Discover Wirksworth: Art, History and Trails

During a stay in Wirksworth, you can choose how much to focus on culture and practical activities: the options range from an annual art festival and evidence of the town’s churches and geology to trails for walking and cycling. Two questions are especially helpful when planning: would you like to time your visit around an event, or should a particular theme or route shape your stay?

Art, town history and special places

The Wirksworth Festival is an annual celebration of art and creativity, organised by the local community for the local community. Its Art & Architecture Trail includes more than 70 venues, where over 140 artists and craftspeople exhibit and sell their work. If you’re planning to travel for the festival, check its specific dates against your travel plans before booking.

The Wirksworth Heritage Centre museum comprises four galleries, as well as interactive screens, games and the Dream Cave. The Centre also offers guided walks around Wirksworth. Expert guides bring local stories, notable landmarks and distinctive architecture to life. The museum and the guided walk offer different ways to explore the town’s themes: the galleries and interactive features in one, and stories and buildings in the townscape in the other. More accessible walks that avoid steep climbs are available on request; please give at least 48 hours’ notice.

St Mary's Church brings together evidence from different periods. Most of the present building dates from the 13th century. The Wirksworth Stone in the church depicts scenes from the life of Jesus and may date from before the year 700. An Anglo-Saxon carving depicts T'Owd Man, a medieval lead miner. The churchyard also contains a well-preserved example of a simple standing cross.

St Mary's Church is also the setting for the Clypping ceremony, in which the town community encircles the church, holding hands. It takes place on the Sunday closest to the Feast of the Nativity of Mary on 8 September; the Wirksworth Festival is held on the same weekend. The ceremony and the festival therefore fall on the same weekend, but are separate events.

Geology and a star map

The National Stone Centre combines an explorable natural site with a focus on geology. The site covers 40 acres. Its 330-million-year-old geological formations qualify the Centre as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Regular courses offer an opportunity to deepen your interest in stone as a material. The site, its geological formations and its courses each provide a different focus.

StarDisc is a star map, 12 metres in diameter, engraved in black granite. It shows the constellations of the northern hemisphere visible from Britain. You can walk around StarDisc and enjoy views over the rooftops of Wirksworth and the Ecclesbourne Valley. The site thus combines an astronomical theme with views of the town and valley.

Trails and activities

The Ecclesbourne Way is an 11-mile walking route that follows the course of the River Ecclesbourne. From Wirksworth, you can reach Middleton Top and the High Peak Trail. This trail runs for more than 17.5 miles through the White Peak landscape and offers opportunities for walking, cycling and horse riding. The distances distinguish the two routes: 11 miles for the Ecclesbourne Way and more than 17.5 miles for the High Peak Trail.

You can also combine your journey to the High Peak Trail with a trip on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, which offers limited train services to Ravenstor Station, from where there is direct access to the trail. If you’re planning to travel by train, check the specific services in advance. The Face offers a different kind of activity: its bouldering wall has between 30 and 35 routes, graded from F5 to F7b. Walking routes and a bouldering wall with stated difficulty grades are therefore clearly different options.

Markets and travel planning

There are two different market days to note. The Tuesday market in Wirksworth offers locally baked goods and fresh produce. The Farmers' Market takes place on the first Saturday of each month and offers local produce, music and entertainment. If you’d like to include a market visit in your trip, take the relevant market day into account.

When looking for a hotel in Wirksworth, you can first decide what you’d most like to focus on during your trip: specific dates matter for the festival, the Clypping ceremony and market days, while churches, geology and trails offer other points of interest. This helps you plan your trip around what interests you most about the area.

Discover more destinations: Chapel-En-Le-Frith, Chelmorton, Breadsall, Hardstoft, Ashover, Shardlow, Long Eaton, Alfreton.

For the broader travel overview: Derbyshire.