For other locations with this name, see Chesterfield.
Chesterfield is a market town and district in Derbyshire, a county in England. It lies south of Sheffield, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper, and has a population of approximately 100,000. It is located at 53°34' North, 1°25' West.
It received its market charter in the year 1204 from King John.
The crooked spire
Chesterfield benefitted greatly from the building of the Chesterfield Line - part of the Derby to Leedsrailway (North Midland Line), which was begun in 1837 by George Stephenson. During its construction, a sizable seam of coal was discovered. This and the local ironstone were promptly exploited by Stephenson who set up a company to trade in the minerals.
During his time in Chesterfield, Stephenson lived at Tapton House, and remained there in his retirement. He is interred in Trinity Church.
Chesterfield is perhaps best known for the "crooked spire" of its Church of Saint Mary and All Saints. The twisted spire leans 9 feet 5 inches from its true centre. The twisting is probably the result of unseasoned timbers or insufficient cross-bracing, although there are other explanations: One is that the spire was so shocked to learn of the marriage of a virgin in the church that it bent down to get a closer look. Another is that a Bolsover blacksmith mis-shoed the Devil, who leaped over the spire in pain, knocking it out of shape.
The Channel Tunnel between England and France used boring machines manufactured in Chesterfield by the company Markham & Co., which no longer exists in the town.
It is a large but irregularly built town, pleasantly situate between two rivulets, the Hyper and Rother, in the beautiful and fertile vale of Scarsdale, and is the second considerable town in the county of Derby.
A Description of Chesterfield and Directory for Chesterfield, with the villages of Brampton, Brimington and neighbourhoods transcribed from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835 by Rosemary Lockie.
Chesterfield has held a market since earliest times - the Sheriff of Derbyshire recorded an account of £1 2s 7d from the market of Chesterfield as long ago as 1165.
The RSPCA Chesterfield and North Derbyshire branch have teamed up with Click Now to form a powerful internet search engine, to help raise vital funds for the animal centre.
The RSPCA Chesterfield and North Derbyshire branch are supporting National Microchipping month in June 2007.
The RSPCA Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Branch makes every effort to check that the information contained in these pages is correct and up-to-date.
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