This section will look at some of the main thoroughfares in the city today. As well as showing pictures of the streets and some of the prominent buildings an overview of the history and development of the streets, which often date back many centuries, will also be given.The city of Derby can trace its history back at least as far as the Romans who founded a settlement, Derventio, at what is now Chester Green. However with the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century the Roman fort was largely abandoned and the incoming Saxons, who named the town Northworthy, moved their settlement into the area now occupied by the town, particularly the area around the Wardwick. With the invasion of the Vikings in the latter half of the 1st millennium the town became part of the Danelaw and acquired its current name of Derby. The influence of this Viking past can still be seen in the names of some of the streets – the term gate is Norse for street.

The origin of the name of this road is obviously because it was the road from Derby to Ashbourne, however it originally ran along a slightly different line to that of today. A walk along the edge of Markeaton Park reveals the line of the ancient road just inside the Park boundaries - it can be seen as a narrow sunken walkway lined with trees. The part of the road covered by the photographs below, however, is that of the section formed by the turnpike act of 1738 and runs from Markeaton roundabout until it changes to Friargate at the crossroads approximately a mile further along. Today the street is a mixture of housing, student halls and shops

The two photos on the right show the Old Toll House. This nineteenth century building is listed Grade II and is thought to have been built for the Southern Divisional Turnpike Trust. Today it operates as a funeral directors and remains a unique building along this road

This street that runs from the bottom of Sadler Gate to Jury Street was originally recorded in 1570 at which time it was known as Bolt Lane. It is thought that this name derives from the makers of arrow heads who had their workshops in this area. Today it is a fairly non-descript street however in the past it was much more crowded and busy. The Markeaton Brook once ran down its length on its journey to the river before it was culvetted in the 19th century. One of the towns earliest mills was at its junction with St Mary's Gate and in the 19th century there were as many as nine courts (slum housing), the last surviving until about 1935. The road was significantly widened in 1908 and a large park called Boden's Pleasaunce was opened to the public in July 1910. Henry Boden had been a local lace magnate, member of the Temperance Union and philanthropist who had lived at the The Friary on Friargate. His wife, Mary Shuttleworth donated the land to be used as a public park and at its entrance had the wrought iron gates, below, inserted at the entrance complete with a memorial plaque to her husband. Unfortunately the park did not last long, it was tarmaced over following the First World War and was finally redeveloped in 1974 with the construction of the car park

Curzon Street

The naming of this street is fairly straighhtforward as it takes its name from the family name of the Lords Scarsdale of Kedleston Hall. The Curzon family owned property on the East side of the street when it was named in around 1789