Crich, Derbyshire

Historical Description

Crich, a town, a township, and an extensive parish in Derbyshire. The township adjoins the Cromford Canal and the river Derwent, near Whatstandwell-Bridge station on the M.R., 4 miles W by S of Alfreton, has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Derby, a market on Fridays, and fairs for cattle and sheep on Old Lady Day and Old Michaelmas Day. Acreage, 3750; population, 3070. The parish contains also the village of Fritchley and the hamlets of Cod-dington, Bull-Bridge, Plaistowe Green, and Wheatcroft, also Crich Carr and Whatstandwell. The inhabitants are employed in the neighbouring quarries, mills, lead mines, and at hosiery making. Crich Cliffs are conspicuous hills, and Crich-Stand, on their summit, has an altitude of 955 feet above the level of the sea, and commands extensive views. A serious landslip occurred here in 1882 which destroyed several houses. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Southwell; value, £244 with residence. The church, dedicated to St Michael, is handsome, and has a western tower with spire. There are several dissenting chapels.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in conjunction with the Derbyshire Record Office, have the Church of England Baptisms (1538-1916), Marriages and Banns (1538-1932), and Burials (1538-1991) online.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Crich from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Crich (St. Mary))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Derbyshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Crich are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Derbyshire papers online:

• Derby Daily Telegraph
• Derby Mercury
• Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald
• Derbyshire Courier