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Wirksworth
An introduction...
Wirksworth, emerging from its recent 'dark age', is claiming a rightful place as one of Derbyshire's oldest and most interesting towns. From artisan housing spanning several centuries to elegant Georgian buildings, from the steep and quirky Market Place to the wonderful St. Mary's church and nearby former Grammar School and from the maze of alleyways accurately called the Puzzle to the remaining industrial buildings with their own stories to tell, the town amply rewards time spent exploring, especially after a visit to the superb Wirksworth Heritage Centre, housed in an old silk and velvet factory (and not forgetting a visit to the adjacent Crown Yard Kitchen for a snack or a meal) where the history of the town is well presented.
Venturing further afield the visitor can take a trip on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, operating from the former station in the town, or visit the National Stone Centre, Black Rocks, the High Peak Trail and Carsington Water. Stimulating and challenging walks can be found in every direction, particularly on the High Peak Trail, a fascinating example of careful preservation of a former industrial site at Middleton Top and giving access to the Cromford Canal and the 90kms long Derwent Valley Heritage Walk. Watersports enthusiasts are well catered for at Carsington Water, a 720 acre reservoir opened in 1992. Transport enthusiasts are spoiled for choice with the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, Steeple Grange Light Railway, Peak Rail at Matlock and the Crich National Tramways Museum.
Welldressing takes place in the town in May with a Town Carnival also in May and a Festival in early September with street entertainment, dance, music, art and craft exhibitions, performances and workshops.
The town's isolated position in the hills to the west of the Derwent Valley, which carries the A6, railway line and canal, and accessed by usually steep B roads as well as being almost surrounded by huge limestone quarries, leaves little space for new industrial development although mills such as Haarlem Mill, once famous for producing miles of Whitehall's red tape, are being converted to new uses. Wirksworth is 7kms from Matlock, 15kms from Ashbourne and 30kms from Derby with the nearest M1 junction twenty seven kilometres to the east. Limited bus services operate around the area and there is a regular service between Bakewell via Matlock and Derby. The nearest railway station is at Cromford (3kms) with services to Matlock and Derby's mainline connections. The nearest airport is the East Midlands (55kms) at Castle Donington.
A brief history...
The discovery of lead bearing ore was undoubtedly the reason that an Iron Age settlement grew up in the Wirksworth area. Ancient trackways, later improved by the Romans and used by the Anglo Saxons, can still be seen on the trading routes to places like Derby. The Romans quickly realised the value of having a civil settlement and trading area (called Lutudarum although its exact position is still conjecture) rather than a military fort. Lead mining scarred the landscape with thousands of small excavations following the veins or 'rakes' of galena.
An Anglo Saxon monk built the first church at Woerc's Worth in 653AD which was partially demolished by the Danes in the late ninth century. In the Domesday Book several lead mines were recorded at Werchesvorde, one of several names the town has had. The Normans mined lead and some silver and in 1272 began the rebuilding of St. Mary's church which stands in a cathedral like close. A ceremony, possibly pre-Christian in origin, sees the congregation encircle the church in September each year, hands linked and symbolically embracing the church.
The town was granted a market charter in 1306 and mining continued to grow, often by single miners who staked a claim where they wished (except churchyards, roads and orchards) and paid a tribute, or tax, to a Barmaster. Barmote Courts, consisting of a Barmaster and twenty four jurors, met to arbitrate on disputes and collect royalties and tithes for the Crown and the Church. In 1513 Henry VIII presented a bronze measuring dish to the court to standardise the size of wooden dishes used by the miners. The court survives to this day and still holds the bronze dish. Mining and smelting continued throughout the Middle Ages and by the eighteenth century thousands of individually worked mines flourished. Money to finance deeper mines with long drainage soughs and, eventually, steam powered engines to pump water from the mines was provided with the setting up of the London Lead Company.
Lead mining declined in the area by the mid nineteenth century and a period of unemployment followed, relieved a little by the rise of limestone quarrying nearby and textile mills in the town spinning cotton and making red tape. The town, containing much fine architecture from its prosperous eras, saw a considerable depopulation and with the closing of the railway in 1947 Wirksworth entered a period of decline, fortunately reversed after being selected for regeneration by the Monument Trust in 1978 and continued by the Civic Trust and other bodies as Wirksworth strives to achieve its rightful place as an important Derbyshire town.
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