DERBYSHIRE |
| Bolsover Castle |
On A632, near centre of Bolsover |
The building is not strictly speaking a castle, but
rather what remains of a mansion built by the Cavendish family in the 17th century.
Bolsover was the conception of Sir Charles Cavendish, who bought the manor in 1613, and
his designer, Robert Smythson. One of their creations was the keep-like Little Castle,
built as a folly, which retains its fairy-tale charm today. |
| Calke Park |
On A514, 9 miles south of Derby |
This magnificently landscaped park covers 750 acres
around Calke Abbey, a mansion built in 1701-3. The grounds were laid out about 1800, and a
fine avenue of limes leads from the Ticknall entrance to an area of ancient oaks and
bracken surrounding a series of attractive ponds. |
| Creswell Crags Visitor Centre |
Off A616 and A60, 1 mile east of Creswell |
Prehistoric men occupied the caves as early as 45000
BC, and by 13000 years ago makers of sophisticated stone tools and bone and antler
implements such as needles had arrived. These so-called 'Creswellians' were artists, as is
shown by a horse finely carved on a fragment of bone found in Robin Hood's Cave. The
visitor centre's display which tells the story of these peoples, and of the early farmers
who followed, makes a good prelude to the discovery trail around the caves. |
| Elvaston Castle Country Park |
Off A6 and A6005, 5 miles south-east of Derby |
The life of a close-knit rural community in 1910 has
been re-created here in the old stable block of Elvaston Castle. Attendants wear the
clothing of the period, and craftsmen demonstrate their work. The life of womenfolk is
re-created in cottage, wash house and dairy. James Wyatt drew up the plans for the
neo-Gothic castle which was built in 1817 to replace an earlier mansion at Elvaston. The
castle is not open, but its 200 acres of grounds, laid out around 1830, now form the
Elvaston Castle Country Park. |
| Gulliver's Kingdom |
On A6, 1.5 miles south of Matlock |
A picnic at the OK Corral, a safari in the land of
dinosaurs or a stroll down an Elizabethan street are three of the many activities possible
in this world of fantasy. It takes its name from the 12ft figure of Gulliver which towers
over a water garden. In the Royal Cave, full-size replicas tell the story of man
underground, from the times of cavemen and Roman miners. Gulliver's Kingdom also has a
model railway, a puppet theatre, a roller-coaster and a children's fairground. |
| Haddon Hall |
Off A6, 1.5 miles south-east of Bakewell |
This mansion, one of the best preserved medieval houses
in Britain, is built of local gritstone around two courtyards, on a wooded slope
overlooking the Wye Valley. Haddon Hall is noted for airy, panelled rooms and for the
medieval wall and ceiling paintings in its chapel and dining room. The building was begun
in the 11th century by William Peverel, an illegitimate son of the Conqueror. After 1703,
Haddon was not lived in again until the 20th century. A restoration took place between
1912 and 1939. |
| Hardwick Hall |
Off A617, 9.5 miles south-east of Chesterfield |
This Elizabethan mansion was the creation of Elizabeth,
Countess of Shrewsbury. She had the knack of marrying wealthy husbands, and after the
death in 1590 of her fourth spouse, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, she returned to Hardwick
Hall where she was born and began a new house about about 100yds from the Old Hall. Bess
filled the house with fine furniture and priceless tapestries and embroideries. The Old
Hall fell into disrepair in the mid-18th century. Today both halls, with restored
Elizabethan enclosed gardens, stand in a country park. |
| Heights Of Abraham |
Off A6,1 mile south of Matlock |
The south side of Masson Hill overlooks the wooded
gorge of the Derwent. It has been known as the Heights of Abraham since one of General
Wolf's officers likened it to the Quebec battlefield of 1759. A fleet of 'bubble' cable
cars climbs from a base beside Matlock Bath station to the Tree Tops Visitor Centre. The
views are breathtaking, and a climb to the 1000ft top of Victoria Prospect Tower gives
even finer vistas. The limestone hill is riddled with fissures and caves in which minerals
have been found. |
| Kedleston Hall |
Off A52, 4 miles north-west of Derby |
This was Robert Adam's first great work, and remains
unaltered after more than 200 years. It is the third house on the site where the Curzon
family have lived for 850 years; Adam was fresh from his Grand Tour of Europe when in 1759
he began work on the present house, an example of the neoclassical style. The interior
decor is Adam's too, as is some of the furniture. The house contains old master paintings,
and a collection of Indian silver, ivories, weapons and other items collected by Lord
Curzon during his time as Viceroy of India, from 1898 to 1905. |
| Longshaw Estate |
Off A625, 7.5 miles south-west of Sheffield |
The unspoilt beauty of this country park makes it hard
to realise that it lies less than 10 miles from the industrial cities of South Yorkshire.
It consists of 1500 acres of open moorland, plantations and grazing land, and includes
Padley Gorge, clothed with ancient oakwoods. The estate lies near the edge of the
gritstone Dark Peak, and there are several curious natural rock formations. A visitor
centre contains displays tracing the history of Longshaw. |
| Melbourne Hall |
Off A514, 8 miles south of Derby |
The formal gardens of Melbourne Hall are a
'mini-Versailles', for they were laid out by Henry Wise, an admirer of the work of Andre
le Notre, Louis XIV's gardener. The mansion took its present form in the early 18th
century, when Sir Thomas Coke, vice-chamberlain to Queen Anne and George I, enlarged the
original 16th century house. The estate passed by marriage to the Lamb family. William
Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, was Queen Victoria's first prime minister, and his sister's
second husband was Lord Palmerston, another of Victoria's prime ministers. Relics of both
premiers are preserved at Melbourne. |
| Riber Castle Wildlife Park |
Off A615, 1 mile south-east of Matlock |
Ruined Riber Caste is a striking landmark high above
Matlock. Its grounds are now a wildlife park specialising in the breeding of rare birds
and animals. The lynx collection is most successful, and it was to Riber that the French
government and the World Wildlife Fund turned when they sought to reintroduce lynxes to
the Vosges mountains in 1983. An interpretive centre tells the story of the successful
operation. There is also a motorcycle collection and a children's playground. |
| Royal Crown Derby Museum |
In Derby, 1 mile south of city centre |
Some of the finest works produced by the Royal Crown
Derby Porcelain Company are on display in the company's museum. The factory was set up by
William Duesbury in 1748 to produce china of unrivalled beauty. Royalty and rich
landowners soon realised the quality of his wares, and George III granted him the right to
mark them with a crown. Since 1890, by command of Queen Victoria, the factory's products
have been stamped 'Royal Crown Derby'. Today's visitors can tour the factory and see every
stage in the production of fine tableware. |
| Sudbury Hall |
Off A50, 6 miles east of Uttoxeter |
Sudbury and its idiosyncrasies were created in 20 years
by one man - George Vernon, who in 1659 inherited the estate owned by his family since
1513. The interior is a late 17th century extravaganza of the decorative arts. Vernon
employed the finest craftsmen, among them Grinling Gibbons and Edward Pierce, for carving
and joinery. Perhaps their best work was the staircase and the saloon, which also has fine
plasterwork and a series of Vernon portraits. Sudbury's informal lake dates from the late
18th century, and the southern garden terraces were laid out in the 1830s. The former
servants' wing now houses the Museum of Childhood. |
| Treak Cliff Cavern |
Off A625, 1 mile west of Castleton |
Two of the old workings in Treak Cliff, from which
miners extracted the translucent fluorspar known as Blue John, have been opened to the
public; one is called Blue John Cavern and the other Treak Cliff Cavern. The tour through
the caverns begins in Fossil Cave, where the fossilised remains of sea creatures can be
seen, then passes onto the eerie Witch's Cave; to Fairyland, with its grotto of delicate
stalactites, and to Dream Cave, which has a forest of larger stalactites. Finally a flight
of steps lit by electric lights which have gathered delicate growths of plants leads to a
door that opens onto the hillside, high above the entrance. |
| Wirksworth Heritage Centre |
Off Market Place, in centre of Wirksworth |
This storehouse of local history in the foothills of
the Peak District is housed in a former silk velvet mill. Many old buildings have been
splendidly restored. The old blacksmith's shop now houses a display of locally made
furniture. Many old crafts and customs survive in Wirksworth, including the Ascension-tide
welldressing. A traditional butcher's shop remains in the Old Market Place where there was
once a shambles - an arcade of such shops. |
