Derbyshire
The English county of Derbyshire lies in the East Midlands region of the country. This county is home to parts of the Peak District National Park, the Pennines and the National Forest and as such is one of the most scenic counties in the area if not in the country as a whole. It is also a county that is steeped in history and which has a rich industrial heritage.
The main city in the county is Derby. Other notable towns in Derbyshire include Chesterfield, Buxton, Bakewell, Ilkeston, Belper, Glossop, Duffield and Matlock. Derbyshire itself is considered by many people to stand at the centre of England from a geographical perspective. The county is bordered by Cheshire (to the north west), Yorkshire (to the north), Nottinghamshire (to the east), Leicestershire (to the south) and Staffordshire (to the west).
It is thought that people have settled in Derbyshire since ancient times. There is evidence, for example, that settlers were in this area from the Middle Palaeolithic times. There are also plenty of examples in the county of Neolithic and Mesolithic occupation such as burial mounds and cave sites.
By the Bronze Age Derbyshire settlers were starting to show evidence of agricultural pursuits. The Romans also settled here and built various fortifications in the area. It is thought that the Romans settled here because of the lead mining potential in the county’s limestone hills. The county was also popular with the Normans in their time.
For many centuries the main industries in Derbyshire were rural or agricultural in nature. The county also had a variety of coal, lead and iron mines and limestone quarrying. During the Industrial Revolution Derbyshire was held to be an important area as its limestone could be used in a variety of different industries and industrial processes. The county was also well known for its developments with water power during this period which enabled inventors such as Richard Arkwright to create the first mills. The arrival of the railway in the 19th to 20th centuries saw a typical boom in the county’s population and overall economy.
Industry in today’s Derbyshire is a little different to its rural and industrial past. The county is now perhaps best known as the home of Buxton Water, Thorntons and Rolls Royce. The county retains much of its charm in the fact that this is a large county that is inhabited by relatively few people. The major tourist attraction in the county is most likely the Peak District National Park. This is considered to be the second most visited park of its kind in the world with over 22 million visits per annum.