Tapton is a suburb of Chesterfield, in the county of

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. It is located along the Brimington Road B6543, between Chesterfield town centre, and Brimington (where the population is included in the Brimington South Ward). It became a suburb of Chesterfield in the 1920s. The buildings along Brimington road, which runs through the centre of Tapton, are testament to this fact. Consisting of semi-detached houses in a style typical of the 20s and 30s. The district is also home to

Tapton House Tapton House, in Tapton, Derbyshire, England, was once the home of engineer George Stephenson, who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives. Tapton has been a gentleman's residence, a ladies' boarding school and ...

, in Tapton Woods, the woods being the former grounds of the house, now a

Municipal 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 ( UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and other incorpora ...

. Tapton Lock Visitor Centre is located on the

Chesterfield Canal The Chesterfield Canal is a narrow canal in the East Midlands of England and it is known locally as 'Cuckoo Dyke'. It was one of the last of the canals designed by James Brindley, who died while it was being constructed. It was opened in 1777 ...

to the north of Tapton Park.

History

Located in the grounds of the House, is a large mound or hill, once the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, of Chesterfield Castle or Tapton Castle as it was sometimes also known. The castle at least dates as far back as the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

and later fell into the hands of the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

, becoming a Crown Fortress. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, the castle was razed to the ground, by Parliamentarian forces. Tapton was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the parish of Chesterfield, in 1866 Tapton became a separate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, on 9 November 1920 the parish was abolished and merged with Chesterfield. In 1911 the parish had a population of 441. It is now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of Chesterfield, in the Chesterfield district.

Tapton Hall

Tapton Hall, Derbyshire (not to be confused with Tapton Hall, Sheffield). In 1638 the

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of eco ...

of Tapton with a capital messuage known as Tapton Hall was sold by Durant Allsopp and Thomas Allsopp, gentlemen, also of Durant Hall, Holy Well Street, Chesterfield, to George Taylor (d.1668) of London, Vintner, with closes (fields) at Brimington with several other properties including Durant Hall. Taylor left instructions in his will for the founding of alms houses, and 6 alms houses were duly erected in 1678 in Salter Gate, by his son-in-law Charles Scrimshire, as the inscription in the centre of the buildings attests. It was inherited by Taylor's daughter and sole-heiress Esther Taylor, who married Sir Charles Scrimshire of Norbury in Staffordshire, Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1698. It was then acquired in 1701, with Durant Hall, by Thomas Gladwin, a member of the Gladwin family of Tupton Hall and descended via his co-heiress to the Clarke family and thence to the Cox family, and in 1746 was sold, with Durant Hall, and with the manor and lordship of Tapton, by William Coxe to Adam Slater of Chesterfield, apothecary.

Tapton House and Castle

Tapton House is a large gentleman's residence, built in the Georgian Style of Red brick, located in the woods on Tapton Hill looking down on the Town of Chesterfield. Tapton House was once the home of English

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives. In 1837 he arrived in Chesterfield, to undertake the construction of the

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 ...

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 ...

railway (North Midland Line). As work continued

, took up residence there. The House was bequeathed to the borough of Chesterfield on his death. It was then converted into a school. In 1931, the first pupils passed through its doors as Tapton House Central Selective School. The school continued until 1993. Tapton House grounds are now used as the Tapton Park Innovation Centre which is open for free use to the general public. The House itself was sold to a developer in 2023 having been empty for a number of years. It was previously used by Chesterfield College as the Higher Education Campus for Chesterfield College.

References

External links

Tapton Park Innovation CentreRemembering Tapton School
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Former civil parishes in Derbyshire Chesterfield, Derbyshire