County town: Derby
Derbyshire was established as a shire in the 10th century, taking its name from Derby — a Danish town whose name means 'deer village' — following the reconquest of the Danelaw.
Derbyshire straddles the boundary between two Englands: the wild limestone uplands of the Peak District in the north and west, and the gentler farming country of the Trent valley and eastern plains. Lead mining in the Peak has a history going back to Roman times, and the county's industrial archaeology reflects centuries of mineral extraction. The great houses of the county — Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Hardwick Hall — are among the finest in England. The River Derwent, running through Matlock and Derby, became the birthplace of the factory system in the 18th century, with Arkwright's mill at Cromford a world heritage site.
Derbyshire was surveyed in the Domesday Book of 1086, William the Conqueror's great census of England. The survey recorded 327 settlements in the county, with details of their lords, landholders, population, and resources.
Browse 327 Domesday settlements in DerbyshireEngland's 39 historic counties, established between the 9th and 12th centuries, are the framework through which English local history, legal records, and landscape have been organised for a thousand years. Most survive today as ceremonial counties, their boundaries deeply embedded in place identity.
This page introduces the historic county of Derbyshire. A full Aubrey report for a location within it pulls together everything the record actually holds about that ground, from the geology beneath it to the last coin dropped in a field:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey has published in-depth research reports for one notable place in Derbyshire. Read in-depth research reports on notable places — explore.
Derbyshire contains 507 scheduled monuments — sites of national importance protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
Browse scheduled monuments in EnglandAn Aubrey report for a specific location in Derbyshire draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.