Chesterfield
Encyclopedia : C : CH : CHE : Chesterfield
- This article is about the English town. For other places and things called Chesterfield, see Chesterfield (disambiguation)
| Borough of Chesterfield | |
|---|---|
|  Shown within Derbyshire |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Borough |
| Region: | East Midlands |
| Admin. County: | Derbyshire |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 284th 66.04 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Chesterfield |
| ONS code: | 17UD |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total () - Density | Ranked {{EnglishDistrictRank / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 96.6% White |
| Politics | |
 Chesterfield Borough Council http://www.chesterfieldbc.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | |
| MPs: | Natasha Engel, Paul Holmes, Dennis Skinner |
It received its market charter in the year 1204 from King John and around 250 stalls can still be found in the town centre every Monday, Friday and Saturday.
Chesterfield benefited greatly from the building of the Chesterfield Line - part of the Derby to Leeds railway (North Midland Line), which was begun in 1837 by George Stephenson. During its construction, a sizable seam of coal was discovered during the construction of the Clay Cross Tunnel. This and the local ironstone were promptly 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, and remained there till his death in 1848. He is interred in Trinity Church. In 2006, a statue of Stephenson was erected outside Chesterfield railway station.
As well as railways, Chesterfield had a tramway system, built in 1882, and closed in 1927.
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 twisted spire leans 9 feet 5 inches from its true centre. The twisting is probably the result of unseasoned timbers or insufficient cross-bracing, although there are other explanations: One is that the spire was so shocked to learn of the marriage of a virgin in the church that it bent down to get a closer look. Should this happen again, it is said that the spire will straighten and return to its true position. Another is that a Bolsover blacksmith mis-shod the Devil, who leaped over the spire in pain, knocking it out of shape.
A new landmark is being erected on the outskirts of the town - the Solar Pyramid, which will be built by the side of the M1 at Poolsbrook.
The Channel Tunnel between England and France used Tunnel Boring Machines manufactured in Chesterfield by the company Markham & Co, which no longer exists in the town - the once famous factory is now a housing estate.
Chesterfield's current boundaries date from April 1, 1974, when under the Local Government Act 1972, Chesterfield took in the urban district Staveley and the parish Brimington from Chesterfield Rural District.
Chesterfield is Derbyshire's largest town, although it is not the county town (Matlock has this honour).
Sport
Chesterfield is home to the Football League One club Chesterfield F.C. who play at the Recreation Ground (better known as Saltergate). In 2005 plans to build a new stadium on the old Dema Glass site in then north of the town, the start of the building work is yet to be confirmed. The team's most notable achievement of recent years occurred in 1997, when they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, losing to Middlesbrough in a replay following a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford. It turned out to be one of the most controversial games in recent history with Chesterfield having a goal not given when referee David Elleray decided the ball had not crossed the goal line from a Jonathan Howard shot, a decision which was later proved incorrect by video replays. Had the goal stood the club would have progressed to the final of the FA Cup for the first time in its history - a feat which no club in the third tier of the league has achieved.Famous People
Famous people to come from Chesterfield include Baron Bowden, footballer Bob Wilson, glamour model Jo Guest, former royal butler Paul Burrell, actor John Hurt and George Stephenson (who ended his days at Tapton House - now a Chesterfield College campus). Tony Benn was MP for Chesterfield from 1984-2001.
The first Archdeacon of Chesterfield was The Venerable Edmond Francis Crosse.
Twinnings
Chesterfield is twinned with:
- Darmstadt in Germany
- Troyes in Northern France
- Yangquan in the Shanxi province of China
- Tsumeb in Namibia
International Events
Chesterfield is home to gluten free beer, with the first ever international gluten beer festival held in Chesterfield in February 2006
External links
- [A simple guide about things to do in Chesterfield]
- [Photos of Chesterfield on Flickr]
- [Glutenfreebeerfestival.com]
References
| Districts of the East Midlands |
|
| Amber Valley | Ashfield | Bassetlaw | Blaby | Bolsover | Boston | Broxtowe | Charnwood | Chesterfield | Corby | Daventry | Derby | Derbyshire Dales | East Lindsey | East Northamptonshire | Erewash | Gedling | Harborough | High Peak | Hinckley and Bosworth | Kettering | Leicester | Lincoln | Mansfield | Melton | Newark and Sherwood | Northampton | North East Derbyshire | North Kesteven | North West Leicestershire | Nottingham | Oadby and Wigston | Rushcliffe | Rutland | South Derbyshire | South Holland | South Kesteven | South Northamptonshire | Wellingborough | West Lindsey | |
|
Counties with multiple districts: Derbyshire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - Northamptonshire - Nottinghamshire |
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.