Brassington

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Brassington is a village 16 miles north-north-west of Derby, between Wirksworth and Ashbourne, and has a population of about 500.

The name, spelled Branzingtune in the Domesday Book, is thought to mean "Brand's people's place". Most of the houses in the village are built of local limestone, and most are 200 or 300 years old; there are 20th century houses in the south end of the village.

The oldest dated house, wrongly named the Tudor House since the late 19th century, was built in 1615. It was an inn until 1820, when it was bought by the Parish and was used as a workhouse until 1848. The Norman church, repaired and enlarged in the 19th century, stands on the north side of the steep valley in which the village lies. There are three former Nonconformist chapels, all now closed. The former Congregational chapel, at the northern entrance to the village, is now the Village Hall; the Primitive Methodist chapel, built by its own members in 1834 above the church on the hillside, is a private house; and the Wesleyan Reform chapel has only recently closed. In addition to the Village Hall, a new meeting place has recently been provided by a British Legion building in the centre of the village. There are two pubs, the Olde Gate, which has a largely 19th century interior, and the Miners Arms, which was modernised thirty years ago, and which was once the venue for the Manor Court and the lead miners' Barmote Court. The school was built in 1872, after the passing of the 1870 Education Act, and is now a primary school.

In addition to agriculture, which still provides employment for a few of the villagers, Brassington was for centuries heavily dependent on lead mining. The rough ground to the east, west and north has the hillocks and hollows of hundreds of abandoned mines; there are also remains of the miners' buildings on some of the sites. There is current employment in the village in heavy goods transport, steel fabrication and furniture manufacture, though most of the villagers are employed elsewhere. There are no shops and no post office. There are bus services to Ashbourne and Wirksworth.