Derbyshire
From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia
| Image:EnglandDerbyshire.png | |
| 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 (Template:English statistics year) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop. | [[List of ceremonial counties of England by population|Ranked Template:English cerem counties]] Template:English cerem counties Template:English cerem counties / km² [[List of non-metropolitan counties of England by population|Ranked Template:English admin counties]] Template:English admin counties |
| Ethnicity | 96.0% White 2.3% S.Asian, 1.7% Black British, Mixed Race or Chinese |
| Politics | |
| Image:Derbyshirearms.PNG Derbyshire County Council http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/ | |
| Executive | Template:English county control |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Districts | |
<imagemap>: image is invalid or non-existent 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") listen 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[citation needed], whilst Rodsley and Overseal were the centres of population during the twentieth century[citation needed].
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.
Contents |
[edit] Districts and boroughs
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[1]
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.[1]
[edit] 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.[2]. Further occupation came with the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age when Mesolithic hunter gatherers roamed the hilly tundra.[3] 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[4]
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.[4] There are tombs in Minning Low, and Five Wells, which date back to between 2000 and 2500 BCE[5] 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 clearence, arable fields and hut circles were discovered after archeological investigation. However this area and another settlement at Swarkestone are all that have been found[6]
During the Roman invasion the invadors 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 a area now known as Little Chester.[6]
Several kings of Mercia are buried in the Repton area[citation needed].
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 descendents. 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.[7]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] County flag
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[8].
[edit] Settlements
This is a list of the towns in Derbyshire.
[edit] 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ a b The Local Channel accessed 20th June 2007
- ^ Cockerton, R. W. P. 1954 A Palaeolith from Hopton, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal 79: 153-155
- ^ Smith, pp. 6
- ↑ a b Pevsner, pp. 22
- ^ Smith, pp. 7
- ↑ a b Smith,pp. 8
- ^ [www.le.ac.uk/ar/research/ projects/eastmidsfw/pdfs/26deras.pdf Dave Barrett, Derbyshire County Council, East Midlands Archaeological Research Framework: Resource Assessment of Medieval Derbyshire]
- ^ Choosing the Derbyshire flag
[edit] 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.
cy:Swydd Derby da:Derbyshire de:Derbyshire et:Derbyshire es:Derbyshire eo:Derbyshire eu:Derbyshire fr:Derbyshire hi:डर्बीशायर is:Derbyshire it:Derbyshire kw:Derbyshire lv:Dārbišīra lb:Derbyshire nl:Derbyshire ja:ダービーシャー no:Derbyshire pl:Derbyshire pt:Derbyshire ro:Derbyshire ru:Дербишир simple:Derbyshire sk:Derbyshire fi:Derbyshire sv:Derbyshire vo:Derbyshire zh:德比郡
