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Derby. All-Saints' Church. -Porcelain and Derbyshire Spar Manufactory.—the Infirmary.-Kedleston Park.-Kedleston Hall, Pictures, and Statues. - Description of the Road from Kedleston to Wirksworth.

WITH Some trifling alterations and unimportant omissions, the following pages are the reprint of a more costly work, published under the title of " Peak Scenery," and illustrated with a series of engravings from drawings by the celebrated sculptor CHANTREY. It now appears in a less assuming, but, perhaps, a more useful form. The Excursions contained in this volume commence at Sheffield, a place situated within one mile only of the northern extremity of Derbyshire; but as a great majority of those who may make it a travelling companion, may probably approach the more romantic divisions of the county in a contrary direction, a preliminary chapter, beginning with Derby, may neither be an unacceptable nor an useless introduction to the subsequent pages. I shall therefore suppose them snugly seated at an inn, in the principal town of the county, ready to accompany me to the Peak Scenery of Derbyshire.

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This very interesting portion of the kingdom is distinguished by a great variety of form, soil, and structure. the more southern districts, where the red marl chiefly prevails, it is flat; and although best adapted to agricultural purposes, it has but few charms for the picturesque tourist, who is most delighted where hills, and dales, and mountain streams make up the prospect. This part of Derbyshire is, therefore, travelled over with comparatively but little interest; but its other divisions, its lands of "red heather," and "mist and mountain," excite more pleasing and more powerful emotions: they are adorned with some of the most beautiful and romantic scenery in the kingdom; and in the con

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templation of those who visit Derbyshire for pleasure, and not for profit, they constitute the county itself. Hence it is that this descriptive tour, passing over thousands of wellcultivated acres and fertile meadows, commences in the immediate vicinity of Derby. Descending the hill from Burton, or approaching the town from Nottingham, it is a good feature in the landscape; and the lofty tower of All-Saints' Church, rising like a magnificent land-mark far above every surrounding object, beautifully intimates the consequence of the place which it dignifies and adorns. This noble tower, which is one hundred and eighty feet high, is ornamented with the richest tracery, and surmounted with light crocketed pinnacles, and embattled parapets of the most exquisite workmanship.

Derby is situated on the banks of the Derwent, in a luxuriant and well-cultivated vale. The town is surrounded with beautiful scenery; and the walks in the meadows near the river, and on the elevated grounds, are peculiarly delightful. Several important manufactures are carried on in this ancient town, and a visit to the Porcelain Works will gratify the traveller. They were established about seventy-five years ago by a gentleman of the name of Dewsbury; and the wares they now produce are unrivalled in richness and elegance. There is a classical taste and beauty in the forms of their urns, vases, and ewers; and some excellent artists are employed to adorn them with landscapes, portraits, groups, and figures. Mineral colours only are used in painting porcelain, and it is finished with a rich enamel. The gold with which it is splendidly ornamented is reduced to a liquid previously to being laid upon the different articles to which it is applied; they are then committed to the fire, when the gold reassumes a solid form, and is afterwards brilliantly polished.

The manufacturing of jewellery has likewise been established at Derby, and pursued with considerable success. The articles made here are much esteemed for their superior neatness and accuracy; no part of the kingdom, the metropolis alone excepted, produces more beautiful jewellery than the town of Derby,

The next place deserving particular notice is the Spar and Marble Manufactory of Messrs. Brown and Co. There is not in the whole mineral world a more beautiful material than the amethistine fluors of Derbyshire; and they are here worked into a variety of elegant ornaments, chiefly from Greek and

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Roman models, but partly from designs of a more modern date. At this manufactory, the petroleum, or black marble of Ashford, is made into vases, columns, urns, chimney-pieces, and a variety of other articles of very superior workmanship; and its polish is nearly equal to the surface of a mirror.

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Amongst the public buildings at Derby, the Infirmary holds a distinguished rank, whether the architecture, the interior accommodations, or the utility of the structure are considered its exterior is imposing, and the arrangements within are admirably adapted for comfort and convenience. The fine mechanical- talent of Wm. Strutt, Esq. has essentially contributed to the improvement of this benevolent institution. Nearly the whole of its excellent arrangements are attributable to the skill and contrivance of this gentleman. Mr. Charles Sylvester was the practical agent, Mr. Strutt the moving spirit: the ingenious suggestions of the one were confided to the masterly execution of the other, and their combined efforts have produced a system of management and domestic economy in the Derby Infirmary unequalled in other institution of the kind in the kingdom.

any

Mr. Charles Sylvester, in his very beautiful and scientific publication on this Infirmary, has added a wreath to his own brow by his liberal acknowledgments of the services rendered him by Mr. Strutt. The praise to which these gentlemen are entitled, may be fairly divided between them: let them, therefore, go down to posterity together as the joint contributors to a noble work.

About half a mile from Derby, closely situated on the banks of the river, is Little Chester, the Derventio, or rather one of the Derventios of the Romans. On the banks of the Yorkshire Derwent, a few miles north-east of York, near Aldby, they had another town or city of the same name; so denominated, no doubt, from the river near which it stood. Little Chester is now not distinguished by the remains of any ancient works to denote its former consequence, but Dr. Stukely is said to have traced the walls that nearly circumscribed the area where Derventio stood: he likewise discovered the foundations of many houses; and near the fields now called Castle Fields, he distinguished the lines of some of the streets. A great variety of Roman coins, both silver and copper, have at different times been found here; some dated as early as the year 14, and others as late as 318; but, as Pilkington observes, "We cannot infer from hence that

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the Romans were stationed here for the space of three hundred years."

The easiest and by far the pleasantest road from Derby to Matlock bath is by Duffield and Belper, through a continuity of dales by the side of the Derwent, amidst scenery as beautiful and as picturesque as any in the county. Another road, and one that is frequently travelled, is by Kedleston, the celebrated seat of Lord Scarsdale, which is a powerful magnet of attraction to all who delight to visit the magnificent mansions of English nobility, and who have a soul to feel and relish the excellence of works of art. This splendid building is situated about three and a half miles from Derby, and near the entrance into the park there is a good inn for the accommodation of travellers. Kedleston Park includes an area of the circumference of upwards of five miles, and the trees with which it is adorned are the growth of many centuries: Time has passed silently over them, but the marks of his footsteps he has left behind; their branches are hung with tufts of moss, and they look like the relics of a period that has passed away and been swallowed up by the common despoiler of all things. They are the patriarchs of the forest, and venerable even in decay: a mass of foliage overshadows their mighty trunks, and above, their boughs, stripped of their leafy honours, display their naked ramifications,-the evidences of the many storms they have encountered, and the records of the devastation that time has made amongst their branches. Such are the oaks of Kedlestone Park. The house is a modern structure, built about sixty years ago, by R. Adam, Esq. Its exterior is grand and imposing; chaste in design, rich and classical in ornament, and one of the most beautiful specimens of the union of grandeur and utility that can anywhere be found; all its parts are fine, and the combinations intelligible and effective. Kedleston is not only a memorial of the talents of the architect, but it is the depository of a splendid collection of the best works of art. The Hall and the Saloon are two noble apartments. The first is sixty-seven feet by forty-two. The saloon is circular, and it is lighted by a magnificent dome from above. Hamilton has here some excellent paintings of ruins; and the chiaro-scuro from subjects of English history, by Rebecca, are amongst the beautiful adornments of this noble apartment. The flower-pieces are by Babtiest.

Rembrant, Cuyp, Vandyke, Tempesta, Zuccarelli, Guido, Anibal Caracchi, and many others, both of the Venetian and

Flemish schools, contribute to adorn the rooms at Kedleston with some of the most successful efforts of their pencils. In this noble mansion the ancients and the moderns vie with each other for mastery in works of art. In the hall there is a beautiful statue of the Belvidere Apollo, and a Meleager by Paulo Pichini. But the saloon contains the finest works in this department of art; it is enriched with some exquisite statuary, amongst which are the Dancing Faun, Antinous, Santa Susanna, a Priestess of Isis, Venus de Medicis, the Muse Urania, a Ganymede, a Flora, and a Mercury, &c. &c. Kedleston is altogether one of the most interesting houses in any part of the kingdom. Travellers are permitted to see it, from eleven o'clock to two, every day in the week, with the exception of Sundays.

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From Kedleston to Wirksworth is about ten miles and a half, of very indifferent and uneven road. The first time I travelled from Derby to Matlock, which is now more than twenty years ago, I stopped at the New Inn to enquire my way a number of loungers, the usual hangers-on about an inn-door, were collected together, and they appeared highly amused with the quizzical replies of their companion. "How many miles to Kedleston?" I asked. "It's no' more than four, belike." "How from thence to Matlock ?” "Thirteen or fourteen, may hap; an' they're no' very broad ones, I warrant; but no matter for that,-if they ha' no' it in breadth, they ha'n it i' length." The man, I found, was a wit, and fond of talking, and I was in the humour to listen to him. "What sort of road is it for a gig, my good man?" "Marry, Sir, rough enough, a'll conscience; i' some places it will be a' you can do to keep your seat in that thing o' yours. Sometimes it 'ill toss you o' one side, sometimes o' tother,—but it's no' like to rock you asleep for a' that. That cock'ling thing yo' ride in is no' fit for these roads; and I should no' wonder if yo' were to have a fa' before you get to Wirksworth: an' if ye have ye 'ill no find it very soft, for the road is a' covered wi' stones, and they're no some on 'em very little ones either; but may be ye do no' mind a fa' or two."

This quondam post-chaise driver, who had grown old upon the road, and was therefore, as he imagined, privileged to say any thing, would gladly have continued the same strain of observations, but I put an end to his loquacity by thanking him for his information and proceeding on my journey, which I found much less perilous than he had represented.