Wirksworth
Wirksworth is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England.
Wirksworth is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population was 4,902 in the 2021 census. Wirksworth contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a market charter by Edward I in 1306 and still holds a market on Tuesdays in the Memorial Gardens. The parish church of St Mary's is thought to date from 653. The town developed as a centre for lead mining and stone quarrying. Many lead mines were owned by the Gell family of nearby Hopton Hall.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Wirksworth
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Derwent Valley Mills
Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership.
3.1 km · World Heritage Site, where water-powered cotton-spinning mills were first built in the UK · Wikipedia - 02National Tramway Museum
The National Tramway Museum is a transport museum located in the village and civil parish of Crich, in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The museum's collection of trams is officially designated as being of national importance and encompasses the 1860s to the present day.
5.9 km · United Kingdom national museum of tramways · Wikipedia - 03Riber Castle
Riber Castle is a 19th-century Grade II listed country house in the hamlet of Riber on a hill overlooking Matlock, Derbyshire. It is built of gritstone from a local quarry which was pulled up the 200-metre hill by a series of pulleys.
5.5 km · building in Derbyshire, England, UK · Wikipedia - 04Hopton Hall
Hopton Hall is a 14th-century manor house and traditionally the residence of the Gell family baronets. It is located in between Carsington and Hopton.
3.1 km · 18th-century country house at Hopton, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England, UK · Wikipedia - 05Carsington Water
Carsington Water is a reservoir, operated by Severn Trent Water, between Wirksworth and Kniveton in Derbyshire, England. The reservoir takes water from the River Derwent at Ambergate during winter months, pumping up to the reservoir by 10.5-kilometre long tunnels and aqueduct.
4.6 km · reservoir in Derbyshire, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 06Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is a 9-mile long heritage railway based at Wirksworth station in Derbyshire, England. It operates passenger services between Duffield and Wirksworth, with occasional services to Ravenstor.
400 m · heritage railway in Derbyshire, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 07Steeple Grange Light Railway
The Steeple Grange Light Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway visitor attraction near Wirksworth in Derbyshire, England. Opened in 1985 on the trackbed of a disused branch line, it uses industrial locomotives and rolling stock from disused mines, quarries, and steelworks around the country.
1.5 km · heritage railway at Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England · Wikipedia - 08Willersley Castle
Willersley Castle is a late 18th-century country mansion above the River Derwent at Cromford, Derbyshire, outside Peak District National Park. The castle has been a Grade II* listed building since April 2000.
3.4 km · house in Derbyshire, England, UK · Wikipedia - 09St Mary's Church, Cromford
St Mary's Church, Cromford, is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Cromford, Derbyshire.
3.4 km · Grade I listed church in Cromford, Derbyshire Dales, UK · Wikipedia - 10Christ Church, Holloway
Christ Church, Holloway is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England in Holloway, Derbyshire.
4.7 km · church in Holloway, Derbyshire, England, UK · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
There are several attractions around the town, including St. Mary's Church, Puzzle Gardens — a group of small alleyways and jitties in north-west central Wirksworth — the restored Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, the Star Disc star-gazing site, and a Heritage Centre near the Market Place.
- 01Ecclesbourne Valley Railway
Coldwell Street, DE4 4FB, ticketoffice@e-v-r.com.
- 02National Stone Centre
Porter Lane (about 1 mile/1.6 km north of Wirksworth),.
- 03Derbyshire Eco Centre
- 04Wirksworth Heritage Centre
Local history museum, with cafe, gallery and gift shop.
- 05Star Disc
Green Hill, Stoney Wood (pedestrian and disabled access: DE4 4EN; designated parking for Stoney Wood: DE4 4FR).
- 06St Marys Church
St.
From Wikivoyage: Wirksworth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01Carsington Water
Reservoir, activities include: walking, cycling, fly fishing, birdwatching, sailing, canoeing, and windsurfing.
- 02The Northern Light Cinema
North End, DE4 4FG, box office), tickets@tnlcinema.co.uk.
From Wikivoyage: Wirksworth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
- 01Le Mistral Restaurant
23 Market Place,.
From Wikivoyage: Wirksworth, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Wirksworth
- Airports
- East Midlands (EMA), 32 km · Manchester (MAN), 56 km · Birmingham (BHX), 71 km
- Stations
- Cromford railway station, 3.8 km · Matlock Bath railway station, 4.6 km · Idridgehay railway station, 5.2 km · Whatstandwell railway station, 4.7 km · Ravenstor railway station, 900 m
- Manchester, Greater Manchester → Wirksworth63 km · quickest by road, 2h 8m · £7–10
- Birmingham, West Midlands → Wirksworth70 km · quickest by road, 1h 49m · £8–11
- Leeds, West Yorkshire → Wirksworth79 km · quickest by road, 2h 4m · £10–14
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Wirksworth
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Wirksworth. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inRailway stations at for the town or (1.5 miles S) for the scenic Derwent gorge area, the Heights of Abraham attraction, caves and cable car service.
From Wikivoyage: Matlock, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-05.
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If you know how people move in Wirksworth – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Wirksworth
Wirksworth is 32 km from Nottingham, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Cromfordvillage and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales district, Derbyshire, England3 km
- Matlock Bathvillage and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales district, Derbyshire, England3.3 km
- Middletonvillage and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales, Derbyshire, England2.3 km
- Bonsallvillage and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales district, Derbyshire, England4.4 km
- Brassingtonvillage and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales district, Derbyshire, England5.5 km
- Kirk Iretonvillage and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales, Derbyshire, England3.6 km