Derby ( ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

unitary authority area A unitary authority is a type of local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed ...

on the River Derwent in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

. As a unitary authority, Derby is administratively independent from

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is ba ...

. The population of Derby is (). The Romans established the town of Derventio, which was later captured by the Anglo-Saxons and then by the Vikings who made one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. Initially a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

, Derby grew rapidly in the industrial era and was home to

Lombe's Mill Lombe's Mill was the first successful silk throwing mill in Britain. It was built on an island on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derby. It was built after John Lombe visited Piedmont in 1717 and returned to England with details ...

, an early British factory and it contains the southern part of the

Derwent Valley Mills Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership. The modern factory, or 'mill', fact ...

World Heritage Site. With the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, Derby became a centre of the British rail industry. Despite having a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

since 1927, Derby did not gain

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

until 1977. Derby is a centre for advanced transport manufacturing. It is home to engine manufacturer

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

(formerly

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

) has a production facility at the

Derby Litchurch Lane Works Derby Litchurch Lane Works, formerly Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, is a railway rolling stock factory in Derby, England. It is presently owned by the multinational transportation manufacturer Alstom. Derby works originally commenced productio ...

;

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

's UK headquarters is located in the south-west of the city at Burnaston. Given its historic buildings, its heritage environs and significant people, Derby is a centre for tourism.

History

Etymology

The Roman camp of Derventio is considered to have been at

Little Chester Little Chester, also known as Chester Green after the area of open parkland at its centre, is a suburb of the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is located approximately north of the city centre, on the east bank of the River Derwent, Der ...

/Chester Green (), the site of the old Roman fort. Later, the town was one of the " Five Boroughs" (fortified towns) of the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

, until it was captured by Lady Æthelflæd of Mercia in July 917, after which the town was annexed to the Kingdom of Mercia. The

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

name , recorded in

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

as , means "village of the deer". However, the origin of the name Derby has had multiple influences: a variation of the original Roman name with pronunciation of the letter "v" as "b", becoming , and later Derby, along with a link to the river Derwent – from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

meaning "valley thick with oaks" – which flows through the city, triggering a shortened version of ''Derwent by'', meaning 'Derwent settlement'. The town name appears as ''Darbye'' on early maps, such as that of

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.; superseding . The son of a citizen and Merchant Taylor in London,"Life of John Speed", ''The Hibernian Magazine, Or, Compe ...

, 1610. Modern research (2004) into the history and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

of Derby has provided evidence that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons would have co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' (c. 900) says that "Derby is divided by water". These areas of land were known as ("Northworthy"="north enclosure") and , and were at the "Irongate" (north) side of Derby.

16th–18th centuries

During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

of 1642–1646, Derby was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops commanded by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, who was appointed Governor of Derby in 1643. These troops took part in the defence of nearby

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, the siege of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

, the battle of Hopton Heath and many other engagements in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, Staffordshire and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, as well as successfully defending Derbyshire against

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

armies. The first civic system of piped water in England was established in Derby in 1692, using wooden pipes, which was common for several centuries. The Derby Waterworks included waterwheel-powered pumps for raising water out of the River Derwent and storage tanks for distribution. This was designed and built by local engineer

George Sorocold George Sorocold ( – c. 1738) was an English civil engineer notable for pioneering work on water supplies and hydraulic power systems around Great Britain. Biography Sorocold was born in Lancashire in 1666, the son of James Sorocold and El ...

. During the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

, Jacobite Army troops led by Prince

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

arrived in Derby on 4 December 1745, whilst on their way to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to attempt to overthrow the reigning

House of Hanover The House of Hanover ( ) is a European royal house with roots tracing back to the 17th century. Its members, known as Hanoverians, ruled Hanover, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire at various times during the 17th to 20th centurie ...

. Stuart called at The George Inn on Irongate (where the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...

had set up his headquarters in late November after raising The Derbyshire Blues) and demanded

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

s for the 9,000 troops under his command. The prince stayed at Exeter House on Full Street, where he held a

council of war A council of warSwarkestone Bridge on the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

, a few miles south of Derby. The prince, who on the march from Scotland had walked at the front of the column, made the return journey on horseback at the rear of the bedraggled and tired army. Shrovetide football was played at Derby every year, possibly from as early as the 12th century. The town was split into the St Peter's and All Saints parishes, who fought to bring the ball from the Market Place to a goal within their own parishes. There were several attempts to ban the game, described in 1846 as "the barbarous and disgusting play of Foot-Ball, which for a great number of years has annually disgraced our town". In that year the military were brought in and after the police cut the first ball to pieces, another ball was produced and the town's Mayor was "stuck on the shoulder by a brick-bat, hurled by some ferocious ruffian, and severely bruised". The Derby Football was banned in 1846, although it was played once more in 1870.

Industrial Revolution

Derby and Derbyshire were among the centres of Britain's

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. In 1717, Derby was the site of the first water-powered silk mill in Britain, built by John Lombe and

, after Lombe had reputedly stolen the secrets of silk-throwing from

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

in Italy (he is alleged to have been poisoned by the Piedmontese as revenge in 1722). In 1759,

Jedediah Strutt Jedediah Strutt (1726 – 7 May 1797) or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelled it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England. Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed ...

patented and built a machine called the Derby Rib Attachment that revolutionised the manufacture of hose. This attachment was used on the Rev. Lee's Framework Knitting Machine; it was placed in front of – and worked in unison with – Lee's Frame, to produce ribbed hose (stockings). The partners were Jedediah Strutt, William Woollatt (who had been joined in 1758 by John Bloodworth and Thomas Stafford, all leading hosiers in Derby). The patent was obtained in January 1759. After three years, Bloodworth and Stafford were paid off, and Samuel Need – a hosier of

– joined the partnership. The firm was known as Need, Strutt and Woollatt. The patent expired in 1773 though the partnership continued until 1781 when Need died. Messrs Wright, the bankers of Nottingham, recommended that

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...

apply to Strutt and Need for finance for his cotton spinning mill. The first mill opened in Nottingham in 1770 and was driven by horses. In 1771 Richard Arkwright, Samuel Need and Jedediah Strutt built the world's first commercially successful

water-power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or ki ...

ed cotton spinning mill at Cromford, Derbyshire, developing a form of power that was to be a

catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

for the Industrial Revolution. This was followed in Derbyshire by Jedediah Strutt's cotton spinning mills at

Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...

. They were: South Mill, the first, 1775; North Mill, 1784, which was destroyed by fire on 12 January 1803 and then rebuilt, starting work again at the end of 1804; West Mill, 1792, commenced working 1796; Reeling Mill, 1897; Round Mill, which took 10 years to build, from 1803 to 1813, and commenced working in 1816; and Milford Mills, 1778. The Belper and Milford mills were ''not'' built in partnership with Arkwright; they were all owned and financed by Strutt. Other notable 18th-century figures with connections to Derby include the painter Joseph Wright, known as Wright of Derby, who was known for his innovative use of light in his paintings and was an associate of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

; and John Whitehurst, a

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...

and philosopher.

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosophy, natural philosopher, physiology, physiologist, Society for Effecting the ...

, doctor, scientist, philosopher and grandfather of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, moved to Derby in 1782 and founded the Derby Philosophical Society. Derby's place in the country's philosophical and political life continued with Henry Hutchinson, an active member of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

. On his death in 1894, he left the society an amount in his will which was instrumental in founding the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. The beginning of 19th century saw Derby emerging as an engineering centre, with manufacturers such as James Fox, who exported machine tools to Russia. In 1840, the

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a railway line and Great Britain, British railway company, which opened a line from the city of Derby in Derbyshire to the city of Leeds in Yorkshire in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby J ...

set up its works in Derby and when it merged with the

Midland Counties Railway The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, t ...

and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

, Derby became its headquarters. The connection with the railway encouraged others, notably Andrew Handyside, Charles Fox and his son Francis Fox. A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of

Normanton Barracks Normanton Barracks was a military installation in Normanton, Derby, England. History The barracks were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style between 1874 and 1877. Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encourage ...

in 1877. Derby was one of the boroughs reformed by the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...

, and it became a county borough with the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

. The borough expanded in 1877 to include

and

Litchurch Litchurch is a historical area in the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. From Medieval times it was a rural Township (England), township associated with Derby but outside the borough , burgh boundary, before experiencing rapid urbanisation an ...

, and then in 1890 to include New Normanton and Rowditch. The borough did not increase substantially again until 1968, when under a recommendation of the Local Government Boundary Commission it was expanded into large parts of the rural district of

, Repton and South East Derbyshire. This vastly increased Derby's population from 132,408 in the 1961 census to 219,578 in the 1971 census. Silkmill1

Despite being one of the areas of Britain furthest from the sea, Derby holds a special place in the history of marine safety – it was as MP for Derby that

Samuel Plimsoll Samuel Plimsoll (10 February 1824 – 3 June 1898) was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line (a line on a ship's hull indicating the maximum safe draught, and therefore the minimum ...

introduced his bills for a "

Plimsoll line The load line, also known as Plimsoll line, indicates the legal limit to which a ship may be loaded for specific water types and temperatures in order to safely maintain buoyancy, particularly with regard to the hazard of Wind wave, waves. The l ...

" (and other marine safety measures). This failed on first introduction, but was successful in 1876 and contributed to Plimsoll's re-election as an MP.

20th century to present day

An industrial boom began in Derby when

opened a car and aircraft factory in the town in 1907. In 1923, the

became part of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway with headquarters in London. However, Derby remained a major rail manufacturing centre, second only to

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

and

Wolverton Wolverton ( ) is a constituent town of Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban ar ...

. Moreover, it remained a design and development centre and in the 1930s, on the direction of Lord Stamp, the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory was opened on London Road. In 1911, the Derby Wireless Club was formed by a group of local engineers and experimenters. It was to be the first radio or "wireless club" in the country. The early activities of the club, (even through World Wars), pushed the boundaries of 'wireless' technologies at the time in England, and promoted it into becoming a hobby for many local folk. In World War I, Derby was targeted by German

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

air bombers, who killed five people in a 1916 raid on the town. All Saints Church was designated as a cathedral in 1927, signalling that the town was ready for city status.

Slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

in the 1920s and 1930s saw the central area of Derby become less heavily populated as families were rehoused on new council estates in the suburbs, where houses for private sale were also constructed. Rehousing, council house building and private housing developments continued on a large scale for some 30 years after the end of World War II in 1945. Production and repair work continued at the railway works. In December 1947 the Locomotive Works unveiled Britain's first mainline passenger diesel-electric locomotive – "Number 10000". In 1958 production switched over to diesel locomotives completely. Meanwhile, the Carriage & Wagon Works were building the first of the Diesel Multiple Units that were to take over many of the services. In 1964 the

British Rail Research Division The British Rail Research Division was a division of the state-owned railway company British Rail (BR). It was charged with conducting research into improving various aspects of Britain's railways, particularly in the areas of reliability and e ...

opened to study all aspects of railway engineering from first principles. Its first success was in drastically improving the reliability and speed of goods trains, work which led to the development of the Advanced Passenger Train. Derby was awarded city status on 7 June 1977 by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

to mark the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. The Queen presented the "charter scroll" or "letters patent" in person on 28 July 1977 on the steps of the

Council House A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing ...

to the then Mayor Councillor Jeffrey Tillet (Conservative). Until then, Derby had been one of the few towns in England with a

but not city status. Derby holds an important position in the history of the

Labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

as one of two seats (the other being

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, and was its first Leader of the Labour Party (UK), parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. ...

's in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

) gained by the recently formed Labour Representation Committee at the 1900 general election. The MP was Richard Bell, General Secretary of the Railway Servants Union. Bell was succeeded in 1910 by Jimmy Thomas and he in turn by the distinguished

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

and

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

Philip Noel-Baker in 1936. Despite its strategic industries (rail and aero-engine), Derby suffered comparatively little damage in both

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s (contrast

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton has la ...

). This may in part have been because of jamming against the German radio-beam navigations systems (X-Verfahren and

Knickebein The Battle of the Beams was a period early in the Second World War when bombers of the German Air Force (''Luftwaffe'') used a number of increasingly accurate systems of radio navigation for night bombing in the United Kingdom. British scientific ...

, camouflage and decoy techniques ("

Starfish site Starfish sites were large-scale night-time decoys created during the Blitz to simulate burning British cities. The aim was to divert German night bombers from their intended targets so they would drop their Aircraft ordnance, ordnance over the co ...

s") were built, mainly south of the town, e.g. out in fields near Foremark). Derby has also become a significant

cultural centre A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Africa * ...

for the

deaf community Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

in Britain. Many deaf people move to Derby because of its strong

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

-using community. It is estimated that the deaf population in Derby is at least three times higher than the national average, and that only London has a larger deaf population. The Royal School for the Deaf on Ashbourne Road provides education in

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the Deafness in the United Kingdom, deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a f ...

and English. To celebrate the city's heritage, mosaic and cast-iron stars are installed in the city's pavements. Names of significant people contributing to a variety of fields (arts, sport, science etc.) are etched into the stars as part of the Derby City Council's program called Made in Derby. People who have made an impact include

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

, Joseph Wright, Brian Clough, Bess of Hardwick,

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

John Flamsteed John Flamsteed (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, ''Catalogus Britannicus'', and a star atlas called '' Atlas ...

, Philip Noel-Baker, Alice Wheeldon, and Rolls and Royce. By using the Made in Derby app, the names can be scanned to learn more about them.

Government

Local government

By traditional definitions, Derby is the

; the county's

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

were held at Derby and

knights of the shire Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 en ...

were elected there, with County Hall on St Mary's Gate being built in 1660 to host such courts and meetings. When elected county councils were established in 1889,

initially used County Hall as its meeting place, but moved to Smedley's Hydro in Matlock in 1955. Between 1889 and 1974 Derby was a county borough, independent from the county council. It then became a lower-tier district council with the county council providing county-level services between 1974 and 1997. On 1 April 1997, Derby City Council became a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, regaining its independence from the county council. On 7 July 2014, Derby's first ever Youth Mayor, Belal Butt (a student from Chellaston Academy), was elected by the Mayor of Derby.

UK parliament

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

was a single United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency represented by two members of parliament until 1950, when it was divided into the single-member constituencies of Derby North and Derby South. However, in 2010, the wards of Allestree, Oakwood and Spondon were moved to the new constituency of Mid Derbyshire, created for the 2010 general election. As of 2020, Derby is represented by three MPs.

City emblem

Derby's emblem is the Derby Ram, about which there is a

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

titled " The Derby Ram". It is found in a number of places, most notably serving as the nickname of Derby County F.C. The logo of the City Council's services is a stylised ram.

Geography

Derby is in a relatively low-lying area along the lower valley of the River Derwent, where the south-east foothills of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

adjoin the lowlands and valley of the

to the south. The city is bordered by four

national character area A National Character Area (NCA) is a natural subdivision of England based on a combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. There are 159 National Character Areas and they follow natural, rather than administrative, b ...

s, the Trent Valley Washlands to the south, the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfields in the east, the South Derbyshire Claylands in the west, and the Derbyshire Peak Fringe in the north. Most of the flat plains surrounding Derby lie in the Trent Valley Washlands and South Derbyshire Claylands, while the hillier, northern parts of the city lie within the Derbyshire Peak Fringe and the Coalfields. The city is around from Coton in the Elms, the farthest place from coastal waters in the United Kingdom. Derby-BUA

Derby urban area

The Derby Built-up Area (BUA) or Derby Urban Area is an area including Derby and adjoining built-up districts of Derbyshire, including Borrowash and Duffield. The

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

defines an

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

as one which is built upon, with nearby areas linked if within 200 metres. It had a total population of 270,468 at the time of the 2011 census. An increase of over 10% since the 2001 census recorded population of 236,738; comprising population increases since 2001 along with new minor residential areas, and larger sub-divisions. The Derby built-up area is considered to be most of the city, as well as outlying villages within the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of ...

and Erewash which adjoin the city. This overall area is, by ONS' figures, the 29th largest in the UK. Because methods of measuring linked areas were redefined for the 2011 census, Breadsall, Duffield and

Little Eaton Little Eaton is a village and civil parish in the borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England. The population as taken at the 2011 Census was 2,430. The name originated from Anglo Saxon times and means the "little town by the water". It is on th ...

were included. However,

Quarndon Quarndon is a linear village in the south of the Amber Valley District of Derbyshire, England. It is spread along four minor upland roads, approximately 1 mile north of the Derby suburb of Allestree, two of which lead towards the city. Many t ...

is not considered to be a component as it is marginally too distant. It extends south to small adjoining estates in the

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Derbyshire, England. The district covers the towns of Melbourne, Derbyshire, Melbourne and Swadlincote as well as numerous villages and hamlets such as Hilton, Derbys ...

district, at

Boulton Moor Boulton is a suburb and former local government ward of the city of Derby, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England, and is located about four miles to the south-east of Derby city centre. It is closely associated with Alvaston and comes ...

/ Thulston Fields, Stenson Fields, and the Mickleover Country Park residential development (The Pastures) within Burnaston parish. The urban area is bounded to the east by a narrow gap between Borrowash and Draycott (to the west of the

Breaston Breaston ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Erewash, Erewash district, in the south-east of Derbyshire and lies approximately east of the city of Derby and west of the city of Nottingham. The population of the civil paris ...

urban area sub-division of the Nottingham BUA). It is also close to other nearby urban areas to the north. Notes: *Ockbrook included in Borrowash figure in 2011. *Derby unitary authority 2001/2011 population figures were 221,716 and 244,625, the table ONS subdivision figures also containing small adjoining estates outside the city boundary at Boulton Moor/Thulston Fields, Stenton Fields, and Burnaston. *Quarndon, although very close to the BUA is considered to be a separate area.

Green belt

Derby has a green belt area defined to the north and east of the city, first drawn up in the 1950s, to prevent convergence with the surrounding towns and villages. It extends for several miles into the counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, covering much of the area up to Nottingham.

Climate

Derby's climate is classified as warm and temperate. There is precipitation even during the driest month. This location is classified as Cfb according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

. Under the Köppen climatic classification Derby has an oceanic climate along with the rest of the British Isles. The average annual temperature is 9.7 °C. Precipitation averages 694 mm. The highest temperature ever recorded in Derby was , recorded at

Markeaton Park Markeaton Park is a large public park located in Markeaton, Derby, 207 acres in size. It attracts one million visitors a year, making it one of the most visited parks in the East Midlands. Markeaton Park is an important part of Derby history, whic ...

on 3 August 1990.

Nearby settlements

* Northwest:

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known for Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, Derbyshire, River Wye, 15 miles (23 km) south-west of Sheffield. It is the largest se ...

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. * North: Duffield,

, Matlock. * Northeast: Ilkeston,

Heanor Heanor (/ˈhiːnə/) is a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. It lies north-east of Derby and forms, with the adjacent village of Loscoe, the civil parishes in England, civil parish and town council-administered area of He ...

, Eastwood, Alfreton, Swanwick

Clay Cross Clay Cross is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield. It is directly ...

, Ripley,

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

, Chesterfield,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. * East:

, Borrowash,

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has been part ...

, Beeston, Ockbrook. * West: Ashbourne,

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Staffordshire borough of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. The town is from Burton upon Trent via the A50 and the A38, from Stafford via the A51 ...

, Stoke on Trent. * Southwest: Burton on Trent,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. * South:

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a historic mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, in the county of Derbyshire, England. It lies within The National Forest (England), The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire ...

Castle Donington Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport. Etymology The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another su ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. * Southeast:

Kegworth Kegworth () is a large village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, in the East Midlands region, England. It forms part of the border with Nottinghamshire and is situated 6 miles north of Loughborough, ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Demography

Ethnicity

Religion

Industry

Derby's two biggest employers,

Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and dist ...

and

, are engaged in engineering manufacturing. Other companies of note include railway systems engineering firm

, who manufacture railway

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

; First Source, who deal with much of Sky's telephone support; and Triton Equity, who took over Alstom's manufacturing plant for large power plant

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s and heat exchangers in 2014. Derby power station on Silkmill Lane supplied electricity to the town and the surrounding area from 1893 until its closure in 1969. From 1922 Sinfin Lane was the home of the site of International Combustion, originally manufacturers of machinery for the automatic delivery of pulverised fuel to

furnaces Furnace may refer to: Appliances Buildings * Furnace (central heating): a furnace, or a heater or boiler, used to generate heat for buildings * Boiler, used to heat water; also called a furnace in American English when used for heating and hot wat ...

and boilers, and later producing steam-generating boilers for use in electrical generating plant such as used in power stations. In the 1990s the firm was bought by Rolls-Royce plc and then sold on again to

ABB Group ABB Group is a Swedish-Swiss multinational electrical engineering corporation. Incorporated in Switzerland as ABB Ltd., and headquartered in Zurich, it is dual-listed on the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, and the SIX Swiss Exch ...

. Derby was the home of

Core Design Core Design Limited (known as Rebellion (Derby) Ltd between 2006 and 2010) was a British video game developer based in Derby. Founded in May 1988 by former Gremlin Graphics employees, it originally bore the name Megabrite until rebranding as Co ...

(originally based on Ashbourne Road), who developed the successful video game ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...

''. When Derby's inner ring road was completed in 2010, a section of it was named 'Lara Croft Way' after the game's heroine Lara Croft. One of Derby's longest-established businesses is Royal Crown Derby, which has been producing porcelain since the 1750s. The

Midlands Co-operative Society Midlands Co-operative Society Limited was the second largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was a registered Industrial and Provident Society, a member of the Co-operative Union, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a c ...

, a predecessor of

Central England Co-operative Central England Co-operative, trading as Central Co-op, is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, based in Lichfield and which trades from over 460 sites across the English Midlands and East Anglia. The business is owned and de ...

, traced its origins to Derby Co-operative Provident Society which, in 1854, was one of the first co-operatives in the region. Infinity Park Derby is a planned business park for aerospace, rail and automotive technology adjacent to the Rolls-Royce site in Sinfin. In December 2014, the government announced that the park would gain

enterprise zone An urban enterprise zone is an area in which policies to encourage economic growth and development are implemented. Urban enterprise zone policies generally offer tax concessions, infrastructure incentives, and reduced regulations to attract invest ...

status by being added to

Nottingham Enterprise Zone Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham is the legendary home of Robin Hood and to the lace-mak ...

Railway engineering

As a consequence of the Midland Railway having their headquarters in Derby, along with their

Locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

and Carriage & Wagon Works, the railways had been a major influence on the development of the town during the Victorian period. During the 20th century, railway manufacturing developed elsewhere, while in Derby the emphasis shifted to other industries. Even though it had pioneered the introduction of diesel locomotives, new production finished in 1966. Repair work gradually diminished until the locomotive works closed, the land being redeveloped as Pride Park. The only buildings remaining are those visible from Platform 6 of the station. The Carriage and Wagon Works has been owned by

since 2021 and continues to build trains. The Railway Technical Centre continues to house railway businesses; this formerly included the headquarters of DeltaRail Group (previously known as the

). Derby railway station retains an important position in the railway network.

East Midlands Railway East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...

operate Derby Etches Park depot while

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

and Rail Operations Group also maintain trains in Derby. On 21 March 2023, it was announced that the city was to be the headquarters of Great British Railways. Derby is also the headquarters of the Derby Railway Engineering Society, founded in 1908 to promote railway engineering expertise both in the city and nationally.

Landmarks

Derby Cathedral The Cathedral Church of All Saints, Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status to that of a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of ...

tower is tall to the tip of the pinnacles. This has been home to a pair of breeding

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

s since 2006, monitored by four webcams. Derby Gaol is a visitor attraction based in the dungeons of the Derbyshire County Gaol, which dates back to 1756. Derby Museum of Making is housed in Derby Silk Mill and shows the industrial heritage and technological achievement of Derby, including

aero engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

s, railways, mining,

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

ing and foundries. The Silk Mill stands at the southern end of the stretch of the River Derwent designated a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2001. On 10 May 2022, the Museum of Making was short-listed for the 2022 Art Fund Museum of the Year award, and in 2024 it was one of six museums to receive a special commendation in the European Museum of the Year Awards. Pickford expo

Pickford's House Museum was built by architect

Joseph Pickford Joseph Pickford (bap. 6 October 1734 – 13 July 1782) was an English architect that mostly worked within the English county of Derbyshire, and was one of the leading provincial architects in the reign of George III. The house he designed for h ...

in 1770. It was his home and business headquarters. Derby Museum and Art Gallery shows paintings by Joseph Wright, as well as fine Royal Crown Derby porcelain, natural history, local regiments and archaeology. Pickford also designed St Helen's House in King Street. The skyline of the inner city changed in 1968 when the inner ring road with its two new crossings of the River Derwent was built. The route of the ring road went through the St Alkmund's Church and its Georgian

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

, the only Georgian square in Derby. Both were demolished to make way for the road, a move still criticised today. Thus the editor (Elizabeth Williamson) of the 2nd edition of Pevsner for Derbyshire wrote: "...the character and cohesion of the centre has been completely altered by the replacement of a large number of C18 houses in the centre by a multi-lane road. As a traffic scheme this road is said to be a triumph; as townscape it is a disaster."

Places of interest

* Cathedral Quarter *

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

* Darley Abbey * Derbion (formerly Intu Derby) * Derby Arboretum * Derby Arena * Derby Canal * Derby Catacombs *

* Derby Friargate Station (of which all that remains is Handyside Bridge and the bridge across Friargate) * Derby Museum and Art Gallery * Museum of Making (housed in Derby Silk Mill) * Derby Computer Museum * St Mary's Church, Derby * Pickford's House Museum * Pride Park Stadium ( Derby County F.C.) and its predecessor the Baseball Ground (now demolished) * River Derwent * Royal Crown Derby Museum and Factory Tour * Saint Benedict Catholic School and Performing Arts College secondary school * St Helen's House, Derby

Transport

Railways

The city is one of the country's main railway centres. Derby railway station is served by two

train operating companies In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways ...

: *

operates regular inter-city services on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

between London St Pancras,

and

. There are also services between Newark Castle,

and

; trains between Nottingham and Matlock also call here. *

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the current CrossCountry franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, ...

operates hourly services in each direction between Nottingham, Birmingham New Street and Cardiff Central. The station is also on a main inter-city route between locations in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the North East, the South West and South East; these include

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, Sheffield, Birmingham,

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

and

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. There are also local stations at Peartree (on the Newark to Crewe route) and

Spondon Spondon is a ward of the city of Derby, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England. Originally a small village, Spondon dates back to the Domesday Book and it became heavily industrialised in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with com ...

(on the Nottingham to Matlock route), although their stopping services are very limited.

Buses and coaches

Derby bus station is the hub for local bus services in and around the city. Routes are operated by a number of companies, but principally Trentbarton and Arriva Derby. Destinations include, but are not limited to,

, Burton-upon-Trent, Ilkeston, Ripley,

, Chesterfield,

, and

. The city is on several

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

routes; destinations include

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

and

Roads

The

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

passes about east of the city, linking Derby southwards to London and northwards to

and Leeds. Other major roads passing through or near Derby include the A6 (historically the main route from London to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, also linking to Leicester and

); A38 (

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

to Mansfield, via

and Birmingham); A50 (

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

to Leicester, via

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

); A52 (

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

Mablethorpe Mablethorpe is a seaside town in the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000): In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 3,611. On 1 Ap ...

, including Brian Clough Way linking Derby to Nottingham); and A61 (Derby to Thirsk, via Sheffield and Leeds). On 16 March 2011, Mercian Way, the final section of the city's inner ring road, was opened to traffic. This new section connects Burton Road with Uttoxeter New Road; it crosses Abbey Street, which is the only road between the two ends from which Mercian Way can be accessed.

Air

East Midlands Airport is located about from Derby city centre. There was controversy concerning the airport's decision to prefix its name with ''Nottingham'' in 2004; this was due to its proximity to Derby, the fact that the airport is in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and the traditional rivalry between its three nearby cities (Derby, Leicester and Nottingham). In 2006, Nottingham East Midlands Airport reverted to its previous name. The airport is served by budget airlines, including

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

and

Jet2 Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost airline based at Leeds Bradford Airport, England. It offers scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the List of largest airlines in Europe, third-largest scheduled airline ...

, with services to domestic and European destinations. Derby Airfield, approximately south-west of the city centre, has grass runways targeted at

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

Community and culture

On 8 October 2021 it was announced that Derby had been included in the longlist of bids to host UK City of Culture 2025, but in March 2022 it failed to make it onto the shortlist. Derby is known by many locals as "Derbados"; a portmanteau of Derby and Barbados. Also see

List of city nicknames in the United Kingdom A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

Music

The

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band

White Town Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and record producer, producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song "Your Woman". Early life Jyoti Prakash Mishra was ...

, fronted by

Jyoti Mishra Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song " Your Woman". Early life Jyoti Prakash Mishra was born in Rourke ...

, is from Derby, and his video " Your Woman", features scenes from the city centre. "Your Woman" reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1997. Founding member and songwriter of

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

nominated

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band currently consists of Paul Smith (English singer), Paul Smith (lead vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Tom Engli ...

and solo artist Duncan Lloyd is from Derby. His band hit the number 2 spot in the U.K. album charts in 2020, with the album ''Nature Always Wins''. Pop singer Kelli Young (born 7 April 1982) is from Derby. She is best known as a member of the pop group Liberty X. Lucy Ward is an English singer-songwriter from Derby, England. She performs traditional English folk songs as well as her own material. Three of her albums, ''Adelphi Has to Fly'', ''Single Flame'' and ''I Dreamt I Was a Bird'', have been critically acclaimed and have each received four-starred reviews in the British national press. In rock music, the blues singer-songwriter

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. He was critically acclaimed for his unorthodox style of blues-influenced guitar composition, the ...

came from Derby, as does the three-piece rock band LostAlone, and indie/glam rock band The Struts. The ska punk band

Lightyear A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distance, astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by t ...

also hail from the city, naming their second album ''Chris Gentlemens Hairdresser and Railway Book Shop'' after a shop in Macklin Street. The band

Anti-Pasti Anti-Pasti was a British punk rock band, founded by vocalist Martin Roper and guitarist Dugi Bell in 1978, featuring Kev Nixon on drums and Will Hoon on bass guitar. Later they were joined by a second guitarist, Ollie Hoon. Their first album, ...

, whose debut 1981 album ''The Last Call'' reached the top 40 in the

UK album charts The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...

, came from Derby. The band reformed in 2012 and again with an altered line up in 2014. Derby band

The Beekeepers The Beekeepers were an English rock band from Derby, signed to the Beggars Banquet Records label. Their releases included the mini-album ''Third Party, Fear and Theft'' and the single, ''Do You Behave Like That at Home?'' History The Beeke ...

were signed to

Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels. History In 1977, spurred by the prevailing D ...

between 1993 and 1998. Singer Jamie East later went on to create entertainment website Holy Moly and present ''

Big Brother's Bit on the Side This is a complete list of shows about and relating to ''Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series), Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition originally ran from 2000 to 2018, and again since 2023. The celebrity editio ...

''. Sinfonia Viva is a chamber orchestra based in Derby, presenting concerts and educational events in the city, across the East Midlands, and occasionally further afield. A full-scale programme of orchestral and other concerts was presented by Derby LIVE at the Assembly Rooms, though this is currently closed following fire damage in March 2014. The amateur classical music scene includes two choral societies, Derby Bach Choir and Derby Choral Union; smaller choirs including the Derwent Singers and Sitwell Singers; and Derby Concert Orchestra. Derby Chamber Music presents an annual series of chamber music concerts at Derby University's

Multifaith To be multifaith is to feel an affinity with aspects of more than one religion, philosophy or world-view, or to believe that none of them is superior to the others. This term should not be confused with interfaith, which concerns the communicati ...

Centre. A series of organ recitals is presented every summer at

. The folk-music scene includes the annual Derby Folk Festival. Derby Jazz promotes a year-round series of performances and workshops. Kaleidoscope Community Music includes Kaleidoscope Community Choir and Calidoscopio Carnival Drummers. Other music venues in the city include The Venue on Abbey Street, The Hairy Dog on Becket Street, Ryan's Bar in the St Peter's Quarter, The Flowerpot on King Street, and The Victoria Inn.

Theatre and arts

Derby has had a number of theatres, including the Grand Theatre which was opened from 1886 until 1950. This replaced the earlier Theatre Royal. After a lengthy period of financial uncertainty, Derby Playhouse closed in February 2008. It was resurrected in September of that year after a new financing package was put together but forced to close again just two months later because of further financial problems. The lease was later bought by Derby University and the building was renamed Derby Theatre. Along with the Assembly Rooms and Guildhall Theatre, it was operated by Derby LIVE, the cultural arm of

Derby City Council Derby City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Derby, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire in the East Midlands region of England. Derby has had a council from medieval ...

. In 2012 Derby University took over as sole operator of Derby Theatre; Sarah Brigham was appointed artistic director, and has been in post since January 2013.

QUAD QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

is a centre for art and film that opened in 2008. The building has two cinema screens showing independent and mainstream cinema, two gallery spaces housing contemporary

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

, a digital studio, participation spaces, digital editing suites, artists studio and the BFI Mediatheque. QUAD organises the annual Derby Film Festival, and the FORMAT international photography festival, held every two years at various venues throughout the city. The Robert Ludlam Theatre, on the campus of Saint Benedict Catholic School and Performing Arts College, is a 270-seat venue with a programme of entertainment including dance, drama, art, music,

theatre in the round Theatre-in-the-round, also known as arena theatre or central staging, is a theatrical stage configuration in which the audience surrounds the performance area on all sides. Historically rooted in ancient Greece and Rome performance practices, ...

, comedy, films, family entertainment, rock and pop events and workshops. The theatre company Oddsocks is based in Derby and stages productions in the city and the surrounding area, as well as travelling the country. Déda, established in 1991, is the only dedicated dance house in the East Midlands region, acting as a local, regional and national resource for dance and aerial artists and contemporary circus. Déda houses a 124-capacity studio theatre, three dance studios, meeting room facilities and the CUBE café bar. It offers a weekly class programme and a year-round professional performance programme for children, young people and adults, and a community development programme. Déda now hosts a BA degree in Dance in partnership with the University of Derby. Derby Book Festival, first held in 2015, takes place in late spring/early summer, with events throughout the city. An additional "Autumn edition" was first held in October 2019. Derby Festé is a weekend

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant gr ...

s festival held at the end of September every year. The first Six Streets Arts trail was in June 2012, took place again in 2013 and will now be a biennial event. It includes strong input from the local History Network which was awarded a Heritage Lottery grant to pursue its work on marking the 100th anniversary of World War 1. The actor and

Bafta The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

award winner Jack O'Connell is from Derby. John Dexter the theatre director and the actor

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the Cinema of the United Kingdom#The 1960s, 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from ''Whistle Down the Wind (film), Whistle Down ...

were from Derby.

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

wrote his play '' Look Back in Anger'' in 1956 while living in Derby and working at Derby Playhouse.

Museums

Derby has several museums. * Derby Museum and Art Gallery * Museum of Making (housed in Derby Silk Mill) * Derby Computer Museum * Pickford's House Museum

Recreation

Derby Arboretum, donated to the town by local philanthropist Joseph Strutt in 1840, was the first planned urban

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the country. Although it suffered from neglect in the 1990s, it has been renovated. It has been claimed to have been one of the inspirations for

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

in New York.

is Derby's most used leisure facility. Other major parks in the city include Allestree Park, Darley Park, Chaddesden Park, Alvaston Park, Normanton Park and Osmaston Park. Derby is believed to be one of the country's highest, if not the highest, ranking cities for parkland per capita. Darley and Derwent Parks lie immediately north of the city centre. Derby Rowing Club and Derwent Rowing Club are located on the banks of the river, where there is also a riverside walk and cycle path. On 10 November 2021, Derby City Council approved plans for the UK's first large-scale urban rewilding project, in Allestree Park.

Sport

Derby gained a high profile in sport following the appointment of Brian Clough as manager of Derby County F.C. in 1967. Promotion to the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

was achieved in 1969, and County were champions of the English league three years later. Following Clough's resignation in 1973, his successor Dave Mackay guided Derby County to another league title in 1975, but this remains to date the club's last major trophy; relegation followed in 1980 and top flight status was not regained until 1987, since when Derby have spent a total of 11 seasons (1987–1991, 1996–2002, 2007–2008) in the top flight. Other former managers of the club include Arthur Cox, Jim Smith, John Gregory and George Burley. Former players include

Colin Todd Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing as a defender for Sunderland, ...

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Born in Liverpool, McFarland developed his skills at Tranmere Ro ...

(who both later had brief and unsuccessful stints as manager at the club), Dave Mackay,

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...

, Dean Saunders,

Craig Short Craig Jonathan Short (born 25 June 1968) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was most recently caretaker manager of Oxford United. Playing career Short was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England a ...

Marco Gabbiadini Marco Gabbiadini (born 20 January 1968) is an English former professional association football, footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals. Playing career ...

Horacio Carbonari Horacio Angel Carbonari (born 2 May 1974) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was nicknamed "Bazooka" due to his powerful free-kicks. Career Rosario Central Born in Santa Teresa, a town in the southern e ...

, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Steve Bloomer and Tom Huddlestone. The club moved from its century-old Baseball Ground in 1997 to the new Pride Park Stadium. The club's most recent spell as a top-division (

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

) club ended in May 2008 after just one season, during which the club won just one out of 38 league games and finished with just 11 points, the lowest in the history of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. There are three senior non-league football clubs based in the city. Mickleover Sports play at Station Road,

Mickleover Mickleover is a village in the unitary authority of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby, northeast of Burton upon Trent, southeast of Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxeter. History The earliest recorded mention of Mickleov ...

, and are members of the EvoStik Northern Premier League (the seventh level of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

). Graham Street Prims and Borrowash Victoria are both members of the East Midlands Counties League (level ten) and play on adjacent grounds at the Asterdale complex in

The Gateway Centre at the County Ground - geograph

Derbyshire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falco ...

are based at the County Ground in Derby and play almost all home matches there, although matches at Chesterfield were re-introduced in 2006. One of the designated first class county sides, they have won the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

once, in 1936. Derby has clubs in both codes of rugby. In

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, Derby RFC play in Midlands Division One East (the sixth level of English rugby union) at their Haslams Lane ground.

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team Derby City RLFC were formed in 1990 and compete in the Midlands Premier Division of the National Rugby League Conference. From 2008 they are ground-sharing with Derby RFC at Haslams Lane. The city is represented in the

English Basketball League The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a league competition representing semi-professional and amateur basketball clubs from England and Wales. It forms levels 2 to 5 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish B ...

Division One by Derby Trailblazers, who play at the Moorways Sports Centre. They were formed in 2002 following the demise of

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

side Derby Storm. Team Derby, based at Derby Arena, won the inaugural

National Badminton League The National Badminton League (NBL) was a professional team badminton league in England. Organised by Badminton England, it was launched in October 2014 as the first ever national badminton league in the UK. Reaching seven franchise teams in it ...

title in 2014–15. The Arena, opened in 2015, also contains a

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

that has hosted the Revolution cycling series. Local industrialist Francis Ley introduced baseball to the town in the late 19th century, and built a

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

near the town centre. The attempt to establish baseball in Derby was unsuccessful, but the stadium survived for some 100 years afterwards as the home of Derby County Football Club. It was demolished in 2003, six years after County's move to Pride Park. Professional golfer

Melissa Reid Melissa Rose Reid (born 19 September 1987) is an English professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.Ladies European Tour, and was a member of the victorious European Team in the 2011 Solheim Cup. Arthur Keily the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner and Olympian was born in Derbyshire in 1921 and has lived his whole life in Derby. In Rome in 1960 he broke the English Olympic record, recording a time of 2 hours 27 mins.

Shopping and nightlife

Shopping in central Derby is divided into three main areas. These are the Cathedral Quarter, the St Peters Quarter and the Derbion shopping centre. The Cathedral Quarter was Derby's first BID (

Business Improvement District A business improvement district (BID) is a defined area within whichever businesses elect to pay an additional fee (or assessment) in order to fund projects within the district's boundaries. A BID is not a tax, as taxes fund the government. BID f ...

), and includes a large range of shops, boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants. It is focused around the cathedral and the area around Irongate and Sadler Gate. It includes the Market place, the Guildhall and Assembly Rooms along with the City Museum and the Silk Mill industrial museum. The St Peters Quarter is Derby's second Business Improvement District, brought into effect in the summer of 2011. Its boundary with the Cathedral Quarter follows Victoria Street, beneath which flows the underground course of the

Markeaton Brook The Markeaton Brook is an tributary of the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. The brook rises from its source south of Hulland Ward, and flows for most of its length through the countryside north-west of Derby be ...

. The quarter boasts a diverse range of retail shops, many of them, in Green Lane, Babington Lane, Osmaston Road and elsewhere, independent traders. St Peters Street, London Road and East Street also include a large choice of national retailers and pubs, restaurants, banks and offices. The quarter includes the historic St Peters Church and, on St Peter's Churchyard, the medieval Derby School building. Nearby also is the Old Courthouse (former County Court). Derbion is the city's main indoor shopping centre. It opened in 2007 as Westfield Derby after extension work costing £340 million, subsequently being sold to Intu in March 2014. It contains a food court and a 12-screen cinema ( Showcase – Cinema De Lux) which was opened in May 2008. The development was controversial and local opponents accuse it of drawing trade away from the older parts of the city centre where independent shops are located. Some of these experienced a downturn in trade and some have ceased trading since the development opened leading to the "Lanes" project which eventually became the second BID and the formation of St Peters Quarter. In the centre itself, a combination of high rents and rising rates have made things difficult for smaller traders. The Friar Gate area contains clubs and bars, making it the centre of Derby's nightlife. Derby is also well provided with pubs and is renowned for its large number of

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

outlets. The oldest pub is the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Ye Olde Dolphin Inne, dating from the late 16th century. Out-of-town shopping areas include the Kingsway Retail Park, off the A38; the Wyvern Retail Park, near Pride Park; and the Meteor Centre, on Mansfield Road.

Education

Like most of the UK, Derby operates a non-selective primary and secondary education system with no

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

s. Pupils attend infant and junior school (often in a combined primary school) before moving onto a secondary school. Many of the secondary schools have

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

s, allowing pupils to optionally take

A Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

after the end of compulsory education. For those who want to stay in education but leave school, the large Derby College provides post-16 courses for school leavers, apprentices and employer-related training. It has two main campuses: the Joseph Wright Centre in the centre of Derby, where its

A Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

courses are based, and the historical Derby Roundhouse, the college's vocational training hub, providing a centre for apprenticeships such as engineering, catering and hair and beauty. The college also works in partnership with schools across the county to provide vocational training opportunities for students aged 14 upwards. Training for companies is undertaken through its Corporate College. Inside the state sector, there are 16 secondary schools. These are: Allestree Woodlands School, Alvaston Moor Academy, Bemrose School, Chellaston Academy, City of Derby Academy, Da Vinci Academy, Derby Cathedral School, Derby Manufacturing UTC, Derby Moor Academy, Derby Pride Academy, Landau Forte College, Lees Brook Community School,

Littleover Community School Littleover Community School is a coeducational secondary school situated on Pastures Hill, Littleover, Derbyshire in England, with pupils aged 11–18. It is a co-educational non-denominational school which educates over 1,550 pupils from in an ...

Merrill Academy Alvaston Moor Academy is a secondary school for students aged 11–16 years, located in Alvaston, Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent ...

, Murray Park School,

Noel-Baker Academy Noel-Baker Academy (formerly Noel-Baker Community School) is a co-educational secondary school located in Alvaston, Derby, England. The school takes students from the Alvaston, Boulton and Crewton areas of Derby. In September 2004, the school ...

, Saint Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy and West Park School. Outside the state sector, there are three fee-paying independent schools. Derby Grammar School was founded in 1994 and was for boys only until 2007, when they accepted girls into the sixth form for the first time. They aim to continue the work and traditions of the former Derby School, which closed in 1989, one of the oldest schools in England. Derby High School was girls-only for senior and sixth form and for girls and boys at primary level until 2019 where boys were accepted into Year 7 and Year 12. As of 2023, the school is now fully co-educational, accepting both boys and girls in all years of school. Derby has special needs establishments including Ivy House School at the Derby Moor Community Sports College (which takes pupils from nursery to sixth form) and the Light House which is a respite facility for children and parents. Allestree Woodlands School have a Hearing Impaired department, and Saint Benedict have an Enhanced Resource Base for pupils to access specialised support within mainstream schooling. There also a number of alternative provision schools, including Derby Pride Academy. The

University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...

has its main campus on Kedleston Road. There is another campus in north Derbyshire at

. In 2003 the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

opened a graduate entry medical school based at

Royal Derby Hospital Royal Derby Hospital is one of two teaching hospitals in the city of Derby, the other being the Florence Nightingale Community Hospital. It is managed by the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. History The original h ...

. The university also has its School of Nursing and Midwifery there, having moved from its former home at the

London Road Community Hospital The Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, formerly the London Road Community Hospital, is a community hospital on London Road in Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

in mid-2012.

Media

The ''

Derby Telegraph The ''Derby Telegraph'', formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'', is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the ''Derby Telegraph'' team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand. Hi ...

'' (formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'') is the city's daily newspaper. Crime writer Richard Cox set his first book around his own experience as a ''Derby Telegraph'' reporter in the 1970s. The '' Derby Trader'' was a free weekly newspaper that is no longer in print. BBC Radio Derby, the BBC's local station for Derbyshire and

East Staffordshire East Staffordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Staffordshire, England. The council is based in Burton upon Trent. The borough also contains the town of Ut ...

, is based on St Helen's Street in the city and offers local, national and international news, features, music and sports commentaries. It is available on 104.5 FM and 1116 AM, on 95.3 FM in north and mid-Derbyshire and on 96.0 FM in the

area, as well as being streamed on the internet. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in Derby have their own local website for the area providing news, travel and weather information, as well as other features. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East Midlands and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

. The city's television signals are received from the Waltham TV transmitter. Capital Midlands (previously Capital East Midlands and

Ram FM Ram FM was an Independent Local Radio station, which broadcast to central and southern parts of Derbyshire on 102.8 FM. The station merged with two other East Midlands stations, Trent FM and Leicester Sound to form Capital FM East Midlands (p ...

) is the biggest commercial radio station in the city, broadcasting to Derby on 102.8 FM from the transmitter at Drum Hill, just outside the city. It broadcasts a Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) format, with Top 40 chart hits aimed at the city's under-35s.

Notable people

Arts, literature and music

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...

(1689–1761), writer and printer * William John Coffee (1774–1846), artist and sculptor, worked in porcelain, plaster, and terracotta *

Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Wr ...

(1734–1797), landscape and portrait painter * John Raphael Smith (1751–1812), painter and

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

engraver, son of Thomas Smith * William Billingsley (1758–1828), painter of porcelain, founded

Nantgarw Pottery The Nantgarw China Works was a porcelain factory, later making other types of pottery, located in Nantgarw on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal, north of Cardiff in the River Taff valley, Glamorganshire, Wales. The factory made po ...

* John Emes (1762–1810), engraver and water-colour painter * Elizabeth Bridget Pigot (1783–1866), correspondent, friend and biographic source for

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

* Henry Lark Pratt (1805–1873), painter who trained in the porcelain industry * John Haslem (1808–1884), china and enamel painter * Henry Britton (1843–1938), journalist in colonial Australia * Francis William Davenport (1847–1925), composer and music professor, born in Wilderslowe * Charles Rann Kennedy (1871–1950), Anglo-American dramatist * Ernest Townsend (1880–1944), portrait artist *

Marion Adnams Marion Elizabeth Adnams (3 December 1898 – 24 October 1995) was an English painter, printmaker and draughtswoman. She is notable for her Surrealism, surrealist paintings, in which apparently unconnected objects appear together in unfamiliar, o ...

(1898–1995), painter, printmaker, and draughtswoman. * Ralph Downes (1904–1993), organist, designer of the organ in the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, London *

Norah, Lady Docker Norah Royce Docker, Lady Docker (; 23 June 190611 December 1983) was an English socialite. A dance hostess at a club in her youth, she married three times, on each occasion to an executive of a business that sold luxury goods. Her third marria ...

(1906–1983), socialite, was said to be "gracelessly gaudy" * Ronald Binge (1910–1979), composer and arranger of light music * Eric Malpass (1910–1996), novelist, wrote humorous and witty descriptions of rural family life * Denny Dennis (1913–1993), romantic vocalist when British dance bands were at the peak of their popularity * John Dexter (1925–1990), theatre, opera and film director *

Michael Rayner Michael Rayner (6 December 1932 – 13 July 2015)Mackie, David. "Obituaries: Michael Rayner", ''Gilbert and Sullivan News'', Vol. V, No. 9, Autumn/Winter 2015, pp. 17–18, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society was an English opera singer, best kno ...

(1932–2015), opera singer, baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company * Richard Turner (born 1940), also known as Turneramon, an artist and poet * Anton Rippon (born 1944), journalist, author and publisher *

(1944–2004), musician, film-maker and writer * Stephen Marley (born 1946), author and video game designer of the Chia Black Dragon series *

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer-songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

(born 1948), singer-songwriter and founder of rock band

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith. They were the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much ...

* Stephen Layton (born 1966), choral conductor, founded the choir

Polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

in 1986 *

(born 1966), sole member of

, the name of which was meant as a reference to Derby's perceived lack of diversity * Liam Sharp (born 1968), comic book artist, writer, publisher, and co-founder/CCO of Madefire Inc. * Graham Coxon (born 1969), musician and co-founder of Blur, lived for a short time as a child in nearby Spondon * Scott Harrison (born 1973), novelist, scriptwriter, playwright and film historian *Corey Mwamba (born 1976), jazz musician and BBC Radio 3 presenter * Steven Grahl (born 1979), organist and conductor, Director of Music at Trinity College, Cambridge * Duncan Lloyd (born c. 1980), guitarist and singer *

Jessica Garlick Jessica Julie Anne Garlick (born 1981) is a Welsh pop singer. Garlick made her first steps into show business when she was 16. At that age, she won the Welsh final of BBC One's talent show ''Star for a Night (UK TV series), Star for a Night''. ...

(born 1981), singer, was born in Derby * Lucy Ward (born 1989), folk musician and songwriter *

Youngman Youngman (officially China Youngman Automobile Group Co., Ltd.) () was a Chinese manufacturer of buses and trucks located in Jinhua, Zhejiang province. The company was founded in 2001 by Pang Qingnian and also used to manufacture automobiles. H ...

(born c. 1990), MC and vocalist * Dubzy (born 1991),

grime music Grime is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It developed out of the earlier UK dance style UK garage, and draws influences from jungle, dancehall, and hip hop. The style is typified by rapid, sy ...

MC and entrepreneur, raised in Derby * Drumsound & Bassline Smith (formed 1998), electronic group * Kelli Young (born 1982), singer of Liberty X fame

Films, theatre, TV and radio

* Rowena Cade (1893–1983), born in Spondon, created the

Minack Theatre The Minack Theatre () is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea. The theatre is at Porthcurno, from Land's End in Cornwall, England.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's En ...

, Cornwall * Ted Moult (1926–1986), farmer, radio and TV personality * Patricia Greene (born 1931), radio actress, long-standing role as matriarch Jill Archer in ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'' *

(1934–2003), actor; in 1969 he co-starred in the Ken Russell film ''Women in Love'' * Michael Knowles (born 1937), actor, played Capt. Jonathan Ashwood in the 1970s sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' * Gwen Taylor (born 1939), actress, played Amy Pearce in the sitcom '' Duty Free'' *

Judith Hann Judith Hann (born 8 September 1942) is a broadcaster and writer specialising in science, food and the environment. Education Hann attended the University of Durham, where she edited Palatinate, the university newspaper, for two terms in 196 ...

(born 1942), presented BBC's ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First broadcast on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorrow's World' ...

'' between 1974 and 1994 *

Kevin Lloyd Kevin Reardon Lloyd (28 March 1949 – 2 May 1998) was a British television actor, who came to prominence in the role of DC Alfred "Tosh" Lines in Thames Television's police drama series ''The Bill''. Early life Kevin Reardon Lloyd was bo ...

(1949–1998), actor, played DC Alfred "Tosh" Lines in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' *

John Tams John Tams (born 16 February 1949) is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician born in Holbrook, Derbyshire, Holbrook, Derbyshire, the son of a Public house, publican. He first worked as a reporter for the ''Ripley, Derbyshire ...

(born 1949), actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician * Stuart Varney (born 1949), economic journalist for

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

* Richard Felix (born 1949), paranormal investigator from

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

, appeared on

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television television channel, channel owned and operated by Sky Limited, Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living yet became Sky Living by 2011. H ...

'' Most Haunted'' series * Terry Lloyd (1952–2003), TV journalist unlawfully killed in Iraq by US Marines *

Maxwell Caulfield Maxwell Caulfield (born Maxwell P.J. Newby; 23 November 1959) is a British actor. He has appeared in ''Grease 2'' (1982), ''Electric Dreams (film), Electric Dreams'' (1984), ''The Boys Next Door (1985 film), The Boys Next Door'' (1985), ''The S ...

(born 1959), English-American film, stage, and television actor, based in the USA * Keiran Lee (born 1984), pornographic film actor, director and producer for Brazzers * Selina Mosinski (born 1981), actress who starred in '' Charity Shop Sue'' *

Michael Socha Michael Robert Socha (born 1987) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''This Is England'' and ''Summer (2008 film), Summer'', and the television series ''This Is England '86'' and its sequels. He also appeared in ''Being ...

(born 1987), actor, roles in the films ''

This Is England ''This Is England'' is a 2006 British coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. Its plot centres on young skinheads in England in 1983, illustrating how their subculture became influenced by far-right politics. The f ...

'' and ''

Summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

'' * Jack O'Connell (born 1990),

-winning actor, starred in '' Unbroken'', '' SAS Rogue Heroes'' and ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

'' *

Lauren Socha Lauren Marie Socha (born 9 June 1990) is an English actress. She rose to prominence during her role as Kelly Bailey in the E4 comedy-drama television series '' Misfits'', for which she won a BAFTA TV Award in the Best Supporting Actress cate ...

(born 1990), actor, played Kelly Bailey in E4's television series '' Misfits'' * James Burrows (born 1991), actor, played Ali Neeson in ITV's soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' *

Munya Chawawa Munyaradzi Oliver Chawawa (born 29 December 1992) is a British–Zimbabwean actor, comedian and comedy rapper. Early life Munyaradzi Oliver Chawawa was born on 29 December 1992 in Derby, England, and spent his childhood in Zimbabwe. In his y ...

(born 1993), British-Zimbabwean comedian born in Derby *

Ewan Mitchell Ewan Robert Mitchell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the medieval series '' The Last Kingdom'' (2017–2022), the BBC war drama '' World on Fire'' (2019–2023), and the HBO fantasy series '' House of the Dragon'' (2022� ...

, actor, known for playing

Osferth Osferth or Osferd or Osfrith (fl. c. 885 to c. 934) was described by Alfred the Great in his will as a "kinsman". Osferth witnessed royal charters from 898 to 934, as an ealdorman between 926 and 934. In a charter of Edward the Elder, he was de ...

in '' The Last Kingdom'' and Prince Aemond Targaryen in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

fantasy series ''

House of the Dragon ''House of the Dragon'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. A prequel to ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), it is the second television series in Martin's ''A Song of Ice and F ...

Academics, science, business and engineering

(1646–1719), astronomer, the first

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the astronomer royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the astronomer royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The Astro ...

; he catalogued over 3000 stars *

(c. 1668 – c. 1738), engineer and architect; designed

* John Lombe (1693–1722), silk spinner in 18th-century Derby; created

* John Whitehurst (1713–1788),

and scientist; early contributions to geology, member of the

Lunar Society The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophy, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly b ...

* William Hutton (1723–1815), historian, poet and bookseller *

(1726–1797), hosier and cotton spinner, developed the production of ribbed stockings *

(1731–1802), physician and philosopher *

Henry Cavendish Henry Cavendish ( ; 10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810) was an English experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. He is noted for his discovery of hydrogen, which he termed "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable a ...

(1731–1810), scientist, experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist; discovered hydrogen *

(1734-1782), stonemason, Palladian and Georgian architect * John Mawe (1764–1829), practical mineralogist, with his wife Sarah Mawe * James Fox (1780–1830), engineer, machine tool maker *

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career Blore was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's backg ...

(1787–1879), landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary *

William George Spencer (William) George Spencer (1790–1866) was an English schoolmaster and tutor, known as a mathematical writer. Life Born at Derby in 1790, he was the son of Matthew Spencer (1762–1827), schoolmaster at Derby, by his wife Catherine Taylor; Thoma ...

(1790–1866), schoolmaster, tutor and mathematical writer; Derby Philosophical Society * Andrew Handyside (1806–1887), iron founder, created The Handyside Postbox *Sir Charles Fox (1810–1874), civil engineer and contractor, focusing on railways, railway stations and bridges *

(1820–1910), pioneer of modern nursing *

Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English polymath active as a philosopher, psychologist, biologist, sociologist, and anthropologist. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest", which he coined in '' ...

(1820–1903), philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and classical liberal political theorist *

Parkin Jeffcock Parkin Jeffcock (27 October 1829 – 13 December 1866) was an English mining engineer who died trying to effect the rescue of miners during the Oaks explosion, Oaks mining disaster which eventually killed more than 350 people. Biography Parki ...

(1829–1866), mining engineer; died trying to rescue miners *Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843–1920), astronomer, chemist, photographer; described the Abney effect *

Sir Henry Royce Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet (27 March 1863 – 22 April 1933) was an English engineer famous for his designs of car and aeroplane engines with a reputation for reliability and longevity. With Charles Rolls (1877–1910) and Claude J ...

(1863–1933), co-founder of

* Gordon Pask (1928–1996), author, inventor, educational theorist, cybernetician and psychologist * Sir Nigel Rudd (born 1946), industrialist; founded Williams Holdings * John Loughhead (born 1948), businessman, Chief Scientific Adviser to BEIS * John Smith (born 1957), chief executive officer of

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

* Melvyn Morris (born c. 1957), businessman; former owner of Derby County F.C., made his money from

Candy Crush Saga ''Candy Crush Saga'' is a free-to-play tile-matching video game released by King on April 12, 2012, originally for Facebook; other versions for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 followed. It is a variation of their browser game '' ...

* Karl Slym (1962–2014), businessman, managing director of

Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company, headquartered in Mumbai and part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, cars, trucks, vans, and busses, buses. T ...

2012–2014 * Christopher Jackson (born 1977), scientist, broadcaster and professor of geology at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

Politics, religion and law

* Jasvinder Sanghera (1965), author, and campaigner * Joan Waste (1534–1556), a blind woman who was burned in Derby for refusing to renounce her Protestant faith * John Cotton (1585–1652), English and American Puritan divine, sometimes called "The Patriarch of New England" * Samuel Bourn the Elder (1648–1719), dissenting minister; his theology was Calvinistic * Thomas Bott (1688–1754), cleric of the Church of England, known as a controversialist * Daniel Coke (1745–1825), barrister and MP for

1776–1780 and Nottingham 1780–1812 * Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens (1753–1839), diplomat, eponym of Mount St. Helens *Sir Charles John Crompton (1797–1865), justice of the queen's bench * William Mundy (1801–1877), son of Francis Mundy, MP for

and High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1844 *

(1825–98), politician, Liberal MP for

, inventor of the

* Sir Henry Wilmot (1831–1901),

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient, MP for

1869–1885 * Robert Humpston (1832–1884), recipient of the

for gallantry during the Crimean War * Walter Weston (1860–1940), clergyman and Anglican missionary, popularized mountaineering in Japan * Alice Wheeldon (1866–1919),

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

and anti-war campaigner * Jacob Rivers (1881–1915), recipient of the

for action in World War I * Alfred Waterson (1880–1964), Labour and Co-operative MP for

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

1918–1922 *Brigadier Charles Hudson (1892–1959),

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

recipient * Freda Bedi (1911–1977), social worker, writer and Gelongma, ordained in

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

Geoffrey Lane, Baron Lane Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992, having previously served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1977 until 19 ...

(1918–2005), judge who served as Lord Chief Justice 1980–1992 * Chris Moncrieff (1931–2019), parliamentary journalist, political editor of the Press Association 1980–1994 *Dame

Margaret Beckett Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, (; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was ...

(born 1943), Labour politician, MP for Derby South since 1983 * Dafydd Wigley (born 1943),

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

MP for

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

1974–2001 * Bob Laxton (born 1944), Labour politician, MP for Derby North 1997–2010 *

Geoff Hoon Geoffrey William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary, Transport Secretary, Leader ...

(born 1953), Labour politician, MP for Ashfield 1992–2010 *

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

(born 1954), Labour politician, MP for

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

1997–2005 * Chris Williamson (born 1956), Labour politician, MP for Derby North 2010–2015 and 2017–2019

Sports

* Tom Johnson (c. 1750–1797), bare-knuckle fighter * George Malcolm Fox (1843–1918), Inspector of Gymnasia for the British Army (1890–1897, 1900–1902) * Steve Bloomer (1874–1938), footballer and manager, played for Derby County and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, 598 pro appearances * Harold Brittan (1894–1964), footballer and manager *

Oliver Burton Oliver Burton (27 May 1879 – 20 January 1929) was an English professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur. Football career Burton, a left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association ...

(1879–1929), professional footballer who played for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. * Reg Parnell (1911–1964), racing driver and team manager * Louis Martin (1936–2015), weightlifter, Olympic silver medallist, 1964 *

Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C., Coventry City in the Football L ...

(born 1961), former footballer who played as a centre forward *Sir Dave Brailsford (born 1964), cycling administrator, currently with Team Ineos *

Max Sciandri Maximilian Sciandri (born 15 February 1967) is a retired Great Britain, British road racing cyclist of Italy, Italian descent. He competed as an Italian national up to February 1995, then took British citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the ...

(born 1967), professional cyclist and Olympic medallist * Rufus Brevett (born 1969), footballer with nearly 600 professional appearances * Steve Holland (born 1970), former professional footballer, coach for Crewe Alexandra and Chelsea * Colin Osborne (born 1975), PDC darts player * Donna Kellogg (born 1978), badminton player, competed in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Russell Sexton Russell John Sexton (born 9 October 1978) is a former English cricketer. Sexton was a right-handed Batsman (cricket), batsman who played primarily as a wicketkeeper. He was born in Derby, Derbyshire. Sexton represented the Derbyshire Cricket ...

(born 1978), former English cricketer * Chris Riggott (born 1980), footballer, over 200 pro appearances * Steve Elliott (footballer, born 1978), over 500 professional appearances * Bobby Hassell (born 1980), footballer, over 380 pro appearances * Damien Walters (born 1982), stuntman, gymnast and free runner * Kevin Hollis (born 1983), cricketer * Chris Palmer (born 1983), footballer, over 230 pro appearances * Hemish Ilangaratne (born 1987), cricketer *

Melissa Reid Melissa Rose Reid (born 19 September 1987) is an English professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.Jonathan Joseph (born 1991), England international professional

player * Jamaal Lascelles (born 1993), footballer, captain of

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

* Sandy Ryan (born 1993), professional boxer * Ben Osborn (born 1994), footballer * Sarah Vasey (born 1996), swimmer, 50 metre breaststroke gold medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games * Jay Clarke (born 1998), tennis player *

Markus Poom Markus Poom (born 27 February 1999) is an Estonian professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Flora, Flora and the Estonia national football team, Estonia national team. He is the son of Estonian international ...

(born 1999),

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n international footballer, born in Derby.

International relations

Osnabrück partnership treaty

Derby is twinned with

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

in Germany. The partnership treaty between the two cities was signed on 17 February 1976. The twinning agreement with Derby was in the historical Hall of Peace in Osnabrück's Rathaus (town hall). Every year, Derby and Osnabrück each appoint an envoy who spends twelve months in the twin city. The envoy promotes the exchange of ideas between the two cities and acts as an educational and information officer to increase awareness of the twinning scheme. The envoy gives talks to local societies and schools, finds pen friends and short-term host families during work placements, works to assist groups who want to get involved in twinning by identifying and approaching possible counterparts and plans the annual May Week trip. There is an annual exchange between the wind bands of

John Port Spencer Academy John Port Spencer Academy, formerly known as John Port School, is an Academy (English school), academy and secondary school in the village of Etwall, Derbyshire, England.

, Etwall, and its twin school Gymnasium Melle in Melle, Germany,

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Osnabrücker Land. An exchange was established in 2009 between Allestree Woodlands School and the Gymnasium Angelaschule in Osnabrück. This exchange was originally based on a drama project by both schools in June 2009, which included performances in both cities with over 1600 visitors. It is now a language and culture exchange between the two schools, run by the German department at Allestree Woodlands School. The exchange of envoys between two cities is very unusual. The envoy in Osnabrück changes every year and Osnabrück also sends envoys to Derby,

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

and

Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, receives and sends an envoy.

List of twin towns

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Kapurthala Kapurthala () is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent b ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(friendship link) *

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(friendship link) * Foncquevillers,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(friendship link) *

Toyota City , formerly known as Koromo, is a Cities of Japan, city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 426,162 and a population density of 464 people per km2. The total area was . It is located about 50 minutes from Nagoya ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Changzhi Changzhi ( zh, s=长治) is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas ( ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(Memorandum of Understanding) *

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...

, (

Keene State College Keene State College is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Ke ...

student exchange programme) *

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

(2014)

Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Derby.

Individuals

* Brian Howard Clough: 3 May 2003. * Adam George Peaty: 9 October 2016. * Reginald Frederick Harrison : 5 February 2019. * Sandy Ryan : 25 March 2024. * Stephen "Steve" Kirk: 15 April 2024.

Military units

* The Royal Navy Submarine Service, Royal Naval Submarine Service: 28 April 2002. * The Mercian Regiment: 2007.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

{{authority control Derby, Cities in the East Midlands Towns in Derbyshire Non-metropolitan districts of Derbyshire Railway towns in England Unitary authority districts of England Former county towns in England Unparished areas in Derbyshire Boroughs in England Former civil parishes in Derbyshire