Arts and crafts in Derbyshire
Derbyshire (including Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derby, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak, North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire) is in the East Midlands of England. It has a population of around 1,000,000 and covers approximately 260,000 hectares. Here is a list of nearby or neighbouring counties: Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire.
Derbyshire has within its borders a large part of the Peak District National Park and the southern part of the Pennines. The county town of Derbyshire is Derby, where you could visit Derby Museum and Art Gallery, which has collections of paintings, porcelain such as Royal Crown Derby, costumes, a toy theatre and natural history exhibits. A few miles outside Derby is Kedleston Hall, an 18th century mansion whose Neoclassical exterior and interiors were designed by the famous architect Robert Adam, who also designed the surrounding gardens. Performing arts venues in Derbyshire include the Pomegranate Theatre in Chesterfield, the Buxton Opera House, Derby Theatre and New Mills Art Theatre.
Set among picturesque country side Caudwells Mill in Matlock is a working flour mill, built during the 19th century on the site of an earlier mill and is powered by the flowing waters of the River Wye. The mill machinery mostly dates back to the late 19th and early 20th century, when it milled grain into flour. Visitors to the nearby Craft Centre can see and purchase the work of artists and craft makers, such as paintings, jewellery, glassware and metalwork. Hardwick Hall is an Elizabethan country house near Chesterfield, built during the late 16th century, which has many tapestries and other furnishings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Other attractions in Derbyshire include Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Derby Cathedral, Bolsover Castle, Sharpes Pottery Museum in Swadlincote and the remains of Peveril Castle.
