Now my guide book tells me that Wirksworth is a small market town in Derbyshire with a population of five thousand, while Samuel Lewis, in his A Topographical Dictionary of England, published in in 1831, observes that there were 3,787 residents in the town with another 3, 528 living in the surrounding hamlets and villages.
Adding that “The town is situated in a valley surrounded with hills, at the southern extremity of the mining district; it is not regularly lighted or paved, and is supplied with water, brought by pipes from the hills on its eastern side.
The chief employment of the inhabitants arises from the lead mines, but some are also engaged in the cotton manufacture; kand there are, in the town and its immediate neighbourhood, three establishments in which cotton ginghams are made , and others for the production of hosiery, hats, tape, silk and for wool-combing. The Cromford Canal, and the Cromford and High Peak Railway, commence in this parish”.
All of which was news to me, but then as a tourist I am particularly inept at reading up on the places we visit.
And that of course is my loss, because I might have been better able to enjoy the history of the town.
That said there was still plenty to get entranced by, like the ting thoroughfare leading from a busy street into the area surrounding the parish church.
The stone gate posts have a date of 1721, and along with the wrought iron gates there is that “Narnia” lamp post.
The paved entrance leading to the gates was restored in 1992, by the Wirksworth Civic Society with help from “The David Knightly Charitable Trust, English Heritage, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Derbyshire County Council and owners of adjoining properties [and] marls the completion of the Wirkswoth Project which began in 1978”.
All of which has set me off on a voyage of discovery, and as I wander over the town’s history, I came across an interesting site, which is well worth a look.**
For now, I shall close with that simple observation, that what was a casual day’s visit, has turned into a quest to know more about the town, which no doubt will emerge over the coming weeks, albeit from far away Chorlton-cum-Hardy, assisted by a cornucopia of online historical references and sources.***
Location; Wirksworth
Pictures; Wirksworth, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Vol 4, 1831
**T’owd Man: The Wirksworth Data Miner, https://towdman.co.uk/
***Wirksworth, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Wirksworth
Adding that “The town is situated in a valley surrounded with hills, at the southern extremity of the mining district; it is not regularly lighted or paved, and is supplied with water, brought by pipes from the hills on its eastern side.
All of which was news to me, but then as a tourist I am particularly inept at reading up on the places we visit.
And that of course is my loss, because I might have been better able to enjoy the history of the town.
That said there was still plenty to get entranced by, like the ting thoroughfare leading from a busy street into the area surrounding the parish church.
The stone gate posts have a date of 1721, and along with the wrought iron gates there is that “Narnia” lamp post.
The paved entrance leading to the gates was restored in 1992, by the Wirksworth Civic Society with help from “The David Knightly Charitable Trust, English Heritage, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Derbyshire County Council and owners of adjoining properties [and] marls the completion of the Wirkswoth Project which began in 1978”.
For now, I shall close with that simple observation, that what was a casual day’s visit, has turned into a quest to know more about the town, which no doubt will emerge over the coming weeks, albeit from far away Chorlton-cum-Hardy, assisted by a cornucopia of online historical references and sources.***
Location; Wirksworth
Pictures; Wirksworth, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Vol 4, 1831
**T’owd Man: The Wirksworth Data Miner, https://towdman.co.uk/
***Wirksworth, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Wirksworth
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