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Dictionary definition: Derbyshire
- Article from:
- A Dictionary of British History
- Author:
Copyright© A Dictionary of British History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information)
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Derbyshire
is a heart‐shaped county in the heart of England. It has been little altered by boundary changes, but since 1974 borders Greater Manchester.
The Romans, chiefly interested in its lead and the springs at Buxton, established a number of forts and roads. Christianity came with the first religious house in Mercia built at
Repton
in 656 (where the Saxon crypt survives).
Throughout the medieval period Derbyshire remained sparsely populated. The county suffered grievously from the plague, the final outbreak occurring famously in 1665 when six‐sevenths of the population of Eyam died. By the 17th cent., the Cavendishes had established themselves as the premier family, mostly ...