Derby

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Derby lies on the banks of the River Derwent. In the 2001 census the population of the borough was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407. Measured by Urban Area, Derby is the 18th largest settlement in England.


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Status

Traditionally, Derby is the county town of Derbyshire, although Derbyshire's administrative centre has in recent years been Matlock. On 1 April 1997 Derby City Council became again a unitary authority (a status it had held, as a County Borough, up until 1974), with the rest of Derbyshire administered from Matlock.


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History

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Origins

The City has Roman, Saxon and Viking connections. The Roman camp of 'Derventio' was probably at Little Chester/Chester Green (grid reference SK353375); The site of the old Roman fort is now occupied by a football pitch. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs' (fortified towns) of the Danelaw.

The popular belief is that the name 'Derby' is a corruption of the Danish Deor-a-by (Village of the Deer), however some assert that it is a corruption of the original Roman name 'Derventio'. The town was also named 'Darby' or 'Darbye' on some of the oldest maps, eg. Speed's 1610 map. The city is one of the few cities that have retained a name with a Viking origin, like York, which had the Viking name of Jorvik. The city recently celebrated its 2,000th year as a settlement.

New research (throughout 2004) into the history and archaeology of Derby has provided evidence that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The Saxon Chronicles (c. 900) state that "Derby is divided by Water". These areas of land were known as "Northworthy" and Deoraby, and were located at the "Irongate" (North) side of the city. (Ron McKeown of Derby Heritage Development Trust has produced a recent paper on this subject.)


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Trivia

Has been named "Ghost capital of Britain" with over 1,000 paranormal sightings recorded in recent years


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Districts of Derby

Derby is split up into 17 Wards.

Ward Area's within the Ward
Abbey St Lukes
Allestree Allestree and Markeaton
Alvaston Alvaston, Litchurch and Wilmorton
Arboretum City Centre and Rose Hill
Blagreaves Sunny Hill
Boulton Boulton
Chaddesden Chaddesden, Derwent Heights
Chellaston Chellaston, Shelton Lock and Allenton
Darley Darley Abbey and Little Chester (aka Chester Green)
Derwent Derwent
Littleover Littleover and Heatherton Village
Mackworth Mackworth
Mickleover Mickleover
Normanton Normanton and Pear Tree
Oakwood Oakwood
Sinfin Sinfin and Osmaston
Spondon Spondon


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Places of interest


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Famous residents


Pages linking here


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FEEDBACK

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County:  Derbyshire



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