England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Derby St Peter

The Parish

Derby is the capital of its nominate county, Derbyshire. Derby is located in the south of its county, a county divided between large upland parishes in the Peak District and the smaller lowland parishes in the Trent Vale. Derby sits on the border between these two very different halves of the county. Derby is these days a city having been granted city status in 1977. The city is one of the largest in the Midlands with a metropolitan district encompassing over 1 1/2 million folk. At the time of this transcript the city was growing strongly but the 5 parishes into which it was divided gave it a population of only 36,000. St Peter's parish forms largely the southern portion of the original urban area, it was the most populous of the 5 parishes. Derby's parishioners would have largely been employed in industry and the city has an unenviable reputation as a centre of engineering excellence a status boosted by the presence of Rolls Royce in the city. During the period of this transcript silk and other mills would have been the main employer. Derby is transected by the River Derwent, which flows from the Peak District to eventually join the River Trent heading for the North Sea through the Humber estuary. St Peter's parish sits at about 50 metres above sea level, a height typical of the city as its sits on the flood plain of the Derwent. In common with many city parishes St Peter's would have covered a relatively small area, around 30% of the urban area, into that space would have been crammed over 11,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Derby was held largely by the King albeit sublet to various nobles. Whilst the entries do not fully document Derby's assets they convey an impression of a large and wealthy town at that date.

The Church

St Peter's church, as would be expected, sits alongside St Peter's Street in the southern portion of the city centre. The church is described by Pevsner as the only mediaeval church of Derby but he cautions that it has been heavily restored and much rebuilt. Whilst the church existed prior to that date (from documentary evidence) the bulk of the present fabric represents an almost complete rebuild of the 14th century, the eastern wall of the nave Pevsner dates as Norman. This is the period when the Gothic styles of Decorated and Perpendicular are most in fashion and St Peter's shows more elements of the latter. However it is the Victorian's who are most responsible for what we see today, virtually all of the building was heavily restored and partially rebuilt in the 1850s and the western tower of today was added just before the start of the 20th century. St Peter's sits, today, in a largely pedestrainised shopping area and is open to the street. It is tricky to obtain clear photographic views as the building is rather hemmed in to north and south by shops.