CRICH, Derbyshire

Archives and Libraries

• Crich is home to the National Tramway Museum within Crich Tramway Village.
  
  
• Also located at Crich Tramway Village is the Eagle Press, a small museum dedicated to Letterpress Printing.
  

Return to top of page

Bibliography

• Dawes, Geoffrey - Crich Tales. Pipsqueak, 2004. No ISBN.
  
  
• Dawes, J G (Geoff) - A History of Crich. Landmark, 2003. ISBN 1-84306-082-5
  

Return to top of page

Census

• The parish was in the Ripley sub-district of the Belper Registration District.
  
  
• The 1841 census Index of Names is available at the Crich Parish site.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

Return to top of page

Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary.
  
  
• The church was standing in 1135 AD.
  
  
• White's 1857 Directory tells us that the Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Michael, but this information is incorrect.
  
  
• The church is a Grade I listed building with British Heritage.
  
  
• The church seats 500.
  

Return to top of page

Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1565.
  
  
• A CD containing a transcription of The Parish Registers of St Mary's Church is available for purchase from Valerie Neal.
  
  
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1765.
  
  
• The Wesleyan chapel of 1765 is a Grade II listed building with British Heritage.
  
  
• The Primitive Methodists built a chapel here in 1853 on Sun Lane.
  
  
• The Primitive Methodist chapel of 1853 is a Grade II listed building with British Heritage.
  
  
• The Baptists built their first chapel here in 1839 on Rose Lane, then a larger chapel in 1877 on the market place. This chapel is still in use.
  
  
• The Baptist church of 1877 is a Grade II listed building with British Heritage.
  
• White's 1857 Directory tells us that there were also chapels here for the Wesleyan Reformers.
  
  
• White's 1857 Directory also tells us that the Independents had a chapel in Fritchley hamlet.
  
  

Return to top of page

Civil Registration

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  
• The parish was in the Ripley sub-district of the Belper Registration District.
  

Return to top of page

Description and Travel

"CRICH is a parish, partly in the hundreds of Morleston and Litchurch, Scarsdale, and Wirksworth: the village is about five miles east of Wirksworth. and four west from Alfreton. The site of it is very lofty, and from the adjacent stand or prospect tower, which is a land-mark for a great distance around, a very extensive view is obtained. There are numerous stone quarries in the neighbourhood, and lime burning is largely carried on here."

[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]

The parish covered 5,772 acres in 1857 and included the hamlet/village of Fritchley. Visitors should get current information from Crichweb.

Return to top of page

Directories

• Ann ANDREWS provides a transcription of the Crich entry from Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland (1891).

Return to top of page

Gazetteers

• The transcription of the section for Crich from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin HINSON.

Return to top of page

History

• At the time of the 1086 Domesday Survey there was an active lead mine in Crich.
  
  
• An observatory was built on Crich Cliff in 1788 and rebuilt in stone in 1851.
  
  
• The parish feast was traditionally held on October 11th each year.
  
  
• The National Tramway Museum is in Crich.

Return to top of page

Military Records

• For a photograph of the Crich War Memorial and the names on it, see the Crich Parish site.
• There is also the Peter PATILLA site.

Return to top of page

Names, Geographical

• Locals pronounce the name as "CRY-ch".
  
  
• The name Crich is from the Celtic Crug for "a mound of hill". In 1009 the name is rendered as Cryc, In the 1086 Domesday Book, the village is given as Crice.
  [A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]

Return to top of page

Politics and Government

• This place was an ancient parish and three townships in Derbyshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  
  
• This parish has a "foot" in each of three Hundreds. It was partly in the ancient Wirksworth Hundred (or Wapentake), partly in Scarsdale and partky in the Morleston and Litchurch Hundred.
  
  
• "Crich" township was in the Morleston and Litchurch Hundred.
  
  
• "Wessington" township was in the Scarsdale Hundred.
  
  
• "Tansley" township and chapelry was in the Wirksworth Hundred. Tansley eventually became a separate modern Civil Parish in its own right.
  

Return to top of page

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• As a result of the 1834 Poorlaw Amendment Act reforms, this parish became a member of the Belper Poorlaw Union.
  

Return to top of page