Wirksworth

Wirksworth, a market town in the western parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 14 m. N.N.W. of Derby, on a branch of the Midland railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 3807. It is picturesquely situated at the head of the valley of a small tributary of the Derwent, at an elevation exceeding 500 ft., and is almost encircled by sharply rising hills. The cruciform church of St Mary, with a central tower and short spire, is in great part Early English, with Perpendicular additions; but considerable traces of a Norman building were revealed during a modern restoration. There is a manufacture of tape in the town, and lead-mining and stone-quarrying are carried on in the neighbourhood; relics of the Roman working of the lead mines have been discovered. A large brass vessel used as a standard measure for the lead ore, and dating from the time of Henry VIII., is preserved.