Brackenfield is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

North East Derbyshire North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The population ...

district of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 214. The village is about five miles east of Matlock and four and a half miles northwest of

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

. It is also close to Clay Cross. Set in farming country, the village is located around a large village green. The parish of Brackenfield includes much of the attractive

Ogston Reservoir Ogston Reservoir is a reservoir operated by Severn Trent Water in Derbyshire. It is near the villages of Brackenfield and Ashover and the town of Clay Cross. The reservoir takes its water from the River Amber and was originally created to suppl ...

. Brackenfield was originally known as ''Brackenthwaite'', which probably meant "a bracken clearing". The suffix ''-thwaite'' is unusual in this part of the county, as it is commonly associated with more northern areas. It is of significance

etymologically Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words an ...

as it seems to point to the existence of a small colony of

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...

, separate from the incursion of the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

. The village later became known as ''Brackenfeld'', and then Brackenfield. The parish of Brackenfield was originally a township of nearby

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

. It was divided from it in 1758. The parish has the smallest population of all parishes in the North East Derbyshire district. Wessington had a population of 509 in 2001, however in the 19th century it was around 350. A horse named after the village unseated its rider when competing in the

1996 Grand National The 1996 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 149th official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree on 30 March 1996.It was the first national to run ...

References

External links

Brackenfield Village Website
Villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Civil parishes in Derbyshire North East Derbyshire District {{Derbyshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links