DRONFIELD, Derbyshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"DRONFIELD, a parish in the hundred of Scarsdale, in the county of Derby, 6 miles S. of Sheffield, and 6 N.W. of Chesterfield, its post town and nearest railway station on the Midland Counties line. It is situated in a pleasant valley. The old road from Chesterfield to Sheffield passes through it. The townships of Dronfield, Holmesfield, Unstone, Coal Aston, and Little Barlow are in this parish. In Domesday Book it is written Dranefield, and at that time was a market town.

Enclosure Acts were obtained in 1839 and 1840. There is a sulphur spring. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of hardware. There are also large iron foundries and cotton-mills. The collieries are extensively wrought. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £224, in the patronage of the lord chancellor.

There are two district churches - Dore, a perpetual curacy, value £90, in the patronage of Earl Fitzwilliam; and Holmesfield, a perpetual curacy*, value £97, in the gift of C. Cawton, Esq. The parish church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a spacious structure in the early Gothic style of architecture, with lofty tower and spire, and contains two brasses.

The parochial charities produce upwards of £350 per annum, of which £208 go to Fanshawe's grammar school. The Independents and Methodists have each a chapel. The trustees of the Cecil Estate are lords of the manor. A fair is held on the 25th April for cattle, and one on the 3rd November for hiring servants."

"COAL-ASTON, a township in the parish of Dronfield, in the hundred of Scarsdale, in the county of Derby, 1 mile N.E. of Dronfield, and 5 from Sheffield, its post town and railway station. The Wesleyan Reformers and Methodists have places of worship. There are extensive collieries in the neighbourhood. Charles Cammel, Esq., is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]