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Belper in Derby County England History and GeographyBELPER, a market town and chapelry in the parish of DUFFIELD, hundred of APPLETREE, county of DERBY, 8 miles (N.) from Derby, and 134 (N.N.W.) from London, containing 7235 inhabitants. This place, at which was formerly a park and hunting seat belonging to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, was an inconsiderable village, inhabited principally by nailers, till the year 1777, when the cotton manufacture was introduced by Messrs. Strutt, since which time it has risen into a considerable town. It is pleasantly situated on the river Derwent, over which a handsome stone bridge of three arches has been recently erected, the former bridge, said to have been built by John of Gaunt, having been destroyed, in 1795, by a great flood. The town, consisting of several streets, is partially paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. There are five mills for the spinning of cotton, all belonging to Messrs. Strutt, who make their own machinery on the spot; two of these, and also a bleaching mill, are about a mile and a half lower down the river, over which the proprietors have built a neat stone bridge, of two arches, for their own accommodation. Here is one of the largest establishments in the kingdom for silk and cotton hose, in which upwards of four thousand persons are employed, principally residing in the surrounding villages: the nails made here, especially those for the shoeing of horses, are much in demand, from the superiority of the rod iron made at Alder wasley, four miles distant, arising from the peculiar quality of the coal in that neighbourhood. The Cromford canal passes within two miles of the town, and the High Peak railway within six. The market is on Saturday: the fairs are, May 12th and October 31st, for horned cattle, sheep and horses. The county magistrates hold a petty session for the district every Saturday: courts for the manor are held twice in the year, under the steward, at one of which constables and other officers are appointed. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Derby, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, endowed with £200 private benefaction, £800 royal bounty, and £2300 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Vicar of Duffield. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was erected in 1824, at an expense of £12,603; which was partly defrayed by a parliamentary grant: it is a handsome structure in the decorated style of English architecture, with a lofty tower. The old chapel, built by John of Gaunt, the burial ground of which is still used, is now appropriated to the use of a Sunday school. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. A Lancasterian school is supported by the proprietors of the cotton works, for the benefit of the children belonging to the factory. Henry Smith, Esq. endowed two almshouses for poor persons, and bequeathed an estate producing £30 per annum, directing the rental to be divided equally between the minister and the poor of Belper. In a field in the neighbourhood may still be traced the massive foundations of the mansion in which John of Gaunt resided. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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