Derbyshire

For other uses, see Derbyshire (disambiguation).

Derbyshire

Geography
Status	Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan 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 (2022) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 21st 1,066,954 406 / km² Ranked
Ethnicity	96.0% White 2.3% S.Asian, 1.7% Black British, Mixed Race or Chinese
Politics
Arms of Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/
Executive
Members of Parliament	Margaret Beckett (L) Liz Blackman (L) Natasha Engel (L) Paul Holmes (LD) Bob Laxton (L) Tom Levitt (L) Judy Mallaber (L) Patrick McLoughlin (C) Dennis Skinner (L) Mark Todd (L)
Districts
Click on image 1.High Peak 2.Derbyshire Dales 3.South Derbyshire 4.Erewash 5.Amber Valley 6.North East Derbyshire 7.Chesterfield 8.Bolsover 9.Derby (Unitary)

Derbyshire (pronounced "dar-bee-sher" /ˈdɑːbɪʃə/, as opposed to "dar-bee-shire" or "der-bee-shire") 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 part of the National Forest, and borders on Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Cheshire. Derbyshire can make some claims to be at the centre of Britain: a farm near Coton in the Elms has been identified as the furthest from the sea, whilst Rodsley and Overseal were the centres of population during the twentieth century.

The city of Derby is now a unitary authority, but remains part of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. The administrative county contains 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 in the East Midlands, some parts, such as High Peak, are closer to the northern cities of Manchester and Sheffield. Outside the main city of Derby, the largest town in the county is Chesterfield.

History

The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited, probably briefly, by humans 200,000 years ago during the Aveley interglacial as evidenced by a Middle Paleolithic Acheulian hand axe found near Hopton.. Further occupation came with the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age when Mesolithic hunter gatherers roamed the hilly tundra. The evidence of these nomadic tribes is centred around limestone caves located on the Nottinghamshire border. Desposits left in the caves date the occupancy at around 12,000 to 7,000 BCE

Burial mounds of Neolithic settlers are also situated throughout the county. These chambered tombs were designed for collective burial and are mostly located in the central Derbyshire region. There are tombs in Minning Low, and Five Wells, which date back to between 2000 and 2500 BCE Three miles west of Youlgreave lies the Neolithic henge monument of Arbor Low, This can be dated back to 2500 BCE.

It is not until the Bronze Age that real signs of agriculture and settlement are found in the county. In the moors of the Peak District signs of clearance, arable fields and hut circles were discovered after archeological investigation. However this area and another settlement at Swarkestone are all that have been found

During the Roman invasion the invaders were attracted to Derbyshire because of the lead ore in the limestone hills of the area. They settled throughout the county with forts built near Brough in Hope Valley and near Glossop. Later they settled around Buxton, famed for its warm springs, and set up a fort near modern day Derby in an area now known as Little Chester.

Several kings of Mercia are buried in the Repton area.

Following the Norman Conquest, much of the county was subject to the forest laws. To the North West was the Forest of High Peak under the custodianship of William Peverel and his descendants. The rest of the county was bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers, a part of it becoming Duffield Frith. In time the whole area was given to the Duchy of Lancaster. Meanwhile the Forest of East Derbyshire covered the whole county to the east of the River Derwent from the reign of Henry II to that of Edward I.

Economy

Derbyshire is a mixture of a rural economy in the west, with a former coal mining economy in the east (Bolsover district). The landscape varies from typical arable country in the flat lands to the south of Derby, to the mountain farming of the high gritstone moorlands of the southern Pennines, which effectively begin to the north of the city. This topology and geology has had a fundamental effect on Derbyshire development throughout its history. In addition it has been rich in natural resources like lead, iron and coal. Its remoteness in the late 18th century and an abundance of fast flowing streams led to a proliferation of water power at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, following the mills pioneered by Richard Arkwright. For this reason amongst others, Derbyshire has been said to be the home of the Industrial Revolution, and part of the Derwent Valley has been given World Heritage status.

Nationally famous companies in Derbyshire are Thorntons just south of Alfreton and JCB Power Systems have an engine factory in South Derbyshire. Ashbourne Water used to be bottled in Buxton by Nestlé Waters UK until 2006 and Buxton Waterstill is. Other major employers in the county especially around the Derby area are Rolls-Royce plc, Egg Banking plc and Toyota.

Politics

Derbyshire has a three-tier local government since the local government reorganisation in 1974. It has a county council based in Matlock and eight district councils and since 1998, a unitary authority of Derby. However, Derby remains part of Derbyshire for ceremonial purposes.

At the third tier are the parish councils, which do not cover all areas. The eight district councils in Derbyshire and the unitary authority of Derby are shown in the map to the right.

These district councils are responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism

They leave the subjects of education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning for Derbyshire to the County Council.

The county is divided into ten constituencies for the election of Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. As of November 2007, the constituencies of Amber Valley, Bolsover, Derby North, Derby South, Erewash, High Peak, North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire elected Labour MPs, while Chesterfield elected a Liberal Democrat MP and West Derbyshire elected a Conservative MP. Derbyshire residents are part of the electorate for the East Midlands constituency for elections to the European Parliament.

Education

For a list of individual schools see   Category:Schools in Derbyshire
The Derbyshire school system is comprehensive with no selective schools. There is selection by average house price in some areas.

Settlements

This is a list of the towns in Derbyshire.

Sport

Derbyshire has many sporting teams in various team sports, the most common being football. Derbyshire has at least 21 football teams, most of who play in tier 6 or lower of the English football league system, and the most successful and popular is Derby County F.C.. Chesterfield F.C. are the only other of these football clubs who currently play in the Football League, albeit in the bottom tier (Coca Cola Football League 2).

As well as football, Derbyshire also has a cricket team based in Derby, and a rugby league club based in Chesterfield.

County Emblems

Flag of Derbyshire

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Jacob's Ladder as the county flower.

In 2006, an unofficial county flag was introduced, largely on the initiative of BBC Radio Derby in September 2006. The flag consists of a St. George cross encompassing a golden Tudor Rose, which is a historical symbol of the county. The blue field represents the many waters of the county, its rivers and reservoirs, while the cross is green for the great areas of countryside.

Demographics

Derbyshire Compared
UK Census 2001	Derby	Derbyshire	East Midlands	England
Total population	221,708	734,585	4,172,174	49,138,831
Foreign born (outside Europe)	6.7%	1.4%	4.47%	6.9%
White	87.5%	98.5%	93.5%	91%
Asian	8.4%	0.5%	4.1%	4.6%
Black	1.8%	0.2%	1.0%	2.3%
Christian	67.4%	77.0%	72%	71.7%
Muslim	4.49%	0.2%	1.7%	3.1%
Hindu	0.61%	0.1%	1.6%	1.1%
No religion	15.9%	14.7%	16%	14.6%
Over 65	16.1%	16.7%	16.1%	16.0%
Unemployed	4.00%	3.2%	3.27%	3.3%

In 1801 the poulation was 147,481 According to the UK Census 2001 there were 956,301 people spread out over the county's 254,615 hectares. This was estimated to have risen to 990,400 in 2006.

The county's population grew by 3.0% from 1991 to 2001 which is around 21,100 people. This figure is higher than the national average of 2.65% however it is lower than the East Midlands average of 4.0%. The county as a whole has an average population density of 2.9 people per hectare making it less densely populated than England as a whole. The density varies considerably throughout the county with the lowest being in the region of Derbyshire Dales at 0.88, and highest outside of the main cities in the region of Erewash which has 10.04 people per hectare.

Population since 1801
Year	1801	1851	1901	1911	1921	1931	1939	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
Derbyshire non-metropolitan county	132,786	223,414	465,896	542,697	565,826	590,470	613,301	637,645	651,284	666,013	687,404	717,935	734,585
Derby unitary authority	14,695	48,506	118,469	132,188	142,824	154,316	167,321	181,423	199,578	219,558	214,424	225,296	221,716
Total as a ceremonial county	147,481	271,920	584,365	674,885	708,650	744,786	780,622	819,068	850,862	885,571	871,828	943,231	956,301

See also

• Derbyshire lead mining history
• Derbyshire Places of interest
• List of football clubs in Derbyshire

References

• Smith, Roly (1999). Towns & Villages of Britain: Derbyshire. Cheshire: Sigma Press. ISBN 1850586225.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1953). The Buildings of England: Derbyshire. Middlesex: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140710086.