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St Mary's Church, Wirksworth

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Wirksworth is the oldest recorded town in the Peak District, with its charter dating from 835 in the reign of King Wiglaf of Mercia, when the Peak District was a province of that kingdom. Wirksworth has a wonderful history and owed its prosperity to the lead industry. Many of the fine old buildings in the town date from the late Elizabethan, Stuart and Georgian periods. The town is lovely to explore on foot around its quiet paths and byways, such as Greenhill and the Dale. The town has several well-known tourist attractions: notably the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, the National Stone Centre, the Steeple Grange Railway, the High Peak Trail and Carsington Water.

Pendleton’s History of Derbyshire says “Even more picturesque than Ashbourne is Wirksworth, with its irregular streets, odd nooks and corners, and houses dusky with age. Lying in a quiet fertile valley, edged about with great limestone rocks... in comfortable contented serenity.” Its market was recorded in 1297 and the Anthony Gell School was first mentioned in 1578, when a schoolhouse was built in the town. Wirksworth reached a high point of its development in the 1780s with the profits made from lead mining and smelting.

Wirksworth is a fine old market town attracting tourists, visitors, walkers and ramblers and is a mecca for those interested in heritage and the countryside.