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Wirksworth
Located in the beautiful Ecclesbourne Valley about six miles south of Matlock and bisected by the Cromford to Ashbourne road, Wirksworth is one of the oldest settlements in the county, having been almost continuously occupied for at least two thousand years. Wirksworth is one of the oldest towns of this area and still one of those with greatest character. Centred around its marketplace, where markets have been held since Edward I granted the right in 1306, it has many fine old buildings with picturesque alleys and craftsmen's yards. The reason for the splendour of many of the buildings is Wirksworth's historical trade - it was the southern centre of the Derbyshire lead industry and the Soke and Wapentake of Wirksworth, as it was called, was one of the most productive mining areas.
Wirksworth was well established by Saxon times and the Abbey of Repton owned the mining rights here in the 8th century, the Abess sending a coffin of Wirksworth lead for the burial of St Guthlac in 714. After the Danes sacked Repton in the 9th century the area fell under Danish influence, giving rise to typically Danish names like 'Wapentake'.
Both lead and silver where mined here by the Normans during the 11th and 12th centuries, and commenced the rebuilding of the church in 1272. Lead mining continued to provide prosperity to Wirksworth, which reached it's peak of prominence in Tudor times, being the second largest town (next to Derby) in the whole of the county. Much of it's delightful early Georgian architecture is a product of the prosperous lead-mining years of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when it was a veritable boom town of the Industrial Revolution.
Lead mining fell into demise from the mid-nineteenth century due to the introduction of the railway. But when the lead mining all but ceased in the late Victorian era, and small scale limestone quarrying began, there was a mass exodus as Wirksworth's population plumetted, along with it's importance and social status. By 1901 it had fallen from being the 2nd most populous place to 33rd on the list, and throughout the 20th century, modern quarrying methods made hundreds of local men redundant. When the railway finally closed it's passenger service in 1947, it signalled a decline which, by the end of the 1950's had rendered Wirksworth a virtual ghost town.
A massive attraction to Wirkworth is the Heritage Centre is a converted former silk and velvet mill in Crown Yard just off the market place. Here visitors will find visual displays telling the Wirksworth Story, lots of interesting local literature and souvineers, and an excellent cafe serving food and refreshments. Another not to be missed National Stone Centre situated alongside the High Peak Trail, just off Porter Lane, which has a permanent indoor exhibition, `The Story of Stone', and mineral specimens from around the world can be purchased at The Rock Shop. Outside there are trails over ancient fossil reefs, including one of the finest examples in England of a coral reef from the carboniferous period.
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