Nestling in a bowl of hills at the northern end of the beautiful Ecclesbourne Valley about six miles south of Matlock and bisected by the Cromford to Ashbourne road, Wirksworth is one of the oldest settlements in the county, having been almost continuously occupied for at least two thousand years.

 

It has a long and fluctuating history, recorded from early Saxon times. The Romans mined lead here, but when they arrived around 55 - 60 AD, the Iron Age Celts already had an established local economy, with two ancient trading routes, later used by the Anglo-Saxon's as `Portwegs' or Portways, intersecting at a place occupied today by Wirksworth's enchanting, crazily- tilted Market Place. The Saxons gave it it's name, `Woerc's -worth' - an enclosure belonging to Woerc - and built it's first church, on the site of the present parish church of St. Mary.

 

The pagan Danes tore part of it down when they sacked the nearby Mercian capital at Repton in 873 AD, and the rule of Danelaw created the Soke & Wapentake of Wirksworth, or `Werchesvorde' , as it was later referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086.

 

Nowadays a revitalised Wirksworth is fast becoming an important tourist centre, and rewards it's visitors with much of interest and fascination, from the enchanting narrow streets and alleyways, with views of surrounding roof-scapes and distant green hills, to the rich architectural heritage of it's restored Georgian splendour.

 

The magnificent cruciform parish church of St. Mary, founded in 653 AD by an Anglo-Saxon monk named Betti, stands sedately in the centre of a charming cathedral-type circular close, and is itself encircled by the paved and cobbled Church Walk, with entrances leading from it through a variety of alleyways into the surrounding town streets. St.Mary's has been much restored over the centuries and successive restorations have unearthed many ancient relics, including fragments of the early Saxon church and one of Britain's most important pieces of Anglo-Saxon sculpture - an elaborately carved coffin lid known as the Wirksworth Stone, believed to be from the grave of the church's founder, the Saxon Monk Betti.

 

Wirksworth's fascinating history is wonderfully well documented and displayed at the excellent Heritage Centre, a converted former silk and velvet mill in Crown Yard just off the market place. Here visitors will find visual displays telling the Wirksworth Story, lots of interesting local literature and souvineers, and an excellent cafe serving food and refreshments.

 

Another valuable resource is the National Stone Centre situated alongside the High Peak Trail, just off Porter Lane, which has a permanent indoor exhibition, `The Story of Stone', and mineral specimens from around the world can be purchased at The Rock Shop. Outside there are trails over ancient fossil reefs, including one of the finest examples in England of a coral reef from the carboniferous period.