never returned, of a miner with his pick and "kibble" or basket. The carving is known as "t'Owd Man of Bonsall
Bonsall, Derbyshire
Bonsall is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales on the edge of the Peak District.-Geography:Bonsall is about from Matlock and about from Derby...
." The ore was washed out by means of a sieve, the iron wire for which had been drawn in Hathersage
Hathersage
Hathersage is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies on the north bank of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles west of Sheffield...
since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. Smelting was carried out in "boles", hence the name Bolehill. The lead industry, the miner, the ore and the waste, were known collectively as "t'owd man."
By the 18th century there were many thousands of mines, all worked individually. Defoe gives an eye-witness account of a lead miner's family and of the miner himself at work. At this time, the London Lead Company
London Lead Company
The London Lead Company was an 18th and 19th century British lead mining company. It was incorporated by royal charter. Strictly, it was The Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal.-Origins:...
was formed which brought in the finance to dig deeper mines, with drainage channels, called sough
Sough
A sough is an underground channel for draining water out of a mine. Its ability to drain a mine depends on the bottom of the mine being higher than a neighbouring valley...
s, and bring in Newcomen
Newcomen
Newcomen may refer to:* Viscount Newcomen, an extinct viscountcyPeople with the surname Newcomen:* John Newcomen , first white settler murdered by another white settler in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts...
steam engine pumps.
There was a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
in Wirksworth from 1724 to 1829. Called Babington House, it was located on Green Hill and housed 60 inmates.
Textiles
In 1777, Richard ArkwrightRichard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright , was an Englishman who, although the patents were eventually overturned, is often credited for inventing the spinning frame — later renamed the water frame following the transition to water power. He also patented a carding engine that could convert raw cotton into yarn...
leased the land and premises of a corn mill from Philip Gell of Hopton and converted it to spin cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, using his water frame
Water frame
The water frame is the name given to the spinning frame, when water power is used to drive it. Both are credited to Richard Arkwright who patented the technology in 1768. It was based on an invention by Thomas Highs and the patent was later overturned...
. The Haarlem Mill
Haarlem Mill
Haarlem Mill, on the River Ecclesbourne in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, was an early cotton mill. Built by Richard Arkwright, it was the first cotton mill in the world to use a steam engine, though this was used to supplement the supply of water to the mill's water wheel, not to drive the machinery...
(as the mill came to be called) was the first cotton mill in the world to use a steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
, which it used to replenish the millpond that drove the mill's waterwheel. This mill was adjacent to another, the Speedwell, owned by John Dalley, a local merchant. These mills still stand close together at Miller's Green next to the Derby road.
The Haarlem Mill was sublet in 1792, when Arkwright's son, Richard
Richard Arkwright Junior
Richard Arkwright junior , the son of the famous Sir Richard Arkwright of Cromford, Derbyshire, was the financier of Samuel Oldknow of Marple and Mellor and a personal friend. His son Captain Arkwright married Francis Kemble, daughter of the famous theatre manager Stephen Kemble.-Biography:Richard...
, began to sell off the family's property assets in his move toward banking. It was given that name in 1815, when it was converted to weaving tape, by Madely, Hackett and Riley, who had established the Haarlem Tape Works in Derby in 1806. In 1879 the Wheatcroft family, who were producing tape at the Speedwell Mill, expanded into Haarlem.
The two mills together employed 230 people, and it was said that their weekly output equalled the circumference of the earth, and that Wirksworth was the primary producer of red tape
Red tape
Red tape is excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making...
for Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
.
Both mills still exist. The Haarlem produces narrow fabrics, while the Speedwell produces cavity wall and roof insulation.
Literary connection
The Haarlem Mill is said to be the model for the mill in George EliotGeorge Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
's The Mill on the Floss
The Mill on the Floss
The Mill on the Floss is a novel by George Eliot , first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was by Thomas Y...
(although it is arguably also based on somewhere down south).
The Snowfield in George Eliot's Adam Bede
Adam Bede
Adam Bede, the first novel written by George Eliot , was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time...
is also said to be based in Wirksworth; Dinah Morris, an important character in that novel, is based on Eliot's aunt, who lived in Wirksworth and whose husband ran the silk mill, now Wirksworth Heritage Centre.
One of D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
's houses (Mountain Cottage), in which he lived with Frieda in 1918–19, stands below the B5023 road on the outskirts of Middleton-by-Wirksworth
Middleton-by-Wirksworth
Middleton-by-Wirksworth is an upland village lying approximately one mile NNW of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, formerly known for its lead mines and high quality limestone quarries, including the remarkable underground quarry site at Middleton Mine...
, approximately 1½ miles northwest of Wirksworth. Lawrence also reputedly spent a lot of time at Woodland Cottage on the opposite side of New Road. While staying in Middleton in the bitter winter of 1918–19, Lawrence wrote the short story A Wintry Peacock (published in 1921).
Television connection
Wirksworth was the prime location of ITV's Sweet MedicineSweet Medicine
Sweet Medicine is an ITV drama series from 2003 about a family doctor's surgery in the Peak District of northern England. Intended as a replacement for the hit medical drama Peak Practice, it was not a success. Only one ten-episode series was made, despite moderate audience figures...
(2003), as well as playing occasional roles in its forerunner Peak Practice
Peak Practice
Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...
. More recently, part of Mobile
Mobile (TV series)
Mobile is a 3-part British television drama series with an interweaving plot based around a fictional mobile phone operator and the adverse-effect of mobile phone radiation to health. The series was screened by ITV in the UK, during March 2007. The cast includes Jamie Draven, Neil Fitzmaurice,...
was filmed on a train on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a long heritage railway in Derbyshire, the headquarters of the railway centre around Wirksworth station and services operate between Wirksworth and Duffield and Wirksworth and Ravenstor...
, and a large amount of an episode of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
was also filmed here.
Scientific connection
Abraham BennetAbraham Bennet
Abraham Bennet FRS was an English clergyman and physicist, the inventor of the gold-leaf electroscope and developer of an improved magnetometer...
was curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Wirksworth in the 18th century and did important early work in electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, in association with Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
. There is a memorial plaque in Wirksworth Church and a portrait by an unknown artist.
The surgeon and author Frederick Treves
Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet
Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet, GCVO, CH, CB was a prominent British surgeon of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, now most famous for his friendship with Joseph Merrick, "the Elephant Man".-Eminent surgeon:...
was in medical practice in the town, 1877–79 and a house on Coldwell Street is named after him.
Wirksworth today
Districts of Wirksworth include Yokecliffe, Gorsey Bank, Bolehill, Mountford and Miller's Green. Bolehill, although technically a hamlet in its own right in Wirksworth's suburbs, is the oldest and most northern part of the town, while Yokecliffe is a fairly new estate in the western area of the town. Modern houses have recently been built in the Three Trees area and at the bottom of Steeple Grange, this housing estate is called Spring Close.There are five schools in Wirksworth: (Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and county infants, and regular combined but on two sites), Wirksworth Junior School, Anthony Gell School and Callow Park College. Anthony Gell was an outstanding local man who was requested to build a grammar school for Agnes Fearne on her death. The original site for the school is now a private house on the edge of the churchyard. The current school is now a thriving 11-18 comprehensive on a larger site beside the Hannage Brook. It currently has approximately 800 pupils, including its Sixth Form. There are four school houses, each named after a significant local: Fearne (Agnes Fearne), Arkwright (Sir Richard Arkwright), Wright (Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
), and Gell (after Anthony Gell himself). The current headteacher is Mr David L. Baker, who took up the position in September 2006. Most pupils come from Wirksworth itself, and the surrounding villages of Middleton
Middleton-by-Wirksworth
Middleton-by-Wirksworth is an upland village lying approximately one mile NNW of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, formerly known for its lead mines and high quality limestone quarries, including the remarkable underground quarry site at Middleton Mine...
, Carsington
Carsington
Carsington is a village in the middle of the Derbyshire Dales, England; it adjoins the hamlet of Hopton, close to the historic town of Wirksworth and village of Brassington.Population - 111-History:...
, Brassington
Brassington
Brassington is a village 16 miles north-north-west of Derby, between Wirksworth and Ashbourne, and has a population of about 580.The name, spelled Branzingtune in the Domesday Book, is thought to mean "Brand's people's place"...
, Kirk Ireton
Kirk Ireton
Kirk Ireton is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is located 4 miles south of Wirksworth nestling on a hillside, 700ft above sea level. Ireton is a corruption of Hyre-Tun in the Saxon and means 'The Irishman's Enclosure'. 'Kirk' was added after the Norman invasion and the building of the church...
, Turnditch
Turnditch
Turnditch is a village in Derbyshire around ten miles north of Derby, England on the A517 road from Belper to Ashbourne.It is built on both sides of the road halfway up the steep climb out of the Ecclesbourne Valley. Nearer to the brow of the hill is a place known as Cross o' th' Hands.In Norman...
, Matlock Bath
Matlock Bath
Matlock Bath is a village south of Matlock in Derbyshire, England. Built along the River Derwent, it developed, in the 19th century, as a spa town and still thrives on tourism.-History:In 1698 warm springs were discovered and a Bath House was built...
, Cromford
Cromford
Cromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
and Crich
Crich
Crich is a village in Derbyshire in England. It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway Village, and at the summit of Crich Hill above, a Memorial Tower for those of the Sherwood Foresters regiment who died in battle, particularly in World War I.Built in 1923 on the site of an...
. The Anthony Gell School is a Sports College
Sports College
Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...
.
In the Derbyshire Dales district, the town is the second largest in terms of both population and area after Matlock.
Fanny Shaw's Playing Field, just out of the centre of town, is the principal recreation area for the north of the town. It houses a new skate park and play area. In the south of the town, there is the "Rec", where there is another children's play area, along with cricket and football pitches.
The town is also a popular location from which to explore the Derbyshire Peak District and consequently features a range of accommodation for visitors. Many of these buildings are historic, such as the 18th century Old Manor House on Coldwell Street or the Old Lock-Up guest house which dates from 1842. Moreover, the town features a large and very grand coach house, which was originally built for Sir Richard Arkwright
Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright , was an Englishman who, although the patents were eventually overturned, is often credited for inventing the spinning frame — later renamed the water frame following the transition to water power. He also patented a carding engine that could convert raw cotton into yarn...
, but has now been converted into a holiday cottage.
The Wirksworth Heritage Centre is a wonderful centre just off Market Place in Crown Yard (adjacent to Crown Yard Kitchen). Within, is an extensive history of Wirksworth, from its prehistoric Dream Cave and Woolly Rhinos, through its Roman and lead mining histories, all the way to the modern era.
Wirksworth's well dressing
Well dressing
Well dressing is a summer custom practised in rural England in which wells, springs or other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals...
was adapted after the arrival of piped water so that not only wells but also taps were decorated. Although the resulting creations are still advertised as well dressings. and carnival
Events
- Early June: The Wirksworth Well DressingWell dressingWell dressing is a summer custom practised in rural England in which wells, springs or other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals...
and Carnival - First Sunday after the 8th of September: The Clypping of the ChurchClipping the churchClipping the church is an ancient custom that is traditionally held on Easter Monday or Shrove Tuesday in the United Kingdom. The word "clipping" is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and is derived from the word "clyp-pan", meaning "embrace" or "clasp". Clipping the church involves either the church...
, an ancient custom, still observed, where the congregation joins hands to completely encircle the church. - September: The Wirksworth Festival For three weeks in September Wirksworth throws open its doors and invites you in to see some great art in some fascinating places.
Inspirational work from international and national artists is shown alongside the very best local and regional artists.
Some visitor attractions include:
- Ecclesbourne Valley RailwayEcclesbourne Valley RailwayThe Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a long heritage railway in Derbyshire, the headquarters of the railway centre around Wirksworth station and services operate between Wirksworth and Duffield and Wirksworth and Ravenstor...
- Steeple Grange Light RailwaySteeple Grange Light RailwayThe Steeple Grange Light Railway is a heritage railway at Wirksworth in Derbyshire, UK. It uses industrial locomotives and rolling stock from disused mines, quarries, and steelworks around the country.-The line:...
- Wirksworth Heritage Centre
- Peak District National Park
Notable residents
The oldest living man in Britain, the Rev Thomas Reginald "Reg" Dean, lives at a care home in the town. Born at TunstallTunstall
-Place names:United Kingdom*Tunstall, East Riding of Yorkshire*Tunstall, Kent*Tunstall, Lancashire*Tunstall, Norfolk, in the parish of Halvergate*Tunstall, North Yorkshire*Tunstall, Stafford, near to Eccleshall...
on 4 November 1902, he has lived in Derbyshire since 1947 and served as a minister at the United Reformed Churches in Wirksworth and nearby Matlock for some 20 years until his retirement in 1980. He also helped form the Dalesmen Male Voice Choir in the late 1980s and is now life president of this organisation. John Woodward
John Woodward (naturalist)
John Woodward was an English naturalist, antiquarian and geologist, and founder by bequest of the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at Cambridge University...
the naturalist (1665-1728) "may have been" born here.
External links
- Wirksworth Dot Net - Community web site
- The Wirksworth Heritage Centre
- Discover Derbyshire and the Peak District: Wirksworth
- Wirksworth Parish Records 1600-1900
- Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
- Anthony Gell School
- Wirksworth Federation of Infant Schools
- St. Osyth's Wirksworth Roman Project
- Wirksworth Festival