Derby

Related Category: British and Irish Political Geography

(där´bē, dûr´–), city (1991 pop. 218,026) and district, county seat of Derbyshire, central England, on the Derwent River. Manufactures include automobiles and airplane engines, pottery (see Derby ware), synthetic textiles, beer, machinery, and chemicals. The city is also an important rail center. Derby was a Roman settlement and, in the 9th cent., one of the Five Boroughs of the Danes. England's first silk mill was built there in 1718. Derby is the birthplace of the philosopher Herbert Spencer. Noteworthy are the Cathedral of All Saints, with its Perpendicular tower (1509–27), the Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary (designed by A. W. Pugin in 1838), the arboretum, the chapel of St. Mary of the Bridge, and a grammar school founded in 1160. The Univ. of Derby and a teacher-training college are also located in Derby.