CHESTERFIELD, a market town and municipal borough in the Chesterfield parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 24 m. N. by E. of Derby by rail. Pop. (1931) 64,146. It is doubtful whether it was a Roman station. Chesterfield (Cestre feld) owes its present name to the Saxons. It is mentioned in Domesday only as a bailiwick of Newbold. In 1204 John granted to the town all the privileges of a free borough enjoyed by Not tingham and Derby ; but before this it seems to have had pre scriptive borough rights. In 1598 it was incorporated by Elizabeth under the style of a mayor, six brethren and 12 capital burgesses, and was so governed till the Municipal Act, 1835. In 1204 John granted two weekly markets, on Tuesday and Saturday, and an annual fair of eight days at the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14). This fair, which is still held, and another on Palm Tuesday are mentioned in the quo warranto roll of 1330. The Tuesday market has long been discontinued. In 1266 the town was the scene of a battle between the royal forces and the barons. In 1586 it suffered from the plague, and the parliamentary forces were overthrown here during the Civil War.
Chesterfield lies at the junction of the Rother and Hipper, in an industrial district. The church of St. Mary and All Saints belongs principally to the Decorated period. It has a wooden spire, covered with lead, 23o ft. high, and possesses also an apsidal Decorated chapel. The Stephenson Memorial Hall (1879) corn memorates George Stephenson, the engineer. The Grammar school was founded in 1574. The industries of the town include manu factures of cotton, silk, earthenware, machinery and tobacco, with brass and iron founding; slate and stone are quarried and there are coal, iron and lead mines in the neighbourhood.
urban district in the county of Durham, England, near the river Wear, where the latter changes its northward course and turns eastward to the sea. The town is 6m. north of the city of Durham on the L. N. E. R. Pop. (1931) 16,639.
Chester-le-Street was a station on a branch of the Roman north road. Under the name of Cunecastre it was made the seat of a bishop in 882, and continued to be the head of the diocese till the Danish invasion of 995. During that time the church was the repository of the shrine of St. Cuthbert, which was then removed to Durham. The parish church of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert is an interesting building formerly collegiate, with a remarkable series of monumental tombs. The proximity of the Durham coal field and iron works gives employment to a large section of the population.