Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south and west, and Cheshire to the west. The city of Derby is the largest settlement.
The county has an area of and had an estimated population of in. The eastern half of the county is the more densely populated and contains its largest settlements: Chesterfield in the north-east, Derby in the south-east, and Swadlincote in the south. The spa town of Buxton and Glossop are located in the north-west, and Matlock near the centre. For local government purposes Derbyshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eight districts, and the Derby unitary authority area. The East Midlands Combined County Authority includes Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council.
The north and centre of Derbyshire are hilly and contain the majority of the Peak District, which has been designated a national park. They include Kinder Scout, at the highest point in the county. The River Derwent is the longest in the county, at, and flows south until it meets the River Trent just south of Derby. Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms, near Swadlincote, is the furthest point from the sea in the UK.
History
The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited, probably briefly, by humans 200,000 years ago during the Aveley interglacial, as shown 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 Nottinghamshire border. Deposits left in the caves date the occupancy at around 12,000 to 7,000 BCE.
Burial mounds of Neolithic settlers are also situated throughout the county. These chambered tombs were designed for collective burial and are mostly located in the central Derbyshire region. There are tombs at Minninglow and Five Wells that date back to between 2000 and 2500 BCE. 5 kilometres west of Youlgreave lies the Neolithic henge monument of Arbor Low, which has been dated to 2500 BCE. It is not until the Bronze Age that real signs of agriculture and settlement are found in the county. In the moors of the Peak District signs of clearance, arable fields and hut circles were found after archaeological investigation. However this area and another settlement at Swarkestone are all that have been found.
During the Roman conquest of Britain, the invaders were attracted to Derbyshire for its 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. Later they settled round Buxton, famed for its warm springs, and set up a fort near modern-day Derby in an area now known as Little Chester.
Several kings of Mercia are buried in the Repton area.
Following the Norman Conquest, much of the county was subject to the forest laws. To the northwest was the Forest of High Peak under the custodianship of William Peverel and his descendants. The rest of the county was bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers, a part of it becoming Duffield Frith. In time the whole area was given to the Duchy of Lancaster. Meanwhile, the Forest of East Derbyshire covered the whole county to the east of the River Derwent from the reign of Henry II to that of Edward I.
Geography
The terrain of Derbyshire mostly consists of uplands to the north and centre of the county, and lowlands to the south and east. The southern foothills and uplands of the Pennines extend from the north of the Trent Valley throughout the Peak District and into the north of the county, reaching the county's highest point at Kinder Scout. The terrain is relatively low-lying across the lower Dove Valley, from the Trent Valley and southwards, the far south of the Derwent Valley and near its eastern borders with Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The main rivers in the county are the River Derwent and the River Dove which both join the River Trent in the south. The River Derwent rises in the moorland of Bleaklow and flows throughout the Peak District and county for the majority of its course, while the River Dove rises in Axe Edge Moor and forms a boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire for most of its length.Landscape character
The varied landscapes within Derbyshire have been formed mainly as a consequence of the underlying geology, but also by the way the land has been managed and shaped by human activity. The county contains 11 discrete landscape types, known as National Character Areas, which have been described in detail by Natural England and further refined, mapped and described by Derbyshire County Council and the Peak District National Park.The 11 National Character Areas found within Derbyshire are:
- Dark Peak
- White Peak
- South West Peak
- Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent
- Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield
- Southern Magnesian Limestone
- Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands
- Trent Valley Washlands
- Melbourne Parklands
- Leicestershire & South Derbyshire Coalfield
- Mease/Sence Lowlands
Geology
The oldest rocks are Lower Carboniferous limestones of Dinantian age, which form the core of the White Peak within the Peak District National Park. Because northern Derbyshire is effectively an uplifted dome of rock layers that have subsequently eroded to expose older rocks in the centre of the Derbyshire Dome, these are encircled by progressively younger limestone rocks, until they in turn give way on three sides to Upper Carboniferous shales, gritstones and sandstones of Namurian age.
Younger still are the sandstones, shales and coal deposits found on the eastern flank of Derbyshire, forming the coal measures, which are of Westphalian age. All these rock layers disappear south of a line drawn between Ashbourne and Derby under layers of clays and sandstones of Permo-Triassic age. Small amounts of carboniferous limestones, gritstones and coal measures reappear in the far south of Derbyshire from Ticknall to Swadlincote.
Some areas of the White Peak exhibit contemporaneous basalt flows, as well as subsequent dolerite sill intrusion at a much later stage, whilst mineralisation of the carboniferous limestone in a subsequent period created extensive lead and fluorite deposits which have formed a significant part of Derbyshire's economy, as did coal mining. Lead mining has been important here since Roman Times. The more recent river gravels of the Trent valley remain a significant extractive industry today in south Derbyshire, as does the mining of limestone rock in central and northern parts of the county. Coarse sandstones were once extensively quarried both for local building materials and for the production of gritstone grinding wheels for use in mills, and both former industries have left their mark on the Derbyshire landscape.
Green belts
As well as the protections afforded to the Peak District area under national and local policies, there are several green belts within the county, aimed at preserving the landscape surrounding main urban areas. There are four such areas, the first three being portions of much larger green belts that extend outside the county and surround large conurbations:| Derbyshire green belt area | Part of the larger | Communities contained within | Communities on the outskirts |
| North West Derbyshire Green Belt | North West Green Belt for Manchester | Glossop, Hadfield, Charlesworth, Furness Vale, New Mills | Hayfield, Chinley, Whaley Bridge |
| North East Derbyshire Green Belt | South and West Yorkshire Green Belt for Sheffield | Dronfield, Eckington, Killamarsh, High Lane/Ridgeway, Holymoorside | Chesterfield, Staveley, Barlborough |
| South East Derbyshire Green Belt | Nottingham and Derby Green Belt for Derby/Nottingham | Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Heanor, Ripley, Borrowash, Duffield, West Hallam | Belper, Derby |
| South Derbyshire Green Belt | Burton upon Trent and Swadlincote Green Belt | Stanhope Bretby, Stanton | Burton-upon-Trent, Swadlincote |
Ecology
Because of its central location in England and altitude range from 27 metres in the south to 636 metres in the north, Derbyshire contains many species at the edge of their UK distribution ranges. Some species with a predominantly northern British distribution are at the southern limit of their range, whilst others with a more southern distribution are at their northern limit in Derbyshire. As climate change progresses, a number of sensitive species are now being seen to be either expanding or contracting their range as a result.For the purposes of protecting and recording the county's most important habitats, Derbyshire has been split into two regions, each with its own Biodiversity Action Plan, based around National Character Areas. The Peak District BAP includes all of Derbyshire's uplands of the Dark Peak, South-West Peak and White Peak, including an area of limestone beyond the national park boundary. The remaining areas are monitored and recorded in the Lowland Derbyshire Biodiversity Action Plan, which subdivides the landscape into eight smaller Action Areas.
The Derbyshire Biological Records Centre was formerly based at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, but since 2011 has been managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Two of Englands 48 Local Nature Partnerships also cover Derbyshire; these are the Peak District LNP and the Lowland Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire LNP.
In October 2025, Derbyshire County Council approved Derbyshire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which outlines how nature recovery will be supported and implemented across the county.