DERBYSHIRE, a north midland county of England, bounded north and north-east by Yorkshire, east by Nottinghamshire, south-east and south by Leicestershire, south and south-west by Staffordshire, and west and north-west by Cheshire. Area of ancient county, 658,885 ac.; administrative county and associated county borough 647,824 ac., pop. 0931) 757,332.
The county may be divided into two sections—the northern upland region culminating in the High Peak, and the southern lowland area around Derby. The north is made up of Carbo niferous limestone, millstone grit and the coal measures, while the lowland south is mainly underlain by red Triassic rocks.
Geology.—The Carboniferous or "Mountain" limestone in the north-west of the county is the oldest formation; its thickness is over 2,000 feet. It is well exposed in the numerous narrow gorges cut by the Derwent and its tributaries and by the Dove on the Staffordshire border. The limestone uplands are bleak and dry generally with smooth outlines cut by deep ravines. Many of these glens are richly wooded. Volcanic rocks, locally known as "Toadstone" are represented in the limestones by intrusive sills and flows of dolerite and by necks of agglomerate notably near Tideswell, Millersdale and Matlock.
The highest ground in the extreme north of the county is capped by shales and sometimes by the millstone grit. In this region are Bleaklow hill (2,o6o ft.), Shelf Moss (2,046 ft.), Kinder Scout (2,o88 ft.) and other summits of the Peak itself. A series of black shales with nodular limestones, the Pendleside series rests upon the mountain limestone on the east, south and north-west; much of the upper course of the Derwent has been cut through these soft beds. Main Tor (1,7oo ft.) is made of these shales. Then follows a thick mass of sandstones, grits and shales—the millstone grit series. On the west side these extend from Blacklow hill to Axe Edge; on the east, from Derwent Edge to near Derby. A patch of millstone grit and limestone occurs in the south of the county about Melbourne and Tickvale.
The coal measures rest upon the millstone grit; the largest area of these rocks lies on the east, where they are coterminous with the coalfields of Yorkshire and Nottingham. A small tract, part of the Leicestershire coalfield, lies in the south of the county, and in the north-west corner a portion of the Lancashire coal field appears about New Mills and Whaley Bridge. The coal measure country is gently moulded. East of Bolsover the coal measures are covered unconformably by the Permian breccias and magnesian limestone. South of a line through Ashbourne, Quarndon and Stanford, the land is at a much lower level. Flank ing the hills between the former towns are red beds of Bunter, sandstone and conglomerate; they also appear at Morley, east of the Derwent, and again round the small southern coalfield. Most of the south part of the county is covered superficially by glacial drift and alluvium of the Trent. Local boulders as well as northern erratics are found in the valley of the Derwent. The bones of Pleistocene mammals—the rhinoceros, mammoth bison, hyaena, etc., have been found at numerous places, often in caves and fissures in the limestones, e.g., at Castleton, Wirksworth and Cresswell. At Doveholes the Pleiocene Mastodon has been re ported.
The rivers of the county radiate from the northern hills. Those of the north-west belong to the Mersey and those of the north east to the Don, but all the others to the middle Trent which forms part of the southern county boundary with Leicestershire. The tributary streams of the Trent, of which the Derwent, Dove and Erewash are the most important, flow from north-north-west to south-south-east over the Carboniferous, but turn almost west-north-west to east-south-east on the newer rocks before they enter the middle Trent, flowing roughly east-north-eastwards. The Dove flows as the boundary between Derbyshire and Stafford shire for nearly its entire course. The Derwent rising in the High Peak flows southward, almost bisecting the county. The Erewash is the boundary stream between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The Goyt rises a little further north than the junction of the three counties—Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire, and flows north-north-eastward dividing Derbyshire from Cheshire and finally falls into the Mersey.
Climate.—The winters in the uplands are generally severe, and the rainfall heavy. At Buxton (I,000 ft.) the mean tempera ture in January is 34.9° F, and in JulY 57-5° ; at Derby, in the southern lowland, the figures are respectively 37.5° and 61•2° ; intermediate conditions are found at Belper where the figures are 36.3° and 59.9°. The contrasts shown by the mean annual rainfall are similarly marked, ranging from 52.o3 in. at Wooclhead in the north through 35.2 in. at Matlock and 24.35 in. at Derby in the south.
Early Settlement—Important traces of the cultures of the late Palaeolithic age in Cresswell crags have recently been dis covered. The early settlement of Derbyshire was confined almost entirely to the well-drained Carboniferous limestone lands of the Peak. The marked Derbyshire group of Beaker pots indicates an important settlement of the dawn of the age of metals around the Peak district. It is thought that the Beaker folk came from the Continent via the east coast, and groups apparently from the East Riding of Yorkshire reached the Derbyshire Peak district; others penetrated from the East Anglian coasts inland over the English plain. There are numerous Megalithic remains in the same area, the stone circle being much in evidence. The largest circles are those of Arbor Low, near Hartington, which retains most of its stones, and the "Bull Ring," at Dove Holes, near Chapel-on-le Frith. Finds of Bronze age weapons and implements are not so numerous as in the neighbouring counties. Many defensible sites, especially in the north of the country, are capped by ancient camps. Main Tor, near Castleton, and Carl's Wark, near Hather sage, are good examples. It is impossible to assign a date to these structures as they were probably in use over a great length of time. Structures of this type were important- in Romano-British and post-Roman times. The Romans were the first to utilize the low lands to any great extent. At this period Littlechester, a camp to the north-east of Derby, became a focus of ways, receiving Ryk nield Street in particular. Aquae (Buxton), Anavio (near Castle ton) and Melandra (west of Glossop) were sites in the north of the county.
Post-Roman.—The post-Roman centuries revived interest in the north until the conquests of the West Angles in the 6th century brought them up the valleys of the Derwent and the Dove. Later the district formed the northern division of Mercia, and in 848 the Mercian witenagemot assembled at Repton. In the 9th century the district suffered frequently from the ravages of the Danes, who in 874 wintered at Repton and destroyed its famous monastery. Derby under Guthrum was one of the five Danish burghs, but in 917 was recovered by Aethelflaed. In 924 Edward the Elder fortified Bakewell, and in 942 Edmund re gained Derby from the Danes. Saxon barrows are numerous in Wirksworth hundred and the Bakewell district, among them being White-low near Winster and Bower's-low near Tissington. There are Saxon cemeteries at Stapenhill and Foremark Hall.
Derbyshire probably originated as a shire in the time of Aethel stan, but for long it maintained a close connection with Notting hamshire, and Domesday gives a list of customs affecting the two counties alike. The two shire-courts sat together for the Domes day Inquest, and the counties were under one sheriff until the time of Elizabeth. The villages of Appleby, Oakthorpe, Donis thorpe, Stretton-en-le-Field, Willesley, Chilcote and Measham were reckoned as part of Derbyshire in 1o86, although sep arated from it by the Leicestershire parishes of Over and Nether Seat. Early divisions of the county were known as wapentakes, five being mentioned in Domesday, while 13th century documents mention seven corresponding with the six present hundreds, ex cept that Repton and Gresley were then reckoned as separate divisions. In the 14th century the divisions were described as hundreds, and Wirksworth alone retained the designation wapen take until modern times. Ecclesiastically the county constituted an archdeaconry in the diocese of Lichfield, comprising the six deaneries of Derby, Ashbourne, High Peak, Castillar, Chesterfield and Repington. In 1884 it was transferred to the newly formed diocese of Southwell. The assizes for Nottinghamshire and Derby shire *ere held at Nottingham until the reign of Henry III., when they were held alternately at Nottingham and Derby until 1569, after which the Derbyshire assizes were held at Derby. The miners of Derbyshire formed an independent community under the jurisdiction of a steward and barmasters, who held two Barmote courts (q.v.) every year. The forests of Peak and Duffield had their separate courts and officers.
At the time of Domesday Henry de Ferrers owned almost the whole of the modern hundred of Appletree. The Ferrers estates were forfeited by Robert, earl of Derby, in the reign of Henry III. Another Domesday landholder was William Peverel, the founder of Peak castle, whose possessions were known as the Honour of Peverel. In 1155 the estates were forfeited to the crown. During the reigns of John and Henry III. discontent was rife in Derby shire and attacks were made on the central power. Riots occurred in 1443. In the 17th century the county first supported the king, but by 1643 Sir John Gell of Hopton had secured almost the whole county for the parliament. Derby, however, was always royalist and Romanist in sympathy, and in 1745 entertained the young Pretender.
Derbyshire has always been mainly a mining and manufacturing county, though the rich land in the south formerly produced large quantities of corn. The lead mines were worked by the Romans, and Domesday mentions lead mines at Wirksworth, Matlock, Bakewell, Ashford and Crich. Iron has also been produced in Derbyshire from an early date, and coal mines were worked at Norton and Alfreton in the beginning of the 14.th century. The woollen industry flourished in the county before the reign of John, when an exclusive privilege of dyeing cloth was conceded to the burgesses of Derby. Thomas Fuller in 1662 mentions lead, malt and ale as the chief products of the county, and the Buxton waters were already famous in his day. The 18th century saw the rise of numerous manufactures. In 1718 Sir Thomas and John Lombe set up an improved silk-throwing machine at Derby, and in 1758 Jedediah Strutt introduced a machine for making stock ings. In 1771 Sir Richard Arkwright set up one of his first cotton mills in Cromford, and in 1787 there were 22 cotton mills in the county. The Derby porcelain or china manufactory was started about 175o.
The industrial districts, based on the coalfield, are in the east and extreme south-west. Silk, cotton, iron, papermaking, woollens, lace, malting and brewing are important. Derby, Belper and Duf field are the silk centres, while Derby has also its china, lace, braids, cords, chemical and motor (Rolls Royce) manufactures. Belper, Cromford, Matlock and Tutbury specialize in cotton spinning and hosiery. The iron smelting focuses on Alfreton, Chesterfield, Derby and Ilkeston. Lead, gypsum, zinc, iron ore, manganese and barytes are raised to some extent. The county is famous for its limestone and marble quarries, while the fluor spar of the limestone caverns is made into ornaments. The warm mineral springs at Buxton, Matlock and Bakewell are well known.
The chief railway serving the county is the L.M.S., which has one of its chief works at Derby, while a branch of the L.N.E. serves Derby and other places in the south. The Trent and Mersey canal crosses the southern part of the county, and there is a branch canal (the Derby) connecting Derby with this and with the Erewash canal, which runs north from the Trent up the Ere wash valley. From it there is a little-used branch (the Cromford canal) to Matlock.
The county is in the Midland circuit, and assizes are held at Derby. It has one court of quarter sessions and is divided into 15 petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Derby, Chesterfield and Glossop have separate commissions of the peace, and that of Derby has also a separate court of quarter sessions. The total number of civil parishes is 314. The county was until recently mainly in the diocese of Southwell, but a diocese of Derby has now been created. The county contains 255 ecclesiastical parishes or districts. From 1295 until the Reform Act of 1832 the county and town of Derby each returned two members to parliament. From 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions until the Act of 1868, under which it returned six members for three divisions. Since 1918 the county returns eight members, one each for the following divisions: Belper, Chesterfield, Clay Cross, High Peak, Ilkeston, North-eastern, Southern and Western, while the county borough of Derby returns two members.