Derbyshire is a North Midland county of England, bounded by Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Cheshire. The area is 1029.5 square miles. The physical aspect is much diversified. The extreme south of the county is lacking in picturesqueness, being for the most part level, with occasional slight undulations. The Peak District of the North on the other hand, though inferior in grandeur to the mountainous Lake District, presents some of the finest hill scenery in England, deriving a special beauty from the richly wooded glens and valleys, such as those of the cottages in Castleton, Glossop, Dovedale and Millersdale. The character of the landscape ranges from the wild moorland of the Cheshire borders or the grey rocks of the Peak to the parklands and woods and cottages of the Chatsworth district. Some of the woods are noted for their fine oaks, those at Kedleston, 3m from Derby, ranking among the largest and oldest in the kingdom.

From the northern hills the streams of the county radiate. Those of the northwest belong to the Mersey, and those of the northeast to the Don, but all others to the Trent, which like the Don, falls into the Humber. The principal river is the Trent, which, rising in the Staffordshire moorlands, intersects the southern part of Derbyshire, and forms part of its boundary with Leicestershire. After the Trent the most important river is the Derwent, one of its tributaries, which taking its rise in the lofty ridges of the High Peak, flows southward through a beautiful valley, receiving a number of minor streams in its course, including the Wye, which, rising near Buxton, traverses the fine Millersdale and Monsal Dale.

The other principal rivers are the following: The Dane rises at the junction of the three counties, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire. The Goyt has its source a little farther north at the base of the same hill, and, taking a little farther north, at the base of the same hill, and, taking a north east direction, divides Derbyshire from Cheshire, and falls into the Mersey. The Dove rises on the southern slope, and flows as the boundary stream between Derbyshire and Staffordshire for nearly its entire couuse. It receives several feeders, and falls into the Trent near Repton. The Erewash is the boundary stream between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The Rother rises about Baslow and flows into Yorkshire, with a northerly course joining the Don. Besides the attractions of its scenery Derbyshire posesses, in Buxton, Matlockand Bakewell three health resorts in much favour on account of their medieval springs.