| Official Name: | Chesterfield |
| Type: | Town |
| Country: | England |
| Region: | East Midlands |
| Static Image Caption: | Clockwise from top: Chesterfield Knifesmithgate with the Crooked Spire, Town Hall, Scenery, Crooked Spire Parish Church and Market Hall. |
| Population: | 76,402 |
| Population Ref: | (2021 Census)[1] |
| Coordinates: | 53.2363°N -1.4292°W |
| Constituency Westminster: | Chesterfield |
| Os Grid Reference: | SK384712 |
| Post Town: | Chesterfield |
| Postcode Area: | S |
| Postcode District: | S40-S45 |
| Dial Code: | 01246 |
| Shire District: | Chesterfield |
| Shire County: | Derbyshire |
| Area Total Km2: | 24.32 |
| Parts Type: | Areas of the town |
| P5: | Brockwell |
| P6: | Brookside |
| P7: | Corbriggs (part) |
| P8: | Dunston |
| P19: | Whittington Moor |
Chesterfield is a market and industrial town in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England.[2] It is 24miles north of Derby and 11miles south of Sheffield at the confluence of the Rivers Rother and Hipper. In 2011, the built-up-area subdivision had a population of 88,483,[3] making it the second-largest settlement in Derbyshire, after Derby. The wider Borough of Chesterfield had a population of 103,569 in the 2021 Census.[4] In 2021, the town itself had a population of 76,402.[1]
It has been traced to a transitory Roman fort of the 1st century CE.[5] The name of the later Anglo-Saxon village comes from the Old English ceaster (Roman fort) and feld (pasture).[6] [7] It has a sizeable street market three days a week.[8] The town sits on an old coalfield, but little visual evidence of mining remains since the closure of the final town centre mine nicknamed “The Green Room”. The main landmark is the crooked spire of the Church of St Mary and All Saints.
Chesterfield was in the Hundred of Scarsdale. The town received its market charter in 1204 from King John, which constituted the town as a free borough, granting the burgesses of Chesterfield the privileges of those of Nottingham and Derby.[2] In 1266, the Battle of Chesterfield saw a band of rebel barons defeated by a royalist army.[9]
Elizabeth I granted a charter in either 1594 or 1598,[2] creating a corporation of a mayor, six aldermen, six brethren, and twelve capital burgesses.[10] This remained its charter until the borough was reshaped under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.[2] [11] It originally consisted only of the township of Chesterfield but absorbed some surrounding townships in 1892. There was a major extension when the borough absorbed New Whittington and Newbold urban district in 1920.[12] Chesterfield's current boundaries date from 1 April 1974, when the Borough of Chesterfield was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 by amalgamating the municipal borough of Chesterfield, the urban district of Staveley and the parish of Brimington from Chesterfield Rural District.[13]
Chesterfield benefitted much from the building of the Chesterfield Line – part of the Derby to Leeds railway (North Midland Line) begun in 1837 by George Stephenson. During the work, a sizeable seam of coal was discovered while the Clay Cross Tunnel was constructed. This and the local ironstone were exploited by Stephenson, who set up a company in Clay Cross to trade in the minerals.
During his time in Chesterfield, Stephenson lived at Tapton House, remaining there until his death in 1848. He is interred in Trinity Church. A statue of him was erected outside Chesterfield railway station in 2006.[14]
Local government in Chesterfield has a two-tier structure. At the upper tier of services such as consumer protection, education, main roads and social services is provided by Derbyshire County Council.[15] At the lower tier, housing, planning, refuse collection and burial grounds are provided by Chesterfield Borough Council.[16] There are two civil parishes in the borough, Brimington and Staveley.
Derbyshire County Council has 64 county councillors[17] and Chesterfield Borough Council 40 local councillors,[18] both elected every four years.
The borough council uses armorial bearings originally granted to the previous borough corporation by letters patent dated 10 November 1955.[19] The blazon of the arms is as follows:
Gules a Device representing a Pomegranate Tree as depicted on the ancient Common Seal of the Borough the tree leaved and eradicated proper flowered and fructed Or and for the Crest on a Wreath of the Colours Issuant from a Mural Crown Gules Masoned Or a Mount Vert thereon a Derby Ram passant guardant proper.Supporters: On the dexter side a Cock and on the sinister side a Pynot or Magpie proper each Ducally gorged Or[20]
The shield is based on the borough's ancient common seal, believed to date from the earlier 16th century. The seal depicts a stylised pomegranate tree. When the arms were formally granted, the College of Arms expressed the view that the plant had been adopted by the town as a symbol of loyalty to the crown, as it had been a royal badge used by Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII and Mary Tudor.[20] The crest depicts a Derby Ram, representing the county of Derbyshire, and a mural crown, suggestive of a town wall and thus borough status.[20] The supporters represent the Cock and Pynot Inn, Old Whittington. The now Cock and Magpie Inn (53°16'13.1"N 1°25'34.3"W) is next to Revolution House, which was the site of a meeting between conspirators against James II in 1688. Among those meeting there were the Earl of Danby and Devonshire, marked by ducal crowns round the supporters' necks. The two birds stand on a compartment of rocks and moorland.[20] The motto is "Aspire", a punning reference to the crooked spire of the parish church.[20]
In March 2016 the borough council began a bid to join the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority, which was due to receive devolved powers. Derbyshire County Council opposed this and sought legal advice.[21] In June 2017 Chesterfield Council withdrew its application, but is now non-constituent partner.[22]
Chesterfield lies at the confluence of the River Rother and River Hipper at the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield, in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is sometimes described as the "Gateway to the Peak", with the Peak District National Park to the west of the town.[23]
Nearby areas of the South and West Yorkshire Green Belt can serve to block urban sprawl.[24] Other local greenfield frameworks include "strategic gaps" to maintain the openness and landscape qualities of large open areas, and "green wedges" penetrating urban areas with recreational facilities.[25]
The wider Chesterfield Urban Area had a population of 112,664 at the 2021 Census, this included the town of Chesterfield along with its surrounding suburbs and the outlying villages and towns of Wingerworth, Staveley, Cutthorpe and Holymoorside.[26]
Chesterfield is part of the Chesterfield constituency; the Member of Parliament (MP) is Toby Perkins (Labour). The local council for Chesterfield is Chesterfield Borough Council.
Since the cessation of coal mining, the economy around Chesterfield has undergone major change. The employment base has moved from the primary and secondary sectors towards the tertiary. The area sits on an old, large coalfield which had many collieries,[27] including those in outlying areas which were historically part of Chesterfield Rural District: Clay Cross, Arkwright Town, Bolsover, Grassmoor, North Wingfield and Holmewood.
Between 1981 and 2002, 15,000 jobs in the coal industry were lost[28] and all collieries closed, although open cast mining took place at Arkwright Town for a few years from November 1993.[29] Many mine sites were restored by a contractor for Derbyshire County Council. Little evidence of mining remains. A cyclists' and walkers' route, the "Five Pits Trail", links some former mines; most are now indistinguishable from the surrounding countryside.[30]
In the town, large factories and major employers have disappeared or relocated. Markham & Co. manufactured tunnel boring machines such as the one used for the Channel Tunnel. It was bought out by Norway's Kvaerner and later merged with Sheffield-based Davy. Its factory on Hollis Lane is now a housing estate; the former offices were turned into flats and serviced office suites.[31] Dema Glass's factory near Lockoford Lane closed; the site is now host to a Tesco supermarket and the Proact Stadium, the home of Chesterfield Football Club.[32] GKN closed its factory and the site is being turned into a business park.[33]
Other companies have downsized sharply. Robinson's, makers of paper-based packaging,[34] divested its health-care interests, which led to a marked fall in the workforce and facilities in Chesterfield. Trebor, once based on Brimington Road near Chesterfield railway station, merged with Bassetts sweets of Sheffield, was later taken over by Cadbury and relocated to a modern unit at Holmewood business park. The earlier factory site is now developed as part of a mixed residential and commercial site.
Manufacturing employment has fallen by a third since 1991, though the proportion of employees in manufacturing is still above the national average.[28] Today, smaller firms are found on several industrial estates, the largest being at Sheepbridge. Business located on the estate includes SIG plc subsidiary Warren Insulations, Franke Sisons Ltd (founded in 1784 in Sheffield and among the first to manufacture stainless steel kitchen sinks in the 1930s), Rhodes Group and Chesterfield Felt.
Between the A61 and Brimington Road, there is a 40acres development site resulting from Arnold Laver relocating to a modern sawmill at Halfway, near Sheffield. The former sawmill has been demolished, and is now a mixed residential and commercial development called Chesterfield Waterside.[35]
There is a Morrisons on the junction of Chatsworth Road (A619) and Walton Road (A632), a Sainsburys on Rother Way (A619 for Staveley), and a Tesco Extra on the junction of the A619 and A61 (known locally as Tesco Roundabout). The Institute of Business Advisers[36] is based on Queen Street North. Chesterfield Royal Hospital[37] is on the A632 towards Calow and Bolsover. It has the only accident and emergency department in Derbyshire outside Derby.[38]
The Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Branch of the RSPCA is located in the town,[39] and serves the North East Derbyshire area.
The Royal Mail's Pensions Service Centre is near the town in Boythorpe Road, in Rowland Hill House, which also serves other administrative functions. There is a Post Office Ltd building in the town at West Bars called Future Walk. Formerly this was Chetwynd House, now demolished and replaced by the new building.
The town centre of Chesterfield has retained much of its pre-war plan. Chesterfield Market is one of the largest open-air markets in Britain, the stalls sitting either side of the Market Hall. In the middle of town, a collection of narrow medieval streets makes up The Shambles, which houses the Royal Oak, one of Britain's oldest pubs.
Near Holywell Cross is what was (until 2013) Chesterfield's largest department store, the Co-operative or Co-op. The main building opened in 1938,[40] and now occupies the majority of Elder Way,[41] including an enclosed bridge, and part of Knifesmithgate. Here the façade is in the mock-Tudor style fashionable in the 1930s, which still dominates the north side of Knifesmithgate. In 2001, the Chesterfield and District Co-operative Society was incorporated into a larger regional Midlands Co-operative Society Limited, now the biggest independent retail society in the UK.[42] Owing to a decline in retail sales, the large home and fashion Co-op department store closed at the end of July 2013,[43] The area has had some redevelopment with a Premier Inn and retail stores now open.[44]
In the late 1970s the area between Low Pavement (in the Market Square) and New Beetwell Street was redeveloped to build "The Pavements" Shopping Centre, known by some as The Precinct. The existing buildings were demolished except for the façades on Lower Pavement. The shopping centre was opened in November 1981 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. It has entrances opposite Chesterfield Market and escalators leading down to New Beetwell St and the bus station. An enclosed bridge links the site to a multi-storey car park built at the same time, adjacent to the town's coach station.
Chesterfield's multi-storey library stands just outside The Pavements in New Beetwell St. The building was opened in 1985. In annual figures compiled by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy it ranked fifth in the UK for number of loans in 2008, rising one place on the previous year.[45] [46] The area beside the library was redeveloped, but retains the old narrow passageways while accommodating small shop units and offices.
On 27 June 2007, the Somerfield store in the Precinct was gutted in a fire in which the roof collapsed, a few shoppers suffering minor injuries.[47] The fire reportedly started after a welding torch being used to repair flood damage had been left ignited. It started at 13:10 on 27 June and was not extinguished until 23:30 that day. After the fire, Somerfield decided to cease trading in Chesterfield. The unit re-opened in September 2008 as a Tesco Metro store.
See main article: article and Vicar Lane Shopping Centre. Vicar Lane was redeveloped in 2000 as a pedestrianised open-air shopping centre creating two new shopping streets. This meant demolishing almost all of the existing buildings, including a Woolworths branch and a small bus station.[48] It now includes major chains such as H&M and Iceland.[49] The development had been planned in the 1980s but delayed for economic reasons. A multi-storey car park on Beetwell St was added under the revised plan. The area lies between the Pavements Centre and markets and the crooked spire.
Nightlife is centred mainly in the Church Way, Holywell Street and Corporation Street areas. The Brampton Mile, west of the town centre is known for the number of public houses on a 1miles stretch of Chatsworth Road.[50]
In February 2006, the first international gluten free beer festival was held in Chesterfield.[51] The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) hosted the event as part of its regular beer festival in the town.
The Winding Wheel, hitherto an Odeon Cinema, is a venue for concerts, exhibitions, conferences, dinners, family parties, dances, banquets, wedding receptions, meetings, product launches and lectures.[52] Past notable performers include Bob Geldof, The Proclaimers and Paddy McGuinness. It also hosts performances of the Chesterfield Symphony Orchestra.[53]
The "Pomegranate Theatre", formerly the Chesterfield Civic Theatre and previously the Stephenson Memorial Theatre, is a listed Victorian building in what is now known as the Stephenson Memorial Hall.[54] It has an auditorium that seats about 500 people.[55] Shows are given throughout the year. Also in the Stephenson Memorial Hall is the Chesterfield Museum, opened in 1994. Until 1984 it was used as the town's main library. The museum is owned by Chesterfield Borough Council, as are the Winding Wheel and the Pomegranate Theatre. The box office for both venues is located in the entrance area of the theatre.
The Royal Mail building, Future Walk, in West Bars, was once the site of Chetwynd House, referred to locally as the AGD. Here a work by sculptor Barbara Hepworth Carved Reclining Form or Rosewall was prominently displayed for many years and nicknamed Isaiah by local critics, as it resembled a crude human face with one eye higher than the other ("eye's 'igher"). The work was due to be sold in 2005, but reprieved as a work of national significance.[56] Other artworks of note include A System of Support and Balance by Paul Lewthwaite, outside Chesterfield Magistrates' Court.
The town is located on the A61, 6miles from the M1.[57]
Junction 29 of the M1 motorway at Heath links Chesterfield to the motorway network to the south via the A617 dual carriageway. Junction 29a at Markham Vale, Duckmanton, opened at the end of June 2008. The town also has links to the M1 at Junction 30 and to the north via the A619. Other major roads include the A61 Sheffield Road (north)/Derby Road (south), with a dual carriageway from the town centre right into Sheffield, and the A619, a major entry to the Peak District, eventually joining the A6 near Bakewell) and the A632 to Matlock.
Stagecoach, through their East Midlands and Yorkshire divisions, are the predominant operator of buses in Chesterfield; other operators include Hulleys of Baslow, Trentbarton and TM Travel. Buses stop in several areas around the town centre rather than at a central bus station. The Stagecoach depot at Stonegravels is notable for its size and many vehicles stored there are not in regular use. Formerly it was the Chesterfield Corporation bus depot.
A new coach station opened in 2005 on the site of the old bus station, served by Stagecoach and National Express coaches.
The main taxi ranks are in Elder Way and Knifesmithgate and outside the railway station. Chesterfield taxis are recognisably black with distinctive white bonnets and boots.
Chesterfield railway station lies on the Midland Main Line. Its three train companies are:
Chesterfield once had two other railway stations:
The railways crossed each other at Horns Bridge, the Midland Main Line passing over the GCR loop into Chesterfield and the LD&ECR passing both on a 700feet viaduct. Horns Bridge has been redeveloped since the last two railways closed. Horns Bridge Roundabout on the A61 Derby Road and A617 Lordsmill Street now occupies the site. The viaduct was demolished in the 1970s.
Chesterfield also had a tramway system, built in 1882 and closed in 1927.
The nearest licensed airfield is Netherthorpe Aerodrome near Worksop in Nottinghamshire, but has only 553 metres of grass runway. Air passengers may use East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Doncaster Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham airports, all within two hours by road.
The Chesterfield Canal linked the town to a national network of waterways through the 19th century. Overtaken by rail and then road for freight transport, it fell into disuse, but has been partially restored since the mid-20th century for leisure use. However, the section through Chesterfield remains isolated from the rest of the waterway network.
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter and local TV transmitter situated north of the town.[58]
Radio stations are BBC Radio Sheffield, Greatest Hits Radio North Derbyshire (formerly Peak FM), Hits Radio South Yorkshire and the local internet radio stations: S41 Radio, Elastic FM, Chesterfield Radio and Spire Radio.
Also in the town are the headquarters of the Derbyshire Times, the local newspaper, which does not cover all of the county.
Chesterfield is perhaps best known for the crooked spire of its Church of Saint Mary and All Saints and is why the local football team is known as The Spireites.
The spire is twisted 45 degrees and leans 9inchesft6inchesin (ftin) from its true centre. Folklore recounts that a Bolsover blacksmith mis-shod the Devil, who leapt over the spire in pain, knocking it out of shape. Realistically, the lean has been ascribed to an absence of skilled craftsmen just 12 years after the Black Death, the use of unseasoned timber or insufficient cross-bracing.[60] Another explanation is that it was caused by heat expansion after the 17th-century addition of 33 tons of lead sheeting to the spire, resting on 14th-century bracing not designed to carry such weight.
The tower on which the spire sits contains ten bells cast in 1947 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, replacing a previous ring. The heaviest weighs .[60]
Also in Chesterfield is the Annunciation Church, founded by the Jesuits in 1854 and designed by Joseph Hansom.
Chesterfield F.C. is nicknamed the Spireites, after the crooked spire of St Mary's Church. The club formerly played at the Recreation Ground (usually referred to as Saltergate after the road on which it was located), but moved to a new stadium on the old Dema Glass site north of the town in Whittington Moor at the start of the 2010–11 season. The team has mostly competed in the third and fourth tiers of English football but dropped down to the National League for season 2018–19.[61]
Chesterfield Ladies FC have women's and girls' teams and is based at Queen's Park Annexe; it plays in the Sheffield and Hallamshire Girls County League.[62]
The town also has an amateur Sunday football league that hosts over 100 teams on a Sunday morning. The Chesterfield and District Sunday Football League consists of nine divisions and three cup competitions.[63]
Chesterfield Panthers Rugby Union Football Club was formed in 1919 and played its first game in 1920.[64] It fields three men's senior squads, a senior ladies squad and numerous junior teams. The club moved for the 2013–14 season from its Stonegravels site to a new purpose-built ground at 2012 Dunston Road. The facilities include three pitches, one floodlit, numerous changing rooms, and a large open-plan bar area. The first XV won the Midlands North 4 championship in 2013–14 and returned to the Midlands North 3 for the first time in 25 years.
Chesterfield Spires RLFC is a rugby league club formed in the town in 2003 and currently playing in the RL Merit League. In 2008 it merged with the North Derbyshire Chargers.
Chesterfield Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club based at Queen's Park.[65] The club has a history dating back to the mid-18th century.[66] Chesterfield CC compete in the Derbyshire County Cricket League, a designated ECB Premier League, at the top level for recreational club cricket in Derbyshire.[67] Chesterfield were League Champions in 2008 and are one of only three clubs to have remained in the top flight of the League since it was created in 1999.[66] The club have three senior teams that compete on Saturdays in the Derbyshire County Cricket League,[68] a Sunday XI in the Mansfield and District Cricket League[69] and an established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the North Derbyshire Youth Cricket League.[70]
Chesterfield Hockey Club, founded in 1899, competes in the Yorkshire and North East Region Hockey League.[71] The side has typically been mid-table or battled against relegation until its greatest success, when it recruited the Australian import striker Adam Clifford from Tasmania. During his two seasons Clifford scored over 50 goals and Chesterfield narrowly lost the league in the final weeks by a single point.
Chesterfield & District Athletic Club are based at Tupton Hall School, Tupton, Chesterfield, and provides training and events for juniors and seniors.[72]
Chesterfield Swimming Club, the largest competitive swimming club in North Derbyshire, is based at the Queen's Park Sports Centre in Boythorpe Road. In October 2011 it began delivering the programme for Derventio eXcel (Performance Swim Squad for Derbyshire) for the North East of the county. In 2012, Chesterfield SC took part in the Arena National Swimming League and achieved promotion to the top division at the first attempt. Further success raised its membership.[73]
Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club are members of the Sheffield and District League,[74] and is the largest Tennis centre in North Derbyshire with 3 Indoor and 7 Outdoor Courts.[75]
Chesterfield Golf Club was founded in 1897, and is an 18-hole golf course situated near Walton, Chesterfield.[76]
Queen's Park, just outside the town centre, recently benefitted from a multimillion-pound programme of investment, allowing it to host county cricket again. Alderman T P Wood, Mayor of Chesterfield in 1886 proposed that local land be acquired by the Local Board to create a public park for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. It officially opened in 1893. The park includes a cricket field, pavilion, lake, conservatory, bandstand, and miniature railway. A further of land south of the park was acquired as a memorial to Queen Victoria in 1901 and laid out as a recreation ground known as Queen's Park Annex.[77]
Queens Park Sports Centre was constructed in the mid and late 20th century within Queen's Park, adjacent to its western boundary. It included a swimming pool, gym, several indoor courts (for various sports) and several more outdoor tennis courts, before it was closed in December 2015.[78]
A new £11.2 million Queen's Park Sports Centre opened in January 2016 on the Queen's Park Annex south of Queen's Park.[79] It includes an eight-lane swimming pool, a learner pool, a gym, an eight-court sports hall, squash courts, training rooms, an exercise-class studio, a climbing wall and a café.[80]
A 565m2 skate park, built by Freestyle, opened in June 2009 on land behind Ravenside Retail Park and B&Q, near Horns Bridge.[81] [82]
A speedway training track once operated at Glasshouse Farm in the early 1950s.
Chesterfield is policed by Derbyshire Constabulary. Chesterfield Police Station in New Beetwell St is the Division 'C' Headquarters.
Chesterfield has two NHS hospitals, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Calow, with maternity services and accident and emergency department, and the smaller Walton Hospital run by Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. In 1984, the entire site of the old Chesterfield Royal Hospital in the town centre was purchased by an orthopaedic surgeon, who converted the lower portion of the hospital, adjoining Infirmary Road and Durrant Road, into the Alexandra Private Hospital.
As with the rest of Derbyshire, Chesterfield is covered by the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance.
Chesterfield is served by Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service. The fire station at Whittington Moor was demolished in 2012 after the service relocated to a newly built station at Spire Walk Business Park.[83] [84]
Notable people from Chesterfield in alphabetical order. Information not referenced on the person's page must be referenced here.
Other prominent connections:
| Escutcheon: | Gules a device representing a pomegranate tree as depicted on the ancient common seal of the borough the tree leaved and eradicated Proper flowered and fructed Or. |
| Crest: | On a wreath of the colours issuant from a mural crown Gules masoned Or a mount Vert thereon a Derby ram passant guardant Proper. |
| Supporters: | On the dexter side a cock and on the sinister side a pynot or magpie Proper each ducally crowned Or. |
| Motto: | Aspire |
| Notes: | Granted 10 November 1955[105] |
