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.[4][5]
Excavations as part of the Carsington Water reservoir construction revealed that the Romans were once present in the area.[6] Some archaeologists have stated that Hopton, or the wider Wirksworth area, was Lutadarum, the centre of the Roman lead industry.[7][8][9] However, the precise location has not currently been established.[10][11]
Hopton is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Optune' in 1086 as a berewick (supporting farm) of the manor and town of Wirksworth.[5] Its manorial history began some hundred years later, in the twelfth century under the Gell family.[12] In 1870-72, it was described as being 642 acres large.[3]
Historically, its main industries were farming, forestry, and mining.[13] 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.[13]
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][14]. Additionally, the family had extensive lead mining interests in the Wirksworth area, from which they made their fortune.[15] The Gell baronetcy, created in 1642 for Sir John Gell, was centred around the wapentake of Hopton[16].
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.[17]
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.[5][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.[18]
Modern Day
The modern village of Hopton is listed as having a population of 104 in the 2021 UK census.[19]
Modern Hopton is a dispersed village with a mix of houses, some of which are self-catering accommodation for tourists exploring the Derbyshire Dales, Peak District, Wirksworth and Carsington Water.
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