Why visit Wirksworth and the local area?
Standing as it does virtually at the centre of Derbyshire, about two miles to the south of the Peak District National Park boundary, Wirksworth is a small historic town which is now a thriving arts venue with an annual festival in September. The town is surrounded by beautiful countryside and offers splendid walking and cycling opportunities as well as fun water activities. Individual shops, restaurants, a deli and an independent cinema surround the market place in the heart of the town and are all a few minutes’ walk from Agricola house. Explore the steep terraces, narrow streets and alleyways in this historic town which was once one of the most important lead mining centres in England.
More about Wirksworth
Things to do from Wirksworth
There is plenty to do during your stay. The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway stretches nine miles south from Coldwell St in Wirksworth and runs heritage diesel rail cars and small steam locomotives; a scenic ride that can be enjoyed by all of the family.
Close to Wirksworth, Carsington Water is a popular destination for visitors of all kinds, open all year round, with an excellent visitor centre, as well as walking and cycling routes around the lake plus opportunities for water sports. One of the town’s unique attractions is the National Stone Centre, which offers activities such as gem-panning and fossil-casting. Bakewell, Ashbourne, Dovedale, Matlock Bath, Chatsworth and Haddon hall are all a short drive from Agricola house which is in an ideal location for a relaxing holiday.
Wirksworth events
In early April, the town holds the Wirkworth Book Festival to celebrate books and reading from mostly local authors. Wirksworth holds a welldressing and carnival in Whit week (early June),
On the first Sunday after 8th September there occurs the ancient ceremony of ‘Clypping’ of the church, in which the church is encircled by the congregation holding hands around it.
Wirksworth has also recently developed an excellent Arts Festival, which happens over a weekend in September. The Festival includes all forms of Art, with the market Square the centre for music, dance and street acts while many of the houses around the village play hosts to many different forms of artistic expression. Tours and tour maps can be bought in the local shops during the festival.
A brief history of Wirksworth
Wirksworth is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. Within it is the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a market charter by Edward I in 1306 which is still held every Tuesday in the market square. The parish church of St Mary’s is believed to date from about AD 653.
In Roman Britain the limestone area of present-day Derbyshire was an important source of lead with the primary area of production being around Wirksworth and later known for its stone quarrying. Henry VIII granted a charter to hold a miners’ court in the town called the Bar Moot. Every man had the right to dig for ore wherever he chose, except in churchyards, gardens or roadways. Many of the old cottages and houses of lead merchants survive, notably a magnificent Jacobean house known as Babington House.
Many of the lead mines in the area were owned by the Gell family who were lords of the nearby Hopton Hall, and their name is preserved in the Via Gellia, a main road to the north-west of the town, and in the Anthony Gell School.
Textile mills were also an important source of work. In 1771 Richard Arkwright built his first water powered cotton mill in nearby Cromford – a milestone in England’s Industrial Revolution. The Mill is now the centrepiece of the UNESCO Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. In 1777 Arkwright leased land at Millers Green in Wirksworth from Philip Gell of Hopton and built a small cotton spinning mill – the first cotton mill in the world to use a steam engine – used to replenish the millpond that drove the mill’s waterwheel.
Large Group Self-Catering Holiday House in Wirksworth
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