A5012 road
The A5012 road is a main road in the south of the English county of Derbyshire.
Route
Around in length, it connects two primary north–south routes; the A6 at Cromford and the A515 between Buxton and Ashbourne. It passes through Pikehall and Grangemill and alongside Ible.Via Gellia
The eastern part is known as the Via Gellia – a steep-sided wooded dry valley and road.It is probably named after Philip Eyre Gell in a mock-Latin style; he was responsible for building the road through the valley, the name being a link to the Gell family's claim of Roman descent. They held lead-mining interests in and around Wirksworth. At its lower end is the village of Cromford and its Georgian mill, built by inventor and entrepreneur Richard Arkwright. At the western end is the hamlet of Grangemill.
The road appears to have been constructed about 1790 to connect the Gells' extensive lead-mining interests around Wirksworth with a new smelter at Cromford. However, some sources say that the route was in use as early as 1720 for transporting stone from the family's quarries in the Hopton area.
In 1887, it was described as a "modern road, Derbyshire, on route from Matlock Bath to Ashborne, in a deep winding valley, extending 4 miles from Cromford to Grange Mill; takes name from its constructors, the Gell family of Hopton Hall, near Wirksworth." in the ''Gazetteer of the British Isles.''