Did You Know?

It is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire, containing the southern extremity of the Pennine range of hills which extend into the north of the county.

The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited, probably briefly, by humans 200,000 years ago during the Aveley interglacial as evidenced by a Middle Paleolithic Acheulean hand axe found near Hopton.

Further occupation came with the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age when Mesolithic hunter gatherers roamed the hilly tundra. Evidence of these nomadic tribes has been found in limestone caves located on the Derbyshire border. Deposits left in the caves date the occupancy at around 12,000 to 7,000 BCE.

It is not until the Bronze Age that real signs of agriculture and settlement are found in the Derbyshire. In the moors of the Peak District signs of clearance, arable fields and hut circles were discovered after archaeological investigation.

During the Roman invasion the invaders were attracted to Derbyshire because of the lead ore in the limestone hills of the area. They settled throughout the county with forts built near Brough in the Hope Valley and near Glossop.

Derbyshire Silk Mill is thought to have been the first factory in the world – and it was the first silk mill in England. Lombe’s Mill, as it was known, was built next to the River Derwent after John Lombe visited Piedmont in 1717 and returned to England with details of the Italian silk-throwing machines and Italian craftsmen.

The Arboretum opened in 1840, following the donation of the land by philanthropist Joseph Strutt who wanted to reward the working people of Derby for the part they had played in helping him and his family amass their enormous fortune. Strutt commissioned John Claudius Loudon to design the park. In 1859, the Arboretum was visited by Frederick Law Olmsted while on a research tour of Europe. It is thought he incorporated features of Loudon’s work into his design for Central Park, in New York.

Derbyshire brought together some of the brightest and most talented minds of the 18th-century – great thinkers in art, philosophy and inspiring scientific and technological breakthroughs. They included artist Joseph Wright, known as Wright of Derby, who was known for his innovative use of light in his paintings.

It is home to the renowned JB Kind which has been a timber specialist for more than 140 years and has been selling some of the UK’s most innovative wooden doors for more than 30 years.