Places to visit in Derbyshire

Whether one seeks the Great Outdoors or the Great Indoors, Derbyshire is the perfect county to visit and explore, as it has both in spades!

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is the most westerly of the East Midlands counties of England, which makes it central and thus accessible from many of the country’s major cities. However, it is also at the southern end of the Pennine Hills, and much of it comprises the wild, open country of the Peak District. This accounts for its appeal to walkers, climbers and cavers, and may also have much to do with why so many landowners and aristocrats in past centuries built the stately homes that are now tourist attractions in their own right.

In terms of specific “must visit” locations, the following are suggested:

The Peak District

Although the Peak District extends into six counties, the bulk of the National Park (the oldest in Britain) is in Derbyshire. Geologically, it is formed from two main rock types, millstone grit and limestone, which give the hills their characteristics shapes and colouring, such that the northern part is the “Dark Peak” and the southern the “White Peak”. The Dark Peak is higher and wilder, and thus less visited than the White Peak. Walkers are well rewarded with splendid views from heights such as Kinder Scout and Mam Tor, or you can walk a section of the Pennine Way, which begins at Edale and could take you far beyond the borders of Derbyshire!

You can visit sites that show evidence of prehistoric occupation. Arbor Low, nine miles south-east of Buxton, is a 4,000 year old stone circle, although all the 40 or so 8-ton stones now lie flat. Further east is Stanton Moor, with its Bronze Age barrows and the Nine Ladies stone circle.

In the White Peak area, a walk through Dove Dale (which comprises the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire) is a delight, with wooded limestone cliffs rising high on either side. However, the relative ease of walking makes this a very popular destination in the high season.

Castleton

This village, at the heart of Peak District, has much to offer the visitor, including Peveril Castle, built between the 11th and 13th centuries. However, this area is riddled with cave systems, some of them natural and others the result of mining and quarrying. In particular, the Speedwell Cavern offers a very unusual experience in that you are taken by boat along a quarter-mile tunnel deep underground to the “bottomless pit” where, over many years, 40,000 tons of mining rubble was dumped into a pool, the surface of which stayed at the same level throughout.

Castleton is the world’s only source of “blue john”, a semi-precious coloured stone. Two caverns that have been worked for centuries in search of blue john can be visited, namely Treak Cliff Cavern and Blue John Cavern. A fourth cave site that can be visited is Peak Cavern, formerly known as the “Devil’s Arse”!

Chatsworth House

This is one of Britain’s great stately homes, built in the 17th century by the first Duke of Devonshire and lived in by the family ever since. The house itself is a beautifully-preserved example of Palladian architecture, and its rooms contain many treasures of interior design, furnishings and works of art, including paintings by Tintoretto, Van Dyck and Rembrandt. If you have visited the Blue John Cavern (see above) you will not want to miss the “Chatsworth tazza”, which is probably the world’s largest blue john vase.

However, the grounds of Chatsworth are just as memorable as the interior. Originally laid out by Capability Brown in the 1750s, they include five miles of paths, magnificent vistas, a maze, a 300-year-old cascade and the gravity-fed Emperor Fountain that shoots water more than 200 feet into the air.

Much has been done to make Chatsworth a visitor attraction for the whole family, while stopping short of turning it into a theme park. The beauty of the house and grounds, within their spectacular setting, are therefore preserved for all to enjoy.

Bolsover Castle

The word “unique” is often misused but it is wholly appropriate for this survival of a fantasy mansion from the 17th century. Although built to look like a castle, and sited on a hilltop where a medieval castle once stood, it was never intended for defence but as the plaything of an extremely wealthy man (Sir Charles Cavendish, followed by his son William) who imagined himself living in a golden age of chivalric romance. This theme can be seen in the exquisitely carved fireplaces, rich murals and panelling within the house, and features such as the Venus Fountain, with its 23 statues, which has recently been restored to full working order.

Of particular interest to horse-lovers is the Riding House, which is one of the country’s best-preserved indoor riding schools.

Hardwick Hall

You get two halls for the price of one, as the Old Hall (now a ruin) was the childhood home of the redoubtable Bess of Hardwick (1521-1608), and the New Hall, just over the road, was the splendid house she built when in her 60s. This is one of the great Elizabethan houses, unaltered since its completion in 1597. It is notable for the large size of its windows and its high ceilings, thus giving a feeling of lightness and airiness. The house is renowned for its tapestries, plaster friezes and alabaster fireplaces.

Not far away is Stainsby Mill, a working watermill that dates from the mid 19th century.

(Other “big houses” to visit in Derbyshire include Kedleston Hall, Haddon Hall and Sudbury Hall (which houses the National Trust Museum of Childhood))

Crich Tramway Village and National Tramway Museum

Located between Matlock and Belper to the south-east of the county, this is a working museum devoted to the history of the tram. The exhibits include more than 60 trams from Britain and around the world, some of which are available for riding along the museum’s mile-long track which runs through a period village and out into the countryside.

The Heights of Abraham

Visitors have been coming here (near Matlock Bath) since 1780, but not by the means currently available! You begin with a cable car ride from the valley floor to the top of Masson Hill, enjoying splendid views over the Derwent Valley. At the top you can take woodland walks and spot the wildlife, or you can visit two cave systems. There are also activities for children.

Derbyshire’s Towns

The small towns of Derbyshire are, on the whole, more interesting to visit than the larger ones. Of the latter, Derby itself is disappointing apart from its cathedral, which is far from spectacular and is actually the smallest Anglican cathedral in England. Chesterfield is notable only for the crooked spire of its parish church, the shape resulting from mistakes made in the 14th century.

However, the towns of Ashbourne, Bakewell, Glossop, Hathersage and Matlock / Matlock Bath have a great deal more charm and individuality.

Special mention must be made of Buxton, a spa town which the Georgians and Victorians tried to develop as a northern rival to Bath and Cheltenham. In this respect it failed, but the architecture of the town is redolent of past glories, including the Crescent (modelled on the Royal Crescent at Bath) and the huge “Devonshire Dome”. Buxton is generously provided with parks and gardens, and there is also Poole’s Cavern to visit with its stalactites and stalagmites.

Buxton has its own opera house, built in 1903 and recently restored, which stages performances throughout the year. The Buxton Festival takes place every July and, like Edinburgh, it has spawned a “Festival Fringe”. Separate from this is the highly popular Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in August.

Needless to say, this article can only scrape the surface of what is a fascinating county to visit, for all sorts of reasons. Derbyshire can be enjoyed in many different ways, by people of all ages and states of health, and should not be ignored as a potential destination for either a short or a long break.