Chesterfield - History

History

The town received its market charter in the year 1204 from King John and around 250 stalls can still be found in the town centre every Monday, Friday and Saturday. The charter constituted the town as a free borough, granting the burgesses of Chesterfield the same privileges as those of Nottingham.

Elizabeth I granted a charter of incorporation in 1594, creating a corporation consisting of a mayor, six aldermen, six brethren, and twelve capital burgesses. This remained the governing charter until the borough was reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The borough originally consisted only of the township of Chesterfield, but was extended in 1892 to include parts of surrounding townships. In 1920 there was a major extension to the borough when it absorbed Whittington and Newbold urban district. Chesterfield's current boundaries date from 1 April 1974, when under the Local Government Act 1972, the Borough of Chesterfield was formed by the amalgamation of the municipal borough with the urban district of Staveley and the parish of Brimington from Chesterfield Rural District.

Chesterfield benefited greatly from the building of the Chesterfield Line - part of the Derby to Leeds railway (North Midland Line), which was begun in 1837 by George Stephenson. During its construction, a sizeable seam of coal was discovered during the construction of the Clay Cross Tunnel. This and the local ironstone were promptly exploited by Stephenson who set up a company in Clay Cross to trade in the minerals.

During his time in Chesterfield, Stephenson lived at Tapton House, and remained there until his death in 1848. He is interred in Trinity Church. In 2006, a statue of Stephenson was erected outside Chesterfield railway station.