Derby
is a
city
in the
East Midlands
region of
England
. It is on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of
Derbyshire
. In the 2001 census, 233,700 people lived there. At that time, Derby was the 18th largest place in England.
[1]
The city has
Roman
,
Saxon
and
Viking
origins.
The Roman camp of 'Derventio' was probably near to Derby. The site of the old Roman fort is at Chester Green. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs' of the Danelaw.
The town name is seen as 'Darby' or 'Darbye' on early modern maps, such as that of Speed (1610).
Modern research into the history and archaeology of Derby has shown that the Vikings and
Anglo-Saxons
probably co-existed, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c. 900) says that "Derby is divided by water". These areas of land were known as Norþworþig and Deoraby, and were at the "Irongate" (north) side of Derby.
[2]
In
World War I
, Derby was targeted by
German
Zeppelin
air bombers. They killed five people in a 1916 raid on the town.
All Saints Church was designated as a
cathedral
in 1927. That showed that the town was ready for city status.
In the
1920s
and
1930s
, slums were cleared out and people were moved to new
council estates
in the suburbs. There were also houses for sale there. Rehousing, council house building and private housing developments continued on a large scale for some 30 years after the end of
World War II
in 1945.
[3]
Derby became a high profile town internationally in sport following the appointment of
Brian Clough
as manager of
Derby County F.C.
in 1967. Promotion to the Football League First Division was achieved in 1969, and County won of the English league three years later. Following the Clough's resignation in 1973, his successor guided County to another league title in 1975, but this is the club's last major trophy to date; relegation followed in 1980 and top flight status was not regained until 1987, since when Derby have spent a total of 10 seasons (across two spells) in the top flight. The club moved from its century-old
Baseball Ground
in 1997 to the new
Pride Park Stadium
.
[4]
Derby was awarded city status on 7 June 1977 by
Queen Elizabeth II
.
[5]
Until then, Derby had been one of the few towns in England with a
cathedral
but not city status.
Despite its strategic industries (rail and
aero-engine
), Derby suffered comparatively little damage in both
world wars
(contrast
Bristol
and
Filton
). This may in part have been due to the jamming of the German radio-beam navigations systems (X-Verfahren and
Knickebein
), camouflage and decoy techniques ('
Starfish sites
') were built, mainly south of the town, e.g. out in fields near
Foremark
.
[6]
Derby has several sports clubs.
Derby's main
football
club is Derby County who've won the
FA Cup
and the
Football League
. There are also three senior non-league football clubs based in the city. Derby also had a short lived
baseball
team, which played at Derby's former ground.
Arthur Keily
the
marathon
runner
and
Olympian
was born in Derbyshire in
1921
and has lived his whole life in Derby. In Rome in
1960
he broke the English Olympic record, recording a time of 2hours 27mins.
[7]
[8]
Derby has the first public park in the country to have an
arboretum
, which is south of the city centre. The arboretum was set up by the
philanthropic
landowner
and
industrialist
Joseph Strutt in 1840. The arboretum's website states that the arboretum's design was the inspiration for the vision of great urban parks in the
USA
, notably
Central Park
in
New York City
.
[9]
There are four museums:
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
;
Pickford's House Museum
;
The Silk Mill
and The Royal Crown Derby Museum.
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