Today, Hopton is a rural community centred on heritage, tourism, agriculture, and its proximity to Carsington Water, Hopton Hall, among others.[6][7] Griffe Grange forms the northernmost section of the parish, on the Via Gellia Hopton.[8] The Hopton Quarry Nature Reserve occupies part of the former quarry sites, and Hopton Hall Gardens remain open to the public seasonally.[9][10]
The modern village of Hopton is listed as having a population of 104 in the 2021 UK census.[11]
History
Prehistoric and Roman
Evidence of human activity near Hopton, during a warm period known as the Aveley Interglacial around 200,000 years ago, is provided by the discovery of a PalaeolithicAcheulean hand axe in the area.[3][2]
In prehistoric times, woolly rhinos lived in the area; the near-complete remains of one such animal were discovered in the Dream Cave nearby Hopton in 1822, with Phillip Gell writing to Sir Everard Home in regards to the discovery that "The Rhinoceros appears to have occupied the centre of the Cave, the Ox and Deer one end, and the smaller animals the other end".[12][13]
Excavations as part of the Carsington Water reservoir construction revealed that the Romans were once present in the area.[14] Several archaeologists have stated that either Carsington & Hopton, or the wider Wirksworth area, was Lutadarum, a fortress-town and administrative centre of the Roman lead industry.[15][16][17] Support for this theory is provided by the existence of Roman cupellation plants in Carsington, as well as lead pigs unearthed in the area.[17][18] However, the precise location has not currently been established.[19][20]
Medieval and Middle Ages
Hopton is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Opetune' in 1086 as a berewick (supporting farm) of the manor and town of Wirksworth.[2] Its manorial history began some hundred years later, in the twelfth century, under the Gell family.[21] In 1870–72, it was described as being 642 acres large.[10] The lost village of Welledene (Weldon), as recorded in the Domesday Book, is understood to be nearby.[22] However, it has been depopulated for hundreds of years, with one of the most recent records of the settlement being a call to summon jurors for Wirksworth Manor Court in 1792.[23][24]
During the Middle Ages, Hopton was included as part of the "King's Wapentake" and within the liberties of the “King’s Field”, where lead mining was regulated by royal officials.[4]
To the north of Hopton village is Griffe Grange, including much of the woodland and mining tied to Hopton, bordering Middleton-by-Wirksworth.[25][8] It is included within Hopton's civil parish boundaries, with the name 'Hopton and Griffe Grange' appearing in some historical administrative documents.[26][27] In 1870-72, it was describes as having 672 acres with a population of 18.[8]
Historically, its main industries were farming, forestry, and mining.[7] Additionally, Carsington and Hopton share a collective history of lead mining, manorial governance by the Gell family, and governance, both of which are located on the same road.[7]
First English Civil War and the Pillaging of Hopton
Due to Gell’s position as the “leading Parliamentarian in Derbyshire", along with feuds with other nobles, Hopton Hall and the village were ransacked in 1642 by Royalist forces under the command of Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield, during King Charles’ visit to Derbyshire.[4][29][30] This resulted in considerable damage and theft; after the war, Gell claimed financial losses of around £5,000 due to the "Pillaging of Hopton", petitioning Parliament for repayment of the losses.[4][28][31] Damage caused continued to be “visible and imposing… as the family fortunes, depleted by fines paid to the Crown, prevented repairs and improvements until the end of the Eighteenth Century”.[29][28]
The raid of Hopton was a significant event in Derbyshire's War, prompting Gell’s sacking of Stanhope’s Bretby Hall, Elvaston Castle, and vandalising "his rival Sir John Stanhope's tomb and gardens" in early 1643 as revenge, before moving west to fight in the Battle of Hopton Heath.[4][29] He later married Mary Stanhope, the widow of Sir John, "causing much discontent amongst other nobles".[32] The tit-for-tat raids continued against stately villages like Hopton for much of the War, with evidence still present in the townlet today.[29][28]
Toponymy
While settlements in Hopton and Griffe Grange date back to before the Anglo-Saxon and Norse eras, only those names remain within modern usage.[33][8] The elements of these names are as follows:
hop (Old English) A valley; a remote enclosed space; a piece of enclosed land in a fen; an enclosure in marsh or moor.[34]
tūn (Old English) An enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate.[34]
grange (Middle English) A grange; originally a granary, a barn; later a farm; also an outlying farm belonging to a religious house or a feudal lord, where crops were stored.[35]
'Hoptūn and Gryfja Grange' can be literally translated to the 'Valley and Pit farming settlement', reflecting its long-standing agricultural history and usage.[33] The Domesday Book records the name as "Opetune" and the local summary "Optune" or "Opitune".[2][36][37]
The Carsington and Hopton area is recorded as having previously been known as ‘Gershitune’, additionally meaning “the settlement of the [water] cress farm”, given Carsington’s former water source of Scow Brook, much of which was inundated by the Carsington Water reservoir in 1991.[38][39]
Scow Brook historically formed the upper reaches the Henmore Brook, with the brook still running by Hognaston before becoming Henmore Brook for the rest of its path.[38]
Hopton also serves as the origin for the Hopton (also spelt as d’Hopton, de Hopton, or of Hopton) family whom was a major landowning and feudal figure in Derbyshire first recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries.[38][40]
The village has a long association with the Gell family, who have had assets in Hopton since 1327, with continuous settlement dating back to Robert Gyll in 1209.[1][41] From 1553, the Gell family lived in Hopton Hall, after being acquired by Ralph Gell.[42]
The Gell family lived and created Hopton Hall, with much of the still-visible work being performed by Thomas Gell in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and remodelled by Philip Gell in the early nineteenth century.[44]
The 'Roman Vase' in front of the Hopton Hall entrance, brought from Pompeii by Sir William Gell FRS.
Other Notable family members include Sir John Gell, who was a Baron and Parliamentarian in the English Civil War and Sir William Gell, who was an archaeologist. The Gell family continued to own much of Hopton throughout their 600-year ownership of Hopton Hall, building almshouses, ice houses, and other infrastructure in the hamlet, including Via Gellia.[2][1]
Alongside Hopton, the family played a large role in local society, with members serving as Baronets, MPs, High Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace and Parish Officers at various stages during their ownership of Hopton.[45]
A view of the interior of the quarry in the 1920s, with the rail link shown. Rocks, including Hopton Wood Stone, are around, awaiting transportation.
Hopton Quarry is located directly north of the village, on the Via Gellia Hopton, and primarily produced the 'Hopton Wood Stone' (Also called Hoptonwood or Hopton-Wood Stone) limestone.[46][47] Developed first by the Gell family, and then by The Hopton-Wood Stone Firms Ltd, it was called "England’s premier decorative stone", and described as "remarkably and exceptionally pure limestone, almost identical to marble", with impurities at an "extraordinarily low figure of 0.02%".[48][49]
In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hopton as having "Good building limestone, (which) is extensively quarried, and was the material of Chatsworth House and Belvoir Castle. Lead ore also occurs".[10]
Following the Great War, Hopton Wood Stone was contracted by the Imperial War Graves Commission to supply headstones,[50] with an excess of 120,000 being created and sent to war graveyards in France, Belgium, and Britain.[51][52][53] The limestone is said to have been laid in conjunction with a native black stone (now no longer available) to create the first chequerboard floor in England.[54]
In 1947, Hopton-Wood Stone Firms Ltd commissioned a book about Hopton Wood stone, published by Fanfare Press.[57]
Long connected to Middleton Mine in nearby Middleton-by-Wirksworth, the two sites were in operation from the 18th century onwards, extracting up to 125,000 tonnes of limestone a year until eventually shutting down operations in 2005.[58]
Hopton Quarry Nature Reserve
Modern Day Hopton Quarry Nature Reserve. Fragrant Orchids can be seen.
Since its closure, Hopton Quarry has been transformed into a nature reserve, operated by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.[9] The three-quarry wildlife redevelopment is described as "supporting a rich variety of (local) wild flowers and habitat... (with the) flat quarry floors supporting a rich diversity of limestone plants".[9][59]
The Hopton Quarry Nature Reserve now controls 8 hectares of land on the site, with Fly, Frog, Fragrant, and Common Spotted Orchid subspecies all present, alongside wildflower and young woodland habitats.[59][60] It is open to the public as a free-entry reserve, and is classified as 'Red' by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, stating "here wildlife is sensitive all year round. Remain on paths and take extra care".[9]
Modern day
Hopton Village, at the crossroads of Via Gellia Hopton and Main Street. Hopton Hall's formal gardens can be seen in the background.
The modern village of Hopton is listed as having a population of 104 in the 2021 UK census.[11]
The township lies just off the B5035 road and Via Gellia from Ashbourne to Wirksworth, at the northern end of Carsington Water. Today, treeland in Doglow and Carsington Woods forms the barrier between Hopton and Carsington in fields, with trees separating the otherwise inseparable villages.[61] Much of the lower half and fields of Hopton were purchased and used by Severn Trent in the 1960s and 1970s for the creation of the Carsington Water Reservoir, and now lie underwater.[62]
Intrinsically linked with Carsington, the parish council describes the two villages as such: "Take one of the village signs away and you would think it the same place: a quiet, leafy backwater".[7] While "inextricably linked for over a thousand years", the two villages maintained independent, but connected, communities and governance - unique considering the proximity of the two.[7][37]
Average daytime temperatures in summer (June to August) range from 17 to 20 °C (63 to 68 °F), while winter months generally see highs around 6 to 10 °C (41 to 46 °F) and lows near 0 to 2 °C (32 to 36 °F).[65][64] In more recent years, temperatures have occasionally reached over 30°C (86°F).[64] Frosts and some snowfall are common during winter, but heavy or prolonged snowfall is relatively rare outside of the deep winter months.[65][64] The lowest tempature recorded was −17.2°C (1.0°F), which occurred on January 21, 1940.[66]
Like much of England, precipitation occurs on roughly 150 to 180 days per year, most frequently during autumn and winter.[64] Rain typically falls as light to moderate showers, though heavier downpours can occur with Atlantic weather systems.[67] The area’s annual rainfall averages between 800 to 1000 mm, slightly higher than the national average due to its inland location and inclusion within the Derbyshire Dales and Peak District.[65][64] It is drier from the Feburary to May and again in July, with the wet months being August to January and June.[64]
Warm summer months has allowed for greater development of public and private gardens in the village.[1][13] The highest temperature recorded nearby Hopton is 36.9°C (98.4°F) on 19 July 2022, during the 2022 European Heatwave.[68]
Climate data for Hopton and Carsington, from Ashover No. 2 Weather Station, 1991-2020
The Carsington and Hopton Conservation Area is predominantly a rural area, designated in 1971, with the boundary extended in 1994 and 2009.[69][70] Of the 112 buildings included within the 50 hectares, 31 are listed entries.[70] The main axis of the Conservation Area is an east/west alignment, with Main Street housing a majority of the settlements.[70][37]
The special qualities and interests of the Conservation Area include its archaeological significance, architectural and historic quality of the buildings, the relationship of the buildings and spaces, and the landscape and setting, to preserve the villages.[69][13] This has resulted in strict design criteria and regulation - all changes and new builds are required to preserve the historical aesthetics and methods of preexisting buildings, "creating seemless expansions, with the villages' qualities and setting identical to its heritage, if not enhanced" as per the most recent council review.[70][69][37]
Two of the listed entries within the Carsington and Hopton Conservation Area are recognised by the District Council as being 'at risk': Hopton's Well and the Ice-house on the corner of Hopton Hall.[69][70] Conservation work is ongoing for both entries.[70][37]
Economy
Goodluck Mine on the Via Gellia, north of Hopton. During its operation, many in Hopton were employed in lead mining.
Agriculture, first as part of Hopton Hall's feudality and afterwards as freeholds, competed with mining as the predominant economic output for Hopton, and an employer for its people.[10]
For almost two thousand years, "from the Roman occupation until the nineteenth century, there was an important lead industry in the (Wirksworth, Carsington, and Hopton) neighbourhood", with the apex coming during the late sixteenth century during the Gell Baronecy.[4] Some academics consider Hopton and Carsington to be the location of Lutudarum, the administrative centre of Roman lead mining in Britain.[18]
As lead mining declined, stone quarrying became the dominant form of mining, employing much of Hopton in Hopton Wood Stone mines and quarries.[47] Agriculture and animal husbandry continued to be widespread, with ridge and furrow mounds still present in the fields surrounding the village.[1]
The Gells, to support their industrial concerns, built the Via Gellia north of Hopton in the nineteenth century.[71] The wagon road, connecting lead mines in nearby Carsington Pasture to the new Cromford Canal at Cromford.[71] Via Gellia Hopton, connecting the main Via Gellia to Hopton, allowed for more economic activity to access the hamlet.[44][1]Viyella, a branded wool-cotton blend created in 1893 and noted as being the "first branded fabric in the world", was named after the road and spun in the valley north of Hopton village.[72][71]
Modern
The formal gardens at Hopton Hall; open to the public during select months. It serves as a popular draw to Hopton and Carsington.
In the modern era, Hopton's economy is mixed, primarily revolving around tourism and agriculture, especially through Hopton Hall.[73][7]
Manufacturing is also present in the north of the parish in Griffe Grange, including concrete plants, abrasive and aggregates processing, quarries, and excavating work.[74][10] All heavy-industry work bypasses the village proper, being located north in Hopton Wood, keeping Hopton "heritage-based, peaceful, and undisturbed.[61][47][73]
Most residents commute to work in nearby towns (Wirksworth, Matlock, Ashbourne), alongside a large retired population.[7] Modern hospitality venues include the Miners Arms (originally made to support the local lead miners) in adjacent Carsington, and Cafe Impromptu within Hopton Hall, alongside freehouses and inns in nearby villages.[2][61]
Tourism is a significant driver for the local economy, with the modern village having a mix of houses, some of which are self-catering accommodation for tourists exploring the Derbyshire Dales, Peak District, and Carsington Water, among others.[1] Hopton Hall's gardens are open to the public during the months of February and June, open every day in February and Thursday to Sunday in July.[75][73] The hall continues to be a key employer for the area, continuing the historical trend of Hall economic leadership and control over the wider village.[7][44]
The construction of Carsington Water in the 1960s added to the tourism industry, alongside the designation of the Peak District as a national park a decade prior.[62] This results in significant seasonal economic activity for the village, especially when the Hopton Hall Gardens are open to the public.[61] The access to local nature sites and reserves, including Dovedale, the River Dove, Harboro' and Black Rocks, additionally boosts tourist demand and local value.[63][13]
Politics and governance
Derbyshire Dales District Council Ward Results from 2023. Hopton, part of the Wirksworth Constituency, is shaded in red.
As part of the Wirksworth constituency, Hopton was considered part of a Labour stronghold in regional elections, routinely returning Labour representatives. However, in the 2025 Derbyshire County Council election, it narrowly elected a Reform UK councillor, alongside much of Derbyshire.[77]
Bus routes that pass through Hopton include the 110 and 111 to Ashbourne and Matlock, both operated by Ashbourne Community Transport after the bankruptcy of Hulleys of Baslow.[82]
Education
The plaque on the outer wall of the school, with the Gells' original coat of arms. c.1726.The badge of the school. It is identical to the Gell Family crest, showcasing their shared history.
Hopton and Carsington are served by the Carsington & Hopton Church Primary School, a Grade II
listed CofE primary school as part of the Derbyshire-based 'The Village Federation'.[83] Established in 1726 by the Gell family, it continues to be linked with Hopton Hall, with the school using the Gell Family crest as its logo.[84]
A plaque on the school wall states: 'This School was Built and Given by Mrs Temperance Gell, of Hopton. For Twenty poor Children of Hopton and Carson; To Learn to Read, Write, and other proper Works. Anno Dom: 1726'.[85] As of 2025, the Church School was last rated as 'Good' by Ofsted, serving 36 students with 22.2% eligible for free school meals.[86][87]
Secondary and Sixth Form education for Hopton village is provided by Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Ashbourne, and Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth, the latter of which was established by Anthony Gell, a resident of Hopton Hall, in 1576 under the name “The Free Grammar School of Anthony Gell Esq".[88] It was granted royal ascent by Queen Elizabeth via charter on 27 Oct 1584, declaring a "grammar school in Wirksworth for ever, endowed by Anthony Gell."[89]
Hopton's village status to Hopton Hall, and its situation within Derbyshire, has resulted in several noteworthy people living there throughout history.
Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, c.1880Thomas Gell, c.1645
16th century
Ralph Gell (1491–1564), grandfather of Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet. Originally acquired the Hopton estate in 1553, and a "significant local supporter of the tudors".[42][89]
Thomas Gell (1594–1656), Younger brother of Gell, 1st Baronet. Became a well-connected lawyer and served as Recorder of Derby, and sat as MP for Derby in 1645. Additionally, he was a Colonel under his brother's command in the Parliamentary Army during the First Civil War.[90]
William Pole Thornhill (1807–1876), married Isabella Gell, daughter and heiress of Philip Gell, in 1828. In accordance with the will of Isabella's father, they briefly took the surname Gell and lived at Hopton Hall for a short time before renouncing the inheritance in due course.[96]
Walter Taylor (1851–1937), father of the Taylor cricket brothers. Born and lived in Hopton village, noted as an avid cricketer and key figure in Hopton village's community and cricket life.[100]
George Henry Key (1872–1958), industrialist and civic leader. Chairman of the Matlock BathUrban District Council and head of Key Estates, which took over Hopton's mining enterprises.[101] In 1915, he had acquired the Hopton Wood Stone quarries and lead mines, and built 'Hopton House' in the village.[1]
William “Will” Taylor (1885–1976), cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1905 and 1910 and served as secretary of Derbyshire Cricket Club for 51 years from 1908 to 1959.
1 2 3 Hargreaves, PhD., Sally (2016). A Study of the Medieval Landscape of Hopton and Carsington, Derbyshire: Explanations of their close proximity. University of Leicester.
↑ Woodward, Frances J., "John Philip Gell (1816–1898)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 13 October 2025
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