Things to see
Country Houses, Museums, Gardens & Historic Sites
Ecton Copper Mines
Once one of the foremost mines in the British Isles, now a Scheduled Monument. From Bronze Age times copper and lead deposits were worked for over 3500 years, ceasing in 1891.
Pilsbury Castle
The mysterious remains of a motte and bailey castle.
Tissington Hall and Village
Jacobean mansion home of the FitzHerbert family for over 400 years
Arbour Low Stone Circle and Gib Hill Barrow
The most important prehistoric site of the East Midlands, Arbor Low is a Neolithic henge monument atmospherically set amid high moorland.
Chatsworth House and Park
Treasure house, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire
Brindley Mill
A mid 18th century working corn mill which celebrates the work of James Brindley, millwright and canal engineer renowned as the pioneer of the canal system in Great Britain.
Nine Ladies Stone Circle
A small early Bronze Age stone circle which is part of a complex of prehistoric circles and standing stones on Stanton Moor.
Haddon Hall
Magnificent medieval Tudor House
Cheddleton Flint Mill
A fine example of a water mill complex that ground flint for the pottery industry. The Caldon Canal, which would have supplied the mill by narrow boat, passes by. The earliest reference to milling at Cheddleton dates back to 1253 and It's possible that the foundations of the South Mill date back to this period.
Eyam Hall
Historic manor house set in the middle of the plague village. Just one innocent bundle of cloth from London to Eyam and the village fate was sealed in 1665.
RSPB Coombes Valley Nature Reserve
A delightful oak woodland to walk through in a spectacular steep sided valley. In spring and early summer lots of migrating birds come to breed and you may see flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers. In winter, redwings, fieldfares and winter finches are regular visitors.
Cromford (Arkwright) Mill
Cromford Mill was the first water-powered cotton spinning mill developed by Sir Richard Arkwright in 1771 which was quickly copied by mills in Lancashire, Germany and the United States. It forms the centrepiece of Derwent Valley Mills now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Biddulph Grange - National Trust
Exciting survivor of the great age of Victorian gardening
Peveril Castle
The imposing ruins of one of England’s earliest Norman fortresses standing high above the pretty village of Castellation with breathtaking views over the Hope Valley.
Wingfield Manor
The vast and immensely impressive ruins of a palatial medieval manor house which became Mary Queen of Scots prison.
Little Morton Hall - National Trust
Timber framed, moated manor house
Croxden Abbey
The impressive remains of an abbey of Cistercian 'white monks', including towering fragments of its 13th century church, infirmary and 14th century abbot's lodging.
Lyme Park - National Trust
Stately home, deer park and gardens. Mr Darcey's house in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Home of the Allingham family in the BBC's 'The Village'.
Kedleston Hall - National Trust
Magnificent Palladian mansion
Sudbury Hall - National Trust
Late 17th C. house with sumptuous interiors and the National Trust Museum of Childhood
Tabley House
Grade 1 Palladian mansion
Tatton Park - National Trust
Mansion, gardens and deer park
Shugborough - National Trust
Ancestral home of the Earls of Litchfield
Capesthorne Hall
18th C. home of the Bromley-Davenport family
Gawsworth Hall
Half timbered Elizabethan manor house built in 1480 and open air theatre
Lea Gardens
Rhododendrons, azaleas and alpines
Bridgemere
Britains biggest garden centre