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Middleton or Middleton-by-Wirksworth is an upland village and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
lying approximately one mile NNW of
Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population was 4,902 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census.Area E04002820 (Wirksworth parish) in Table PP002 - Sex, from Wirkswor ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, England. Middleton was, in 1086, a berewick (a supporting farm) of the town and manor of Wirksworth. Middleton was formerly known for its
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
mines and high quality
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
quarries, including the underground quarry site at Middleton Mine. The Middleton Mine networks underground for approximately with tunnels on three different levels running under Middleton Moor to the Hopton Wood quarry works at the other side of the hill below Ryder Point Works’. Part of the tunnel collapsed in the 1970s leaving a noticeable depression in the ground above on the eastern side of Middleton Moor. The population of the parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 775. The attraction towards Middleton becoming a village had much to do with the fact that it is one of the few Derbyshire villages in the limestone area that has a ‘perched’ water table due to the impervious volcanic rock and shale formations within its topology. The availability of water was the incentive behind it becoming a choice of settlement. Middleton formed originally in the Saxon times as a small farming hamlet which settled around a very high spring. The former
Cromford and High Peak Railway The Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was a Standard-gauge railway, standard-gauge line between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built t ...
passes close by the village. The local quarries were linked to this line by a short branch spur, Killer's Branch, part of which now forms the track bed of the Steeple Grange Light Railway. The branch line was operational until the late 1960s. In the 1970s, the disused track bed of the Cromford and High Peak Railway and some surrounding land were purchased by the Derbyshire County Council and the Peak Park Planning Board, who then worked collaboratively to turn the former railway into the
High Peak Trail The High Peak Trail is a Rail trail, trail for walkers, cyclists and horse riders in the Peak District of England. Running from Dowlow , near Buxton, to High Peak Junction, Cromford , it follows the trackbed of the former Cromford and Hi ...
for walkers and cyclists. Middleton Top lies near the southern end of the trail, which starts at
High Peak Junction High Peak Junction, near Cromford, Derbyshire, England, is the name now used to describe the site where the former Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR), whose workshops were located here, meets the Cromford Canal. It lies within Derwent Valley ...
. There is a car park and visitor centre at Middleton Top, where cycles may be hired. Middleton Top Engine House () houses a preserved steam engine formerly used to haul trains up the long 1-in-8 (12.5%) gradient of Middleton Incline. The engine, built by the
Butterley Company The Butterley Company was an English manufacturing firm founded as Benjamin Outram and Company in 1790. Its subsidiaries existed until 2009. Origins This area of Derbyshire had been known for its outcrops of iron ore which had been exploited at ...
of Ripley in 1829, still runs for demonstration purposes and is occasionally open to the public. The northern part of the village on the west side of the main road out towards New Road is called 'The Hall' due to the location of the now demolished Middleton Hall. The cold winter of 1947 combined with the exposed nature of Middleton meant that snow was present even during the summer following the heavy snowfall. Middleton is dependent on the market town of Wirksworth for many of its services, such as its health centre, leisure centre, high school (the Anthony Gell School) and nearby shops, petrol and so on. The closest railway station to Middleton is Wirksworth on the
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a long heritage railway based at Wirksworth railway station, Wirksworth station in Derbyshire, England. It operates passenger services between and Wirksworth, with occasional services to . Passengers c ...
.


Literary connection

In 1918-19,
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...
and his wife Frieda rented Mountain Cottage, which stands below the B5023 road on the NW side of village as the road descends towards the
Via Gellia The A5012 road is a main road in the south of the English county of Derbyshire. Route Around in length, it connects two primary north–south routes; the A6 at Cromford and the A515 between Buxton and Ashbourne. It passes through Pikeha ...
. Lawrence also reputedly spent time at Woodland Cottage (formerly known as The Woodlands) on the opposite side of New Road. While living in Middleton during the bitter winter of 1918-19, Lawrence wrote the short story ''A Wintry Peacock'' (published in 1921), which is set in the immediate locality.


See also

* Listed buildings in Middleton-by-Wirksworth


References


General references

''D. H. Lawrence: Triumph to Exile, 1912-1922'' by Mark Kinkead-Weekes (1996, CUP, Cambridge, England).


Inline citations


External links


Notes on the Cromford and High Peak RailwayMiddleton Top Countryside Centre (Derbyshire County Council) Downloadable .pdf and .txt files of the entire text of ''A Wintry Peacock''
* ttp://www.middletonbywirksworth.co.uk/ Village website with details of annual festival, archive photos and historical background.br>Aerial photo of village looking E towards Dene Quarry, Cromford.A genealogy of the Brooks family of Middleton by Wirksworth
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Civil parishes in Derbyshire Derbyshire Dales