Derbyshire is a county of great diversity and striking contrasts; a highland and a lowland county of outstanding natural beauty; a rural and an urban county of rich natural resources. From the crags and moorland masses of the Peak, through the lush, green dales of the limestone uplands, down to the broad, fertile vales of the Derwent, Dove and Trent, this county embraces a wealth of customs and folklore springing from a varied history. In this book Derbyshire’s human story is vividly recounted, from Stone Age cave-dwellers to local life in the present day.
A mammoth spine dagger and the oldest pictorial art in Britain, together with the ‘Stonehenge of the North’ at Arbor Low, provide evidence of prehistoric settlement. By Roman times a well-developed lead-mining industry brought roads and civilisation. Later centuries saw Mary, Queens of Scots, in captivity here, the formidable Bess of Hardwick, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his army of Scots Highlanders encamped, the seeds of the ‘Glorious Revolution’ sown, the world’s first mechanised textile mill and Britain’s first National Park. Great houses which as Haddon, Hardwick and Chatsworth feature as do great characters like George Eliot and George Stephenson, but essentially this is the story of the Derbyshire folk who ploughed and delved and built to leave behind the landscape and townscape, the culture and traditions, that are Derbyshire’s heritage.
Derbyshire is much loved, both by its own inhabitants and those of the well-populated neighbouring counties. Whether local historians of simply ordinary residents or visitors with an interest in the part, many will welcome the publication of this new, very readable and well illustrated account of the making of Derbyshire.
Contents:
List of Plates
List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Stone and Ice Age
2. The Ancient Heritage
3. Under Roman Rule
4. Saxon Derbyshire
5. Danelaw
6. Conquerors and Conquered
7. The Age of Faith
8. A Derbyshire Manor
9. From Haddon to Hardwick
10. Education Tudor Style
11. The Deep Divide
12. Country Living in the 17th and 18th Centuries
13. Georgian ‘Treasure’
14. The First Factories
15. Changes of Carriage
16. Town and City
17. Countryside
Select bibliography
Index
