Nearby places
 |
Derbyshire |
 |
Contents & Site Map |
 |
Derbyshire Towns & Parishes |
"CHESTERFIELD is an ancient corporate and market-town, and parish, in the hundred of Scarsdale, 150 miles from London, 48 S.E. from Manchester, 24 N. from Derby, the like distance E. from Buxton, 12 E. from Bakewell, the like distance S. from Sheffield, and 8 N. by E. from Matlock. It is a large but irregularly built town, pleasantly situate between two rivulets, the Hyper and Rother, in the beautiful and fertile vale of Scarsdale, and is the second considerable town in the county of Derby. The Saxon appellation of Ceaster proves it to have been a place of great antiquity and considerable importance, and it is imagined to have originated from a Roman station." [There is further information for Chesterfield]
[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]
Early 20thC Map Click to view larger area. |
This is of course the (in)famous "Crooked Spire". There are various explanations, or legends to explain why it is crooked. The most rational one is that the timber used for the framework of the spire was unseasoned, and as it dried out so it warped. It has also been suggested that as its construction was suspended by the Black Death (1349), perhaps exposure of the timbers to the elements during the hiatus caused warping.
However, Folklore also has explanations. One legend is that the Devil sat on the spire, and his weight caused it to buckle - OR that he wrapped his tail around it to keep his balance, and it twisted in sympathy. Another is that the Spire was so amazed to hear of a virgin being married in the Church that it twisted round in an effort to see this wonder for itself. This legend further adds that should this ever happen again, the Spire will straighten up!
It is believed there was a church, or small chapel at Chesterfield as early as the 7th Century. The Normans however replaced the first building, although proof wasn't found until 1848 when a Norman font was dug up in the Vicarage garden! In 1093 William Rufus granted the Church to the newly built Lincoln Cathedral, the Deans of Lincoln becoming Lords of the Manor. The present building was dedicated in 1234, but wasn't finished until 1360. The spire is 228 feet high and leans almost 8 feet.
These two volumes are based on a typescript prepared in 1936-8 by Miss Mary Walton, then archivist at Sheffield Central Library. The period she covered was up to 1600. The transcription project was continued in the 1960s, by Students at Sheffield University, and the combined transcripts, which continue until about 1800, are now lodged in the Derbyshire Record Office (information recorded in the first volume above).
| Parish registers, 1558-1971. | Microfilm Number |
| Baptisms, 1838-1886 Marriages, 1854-1876 |
1041032 item 6-9. |
| Marriages, 1876-1895 Burials, 1839-1900 |
1041033 item 1-3 |
| Baptisms, marriages & burials, 1558-1672 Marriages, 1653-1658 Baptisms, marriages & burials, 1697-1812 |
1752142 item 3-8. |
| Baptisms, marriages & burials, 1812; 1733-1788 Baptisms, 1833-1855; 1878-1908 |
1752143 |
| Marriages, 1754-1847 | 1752144 |
| Marriages, 1847-1874 | 1752145 |
| Marriages, 1874-1901 | 1752146 |
| Banns, 1830-1848 Burials, 1813-1915, 1921 Burials for St. Peter's Church, Calow, a chapelry in Chesterfield, 1872-1898 |
1752147 item 1-5 |
| Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1612-1760 Baptisms, 1813-1833; 1856-1878 |
1785838 item 2-7. |
| Burials, 1853-1921 (Includes burials for St. Peter's in Calow, 1872-1898.) Marriages, 1901-1917 (To 16 Apr. 1917.) |
2081283 item 2-5. |
| Marriages, 1917-1921 (from 21 Apr. 1917.) | 2081284 item 1 |
| Marriages, 1921-1928 (18 June 1921-9 Apr. 1928) (2 registers). |
2103927 item 14-15. |
| Marriages, 1928-1971 (7 Apr. 1928-11 Dec. 1971) (4 registers). Baptisms, 1934-1945. |
2103928 |
| Bishop's transcripts, 1665-1883. | Microfilm Number |
| Baptisms, marriages, and burials, 1665-1804 | 0422195 |
| Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1804 cont.-1810 | 0422196 |
| Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1813-1824 | 0497397 |
| Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1824 cont.-1835 | 0497398 |
| Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1835 cont.-1837 Baptisms and burials, 1838-1855 |
0498050 |
| Baptisms and burials, 1855 cont.-1883 | 0498051 |
Examples (in surname, forename order as per the original):-
| Owner | Occupier |
| Hancock Cornelius | Anthony William |
| " " | Anthony George |
| Drabble James | Drabble James (2 lots of land & a weighing machine) |
| " " | Brocklehurst William |
| Devonshire Duke of | Bowring John |
| Drabble James | Bradshaw Luke |
| Hancock Cornelius | Cooper Joseph |
| Outram Collis Sam | Drabble Joseph |
| Drabble James | Drabble James (Hollis property & land) |
"When Chesterfield was gorse and broomLeash Fen, or Leys Fen is on the high moorland west of Chesterfield, and said to be the site of a sunken market town, possibly of Iron Age vintage. Several sites on the surrounding moorland have already been excavated - for instance, Gardom's Edge, near Baslow - demonstrating habitation of these uplands during pre-history.
Leash Fen was a market town
Now Chesterfield is a market town
Leash Fen is but gorse and broom"
Very well worth a visit!
"Chesterfield had a grammar school which was flourishing in the mid- thirteenth century and dependent on the parish Church. The first record of the school occurs in a letter dating from the reign of Henry III in which Henry, a clerk of Ashbourne, wrote to the vicar of Chesterfield thanking him for his assistance in securing his appointment as schoolmaster of the Chesterfield school...Only one other reference to a Chesterfield schoolmaster occurs in the medieval period: this is to Sir Henry of Sutton, described as 'master of the schols of Chesterfield', in a deed of 1337 and again in one of 1346-7. The school no doubt continued, probably under the auspices of the Gild of St Mary and the Holy Cross, until the dissolution of the chantries and gilds in 1548. The location of the medieval school is unknown. When the later grammar school was established in 1598, as a result of the testamentary bequest of Godfrey Foljambe of Walton, the chapel of St Helen's was apparently converted into a school house, which remained in use until the early eighteenth century when new premises were built nearby."
This photograph shows Chesterfield Market Hall, with the regular street market stalls occupying the Market Square in the foreground.
Chesterfield has held a market since earliest times - the Sheriff of Derbyshire recorded an account of £1 2s 7d from the market of Chesterfield as long ago as 1165. The town's market place was much closer to the Church in the Middle Ages, and the church was used as a store for market goods. This is why in May 1226 during the Battle of Chesterfield, there were sacks of wool in the Nave of the Church for the Earl of Derby to hide amongst!
The present Market Hall was built in 1857 by the Chesterfield Market Company and bought by Chesterfield Corporation in 1872 for the sum of £11,500. (Ref: A History of Derbyshire, Gladwyn Turbutt, 1999).
For more information on Markets see the Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516.
© Copyright Rosemary Lockie, GENUKI and contributors, 1999-2008, &c.
GENUKI is a registered trade mark of the charitable trust GENUKI, see
About GENUKI as an Organisation
Are you lost in the Genuki hierarchy or arrived here from a Search Engine?
If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.
URL of this page: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/Chesterfield/index.html
[Last updated 2 Jul 2008 - 18:01 by Rosemary Lockie]