Historic county of England
Derbyshire
Derbs
Peak and dale north, Derwent through the middle, Trent lowlands south.
Derbyshire runs from the high moors and limestone dales of the Peak District to the much lower Trent-side country around Derby. More than almost any other feature, the River Derwent gives the county an internal spine, descending from the northern hills through Bakewell and Matlock before reaching Derby and the southern lowlands.
The landscapes on either side are strikingly varied. Northern Derbyshire contains the Dark Peak’s gritstone moors and the limestone country of the White Peak; the north-east and east were shaped by coal and industry; and southern Derbyshire opens into rolling farmland and the Trent basin. Peak, dale, coalfield, mill valley and lowland plain are packed unusually closely together.
- c.1048 = 'Derbyscir'
- Domesday (1086): Derbyscire
- Known for the Peak District National Park
- Area 1,017 sq mi 2,634 km²
- Population: 1,148,373
- County top: Kinder Scout 2,087 ft / 636 m
County geography
Current Census
Contemporary Census profile
England and Wales Census 2021. Detailed contemporary statistics are available in the Geographic County Census Explorer.
- Population density
- 1,167.0 people per sq mi (450.6 people per km²)
- Population
- 1,186,171
Dark Peak and White Peak
The Peak District is not one uniform upland. Gritstone creates the darker, rougher moors and edges of the north, while limestone produces the greener plateau and steep-cut dales of the White Peak.
Those contrasting rocks shape everything from vegetation and farming to settlement and building materials. The distinction between gritstone and limestone is one of the best ways to understand northern Derbyshire.
The Derwent corridor
The Derwent links upland Derbyshire with the county town and became one of the classic landscapes of the Industrial Revolution. Fast-flowing water helped power pioneering textile mills, and industrial settlements developed along a valley that had already provided a natural route through the county.
This creates a particularly Derbyshire relationship between landscape and industry: the river did not merely pass through the industrial region; it helped make it possible.
Coalfield to Trent
East of the Derwent, coal and industry shaped a different Derbyshire of mining settlements and industrial towns. South of Derby, the land falls towards the Trent and becomes broader and more agricultural.
The county therefore changes dramatically over a relatively short distance, from Pennine upland to Midland lowland.
County questions
Questions about Derbyshire
Is Derby in Derbyshire?
Yes. Derby is geographically in Derbyshire. Its separate local-authority arrangements do not make it independent of the county.
Is the Peak District the same thing as Derbyshire?
No. The Peak District is a natural and designated landscape region which extends beyond Derbyshire. Derbyshire is the geographic county.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County of Derby
- Alternative name
- Derbs
- County day
- 22 September
- Foundation
- c.1000
Derbyshire and County of Derby are forms of the same county name. The shire is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle before the Norman Conquest.