Denby is a village in the English county of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

that is notable as the birthplace of

John Flamsteed John Flamsteed (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, ''Catalogus Britannicus'', and a star atlas called '' Atlas C ...

, England's first

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...

, and the location of the Denby Pottery Company. The population at the 2001 Census was 1,827, increasing to 2,190 at the 2011 Census.

History

The settlement was listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 as Denebi. By 1334, it was a market town and held an annual fair in September. For over two centuries, ironstone and clay were being mined; coal mining started in the 1200s. Royal

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

(1646–1719) was born in Denby. In 1806, William Bourne leased the clay bed that had been discovered while a road was being built. Three years later, the family began manufacturing salt-glazed pottery under the Bourne name, with son Joseph running the operation. By the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Denby had switched to producing tableware as well as industrial parts. Brown was the primary colour but the company shifted toward more attractive colours after the war. Ownership of the company remained with the family until 1942; after several owners, Denby was acquired by a consortium that was funded by Valco Capital Partners. The enterprise continues today as the Denby Pottery Company.

Description

Denby is east from Belper and north of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. Denby is home to a secondary school which is named after John Flamsteed. The village was once served by Denby railway station on the Midland Railway Ripley Branch. There is a memorial garden for John Flamsteed, opposite St Mary the Virgin's Church, which features the stellarsphere which shows the position of the stars and planets overhead at the current time. The village is commemorated in the hymn tune Denby, composed in 1904 by Charles J. Dale.

Other settlements in Denby parish

*Denby Common is a hamlet 1 mile to the north east of Denby village, on the outskirts of Loscoe. *Codnor Breach, another hamlet, merges into Denby Common. * Denby Bottles is half a mile to the west of Denby Village. *Smithy Houses lies north west of Denby Village, along the B6179 road. All four of these, along with a small southern area of Marehay in Ripley, and a small portion of Openwoodgate near Belper, lie within Denby parish.

Notable people

In addition to John Flamsteed: *

Henry Draycott Henry Draycott (c. 1510–1572) was an English-born Crown official and judge in sixteenth-century Ireland, who held a number of senior Government offices, including Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. Despite his apparent lack of legal qualifi ...

(ca.1510 – 1572), a highly successful judge in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. *

Harry Wingfield John Henry "Harry" Wingfield (4 December 1910 – 5 March 2002) was an English illustrator, best known for his drawings that illustrated the Ladybird Books Key Words Reading Scheme (also known as ''Peter and Jane'') in the 1960s through to the ...

(1910–2002), an illustrator *

Paul Copley Paul Mackriell Copley (born 25 November 1944) is an English actor and voiceover artist. From 2011 to 2015 he appeared as Mr. Mason, father of William Mason, in 16 episodes of ''Downton Abbey'', and from 2020 to 2021, he appeared in the ITV so ...

(born 1944), an actor and voiceover artist. * Daniel Kitson (born 1977), comedian and writer.

Sport

* Joseph Cresswell (1865–1932), a cricketer who played 15 first-class cricket games for Warwickshire from 1895 to 1899. * William Wilmot (1869—1957), a cricketer who played 10 first class games and for Derbyshire between 1897 and 1901. * Tommy Allott (1908-1975), a motorcycle speedway rider

References

External links

GENUKI page
Villages in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire Geography of Amber Valley {{Derbyshire-geo-stub