Chesterfield is a
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and a
boroughBorough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...
of
DerbyshireDerbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England. It lies 24 miles (38.6 km) north of
DerbyDerby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, on a confluence of the rivers
RotherThe River Rother is a river in the northern midlands of England, after which the town of Rotherham and the Rother Valley parliamentary constituency are named. It rises near Clay Cross in Derbyshire, and flows through the centre of Chesterfield, where it feeds the Chesterfield Canal...
and
HipperThe River Hipper is a tributary of the River Rother in Derbyshire, England. Its source is a large expanse of wetlands, fed by the surrounding moors between Chatsworth and Chesterfield, known as the Hipper Sick on Beeley Moor which is part of the Chatsworth Estate...
. Its population is 70,260 (2001), making it Derbyshire's largest town (the larger Derby being a city). It is located on the
A61The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...
, 6 miles (9.7 km) from the
M1The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
,
and forms part of the
Sheffield City Region#Sheffield#Rotherham#Barnsley#Doncaster#Chesterfield#North East Derbyshire#Bolsover#Bassetlaw#Derbyshire DalesThe Sheffield City Region is an area of England centred on Sheffield...
.
Chesterfield received its market charter in the year 1204, and is currently home to one of the largest open air markets in Britain. The area around the town sits over a large coalfield, which was mined from many surrounding collieries until the 1980s. Little evidence of the mining industry remains today, and the town's economy has moved towards the tertiary sector. The town's most famous landmark, which is visible from many viewpoints outside the town, is the distinctive 'crooked' spire of its predominantly 14th century church.
History
The town received its market charter in the year 1204 from
King JohnJohn , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
and around 250 stalls can still be found in the town centre every Monday, Friday and Saturday. The charter constituted the town as a
free boroughA borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
, granting the burgesses of Chesterfield the same privileges as those of
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
.
Elizabeth IElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
granted a charter of incorporation in 1594, creating a corporation consisting of a mayor, six aldermen, six brethren, and twelve capital burgesses. This remained the governing charter until the borough was reformed under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...
. The borough originally consisted only of the
townshipIn England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
of Chesterfield, but was extended in 1892 to include parts of surrounding townships. In 1920 there was a major extension to the borough when it absorbed Whittington and
NewboldNewbold is a village north of Chesterfield, a market town in the English county of Derbyshire. In 2001 in had a population of just under 8,000....
urban district. Chesterfield's current boundaries date from 1 April 1974, when under the
Local Government Act 1972The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, the Borough of Chesterfield was formed by the amalgamation of the
municipal boroughMunicipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
with the
urban districtIn the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
of
StaveleyStaveley is a town within the borough of Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, England. The town is situated alongside the River Rother, adjacent to Eckington to the north, Barlborough to the east, Sutton-cum-Duckmanton civil parish to the south and Brimington to the west.-History:It has traditionally been...
and the parish of Brimington from Chesterfield Rural District.
Chesterfield benefited greatly from the building of the Chesterfield Line - part of the Derby to
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
railway (North Midland Line), which was begun in 1837 by
George StephensonGeorge Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
. During its construction, a sizeable seam of
coalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
was discovered during the construction of the
Clay Cross TunnelClay Cross Tunnel is a 1,784-yard tunnel on the former North Midland Railway line near Clay Cross in Derbyshire, England now part of the Midland Main Line....
. This and the local ironstone were promptly exploited by Stephenson who set up a company in
Clay CrossClay Cross is a former mining town and civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, about six miles south of Chesterfield. It is directly on the A61, the former Roman road Ryknield Street...
to trade in the minerals.
During his time in Chesterfield, Stephenson lived at
Tapton HouseTapton House, situated in Tapton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, was once the home of engineer George Stephenson, who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
, and remained there until his death in 1848. He is interred in Trinity Church. In 2006, a statue of Stephenson was erected outside
Chesterfield railway stationEntrance to the station is on Crow Lane and includes a car park, taxi rank and bus stop. There is also a small car park on the other side of Crow Lane which does not have a parking charge. The main entrance leads to the station concourse, which is very spacious and was built in the late 1990s. It...
.
Governance
Local government in Chesterfield is organised in a two-tier structure. At the upper tier, services such as consumer protection, education, main roads and social services are provided by Derbyshire County Council. At the lower tier, services such as housing, planning, refuse collection and burial grounds are provided by Chesterfield Borough Council. The borough is
unparishedIn England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish. Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparished. Many towns and some cities in otherwise rural districts are also unparished areas and therefore no longer have a town council or city...
with the exception of Brimington and Staveley: Brimington Parish Council and Staveley Town Council exercise limited functions in those areas.
County council
Derbyshire County Council has sixty-four elected county councillors, each representing a single-member electoral division. The entire council is elected every four years. At the last elections in June 2009, the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
took control from the
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
after 28 years.
Borough council
Chesterfield Borough Council consists of 48 councillors. Elections of the whole council take place every four years, the last elections having occurred in 2011. The borough is divided into 19 wards, with between one and three councillors elected for each ward. As of 2011 the
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
control the borough council with 34 councillors, while the
Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
have 14 councillors.
The council choose one of their members annually to be
mayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Chesterfield, with the 371st mayor elected in May 2011.
The borough council set up a system of community forums in 1999 as part of their decision making process. There are eight forums which meet at least six times a year and consist of the borough and county councillors for the area and a number of co-opted members. The eight community forums are:
- Barrow Hill and Whittington
Barrow Hill and Whittington is one of the eight wards that make up the Borough of Chesterfield, Derbyshire.'Barrow Hill is a small semi-rural residential area situated approximately four miles from Chesterfield Town Centre.'...
- Brimington and Tapton
- Dunston, Moor and St Helen's
- Hasland and St Leonard's
- Holmebrook and Rother
- Newbold and Brockwell
- Staveley
Staveley is a town within the borough of Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, England. The town is situated alongside the River Rother, adjacent to Eckington to the north, Barlborough to the east, Sutton-cum-Duckmanton civil parish to the south and Brimington to the west.-History:It has traditionally been...
- Walton and West
Coat of arms
The borough council uses
armorial bearingsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
originally granted (to the previous borough corporation) by
letters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
dated 10 November 1955. The
blazonIn heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
of the arms is as follows:
Gules a Device representing a Pomegranate Tree as depicted on the ancient Common Seal of the Borough the tree leaved and eradicated proper flowered and fructed Or and for the Crest on a Wreath of the Colours Issuant from a Mural Crown Gules Masoned Or a Mount Vert thereon a Derby Ram passant guardant proper.
Supporters: On the dexter side a Cock and on the sinister side a Pynot or Magpie proper each Ducally gorged Or
The shield is based on the borough's ancient common seal, which is believed to date from the first half of the 16th century. The seal depicts a stylised
pomegranateThe pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
tree. When the arms were formally granted, the
College of ArmsThe College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
expressed the opinion that the plant had been adopted by the town as a symbol of loyalty to the crown, as it was a royal badge used by Katherine of Aragon,
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and
Mary TudorMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
.
The crest depicts a
Derby RamThe Derby Ram or As I was Going to Derby is a traditional comic English folk song that tells the story of a ram of gargantuan proportions and the difficulties involved in butchering and otherwise processing its carcass.-Commentary:...
, representing the county of Derbyshire, and a
mural crown-Usage in ancient times:In Hellenistic culture, a mural crown identified the goddess Tyche, the embodiment of the fortune of a city, familiar to Romans as Fortuna...
, suggestive of a town wall and thus borough status.
The
supportersIn heraldry, supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. These figures may be real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or inanimate objects...
on either side of the arms represent the
Cock and Pynot Inn,
Old WhittingtonOld Whittington is a village in Derbyshire and north of Chesterfield and is/ south-east of Sheffield. The village lies on the River Rother....
. The inn, now
Revolution House, was the site of a meeting between conspirators against
James IIJames II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
in 1688. Among those meeting there were the
Earls of DanbyThomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...
and
DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire KG PC was a soldier and Whig statesman, the son of William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire and Lady Elizabeth Cecil.-Life:...
, commemorated by the ducal crowns around the supporters' necks. The two birds stand on a compartment of rocks and moorland. The motto is
"aspire", a punning reference to the crooked spire of the parish church.
Economy
In the last 30 years, the economy in and around Chesterfield has experienced major change, moving the employment base away from the primary and secondary sectors, and towards the tertiary area. The area sits on a large coalfield and the area played host to many coal mines, including:
- Clay Cross
Clay Cross is a former mining town and civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, about six miles south of Chesterfield. It is directly on the A61, the former Roman road Ryknield Street...
- Arkwright
Arkwright Town, commonly referred to as Arkwright, is a settlement in North East Derbyshire, England that is notable for having moved its location in the early 1990s. Despite its name, the settlement has no official town status....
- Bolsover
The Bolsover Colliery Company was a major mining concern established to extract coal from land owned by the Duke of Portland. At its peak the business was a constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange.- History :...
- Grassmoor
Grassmoor is a village in Derbyshire, England, approximately three miles to the south of Chesterfield. Its original name, according to 16th-century parish records, was Gresmore. Grassmoor formally housed many miners, however all of the local mines in the area have been closed since the...
- North Wingfield
North Wingfield is a large village in the English county of Derbyshire, located approximately 4½ miles south-east of Chesterfield, and 1 mile north-east of Clay Cross. It is in the North East Derbyshire district...
- Holmewood
Holmewood is a village in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, being a former coal mining village with close links to the villages of Heath, North Wingfield and Temple Normanton....
From 1981 to 2002, 15,000 jobs in the coal industry disappeared and not a single colliery remains open, although open cast mining continued at
ArkwrightArkwright Town, commonly referred to as Arkwright, is a settlement in North East Derbyshire, England that is notable for having moved its location in the early 1990s. Despite its name, the settlement has no official town status....
until a few years ago. Many of the sites were restored by contractor Killingleys for Derbyshire County Council.
Very little evidence of the mining industry remains today; a cyclist and walkers route, the "Five Pits Trail" now links some of the former collieries and most of the sites are now indistinguishable from the surrounding countryside.
Within the town itself, large factories and major employers have disappeared or relocated in the last ten years.
Markham & Co.Markham & Co. is an ironworks and steelworks company near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.- History :The Victoria Foundry near Chesterfield, Derbyshire was owned and successfully run by father and son partnership John and William Oliver from the mid-1850s until 1862 when, following the death of...
manufactured
tunnel boring machineA tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
s such as the one used for the
Channel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
between England and France. The company was bought out by Norway's Kvaerner and subsequently merged with Sheffield based Davy. Their factory on Hollis Lane is now a
housing estateA housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
) and the former offices were converted into flats and serviced office suites.
Dema Glass's factory near Lockoford Lane shut as is now host to a
TescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
Extra and the B2net Stadium,
Chesterfield F.C.Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
's new home ground.
GKNGKN plc is a multinational automotive and aerospace components company headquartered in Redditch, United Kingdom. The company was formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution.GKN is listed on the London Stock...
closed its factory and the site is now being turned in to a business park.
Others companies have downsized significantly. Robinson's, who manufacture paper-based packaging in the town, divested their healthcare interests which led to significant downsizing in both the workforce and facilities in Chesterfield.
Trebor merged with Bassetts sweets of Sheffield and relocated a modern unit at
HolmewoodHolmewood is a village in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, being a former coal mining village with close links to the villages of Heath, North Wingfield and Temple Normanton....
Business park and were taken over by Cadbury. The former factory near
Chesterfield railway stationEntrance to the station is on Crow Lane and includes a car park, taxi rank and bus stop. There is also a small car park on the other side of Crow Lane which does not have a parking charge. The main entrance leads to the station concourse, which is very spacious and was built in the late 1990s. It...
has been demolished and is awaiting further development.
Chesterfield Cylinders relocated to a much smaller site in Sheffield. Chesterfield Cylinder's Derby Road site, is now Alma Leisure Park, which includes a Nuffield Health Club,
CineworldCineworld Group plc is a cinema chain operating in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Jersey. The chain consists of 78 cinemas; 76 of which are located in the UK and one each in Ireland and Jersey. It is the second-largest cinema operator in the UK with 801 screens, and the owner of...
,
Frankie & Benny'sFrankie & Benny's is a chain of Italian-American restaurants in the UK with numerous outlets nationwide run by The Restaurant Group plc. Its first location was Leicester in 1995 but now the chain has over 150 locations across the UK and also abroad, and smaller branches called "Little...
,
McDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, Hobby Horse pub, and a
BlockbustersBlockbuster LLC is an American-based provider of home video and video game rental services, originally through video rental shops , later adding DVD-by-mail, streaming video on demand, and kiosks. At its peak in 2009, Blockbuster had up to 60,000 employees. There are around 1700 Blockbuster...
). Their main cylinder factory opposite is now The Spires housing estate.
Bryan Donkin Valves relocated to Staveley, a few miles away. Their former factory on Derby Road is under development as Spire Walk Business Park, a B&Q Mini-warehouse and Chesterfield's new fire station.
Manufacturing employment has fallen by a third since 1991, though the percentage of the population employed in manufacturing is still above the national average, underlining how critical it has been to Chesterfield in the past. Today, smaller scale firms are to be found on several industrial estates, the largest of which is located at Sheepbridge. Business located on the estate include
SIG plcSIG plc is a British-based international supplier of insulation, roofing, commercial interiors and specialist construction products. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
subsidiary Warren Insulations,
Franke Sisons LtdFranke Holding AG, based in Aarburg, Switzerland is an industrial manufacturer with companies located around the world.Franke has about 10,500 qualified employees working in 70 companies in Europe, South and North America, Africa, Australia and Asia....
(founded in 1784 in Sheffield, and one of the first to manufacture stainless steel kitchen sinks in the 1930s), Rhodes engineering, Chesterfield Felt, and others.
Between the A61 and Brimington Road there is a 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) clearing due to
Arnold LaverArnold Laver Ltd is a timber merchant based in Sheffield. The company was founded by Arnold Laver in 1920. They have 12 Depots, Employ approximately 550, and with a turnover in excess of £87 million per year.-History:...
's relocating to a modern sawmill at
HalfwayMosborough ward — which includes the districts of Halfway, Mosborough village, Waterthorpe, and Westfield — is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the eastern part of the city, on the border with Rotherham, and covers an area of 8.9 km2....
, on the
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
border. The former sawmill being demolished, with plans being proposed for a new waterside village built around a new marina at the end of the
Chesterfield CanalThe Chesterfield Canal is in the north of England and it is known locally as 'Cuckoo Dyke'. It was opened in 1777 and ran 46 miles from the River Trent at West Stockwith, Nottinghamshire to Chesterfield, Derbyshire...
which currently terminates at a weir adjacent to the site.
There is a
MorrisonsWm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
on the junction of Chatsworth Road (A619) and Walton Road (A632), a
SainsburysJ. Sainsbury plc is the parent company of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, commonly known as Sainsbury's, the third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom with a share of the UK supermarket sector of 16.5%....
on Rother Way (A619 for Staveley), and a
TescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
Extra on the junction of the A619 and
A61The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...
(known locally as the
Tesco Roundabout). The Institute of Business Advisers is based on Queen Street North. Chesterfield Royal Hospital is on the A632 out towards
CalowCalow is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is in the North East Derbyshire district of the county. It is close to the town of Chesterfield....
and
BolsoverBolsover is a town near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It is 145 miles from London, 18 miles from Sheffield, 26 miles from Nottingham and 54 miles from Manchester. It is the main town in the Bolsover district.The civil parish for the town is called...
and the only A&E Department in Derbyshire outside of Derby.
Peak FM broadcasts from Sheepbridge on 107.4 MHz FM and 102 MHz FM via the nearby
Chesterfield TransmitterThe Chesterfield transmitting station is a television and radio transmitter which serves the town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire and surrounding areas. The transmitter is an analogue television relay of the large Emley Moor mast in West Yorkshire, although digital TV services are line fed from...
, which also hosts
BBC Radio SheffieldBBC Radio Sheffield is the BBC Local Radio service for English metropolitan county of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire. This includes the city of Sheffield, plus Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham, Chesterfield and surrounding areas. It was the BBC local radio station, beginning on 15 November 1967...
on 94.7 MHz FM. DAB transmissions for Chesterfield come from the
Chesterfield TransmitterThe Chesterfield transmitting station is a television and radio transmitter which serves the town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire and surrounding areas. The transmitter is an analogue television relay of the large Emley Moor mast in West Yorkshire, although digital TV services are line fed from...
, however only
Digital OneDigital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covers more than 90% of the populationfrom a total of 137 transmitters...
is currently broadcast and
NOW DerbyshireNow Derbyshire is an upcoming local commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which will serve Derbyshire and other parts of the East Midlands....
is due to start soon, although some digital radio stations can be received from outlying transmitters. The local television stations are
ITV YorkshireYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
and
BBC YorkshireBBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Hull.-Television:...
, both transmitted from
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. The digital switchover date for the area is August 2011. Also in the town are the headquarters of the
Derbyshire TimesThe Derbyshire Times is a weekly local newspaper published in northern Derbyshire, each edition being on sale from Thursday. Its headquarters are in Chesterfield and much of its coverage centres on the town and the surrounding area. The newspaper also covers parts of the Peak District and Amber...
, the local newspaper, which does not cover all of the county.
The Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Branch of the
RSPCAThe Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
is located in the town, and serves the North East Derbyshire area. The centre, which is not government funded, holds events to raise money, one being an annual Dog Show held in the summer.
The town's biggest employer is now the "Post Office" administration department located in a newly constructed building located on the edge of the town centre. The
Royal MailRoyal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
's Pensions Service Centre is near the town on Boythorpe Road, in Rowland Hill House. There is another Royal Mail building in the town on West Bars called Future Walk, recently sold to
CPPCPP Group plc is a British-based company selling life assistance products. It is primarily based in York but has subsidiary offices in Tamworth and Chesterfield. The company also have a specialised office in Timperley which specialise in the upkeep of Airport Angel, one of its products...
. Formerly this was Chetwynd House, now substantially demolished and replaced by the new Post Office building.
Shopping, entertainment and leisure
The Town centre of Chesterfield has retained much of its pre-war era layout. Chesterfield is home to one of the largest open air markets in Britain, the stalls sitting either side of the historic Market Hall. In the middle of town, a collection of narrow medieval streets make up "The Shambles", which house The Royal Oak, one of Britain's oldest pubs.
Near Holywell Cross is Chesterfield's largest department store, the Co-operative or Co-op. Their buildings occupy the majority of Elder Way and include an enclosed bridge. In 2001, The Chesterfield and District Co-operative Society was incorporated into a larger regional entity, the
Midlands Co-operative SocietyThe Midlands Co-operative Society Limited is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It is a registered Industrial and Provident Society, a member of the Co-operative Union Ltd., the Co-operative Retail Trading Group, the Co-operative Travel Trading Group and a corporate member of...
Limited, now the biggest independent retail Society in the UK.
The Pavements
In the late 1970s a large area between Low Pavement (in the Market Square) and New Beetwell Street was completely demolished (except the original shop fronts) to build "The Pavements" shopping centre, known by some local residents as "The Precinct", with larger shops such as Boots the Chemists, which was opened in November 1981 by the
PrincePrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and
Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. It has entrances located opposite Chesterfield Market and escalators leading down to New Beetwell Street and the Bus station. An enclosed bridge links the site to a
multi-storey car parkA multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
built at the same time adjacent to the town's coach station.
Chesterfield's library is located just outside The Pavements on New Beetwell Street. The library spans several floors and was planned as part of the development. The building was erected later and opened in 1985. In annual figures compiled by the
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and AccountancyThe Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy is a professional institute for accountants working in the public services.CIPFA has 14,000 members who work throughout the public services, in national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms, and in other bodies where public money...
the Library ranked fifth in the UK for the number of issues in 2008, a rise of one place on the previous year. The area to the side of the library was redeveloped retaining the old narrow passage ways but creating various small shop units & offices in the style of "The Shambles".
On 27 June 2007, the Somerfield store in the Precinct was completely gutted in a fire during which the roof collapsed. Only a few shoppers suffered minor injuries. The fire was reportedly the result of an accidental ignition. The fire started at 13:10 on 27 June and was not extinguished until 23:30 the same day. All the shops in The Pavements were closed and evacuated. Other areas including the Market Hall were later evacuated as cordons were placed as a result of the smoke becoming worse.
Following the fire, Somerfield announced their intention to cease trading in Chesterfield. The unit re-opened in September 2008 as a
TescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
Metro store.
Vicar Lane
Vicar Lane was redeveloped in 2000 to become a pedestrianised, open-air shopping centre, that involved almost all of the existing buildings being demolished including the now closed Woolworths and the old bus station. The project was so large that two new shopping streets were created as part of the development. It now hosts major chains such as H&M, BHS and Argos. The development was originally planned in the 1980s but was delayed due to the economics at the time. A new multistorey car park on Beetwell Street was added as part of the revised plan. The area is located between the "Pavements Centre" and Markets and the "
Crooked SpireChesterfield Parish Church is an Anglican church dedicated to Saint Mary and all saints, located in the town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. Predominantly dating back to the 14th century, the church is a Grade I listed building and is most known for its twisted spire; an architectural...
".
Food and drink
Cuisine available in the area includes Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Indian and Thai restaurants and takeaways. Several night clubs are located around the town, predominantly towards "The Doughnut", more correctly called "Holywell Cross Car Park". Scattered around the town are many bars and pubs and west of the town centre the "Brampton Mile" provides 13 pubs on a 1 miles (1.6 km)) section of Chatsworth Road. Chesterfield's night-life is well regarded by many within the area for both its variety and number of venues located within a relatively compact area, although there are now very little if any that cater for alternative tastes.
In February 2006, the first ever international
gluten free beerGluten-free beer is beer made from ingredients that do not contain glycoproteins . People who have gluten intolerance have a reaction to certain proteins in the grains commonly used to make beer, barley and wheat...
festival was held in Chesterfield. The
Campaign for Real AleThe Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation based in St Albans, England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...
(CAMRA) hosted the event as part of their regular beer festival in the town.
The arts
The Winding Wheel, previously an
Odeon CinemaOdeon Cinemas is a British chain of cinemas, one of the largest in Europe. It is owned by Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group whose ultimate parent is Terra Firma Capital Partners.-History:Odeon Cinemas was created in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch...
, is a multi-purpose venue, hosting concerts, exhibitions, conferences, dinners, family parties, dances, banquets, wedding receptions, meetings, product launches and lectures. Past notable appearances include
Ricky TomlinsonEric Tomlinson , known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and James "Jim" Royle in The Royle Family....
,
Joe LongthorneJoe Longthorne is an English singer of Romani ethnicity, who has performed in several Royal Variety Performances.-Biography:...
and
Patrick McGuinnessPatrick Joseph "Paddy" McGuinness is an English stand-up comedian, comedy actor, television personality and presenter. Born in Farnworth, Bolton, he is best known for his performances alongside comedian Peter Kay, and as the host of dating programme Take Me Out.-Early life:He attended Mount St....
. Chesterfield Symphony Orchestra give three concerts a year at the Winding Wheel.
"The Pomegranate Theatre" (formerly known for many years as 'Chesterfield Civic Theatre', and prior to that 'The Stephenson Memorial Theatre') is a listed Victorian building (in what is now known as the Stephenson Memorial Hall), with a small auditorium, seating around 500 people. A variety of shows are performed throughout the year. Also in the Stephenson Memorial Hall is the Chesterfield Museum, opened in 1994. Until 1984 it was used for the town's lending library. The museum is owned by Chesterfield Borough Council, as are the Winding Wheel and the Pomegranate Theatre. The box office for both entertainment venues is located in the entrance area of the theatre.
The Royal Mail building Future Walk, on West Bars, was the former site of Chetwynd House (referred to locally as "the AGD"). Here a work by sculptor
Barbara HepworthDame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...
Carved Reclining Form or
Rosewall was prominently displayed for many years and nicknamed
Isaiah by local critics, due to it resembling a crude human face with one eye higher than the other ("eye's higher"). Soon after its installation a painted nose and mouth were added, and the work was surrounded by screens for some time while cleaning took place. The work was under the threat of being sold in 2005, but the plan was eventually scrapped, recognising the piece's national significance. Other artworks of note include 'A System of Support and Balance' by
Paul LewthwaitePaul Lewthwaite is a sculptor working internationally, based in the UK. He produces sculptures for exhibition and public commission. His work is exhibited widely across the UK, Europe and the US. Lewthwaite is an elected associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.-Recent Commissions...
located outside Chesterfield Magistrates' Court.
Roads
Junction 29 of the
M1 motorwayThe M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
at
HeathHeath is a village in the North East Derbyshire district of the English county of Derbyshire.- Location :Heath is immediately adjacent to junction 29 of the M1 motorway and the A617 dual carriageway into Chesterfield....
links Chesterfield to the motorway network to the south, via the A617 dual-carriageway. Construction of the new Junction 29a has been completed at Markham Vale,
DuckmantonA village part of the civil parish of Sutton-cum-Duckmanton, in North East Derbyshire, between Bolsover and Chesterfield.-History:Duckmanton is recorded in 1086 in the Domesday Book under the land of Ralph Fitzhubert....
, and the new junction opened at the end of June 2008, but the signs do not signpost Chesterfield. The town has links to the M1 at Junction 30 and to the north via the A619. Other major roads include the
A61The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...
Sheffield Road (north)/Derby Road (south) (with a dual carriageway beginning in the town centre and continuing onto Sheffield) and the A619 (a major inroad to the
Peak DistrictThe Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
, eventually joining the A6 near
BakewellBakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...
) and the A632 to Matlock.
Buses, taxis and coaches
Stagecoach plc are the predominant operator of buses in Chesterfield, others operators include
Trent BartonTrent Barton is one of the very small number of significant independent bus operators in the United Kingdom. It was formed as the result of merging Derbyshire's Trent Buses with Nottinghamshire's Barton Transport....
and
TM TravelTM Travel is a bus operator based in Halfway, Sheffield which operates passenger bus services in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Founded in 1995 as a family-owned operation with one bus, by March 2008 it had expanded to become the largest independent operator in Derbyshire...
. Buses stop in several areas around the town centre rather than at a central bus station. The Stagecoach depot at Stonegravels is notable for its size and many vehicles stored there are not in regular use, formerly being the Chesterfield Corporation bus depot.
A
new coach stationChesterfield coach station opened on 3 May 2005, and is in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It was built on the site of the old bus station. It is owned by Stagecoach and is served by Stagecoach Express and National Express coach services.-Facilities :...
was recently built, with scheduled services provided by
National ExpressNational Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
. A number of tour companies also operate there. The main taxi ranks are located on Elder Way and Knifesmithgate as well as outside the railway station. Chesterfields taxis can be easily recognised to hail as they are black in colour with distinctive white bonnets and tailgates.
Railways
Chesterfield railway stationEntrance to the station is on Crow Lane and includes a car park, taxi rank and bus stop. There is also a small car park on the other side of Crow Lane which does not have a parking charge. The main entrance leads to the station concourse, which is very spacious and was built in the late 1990s. It...
is located on the
Midland Main LineThe Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
, with
East Midlands TrainsEast Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
providing services to London,
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
,
LeicesterLeicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
,
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
,
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
,
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
and
NorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
and
CrossCountryCrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
serving
Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
,
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
,
BournemouthBournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
,
BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
,
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Aberdeen and
PlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
.
Chesterfield previously had two other rail stations.
Chesterfield Market Place railway stationChesterfield Market Place was a railway station in the centre of the town of Chesterfield, England. It was opened by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway in March 1897 and was the headquarters of the line. It was closed by British Railways in 1951 following a collapse of the Bolsover...
was closed in 1951, following the collapse of Bolsover tunnel. It had served as the terminus of the Chesterfield to Lincoln line, built in 1897 by the
Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast RailwayThe Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway was a British railway company built toward the end of the era of British railway construction. It opened its line from Chesterfield to Lincoln in 1897....
(LD&ECR). None of the original buildings remains, the site of the former station being now owned by the Post Office.
Chesterfield Central StationChesterfield Central was a railway station in the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire.The station was on the Great Central Chesterfield Loop which ran between and Heath Junction on the Great Central Main Line. The station opened in 1892 and was closed in 1963...
closed in 1963, in conjunction with the general wind down of passenger train activity on the
Great Central RailwayThe Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
(GCR). Chesterfield's inner relief road, part of the A61, now runs along some of the disused trackbed, and the station was demolished in 1973 to make way for the road.
These railways all crossed each other at Horns Bridge, the Midland Mainline passed over the GCR loop in to Chesterfield, and the LD&ECR passed over both on a 700 feet (213.4 m) long viaduct. Horns Bridge has been substantially redeveloped since the latter two railways closed and Horns Bridge Roundabout, where the A61 Derby Road and A617 Lordsmill Street meet, now occupies the site. The viaduct was demolished in the 1970s.
In addition to railways, Chesterfield had a
tramwayThe Chesterfield and District Tramways Company was a tramway system in the Derbyshire town of Chesterfield.The company was formed in 1879 and began operations in 1882. Due to not achieving a measure of solvency, the company took on debts of £500 and went into liquidation.The Chesterfield Tramways...
system, which was built in 1882 and closed in 1927.
Air
The nearest airfield is
Netherthorpe AerodromeNetherthorpe Airfield is located west by north of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. The airfield is in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. It was opened as a civil aerodrome in 1935.Netherthorpe is owned and operated by Sheffield Aero Club...
near
WorksopWorksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...
in
NottinghamshireNottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, but it is not licensed for commercial flights. When travelling by air, passengers usually do so via East Midlands, Leeds Bradford,
Doncaster Robin HoodRobin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is an international airport located at the former RAF Finningley airbase at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster within South Yorkshire, England. The airport lies southeast of Doncaster and east of Sheffield.The airport is operated by Peel...
and Manchester airports. These are all within two hours travel time by road.
Canal
The
Chesterfield CanalThe Chesterfield Canal is in the north of England and it is known locally as 'Cuckoo Dyke'. It was opened in 1777 and ran 46 miles from the River Trent at West Stockwith, Nottinghamshire to Chesterfield, Derbyshire...
linked the town to the national network of waterways, and was the most important trade route through the 19th century. Overtaken by rail and then road for freight transport it fell into disuse, but has been partially restored since the mid-20th century for leisure use. However, the section through Chesterfield remains isolated from the rest of the waterway network.
Education
The borough of Chesterfield has many schools within and around it. There are several secondary schools in the area (most of which are community schools;
Hasland HallHasland Hall Community School is an English secondary school situated in Hasland, a village in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. Hasland Hall, for many years was the residence of Mr Bernard Lucas J.P. and then converted into a school...
,
BrookfieldBrookfield Community School is a school located on Chatsworth in the west of the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire in England.-Admissions:Brookfield Community School is a secondary school and a Sports College And A Language College...
,
Tupton Hall SchoolTupton Hall School is one of the largest secondary schools in the North East Derbyshire district with a large body of students and one of the largest sixth forms in the county.-Grammar School:...
, Parkside, Meadows, Netherthorpe, Newbold Community, Deincourt, The Bolsover School and Springwell) almost half have a
Sixth FormIn the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
. There is also a Roman Catholic school,
St Mary's Roman Catholic High SchoolSt Mary's Roman Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive school in Upper Newbold, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, that specialises in the teaching of languages....
, in Newbold.
A
Further EducationFurther education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
college,
Chesterfield CollegeChesterfield College is a further education further and higher education college in the town of Chesterfield in North East Derbyshire, England. The college consists of three campuses spread over the town of Chesterfield and serves over 21,000 students of which 5,600 are full time attends.- History...
, is located within a five minute walk of
Chesterfield railway stationEntrance to the station is on Crow Lane and includes a car park, taxi rank and bus stop. There is also a small car park on the other side of Crow Lane which does not have a parking charge. The main entrance leads to the station concourse, which is very spacious and was built in the late 1990s. It...
and offers many courses. It has over 15,000 students.
Religious sites
Chesterfield is perhaps best known for the "Crooked
SpireA spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
" of its
Church of Saint Mary and All SaintsChesterfield Parish Church is an Anglican church dedicated to Saint Mary and all saints, located in the town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. Predominantly dating back to the 14th century, the church is a Grade I listed building and is most known for its twisted spire; an architectural...
and is why the local football team is known as
The Spireites.
The spire is both twisted and leaning, twisting 45 degrees and leaning 9 in 6 in (2.9 m) from its true centre. Folklore recounts that a
BolsoverBolsover is a town near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It is 145 miles from London, 18 miles from Sheffield, 26 miles from Nottingham and 54 miles from Manchester. It is the main town in the Bolsover district.The civil parish for the town is called...
blacksmith mis-shod the
DevilThe Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, who leaped over the spire in pain, knocking it out of shape. In reality the leaning characteristic has been attributed to various causes, including the absence of skilled craftsmen (the
Black DeathThe Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
having been gone only twelve years prior to the spire's completion), the use of unseasoned timber, and insufficient cross-bracing. According to the curators of Chesterfield Museum, it is now believed that the bend began when the original wooden roof tiles were replaced by heavier slate and lead. The bend in the spire (the twist being deliberate) follows the direction of the sun and has been caused by heat expansion and a weight it was never designed for. There is also no record of a bend until after the slate change. An interesting point is that the spire is not attached to the church building but is kept on by its own weight. The tower which the spire sits upon contains 10 bells. These bells were cast in 1947 by the
Whitechapel Bell FoundryThe Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
in London, replacing a previous ring. The heaviest weighs .
Sports and leisure
Chesterfield is home to the
Football League OneFootball League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
club
Chesterfield F.C.Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
who formerly played at the Recreation Ground (usually referred to as Saltergate). Chesterfield FC are known as the Spireites, after the Crooked Spire in the town. In 2005 plans were announced to build a new stadium on the old Dema Glass site north of the town in Whittington Moor. Construction of the new stadium, named the 'B2net Stadium' began in summer 2009 and was completed for the start of the 2010/2011 season. The team's most notable achievement of recent years occurred in April 1997, when they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, losing to
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
in a replay following a 3–3 draw at Old Trafford. It turned out to be one of the most controversial in recent history with Chesterfield having a goal not given when referee David Elleray decided the ball had not crossed the goal line from a Jonathan Howard shot, a decision which was later proved incorrect by video replays. Had the goal stood the club would have progressed to the final of the FA Cup for the first time in its history—a feat which no club in the third tier of the league has achieved. The team has a fierce rivalry with neighbouring town
MansfieldMansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
.
In 2006 Chesterfield FC beat Premiership heavyweights
Manchester CityManchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and
West HamWest Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
to move into the last 16 of the Carling Cup where they were narrowly beaten on penalties by Charlton. Despite their Carling Cup exploits, Chesterfield were relegated on the penultimate game of the season
Chesterfield Ladies FC have women and girls teams and are based at Queens Park Annexe, they play in the Sheffield & Hallamshire Girls County League.
Also Chesterfield has a competitive athletic team which competes regularly all over England.
Chesterfield & District Athletic Club. Chesterfield Swimming Club is based at the Queens Park Sports Centre on Boythorpe Road.
Queen's ParkQueen's Park is a county cricket ground located in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England and lies within a park in the centre of the town established for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897...
also plays host to Chesterfield Cricket Club and is an outground of
Derbyshire County Cricket ClubDerbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
Chesterfield also has its own amateur Sunday football league that plays host to over 100 teams on a Sunday morning. The Chesterfield and District Sunday Football League consists of nine divisions and three cup competitions.
Chesterfield Spires RLFC are a
Rugby LeagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
club formed in the town in 2003 and currently play in the RL Merit League
A speedway training track operated at Glasshouse Farm in the early 1950s.
Chesterfield also has a mildly successful Men's Hockey Team which typically competes in the Midland's Premier Hockey League. The side has typically been midtable or battled against relegation until its greatest success when it recruited Australian import striker Adam Clifford from Tasmania. During his two seasons Clifford scored over 50 goals and Chesterfield narrowly lost the league in the final weeks by a single point.
Chesterfield Rugby Union Football ClubEnglish rugby union club that plays in the Midlands Division-History:Local rugby clubs Chesterfield RUFC and North Derbyshire RUFC have concluded a merger to take immediate effect. The move, which has the full support of the RFU, will see the formation of one stronger club in the area of...
was initially formed in 1919 and played their first game in 1920.
Queens Park Leisure Centre
The Queens Park is located within the town centre and recently benefited from a multi-million pound programme of investment, allowing to host county cricket once again. It has a boating lake and miniature railway. Also on the outskirts of the park is Queens Park Leisure Centre, which has a large swimming pool and gym, several indoor courts (for a variety of sports) and several more outdoor tennis courts.
Healthy Living Centre, Staveley
The town also has a new £8m Healthy Living Centre within the Borough at Staveley. The centre, which opened in Spring 2008, has a 25 m (82 ft) swimming pool with a movable platform, an 11 m (36.1 ft) climbing wall, leisure facilities including an indoor children's soft play area, crèche facilities, a fitness suite, health spa and dance studios.
Skate Park
Recently a skate park was built behind B&Q at Horns Bridge. Activities at the skate park include skateboarding, rollerblading, scooter riding, amongst others.
Public services
Chesterfield is policed by
Derbyshire ConstabularyDerbyshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Derbyshire, England. The force covers an area of over with a population of just under one million.-Organisation and structure:...
, and Chesterfield Police Station, on New Beetwell Street, is the Division 'C' Headquarters, with local police stations in Bolsover, Clay Cross, Dronfield,
KillamarshKillamarsh is a town in North East Derbyshire. It borders South Yorkshire to its north and west. It lies between Halfway and Mosborough to the west, Renishaw to the south, Beighton and Sothall to the northwest, Wales to the northeast, Harthill to its east and the Rother Valley Country Park to its...
,
NewboldNewbold is a village north of Chesterfield, a market town in the English county of Derbyshire. In 2001 in had a population of just under 8,000....
, Staveley, and
ShirebrookShirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district of north-east Derbyshire on the border with Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 UK Census it had a population of 9,291 , 10,412...
.
In terms of healthcare, Chesterfield is served by Chesterfield Royal Hospital
NHS Foundation TrustAn NHS foundation trust is part of the National Health Service in England and has gained a degree of independence from the Department of Health and local NHS strategic health authority.Foundation Trusts are represented by the , .-Function:...
, and has two hospitals. Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Calow has maternity services and accident and emergency department. Walton Hospital is smaller. As with the rest of Derbyshire, Chesterfield is covered by the
East Midlands Ambulance ServiceEast Midlands Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust provides emergency 999, urgent care and patient transport services for the 4.8 million people within the East Midlands region of the UK - covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire , Northamptonshire and...
(EMAS) and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance. In the 1980s, a portion of the former Royal Hospital in Chesterfield town centre was converted into the Alexandra Private Hospital.
Chesterfield is served by
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue ServiceDerbyshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Derbyshire, England.-History:The Fire Services Act 1947 created two brigades for Derbyshire - the County Borough of Derby Fire Brigade and the Derbyshire Fire Service. In 1974, local government...
, which has
fire stationA fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
s in Chesterfield, Clay Cross, Clowne and Staveley. Chesterfield fire station moved from Whittington Moor to a newly-built station located behind B&Q at Horns Bridge.
Nearby places
Notable people
Notable people to come from Chesterfield include:
- Olave Baden-Powell
Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell, GBE was born Olave St Clair Soames in Chesterfield, England...
, wife to Robert Baden-PowellRobert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
and Chief GuideGirlguiding UK is the national Guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. Guiding began in the UK in 1910 after Robert Baden-Powell asked his sister Agnes to start a group especially for girls that would be run along similar lines to Scouting for Boys. The Guide Association was a founder member of...
from 1918 until her death in 1977.
- John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
, actor.
- Steven Blakeley
Steven Blakeley is a British actor best known for his role as PC Geoff Younger in the British police drama Heartbeat.-Early life:...
Actor in TV drama series Heartbeat.
- Baron Bowden, English scientist and educationist, particularly associated with the development of UMIST as a successful university.
- Tommy Briggs
Tommy Briggs was a professional footballer who played as a striker. He was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and died in Grimsby, Lincolnshire....
, English footballer and Football manager.
- Paul Burrell
Paul Burrell, RVM is a former servant of the British Royal Household. He was a footman for Queen Elizabeth II and later butler to Diana, Princess of Wales...
, former royal butlerA butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
and author.
- Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
, former LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government ministerA minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
.
- Pete Dodd member of 1980s band, The Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
.
- Thomas Gascoyne
Thomas Jepson Gascoyne was an English professional cycling champion and world record holder who competed internationally on both bicycles and tandems.He held world records for both 25 miles and the flying start quarter mile...
, professional cyclist who set world records for both 25 miles and the flying start quarter mile. He rode in Europe, America and Australia but died at the Battle of Passchendaele.
- Simon Groom
Simon Groom is a British Producer & Director, best known as a former presenter of Blue Peter.Groom was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and was brought up on a farm in Dethick, which he often visited for Blue Peter reports...
, former Blue PeterBlue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
presenter.
- Jo Guest
Joanne Guest is an English former glamour model and media figure.- Glamour career :Born and raised in Chesterfield, north east Derbyshire, England, Guest got her start in modelling when she came across an advertisement for it while on a catering course at her local college...
, former glamour model and Page Three girl.
- William Edwin Harvey
William Edwin Harvey , known as W. E. Harvey, was a British Lib-Lab Member of Parliament.Born in Hasland, Derbyshire, Harvey worked in a coal mine from the age of ten. He joined the South Yorkshire Miners' Association in 1869, and was a the union's local delegate by 1872...
, MP lived here.
- Ian Hyland
Ian Hyland is an English television critic.-Journalism career:Hyland wrote a column for the Sunday Mirror from 2000 to 2005. Until 2011 closure of the newspaper, he wrote for the News of the World. He currently writes for the Daily Mail...
, Daily Mirror television critic
- Nigel Illingworth
Nigel John Bartle Illingworth is a former English cricketer. Illingworth was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born at Chesterfield, Derbyshire....
, cricketer
- Jeremy Kemp
Jeremy Kemp is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the miniseries The Winds of War, The Blue Max and Z-Cars....
, actor
- Frank Lee, MP lived here.
- John Lukic
Jovan "John" Lukic is an English former football goalkeeper who was a member of Football League championship sides with two different clubs and played at the highest level of English football in four separate decades.-Childhood and early life:Lukic was born in Chesterfield to Yugoslavian parents;...
, footballer.
- Rik Makarem
-Career:Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Makarem is currently known for playing cast regular Nikhil Sharma in Emmerdale. He has also starred in BBC's Torchwood- Children of Earth alongside John Barrowman and has featured in ITV period drama Foyle's War...
Actor in TV soap opera Emmerdale
- Violet Markham
Violet Rosa Markham CH was a writer, social reformer and administrator. She grew up near Chesterfield, the daughter of Charles Markham, part owner of the profitable Markham Collieries and Markham & Co. Engineering of Chesterfield...
CHThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
, writer, social reformer, mayor and administrator.
- Geoff Miller
Geoffrey Miller is an English former cricketer, who played in thirty four Tests and twenty five ODIs for England from 1976 to 1984...
, former Derbyshire and England cricketer.
- Henry Normal
Henry Normal is an English comedian, television producer, poet and writer. He is Managing Director of Baby Cow Productions Ltd which he set up with Steve Coogan....
, co-writer of The Royle FamilyThe Royle Family is a popular, BAFTA award-winning television comedy drama produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 onwards...
- Johnny Pearson
John Valmore Pearson known as Johnny Pearson, was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist...
, composer of theme tunes for Captain PugwashCaptain Pugwash is a fictional pirate in a series of British children's comic strips and books created by John Ryan. The character's adventures were adapted into a TV series, using cardboard cut-outs filmed in live-action , also called Captain Pugwash, first shown on the BBC in 1957, a later colour...
, News at Ten and All Creatures Great and Small.
- Samuel Pegge
Samuel Pegge the elder was an antiquary.Born at Chesterfield, Derbyshire, he was the son of Christopher Pegge and his wife Gertrude, daughter of Francis Stephenson of Unstone, near Chesterfield...
(1704–1796), antiquary, Old WhittingtonOld Whittington is a village in Derbyshire and north of Chesterfield and is/ south-east of Sheffield. The village lies on the River Rother....
vicar.
- Jon Podgorski, member of 1980s band, The Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
.
- Claire Price
Claire Price is an English actress. She is best known for her current portrayal as DS Siobhan Clarke in the TV drama Rebus broadcast on the ITV Network...
, actress
- Sir Robert Robinson, Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on plant dyestuffs (anthocyanin
Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH...
s) and alkaloids.
- Joe Screen
Joseph 'Joe' Screen , is a British international speedway rider who rides for the Glasgow Tigers in the British Premier League. In 2011 While pairing with James Grieves he won the Premier league Pairs For the Tigers...
, international speedwayMotorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
rider.
- Mark Shaw, lead singer of 1980s band Then Jerico
Then Jerico are a British rock band who became popular in the late 1980s.-Career:Mark Shaw formed the band at the age of 21, recruiting bassist Jasper Stainthorpe and drummer Steve Wren and poaching guitarist Scott Taylor from Belouis Some....
- Jason Statham
Jason Statham born 12 September1967) is an English actor and former diver, known for his roles in the Guy Ritchie crime films Revolver, Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels...
, actor and former diverDiver or divers can refer to:*Diving, the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water**:Category:Divers*Underwater diving**:Category:Underwater divers**Scuba diving, in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater...
- Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, former Motörhead drummer
- Percy Toplis
Francis Percy Toplis was a British criminal and imposter active during the First World War. He is sometimes claimed to have taken a major part in the Étaples Mutiny, as "The Monocled Mutineer", during the war, although there is some dispute as to whether he was actually present.Toplis was born in...
, criminal active during the 1910s.
- Eric Varley, former MP
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Chesterfield and past Chairman of CoaliteCoalite is a brand of low-temperature coke used as a smokeless fuel. The title refers to the residue left behind when coal is carbonised at 640 degrees Celsius. It was invented by Thomas Parker in 1904. In 1936 the Smoke Abatement Society awarded its inventor a posthumous gold medal.Coalite is...
.
- Mark Webber
Mark Webber is an English rock guitarist.He is most famous for playing in Pulp , and appearing on all of their albums since their Mercury Music Prize winning collection Different Class...
, guitarist in the band PulpPulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
and curator of avant-garde cinema
- Bob Wilson, former football goalkeeper and broadcaster.
- Peter Wright
Peter Maurice Wright was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence officer, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies...
, MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
officer, author of SpycatcherSpycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer , is a book written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. It was published first in Australia...
Other prominent people connected with the town:
- Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....
, England's World Cup Winning goalkeeper played for Chesterfield F.C.Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
between 1955 and 1959.
- Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Chesterfield from 1984 to 2001.
- Geoff Capes
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a former athlete, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor...
, Two time winner of The Worlds Strongest Man competition now lives in Chesterfield.
- The Venerable Edmond Francis Crosse
The Venerable Edmond Francis Crosse was the first Archdeacon of Chesterfield. He was the great grandson of the famous Norwich surgeon John Green Crosse. He is buried in the graveyard at Little Barrington, Gloucestershire.-Notes:...
, was the first ArchdeaconAn archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
of Chesterfield.
- Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, (12 December 1731 – 18 April 1802), one of the founder members of the Lunar SocietyThe Lunar Society of Birmingham was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle,...
, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers. He was educated at Chesterfield School.
- George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
, English mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives. He ended his days at Tapton HouseTapton House, situated in Tapton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, was once the home of engineer George Stephenson, who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
which is now a Chesterfield CollegeChesterfield College is a further education further and higher education college in the town of Chesterfield in North East Derbyshire, England. The college consists of three campuses spread over the town of Chesterfield and serves over 21,000 students of which 5,600 are full time attends.- History...
campus.
- Kerry Hallam
Kerry Hallam is a British impressionist artist who has produced approximately twelve thousand paintings and whose work is included in collections held by Brigitte Bardot and Björn Borg as well as decorating the permanent residence of Monaco's Ambassador to the United States. Hallam was trained in...
, artist, folk musician and writer, trained at Chesterfield Art CollegeChesterfield College is a further education further and higher education college in the town of Chesterfield in North East Derbyshire, England. The college consists of three campuses spread over the town of Chesterfield and serves over 21,000 students of which 5,600 are full time attends.- History...
for two years.
- Alfred Seaman
Alfred Seaman was a professional Victorian and Edwardian photographer who ran a network of photographic portrait studios in the Midlands and North of England. He published a large series of stereoscopic photographs of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.Alfred Seaman was born in Norfolk in...
successful Victorian photographer opened his first studio in the town
- Sir Montague Burton
Sir Montague Maurice Burton founded Burton, one of Great Britain's largest chains of clothes shops....
, founder of the Burton chain of companies, opened his first store in Chesterfield in 1903.
Twinnings
Chesterfield is twinned with
DarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
in Germany,
TroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
in Northern France,
YangquanYangquan is a prefecture-level city in the Shanxi province of China. Situated to the west side of Taihang Mountain, Yangquan occupies a total area of 4,470 square kilometers and is home to a population of about 1.3 million . Yangquan is rich in mineral resources and is famous for its smokeless coal...
in the Shanxi province of China and
TsumebTsumeb is a city of 15,000 inhabitants and the largest town in Oshikoto region in northern Namibia. Tsumeb is the home of the world-famous Tsumeb mine, and the "gateway to the north" of Namibia. It is the closest town to the Etosha National Park...
in Namibia.
External links