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Peak District Towns and Villages: Middleton by Wirksworth

An index to Peak District towns and villages including Middleton by Wirksworth, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Leek, Matlock, Macclesfield and Wirksworth in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, England, UK.
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Middleton by Wirksworth

Local Services:

B & B

Self Catering

Food and Drink

Local Geography:
Area Map

Nearby Villages

Local Attractions

Middleton by Wirksworth (so called to distinguish it from the Middleton near to Youlgrave) is a quarrying and former lead-mining village perched on a bleak hillside above Wirksworth and Cromford. The village is centred on a long main street which leads down into Wirksworth past several huge and very active quarries. For most people this is not a place to linger, though DH Lawrence did, spending a year living in a cottage on the road down to the Via Gellia to the north of Middleton.

Nearby Places of Interest

Arkwright's Mill, CromfordCromford Mill, Cromford, Derbyshire, was Richard Arkwright's first cotton mill and was one of the industrial revolution's most important symbols. This is where the revolution in the production of cotton began.
Black Rocks Country ParkBlack Rocks Country Park, Cromford, Derbyshire, is an outcrop of sculpted gritstone rock which offers a spectacular situation above the Derwent Valley at Cromford.
Ecclesbourne Valley RailwayEcclesbourne Valley Railway is a project to reopen the railway between Wirksworth and Duffield. This is staffed and run by volunteers, based at Wirksworth Station.
Gulliver's KingdomGulliver's Kingdom is a theme park for young families, in a situation overlooking Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.
Harboro RocksHarboro Rocks are an edge of magnesian limestone near Brassington, offering rock climbing and fantastic scenery. Harboro Cave was inhabited from the Ice Age.
Heights of AbrahamHeights of Abraham are a tourist centre with two show caves - Rutland Cavern and Great Masson Mine - plus a cable car and other attractions, above Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.
High Peak Junction and Cromford CanalHigh Peak Junction is the former junction of the High Peak Railway and the Midland Railway, just south of Cromford
High Tor, MatlockHigh Tor is a lofty limestone crag which towers over Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. There is a public park on top.
Lead Mining Museum, Matlock BathThe Lead Mining Museum at Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, is owned by the Peak District Mines Historical Society and is in the Pavilion Building alongside the River Derwent. They also run the nearby Temple Mine, where you can see what a lead mine was like.
Masson MillsMasson Mills, Matlock Bath are Sir Richard Arkwright's masterpiece, a magnificent early 19th century mill. The mill has been converted into a shopping village, with exhibition and conference centre, but it also has a working textile museum.
Middleton TopMiddleton Top is the last surviving winding engine from the now defunct Cromford and High Peak Railway, near Middleton by Wirksworth, Derbyshire.
National Stone Centre, Middleton by WirksworthThe National Stone Centre, Middleton by Wirksworth, Derbyshire, has geological displays, fossils, stone walling courses, panning for gems and other activities.
Wirksworth ChurchWirksworth Church, Derbyshire, has important and impressive Saxon carvings. Betti the Mercian monk may have been buried here, as are the Gell family and Anthony Lowe
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