Discover Derbyshire’s past through prehistoric stone circles, medieval castles, grand country houses and industrial landmarks. Twelve places that reveal how people have shaped this landscape across thousands of years.
Derbyshire’s past is written into its landscape: in the fallen stones of a Neolithic henge, the walls of a Norman fortress, the rooms of a country house and the chimneys of a lead mine. These twelve places bring those different histories together.
Begin with Arbor Low and Nine Ladies, then explore the castles and houses that reveal changing ideas of power, wealth and domestic life. Peveril, Haddon, Hardwick and Bolsover each add a distinct chapter, while Chatsworth, Kedleston and Calke offer different perspectives on the country estate.
The final group turns to working Derbyshire: Cromford’s cotton mills, Magpie Mine’s surface remains and the preserved trams at Crich. Choose a period that interests you or discover the collection across separate visits, with each place’s guide providing the practical details.
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Places in this collection
The order tells a story, not a walking route or itinerary. Check each place’s visiting guide before setting out.
1. Begin with the ancient landscape: Arbor Low’s Neolithic henge and fallen limestone slabs, with nearby Gib Hill, introduce the long history of people shaping the White Peak.
2. Continue into the Bronze Age on Stanton Moor, where a small stone circle brings together archaeology, landscape and the local legend of dancers turned to stone.
3. Move into medieval Derbyshire at a fortress established soon after the Norman Conquest, with surviving stonework above Castleton and the Hope Valley.
5. Bess of Hardwick’s great Elizabethan house tells a story of wealth, ambition and design through its broad windows, grand rooms and remarkable textiles.
6. Discover a different kind of castle: a lavish 17th-century retreat where decorated rooms, gardens and the Riding House reveal aristocratic life and entertainment.
8. Robert Adam’s grand interiors and the 18th-century house introduce another chapter in country-house design, with collections that also reveal the Curzon family’s imperial connections.
9. Rooms preserved with worn surfaces and accumulated possessions reveal the decline of a country estate, adding a different perspective to the collection’s grand houses.