DUFFIELD is a large and pleasant village, in the populous parish of its name, in the hundred of Appletree: the village is situate on a fine plain, over which the main road passes, leading from Derby to Belper, Matlock, and Sheffield; about four and a half miles north from Derby, and three and a half south from Belper. It has long been esteemed a favourite residence of persons enjoying a respectable competence, who prefer retirement and quiet to the bustle of larger towns.

In Domesday book it is called Dunelle, and was formerly celebrated for its castle, and formed part of the demesne of Henry de Ferars, who, in 1096, held the fortress, which stood on an eminence north-west of the village, on the site now called 'Castle-orchard'. In the reign of Elizabeth frequent mention is made of the extent and importance of the royal possessions at Duffield, and of the appointment of stewards, rangers, and other officers, together with great leets and courts held there, at which period it was a portion of the duchy of Lancaster, and so it continued till the reign of Charles I. The manufacture of lace is carried on to a limited extent; many of the working class are employed in frame-work knitting, and others in the collieries and stone quarries in the immediate neighbourhood.

The places of worship are, the parish church, and chapels for baptists, methodists, and unitarians. The church, which is dedicated to St. Alkmund, is a large and handsome edifice, with a spire, and contains some curious monuments, particularly one to the memory of Sir Roger Mynours, of Windley; the living is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. The principal charities are, the free grammar school, originally founded by William Gilbert, in the reign of Elizabeth; and an alms-house, erected by Anthony Bradshaw, who died in 1614. There are two annual fairs for cattle, - one on the Thursday following New Year's day, and the other on the 1st of March. The parish of Duffield contained, in 1821, 13,896 inhabitants, and in 1831, 14,683, of which last number 1,653 were returned for the township.

LITTLE EATON is a chapelry and village, in that part of the parish of St. Alkmund which is in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, rather more than one mile from Duffield. Here are many valuable collieries and productive stone quarries; bleaching grounds, belonging to Messrs. Smith & Sons, and machine-paper works of Messrs. Tempest & Son; there are, besides, malting concerns, and corn-mills on the Derwent river.

This place has water communication with Derby by canal, to which town, and others more remote, coals are conveyed in great quantities, being brought hither by railroads from the several collieries. The Royal Mail and the Quicksilver post coach passes through here on their route to and from Sheffield and Derby. Here is a small but handsome church, the living of which is a perpetual curacy.

The chapelry contained, in 1821, 547 inhabitants, and in 1831, 610.

BREADSALL is a parish (having no dependent township) in the hundred of Appletree, though locally situate in that of Morleston and Litchurch; about three miles N.N.E. from Derby, and the like distances. S.S.E. from Duffield. The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is a large and handsome edifice, with a lofty needle spire, which forms a prominent object for a considerable distance around.

On the south side of the chancel is a monument to Erasmus Darwin, a physician, botanist, and celebrated poet, who died here in 1802. The living of Breadsall is a rectory, in the patronage of the Crewe family. A free school was endowed here in 1745, by the Rev. John Clay, and in 1788 the school-room was erected, chiefly at the expense of Sir Henry Harpur.

The ‘Old Hall’, supposed to have been built at least seven centuries ago, and formerly the residence of the Harpur family, is used as a public-house, and has been in the possession of the present occupier, Mr. Joseph Hollingworth, and his ancestors, for upwards of two centuries; here are preserved several articles of anqtiquity, among which is a brown earthenware ‘wassal cup’, with the figures 1715 on it, a delf plate, made in the reign of queen Anne, and a table (in the kitchen) originally used by the servants of the ‘Old Hall’.

The parish contained, by the census taken in 1821, 544 inhabitants, and in 1831, 565.

MAKENEY is an inconsiderable hamlet, about two miles north from Duffield, with which the population is returned.

POST OFFICE:- DUFFIELD, William Turner, Post Master:- Letters arrive from DERBY every forenoon at a quarter before eleven, and are despatched every morning at eight.

Description(s) from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835.
Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie in May 1996.