Dronfield
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:GBdot Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, situated between Sheffield and Chesterfield on the River Drone. It has a population of around 23,000 people and is served by Dronfield railway station. Nearby are the villages and hamlets of Unstone, Holmesfield, Barlow, Apperknowle, and Hundall.
It is an ancient market town, pre-existing the 1086 Domesday Book, which grew around various industries, the most widespread of which was coal mining. Notable buildings in the town include several 16th and 17th century houses, including the town's library (formerly a manor house), a grammar school built in 1579, and a 15th century building long used as a barn with a king post roof. Its 12th century St. John the Baptist parish church exhibits a fine 138 foot spire. The Peel Monument, situated on the town's High Street, was built in 1854 out of gritstone as a tribute to Sir Robert Peel to commemorate his repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. This monument serves as pivotal in Dronfield's image.
Dronfield in the 20th century mainly grew because it was a dormitory community for workers from the nearby city of Sheffield. Today it comprises of three increasingly suburban communities, Coal Aston, Dronfield, and Dronfield Woodhouse. The latter once boasting a status of being the largest privately-owned housing estate in Europe when it was first built in the 1970s. During the same decade a bypass was built running through the westerly side of the town to allow easier access for travel between the larger populated areas of Sheffield to the north, and Chesterfield to the south.
The town's Coach and Horses football ground is now home to the world's oldest football team, Sheffield F.C.
The town's weekly local newspaper publishing is called the Dronfield Advertiser.
Dronfield has a twin town in Germany, called Sindelfingen. A park in Dronfield Woodhouse was renamed after the town to celebrate this partnership in the early 1990s.