CHESTERFIELD

This article appears in Volume V06, Page 111 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CHA-CHR

CHESTERFIELD , a market town and municipal borough in the Chesterfield parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 24 M. N. by E. of Derby, on the Midland and the Great Central railways. Pop. (1891) 22,009; (1901) 27,185. It lies at the junction of two streams, the Rother and Hipper, in a populous industrial district. It is irregularly built, with narrow streets, but has a spacious market-place. The church of St Mary and All Saints is a large and beautiful cruciform building principally of the Decorated period. Its central tower carries a remarkable twisted spire of

wood

covered with lead, 230 ft. high; the distortion has evidently taken place through the use of unseasoned timber and consequent warping of the woodwork. The church, which contains numerous interesting monuments, possesses also the unusual feature of an apsidal Decorated chapel. There is an example of flamboyant tracery in one of the windows. Among
public buildings, the Stephenson memorial

hall

(1879), containing a free library, art and science class-rooms, a theatre and the rooms of the Chesterfield Institute, commemorates George Stephenson, the engineer, who resided at Tapton

House

, close to Chesterfield, in his later life; he died here in 1848, and was buried in Trinity church. Chesterfield grammar school was founded in 1574. The industries of the town include manufactures of

cotton

, silk, earthenware, machinery and tobacco, with brass and iron founding; while slate and stone are quarried, and there are coal, iron and lead mines in the neighbourhood. The town is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 1216 acres. In the immediate neighbourhood of Chester-field on the west is the urban district of Brampton and Walton (pop. 2608), to the south-east is Hasland (7427), and to the north-east Brimington (4569).
In spite of the Roman origin suggested by its name, so few remains have beet found here that it is doubtful whether Chester-field was a Roman station. Chesterfield (Cestrefeld) owes its present name to the

Saxons

SAXONS

. It is mentioned in Domesday only as a bailiwick of Newbold belonging to the king, and granted to William Peverell. In 1204 John gave the manor to William Bruere and granted to the town all the privileges of a free borough which were enjoyed by Nottingham and Derby; but before this it seems to have had prescriptive borough rights. Later charters were granted by various sovereigns, and it was incorporated by Elizabeth in 1508 under the style of a mayor, 6 brethren and 12

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

burgesses. This charter was confirmed by Charles II. (1662), and the town was so governed till the Municipal Act 1835 appointed a mayor, 3 aldermen and 12 councillors. In 1204 John granted two weekly markets, on Tuesday and Saturday, and an annual fair of eight days at the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14). This fair, which is still held, and another on Palm Tuesday, are mentioned in the Quo Watranto roll of 1330. The Tuesday market has long been discontinued. That Chesterfield was early a thriving centre is shown by the charter of John Lord

Wake

, lord of the manor, granting a gild merchant to the town. In 1266 the town was the scene of a battle between the royal forces and the barons, when Robert de Ferrets,

earl

EARL

of Derby, was taken prisoner. In 1586 there was a terrible visitation of the plague; and the parliamentarian forces were overthrown here in the Civil War. With the development of

cotton

and silk industries the town has increased enormously, and is now second in importance only to Derby among the towns of the county. There is no record that it ever returned representatives to parliament.
See Stephen Glover, History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby (Derby, 1831-1833) J. Pym Yeatman, Records of the Borough of Chesterfield (Chesterfield and Sheffield, 1884) ; Thomas Ford, History of. Chesterfield (London, 1839).
CHESTER-LE-STREET, a town in the Chester-le-Street parliamentary division of Durham, England, near the river Wear, 6 m. N. of the city of Durham on the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (root) 11,753. The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is an interesting building, formerly collegiate, with a tower 156 ft. high, and a remarkable

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of monumental tombs of the Lumley family, collected here from Durham cathedral and various ruined monasteries, and in some cases remade, About 1 m. along the river is Lumley Castle, the seat of the

earl

EARL

of Scarborough, and about 2 M. north lies Lambton Castle, the residence of the earl of Durham, built in 1797 on the site of the old

House

of Harraton. Collieries and iron-works employ the industrial population. Chester-le-Street is a place of considerable antiquity. It lies on a branch of the Roman north road, on which it was a station, but the name is not known. Under the name of Cunecastre it was made the seat of a bishop in 882, and continued to be the head of the diocese till the Danish invasion of 995. During that time the church was the repository of the shrine of St Cuthbert, which was then removed to Durham.

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