CHESTERFIELD  , a

market town and municipal borough in the Chesterfield parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 24 M . N. by E. of Derby, on the Midland and the Great Central railways . Pop . (1891) 22,009; (1901) 27,185 . It lies at the junction of two streams, the Rother and Hipper, in a populous industrial district . It is irregularly built, with narrow streets, but has a spacious market-place . The church of St Mary and All Saints is a large and beautiful cruciform building principally of the Decorated period . Its central tower carries a remarkable twisted spire of wood covered with lead, 230 ft. high; the distortion has evidently taken place through the use of unseasoned timber and consequent warping of the woodwork . The church, which contains numerous interesting monuments, possesses also the unusual feature of an apsidal Decorated chapel . There is an example of flamboyant tracery in one of the windows . Among public buildings, the Stephenson memorial hall (1879), containing a free library, art and science class-rooms, a theatre and the rooms of the Chesterfield Institute, commemorates George Stephenson, the engineer, who resided at Tapton House, close to Chesterfield, in his later life; he died here in 1848, and was buried in Trinity church . Chesterfield grammar school was founded in 1574 .

The

industries of the town include manufactures of cotton, silk, earthenware, machinery and tobacco, with brass and iron founding; while slate and stone are quarried, and there are coal, iron and lead mines in the neighbourhood . The town is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors . Area, 1216 acres . In the immediate neighbourhood of Chester-field on the west is the urban district of Brampton and Walton (pop . 2608), to the south-east is Hasland (7427), and to the north-east Brimington (4569) . In spite of the Roman origin suggested by its name, so few remains have beet found here that it is doubtful whether Chester-field was a Roman station . Chesterfield (Cestrefeld) owes its present name to the Saxons . It is mentioned in Domesday only as a bailiwick of Newbold belonging to the king, and granted to William Peverell . In 1204 John gave the manor to William Bruere and granted to the town all the privileges of a free borough which were enjoyed by Nottingham and Derby; but before this it seems to have had prescriptive borough rights . Later charters were granted by various sovereigns, and it was incorporated by Elizabeth in 1508 under the style of a mayor, 6 brethren and 12 capital burgesses . This charter was confirmed by Charles II . (1662), and the town was so governed till the Municipal Act 1835 appointed a mayor, 3 aldermen and 12 councillors .

In 1204 John granted two weekly markets, on Tuesday and Saturday, and an

annual fair of eight days at the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept . 14) . This fair, which is still held, and another on Palm Tuesday, are mentioned in the Quo Watranto roll of 1330 . The Tuesday market has long been discontinued . That Chesterfield was early a thriving centre is shown by the charter of John Lord Wake, lord of the manor, granting a gild merchant to the town . In 1266 the town was the scene of a battle between the royal forces and the barons, when Robert de Ferrets, earl of Derby, was taken prisoner . In 1586 there was a terrible visitation of the plague; and the parliamentarian forces were overthrown here in the Civil War . With the development of cotton and silk industries the town has increased enormously, and is now second in importance only to Derby among the towns of the county . There is no record that it ever returned representatives to parliament . See Stephen Glover, History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby (Derby, 1831-1833) J . Pym Yeatman, Records of the Borough of Chesterfield (Chesterfield and Sheffield, 1884) ; Thomas Ford, History of . Chesterfield (London, 1839) .

CHESTER-LE-

STREET, a town in the Chester-le-Street parliamentary division of Durham, England, near the river Wear, 6 m . N. of the city of Durham on the North-Eastern railway . Pop . (root) 11,753 . The parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is an interesting building, formerly collegiate, with a tower 156 ft. high, and a remarkable series of monumental tombs of the Lumley family, collected here from Durham cathedral and various ruined monasteries, and in some cases remade, About 1 m. along the river is Lumley Castle, the seat of the earl of Scarborough, and about 2 M. north lies Lambton Castle, the residence of the earl of Durham, built in 1797 on the site of the old House of Harraton . Collieries and iron-works employ the industrial population . Chester-le-Street is a place of considerable antiquity . It lies on a branch of the Roman north road, on which it was a station, but the name is not known . Under the name of Cunecastre it was made the seat of a bishop in 882, and continued to be the head of the diocese till the Danish invasion of 995 . During that time the church was the repository of the shrine of St Cuthbert, which was then removed to Durham .