A Brief History of Quarndon

The village of Quarndon can trace its origins back at least to the 9th century. - one theory being that its name is derived from cwoern, meaning "mill" and dun meaning "hill".

As early as the 11th century, Quarndon had a small Chapel. It was in use until 1874, but all that now remains of it is an ivy-covered tower. You can find it on the east side of Church Road , near the southern end of the village.

An important industrial feature in the village must have been Quarndon’s 12th century Water Mill. This stood at the end of Old Vicarage Lane, where two streams still meet on their way from Woodlands Lane to the Markeaton Brook. It is thought that this was an ‘undershot’ mill - i.e, where the sluggish water struck the bottom of the wheel rather than the top. It is also thought that the Mill may have fallen into disuse following the Black Death of 1348-51, which wiped out a third of this country’s population.

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Quarndon was a celebrated spa village. Visitors from far and wide flocked to its Chalybeate Well - just below The Joiners' Arms - for its healing, iron-impregnated spring water. (Alas, a series of earth tremors towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century impeded its flow.)

The other local spa was the Sulphur Bath in Kedleston Park – the popularity of which persuaded Sir Nathaniel Curzon, the 5th baronet, to commission Robert Adam to build The New Inn (now The Kedleston Hotel & Restaurant) in 1761.

The first school in the village was endowed by Sir John Curzon, the 3rd Baronet, who died in 1727. In 1859, the Rev'd Alfred, 4th Baron Scarsdale, founded the present Curzon School (rebuilt in 1967). He later provided the major funding for the building of St Paul 's Church, which was consecrated in 1874. The Church Hall, which was opened in 1914, has since been extended twice – in 1965 and in 2004. It is the venue for two productions a year by the Quarndon Amateur Dramatic Society.

In 1931, a large quantity of land in Quarndon and its environs was sold to pay the death duties of George Nathaniel, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston and 1st Viscount Scarsdale (former Viceroy of India and later Foreign Secretary), who had died in 1925.

Until the Second World War, Quarndon was mainly an agricultural village, though stocking-making also features in its industrial history.

The village of Quarndon won the Best Kept Village Competition in 1976, 1977, 1986 and 1991. It also marked the Dawn of the Third Millennium by re-gilding the Church Weathervane and erecting a Human Sundial in the centre of the village, a Topograph and Seat on Bunkers Hill and a Collage of Village Organizations & Activities, compiled by Quarndon Women’s Institute, in the Church Hall.

Quarndon Cricket Club boasts a First, Second and Third XI and coaches over 100 junior members. It won the Border League Championship in 1980, the Whitbread Village Cricket Trophy at Lords in 1983 and the Derbyshire County League Championship in 1993.

The 1801 Census showed Quarndon as having a population of 357. In the 2001 Census it was 903. Currently there are 370 houses in the village.

Quarndon has a Parish Council of 9 members. It is in the South West Parishes Ward of Amber Valley Borough Council, the Duffield Division of Derbyshire County Council, the West Derbyshire Constituency of the British Parliament and the East Midlands Constituency of the European Parliament.