Located in the north east of the county, the neighbouring areas of Bolsover and Chesterfield are districts/boroughs in their own right and are two of the smaller councils that make up the county as a whole – with Chesterfield borough being the smallest.
Chesterfield borough is surrounded almost entirely by the North East Derbyshire district, other than a small boundary with Bolsover district, which itself has touch points to the Amber Valley; North East Derbyshire; Chesterfield and the neighbouring county of Nottinghamshire to its east.
The Chesterfield borough was formed in 1974 and is centred around the county’s largest town and the most populated Derbyshire settlement outside of Derby.
Suburbs falling within its boundaries include Birdholme; Boythorpe; Brampton; Hasland; Newbold; Spital; Tapton; and Whittington Moor. Local administration comes in the form of Chesterfield Borough Council.
In 2021, national property firm Rightmove published its annual ‘Happy at Home Index’ which saw Chesterfield named as the happiest place to live in the whole of the East Midlands, based on data collected.
At the time, Dom Stevens, manager at Destination Chesterfield, said: ‘It is great to hear Chesterfield has been recognised as the happiest place to live in the East Midlands.
‘Our town, with the famous crooked spire and historic market located on the edge of the peak district national park, is the perfect place to live and also to locate a business. Chesterfield is a friendly place with a real sense of community and our central location with excellent transport links makes it the perfect place to set up home.
‘With many more homes currently being built across North Derbyshire and over £1billion of regeneration taking place we look forward to welcoming people who choose to make Chesterfield their home.’
To the east, Bolsover District is naturally named after the town of Bolsover, although the local council is actually based in the village of Clowne. Like Chesterfield, its boundaries in their current form were established in 1974.
With an area encompassing roughly 62 square miles, the district comprises 14 town and parish councils, namely: Old Bolsover and Shirebrook; Ault Hucknall; Barlborough; Blackwell; Clowne; Elmoton-with-Creswell; Glapwell; Hodthorpe and Belph; Pinxton; Pleasley; Scarcliffe; South Normanton; Tibshelf and Whitwell.
One thing’s for sure – both these fine districts have much to shout about and plenty to offer.
This is an area of our county that boasts some of Derbyshire’s most celebrated and famous landmarks. It is home too to areas of great beauty and, in places, international significance.
Here, community spirit and a proud sense of heritage and tradition reign supreme, supported by attractions and places that have visitors coming back to this lovely part of the world time and time again.
5 PLACES TO VISIT
Bolsover
Yes, it has a spectacular castle but Bolsover is a town which holds its own irrespectively of its famous landmark.
Tantalisingly close to the treasures of the Peak District, Bolsover’s markets take place weekly in Cotton Street and here you’ll find this heritage-rich town burst into life – not least through the high profile events that take place throughout the year, including the popular monthly artisan markets on the first Saturday of each month from April through to October.
A great base for exploration, attractions such as Hardwick Hall, Creswell Craggs, the Welbeck Estate, Stainsby Mill, Whitwell Wood and, of course, Bolsover Castle are in easy reach.
Brampton
A suburb to the west of Chesterfield town centre, Brampton was once a village in its own right – known as New Brampton – however the expansion of the town has since seen the area fall within its boundaries.
Famed for its ‘Brampton Mile’ – so called because of a group of pubs which stretched a mile long – Brampton has evolved in recent years, not least on the large Chatsworth Road, which is still home to several popular pubs, albeit not as many as in years gone by.
Nowadays, a much more diverse offering awaits visitors – including impressive independent stores and classy eateries and all just a stone’s throw from Chesterfield itself.
Chesterfield
Derbyshire’s largest town, Chesterfield is a perfect blend of the olde-worlde - with its mock Tudor buildings, historic marketplace and famous cobbled streets - and modern ambition and enterprise.
Regarded by many as the ‘gateway to the north’, the town is incredibly well placed geographically - found just ten miles from the city of Sheffield, whilst also being just a few miles east of the beautiful Peak District National Park.
With a friendly local community, plenty of open spaces, including Queen’s Park and Chesterfield Canal, landmarks such as the famed Crooked Spire and a vibrant food and drink scene, the town is well loved by residents and visitors alike.
READ MORE: How to spend a day in Chesterfield
Barrow Hill
Barrow Hill, a village in the district of Chesterfield, is home to the Barrow Hill Roundhouse, which has the distinction of being the final surviving railway roundhouse with an operational turntable in the whole of the United Kingdom.
The area is brimming with railway heritage, and the roundhouse itself was built over 150 years ago and is now a thriving museum and celebration of rail, made all the more remarkable given the roundhouse was threatened with demolition in the early 1990s.
With fabulous engines from a bygone age and numerous events throughout the year, it’s well worth a visit – whether you’re a rail enthusiast of not.
Linacre Reservoirs
Peace, tranquillity, abundant wildlife, expansive water, trails, ancient woodlands, events… the list goes on.
The three bodies of water which make up Linacre Reservoirs, found on Woodnook Lane, Cutthorpe, offer a beautiful setting to visit either in solitude or with friends and family.
Between them they hold more than 240 million gallons of water, all surrounded by fauna and flora-rich fields and woods.
The area is a bird watcher’s dream, with nuthatches, flycatchers, woodpeckers, kingfishers, mandarin ducks and more to be found here.
Owned by Severn Trent and accessible all year round, parking is available on site (£1.50 for up to two hours or £3 for the day).
4 OF THE BEST
Cresswell Crags
Described as an ‘extraordinary archaeological park’, the caves, gorge and museum at Creswell Crags, found on Crags Road, Worksop, offer the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of early humans and woolly mammals.
Creswell Crags is one of the most northerly places in the world visited by our ancient ancestors and home to Britain’s only known example of Ice Age cave art, dating back 13,000 years.
It was also here in 1876 that the only portable art of the British Ice Age was found, the famous horse-head engraving on a rib bone.
This led to the discovery of engravings inside Church Hole Cave at the site, where 23 definite markings were found, including the engravings of a bison, stag, ibis, and depictions of the female form.
A new exhibition - Creswell Crags’ Rock Art: Past and Recent Research - opened last month. For more, visit creswell-crags.org.uk/art20years.
Hardwick Hall
The magnificent Elizabethan Hardwick Hall, one of seven Grade I listed buildings in the Bolsover District (including neighbouring Hardwick Old Hall) needs little introduction to Derbyshire Life readers.
Hardwick Hall ‘more glass than wall’ was built by master architect Robert Smythson between 1590 and 1597 for Bess of Hardwick, a physical example of her legacy, and is regarded as one of the great Elizabethan prodigy houses.
Its magnificent gardens which burst into life in the spring, parkland and sprawling countryside will inspire, whilst the splendour of both the hall’s interior and exterior will mesmerise.
Inside, Hardwick Hall is home to one of the finest collections of tapestries and embroideries from the Elizabethan era anywhere in Europe.
Run by the National Trust, this Derbyshire landmark offers all the amenities a visitor would expect – including a visitor centre, shop, car park, disabled access and food and drink outlets.
More at nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/peak-district-derbyshire/hardwick.
Bolsover Castle
Another landmark which requires little introduction, Bolsover Castle is Grade I listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument of ‘national importance’.
Described by Derbyshire Life writer Mike Smith in a recent piece as Derbyshire’s ‘hill-top château’ it towers imposingly at the summit of an escarpment overlooking the Vale of Scarsdale.
Once utilised as an aristocratic retreat having been built in the early 17th century – shortly after neighbouring Hardwick Hall – the current ‘little castle’ stands on the site of an even older structure, which was founded in the late 11th century by William Peveril but was subsequently neglected and became ruinous.
Whilst Bolsover Castle suffered similar decline in the centuries that followed, the middle part of the 20th century saw its return to glory, eventually coming into the care of English Heritage in 1984.
Today it is thriving and one of Derbyshire’s most popular visitor attractions.
More at english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/Bolsover-castle.
Sutton Scarsdale Hall
The contrast between Hardwick Hall and Bolsover Castle with Sutton Scarsdale Hall couldn’t be starker.
Built between 1724 and 1729, it was once anything but the relic it has become.
The brainchild of Nicholas Leake, fourth Earl of Scarsdale, it was designed as a statement
mansion, intended to impress and rival the outstanding country homes in the vicinity.
Standing at the summit of a hill close to Chesterfield and Bolsover, this Grade I listed
Georgian building retains a sense of grandeur and opulence – despite being little more than a shell.
Asset stripped in the early 20th century (losing its roof in 1919) after the financial demise of its owners, it was ultimately saved from full demolition and is now in the hands of English Heritage.
A tale of ambition, excess and decline, it is well worth a look from the outside. The surrounding views are superb too.
More at English-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/Sutton-scarsdale-hall.
THE LOCAL VIEW
I have flirted with the other side of the border a few times in my life – having previously lived in Woodseats and Dore just outside of Sheffield in South Yorkshire – but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I ended up back in Chesterfield, where I have been fortunate enough to raise a young family.
I went to university in Sheffield too and was always so surprised how different it felt to be home at the end of each semester, despite it being just a ten minute train journey or so.
Chesterfield just has a unique feel to it. There’s something about the town that makes it feel very special – from the familiar faces on the market, the quirky architecture, cobbled streets to the friendly locals who always have time for a chat, whether you know them or not.
It just feels like home to me.
- Naomi Aldread
THE LOCAL ECONOMY
Both Bolsover and Chesterfield districts boast a lovely blend of market traders, independent retailers, shopping centres and national brands.
Markets in Bolsover are held in Cotton Street on Tuesdays and Friday, with a flea market from on Thursdays, while Chesterfield’s open-air markets take place in the town on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays.
‘The local area has a great pool of talent for all types of business from world leading specialist manufacturers and multi-national communications companies to retailers and distributors,’ states Destination Chesterfield, which works to promote the town. ‘With over seven million people within a one hour radius; it’s a really cost effective place to locate your business.’
PROPERTY
Properties in Bolsover had an overall average price of £168,068 over the last year, according to Rightmove, the UK’s largest online real estate portal and property website (rightmove.co.uk).
Overall, sold prices in Bolsover over the last year were one per cent down on the previous year and two per cent up on the 2020 peak of £164,716.
Properties in Chesterfield had an overall average price of £220,825 over the last year, according to Rightmove.
Overall, sold prices over the last year were three per cent up on the previous year and eight per cent up on the 2020 peak of £205,252.
*Statistics correct as of March 15, 2023
HIDDEN GEM
Revolution House, in Old Whittington, three miles north of Chesterfield, sounds intriguing – and it most definitely is.
A pretty, thatched cottage, if you didn’t know its history you would be forgiven for thinking that this building is simply an aesthetically pleasing, picture postcard village home.
Yet this unassuming cottage holds a secret. It was here, in 1688, that the Earl of Devonshire, the Earl of Danby and Mr John D'Arcy met disguised as a hunting party to begin planning their part in the overthrow of King James II.
Formerly the Cock and Pynot Alehouse, the schemers met here seeking shelter after getting caught in a storm and their plans began to develop.
Now known as Revolution House, the property is a free public museum which touches on its infamous past, whilst events run throughout the year. Well worth a trip.
