Monument record MDR11703 - Duffield to Wirksworth (via Blackbrook) Turnpike Road, Derbyshire Dales and Amber Valley

Route of the turnpike road between Duffield and Wirksworth (via Blackbrook), authorised in 1756 by an Act of Parliament, 29. Geo. II. C. 82. Where there was competition between two routes, improvement was vital to retain profitability. The roads between Derby and Wirksworth illustrate this admirably. The branch from the Derby to Sheffield turnpike road at Duffield used an old route, which could almost be called a ridge-way, by Spring Hill, past Hazlewood, over the Blackbrook to Sandyford and Packhorse, turning on Wirksworth Moor down a steep hill into Wirksworth. This route continued without opposition from 1756 to 1793, when an Act was passed for a rival road. In an Act of 1795 the original Trust therefore included proposals for improvement, which was to branch from their old line in Duffield and climb from the River Derwent valley up Chevinside to the Blackbrook by the well-engineered road which was laid out at the time of the enclosure. Thus the broken country around Hazlewood was avoided. (1)