Wirksworth

Standing as it does virtually at the centre of Derbyshire, where north meets south, Wirksworth was once the leading lead-mining town in the Peak District when the industry was at its height.

Babington House dates back to Jacobean Wirksworth. Another former lead merchant’s house, Hopkinsons House, was restored in 1980 as part of a number of restoration schemes initiated by the Civic Trust’s ‘Wirksworth Project’. The ancient Parish Church of St Mary’s is a fine building dating originally from the 13th century and standing on a site previously occupied by a Saxon and then a Norman church. It sits in a tranquil close bounded by theformer (Georgian) grammar school and the Elizabethan Gell’s Almshouses, named after Sir Philip Gell who founded them in 1584. The church holds one of the oldest stone carvings in the country. Known as the Wirksworth Stone, it is acoffin lid dating from the 8th century, and was found beneath the chancel floor in the 120s. There are also tombs of the Gell family, local lords of the manor in Tudor times and lead mine owners. The ancient ceremony of ‘clypping the hurch’ takes place here on the first Sunday after 8th September each year. It is thought to date from pre-Christian times, and consists of the people of the village circling the church and linking hands. Another ceremony is that of well-dressing, which takes place dring the last few days of May/first week of June.

The National Stone Centre in Porter Lane tells ‘the story of stone’, with a wealth of exhibits, activities such as gem-panning and fossil-casting, and outdoor trails tailored to introduce topics such as the geology, ecology and history of the dramatic Peak District landscape.

At North End Mills, visitors are able to witness hosiery being made as it has been for over half a century; a special viewing area offers an insight into some of the items on sale in the factory shop.

The town has connections with Mary Ann Evans, the author who wrote under the pen name of George Eliot. At the southern end of the town is a cottage known as Adam Bede Cottage. This is where Samuel Evansand his wife Elizabeth lived, in real life Mary Ann’s aunt and uncle. In the book Adam Bede, Wirksworth is called Snowfield, and Samuel and Elizabeth are portrayed as Adam Bede and Dinah Morris. Another literary connection is to be found at the Crown Inn, which Baroness Orczyfeatured in her novel Beau Brocade. Wirksworth was also where D.H. Lawrence’s mother came from, and indeed Lawrence lived close to the town at Mountain Cottage for a year with his German-born wife.

 An impressive exhibit in the courtyard is the Kugel Stone, a massive ball of granite weighing over one tonne, which revolves on a thin film of water underpressure and can be moved with a touch of the hand. Some half a million trees and shrubs have been planted and are managed here, to attract wildlife and to enhance the landscape. There are two bird hides and a wildlife centre to help visitors understand the variety of wildlife and observe the birdlife that visits the reservoir.  The reservoir is stocked for fishing either from the bank or from boats available for hire. There is a large adventure playground and numerous open spaces for families to relax.

For those wanting to know more about Wirksworth a visit to the highly acclaimed Wirksworth Heritage Centre is essential. Situated just off the market place in Crown Yard, the Heritage Centre is housed in a former Silk and Velvet Mill and takes visitors through time from when the bones of a Woolly Rhino were found, to the Romans in Wirksworth through to the present day, with all this being explained over three floors. Excellent views over the town are obtained from the windows. One of the town’s most interesting sights is the jumble of cottages linked by a maze of tiny lanes on the hillside between The Dale and Greenhill, in particular the area known locally as ‘The Puzzle Gardens’.

Wirksworth wells are dressed on spring bank holiday and thre is also an annual arts and crafts festival in September.