Discover Belper, Derbyshire

Belper is a town in the district of Amber Valley, in eastern Derbyshire, England. Located in the valley of the River Derwent, it has a population of around 21,000 people (2012 estimate). It is to the north of Derby and to the northwest of Nottingham.

King Street, Belper, Derbyshire, England: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belper_kingst.jpg
Author: chevin


Belper is believed to have been established following the Norman Conquest. Its name was of French origin, Beaurepaire, which was a hunting lodge for Edmund Crouchback, the 1st Earl of Lancaster in the 13th century. The Chapel of St Thomas, still standing today, was built in 1250.

The discovery of coal deposits helped to drive the growth of Belper, that by the 17th century, it had become a major town. Belper developed into an industrial town in the 18th century, when Jedediah Strutt built a water-powered cotton mill there, only the second in the world, and one of several mills to be built by Stutt in Belper.

Belper entered the 20th century as a center for textile and hosiery. While textile and cotton spinning formed the main industries of the town in the 19th and early 20th century, the services sector became predominant in the second half of the 20th century.

Visiting Belper

From the M1 motorway, turn off at Junction 26 to continue west on the A610 road. Turn off the A610 towards Eastwood/Langley Mill heading west on the A608 road. At Smalley, continue on the A609 heading west until you reach Belper.

Fortified bridge in Belper: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortified_bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_700891.jpg
Author: Chris Allen

Places of Interest in Belper

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.