Apperknowle is a village in

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 no ...

, England. The village is located on the Southwestern slopes of a flat-topped ridge at about 200 m above sea level.OS Map SK 27/37 (1979) The village overlooks the town of

Dronfield Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, which includes Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It lies in the valley of the River Drone between Chesterfield and Sheffield. The Peak District National Park is to the west. The nam ...

and the villages of

Unstone __NOTOC__ Unstone ( ) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire, in the North East Derbyshire administrative district approximately south east of Dronfield. It is also close to the town of Chesterfield. The River ...

(where the population is listed) and Unstone Green in the valley bottom, where the

River Drone The River Drone is a river which flows south from its source on the Sheffield, South Yorkshire, border. It flows through Dronfield, Unstone and Unstone Green in Derbyshire before merging at Sheepbridge to the north of Chesterfield with the Bar ...

and the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

are located. Above the village is a small grass

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

that used to belong to British Steel, and is now used for private planes with a couple of new hangars built in the 1980s. Apperknowle gains its name from the Old English word Apelknol, meaning 'Apple Tree Hill'. Set up on the hills it looks down upon Dronfield and the Drone Valley and offers some panoramic views across the countryside towards the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorl ...

. There is also a local

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

Church, which was opened in 1879 to replace an earlier building. It is the only place of worship in the village and often hosts visiting preachers from other local churches in and around the Sheffield area. The villages used to have 3 pubs and a post office, but only 1 pub survives now. Opposite the "Travellers Rest" pub is a cricket pitch (home to Apperknowle Cricket Club) that slopes down the valley and has a good view of the surrounding Derbyshire countryside. There is a Victorian school house, which used to be the local primary school until it was shut down in July 2008. There is no significant industrial activity in the village now. It acts as a commuter village for the local towns and the Chesterfield and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

areas. Originally the village grew from miners working the various coal outcrops, and small farms. There is evidence of old pits in the surrounding woods, and several old spoil heaps.

References

External links

Villages in Derbyshire North East Derbyshire District {{Derbyshire-geo-stub