BURBAGE-ON-THE-WYE is a civil parish formed in 1895 from the township of Upper Quarter, in Hartington parish, and is 1 mile south-west from Buxton stations on the Midland and London and North Western railways, in the High Peak division of the county, hundred of High Peak, union of Chapel-en-le-Frith, Buxton petty sessional division, county court district of Chapel-en-le-Frith, rural deanery of Buxton, archdeaconry of Derby and diocese of Southwell. The ecclesiastical parish was formed. in 1869.

Christ church, erected in 1861, is a modern building of stone, in the Norman style, consisting of apsidal chancel, organ chamber on the, north side, built in 1891, nave of four bays, aisles, transepts, vestry and a low tower on the south side, forming also an entrance, and containing an illuminated clock and 6 bells; the chancel has five stained windows; and there are several others, one of which, a memorial to Mary Bartlett, was placed by her son Thomas Bartlett, of Liverpool: there are mural monuments to Edward Woollett Wilmot esq., J.P. d. 1864, and to the Rev. AImeric John Churchill Spencer M.A. d. 1864, a former incumbent of Christ church, and son of the late Rt. Rev. George John Trevor Spencer D.D. sometime Bishop of Madras: a fine organ was erected in 1878, at a cost of about £500: there are 460 sittings. The register dates from the year 1869.

The living is a vicarage, average tithe rent-charge £120, net yearly value £206, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Devonshire K.G. A Mission church and school have been erected at Harpur Hill in this parish by the Buxton Lime Co. who also pay an annual stipend to the curate, and have further established a reading and news room; the Rev. Henry Clark May L.Th. of Durham University, has been curate in charge since 1894. There are two Wesleyan chapels here, and a Primitive Methodist chapel at Canhole.

A subterranean hollow, characteristic of the limestone formation, and known as "Poole's Cavern", is situated here. The parries and works of the Buxton Lime Firms Co. Limited, the largest of that kind in the kingdom, give employment to several hundred men, the lime being principally used, for chemical and manufacturing purposes: there, are 12 miles of rails and tramways in connection with the works, and a branch line from the London and North Western railway.

This district is geologically interesting in being also the outcrop of the coal measures, and a mountain mine is worked by the Buxton Lime Firms Company Limited. A reservoir for the supply of water to Buxton and Burbage is now (1895) being constructed here. The Duke, of Devonshire K.G. is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The soil is brown loam; subsoil, limestone; rateable value, £5,045. The population in 1891 was 2,635.
[Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, 1895]