WHITTINGTON is a scattered village and ecclesiastical parish with two stations (Sheepbridge and Whittington) on the Midland section of the London, Midland and Scottish railway, and with New Whittington, Whittington Moor and part of Sheepbridge, forms an extensive parish; it is on the river Rother, 2½ miles north from Chesterfield, 9½ south-east from Sheffield and 159 from London, in the North Eastern division of the county, hundred of Scarsdale, petty sessional division and county court district of Chesterfield, rural deanery of Staveley, archdeaconry of Chesterfield and diocese of Derby.

The parish was governed by an Urban District Council of nine members and divided into three wards, but in 1911, by an Order of the Local Government Board, part of Newbold-cum-Dunston Urban District was amalgamated with it, the name of the District altered to Whittington-with-Newbold, the members increased to fifteen and the District divided into five wards, viz.:- Old Whittington, New Whittington Whittington Moor, Newbold and Newbold Moor. By the Ministry of Health Provisional Order Confirmation (Chesterfield Extension) Act, 1920, the whole of the civil parish was included in the Borough of Chesterfield Nov. 9th, 1920. The names of Newbold will be found under that heading. The village is supplied with water from works at Linacre Wood, the property of the Borough of Chesterfield, and supplied with gas from works in this parish, the property of the Borough of Chesterfield Gas Department.

There was a church here in the twelfth century dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The church erected in 1863 near the site of the old church, then removed, was (with exception of the tower and spire) totally destroyed by fire 19 Jan. 1895, but was rebuilt of stone in 1896; it now consists of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles and the tower with spire containing 5 bells. In 1925 the original four bells were recast and a fifth added. There are nine stained windows. A stained west window was unveiled in July, 1923, in memory of 172 men from this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18. Affixed to the west wall of the church was a monument of black marble to the antiquary, Dr. Pegge, for 45 years rector of this parish (1751-96), who died February 14th, 1796, in his 92nd year, and was buried under the chancel of the old church. A lych gate was erected in 1925 as a memorial to Mr. W.D. Holford. The registers, dating from the year 1567, were partially destroyed by fire. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £100, including glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Derby, and held since 1922 by the Rev. Ellis Arthur Crompton M.A., L.Th. of Durham University.

There is an iron Mission Church at Broomhill Park, in connection with St. Bartholomew's. The Church Hall, erected in 1928, will hold 300 persons. The Congregational chapel at Whittington Moor, erected in 1878, seats 300, and there are also Primitive Methodist chapels at Old Whittington, built in 1865, with sittings for 250, at Whittington Moor, erected in 1897, for 600, and at Sheepbridge, erected in 1890, for 226; there is also a United Methodist and a Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Whittington Moor, and also a United Methodist chapel at Old Whittington, erected in 1875, for 150; the Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected in 1895, at a cost of £1,400, and affords 300 sittings; in 1904, Wesleyan Sunday schools were erected at Whittington Moor, at a cost of £1,120. There are Salvation Army barracks at Whittington Moor.

A memorial hall for use as a rifle range and drill hail, and to seat 400, was erected in 1915 by the Swanwick family in memory of Lieut. Russell Kenneth Swanwick, 1st Gloucester Regiment, killed in the battle of the Aisne, 1914. Near the High street is a memorial of local stone to the men of Whittington who fell in the Great War. Webster's charity of £30 yearly is distributed to deserving cases of the parish half-yearly. Gisborne's charity, left in 1818 by the Rev. Francis Gisborne, sometime rector of Staveley, and amounting to £6 12s. 11d. yearly, is distributed in flannel to 35 of the parishioners.

In this village still stands the tiny stone cottage known as the “Revolution House”, being the place where, in 1688, William, 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Devonshire K.G., Sir Thomas (Osborne), 1st Earl of Denby and afterwards Duke of Leeds, and John D'Arcy esq. met and planned the rising which resulted in the overthrow of King James II. It was then a well-furnished country inn, with the swinging sign of “The Cock and Pynot”, and had a brew-house, producing the famous Derbyshire ale, and stables, making it a frequent house of call for the people of the country side as well as to pack-horse travellers and merchants. In 1788, the centenary of the Revolution, there were great rejoicings here, and an assemblage of nobility, gentry and yeomen went in procession to the cottage and viewed the historic "plotting parlour" and the chair, now preserved at Hardwick Hall, in which the Duke presided over the memorable conference alluded to.

The cottage was formerly the property of the Cavendish family, and afterwards of Mr. Mansfeldt Mills, of Tapton, the right being reserved to the Duke of Devonshire, in the event of its demolition, to erect a suitable memorial in its place; it was conveyed free of cost to a committee called the bicentenary committee, and has since been conveyed to the Chesterfield Corporation. A tablet was placed on the cottage in 1914. Great Stoke Estates are lords of the manor and the principal landowners. The area is 1,570 acres of land and 11 of water; the population of the ecclesiastical parish in 1921 was 7,617.

Post, M.O. & Telephone Call Office, Old Whittington. Letters through Chesterfield. The nearest T. office is at Whittington Moor

Post & Tel. Call Office,Sheepbridge, 695 Sheffield road. Letters through Chesterfield. Old Whittington nearest M.O. office & Whittington Moor nearest T. office

STAVELEY, WHITTINGTON & NEWBOLD LOCAL PENSION SUB-COMMITTEE OF DERBYSHIRE.

The following places are included in the Sub-District: Barlow, Holymoorside & Staveley

The Sub-Committee meets at the Memorial hall, Chesterfield, on the first thursday in each month

Clerk, C. Jervis, The Mount, Chesterfield road, Staveley

NEW WHITTINGTON, about 1 mile east from the church, has become a thriving and populous village, with a station on the Masbro' and Chesterfield branch of the L.M. & S. railway. The church of St. Barnabas, erected in 1884, at a cost of about £3,000, is a structure of brick, consisting of chancel and nave, and has sittings for 300 the organ was installed in memory of the men of this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £350, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Derby, and held since 1927 by the Rev. William Thomas Thornber L.Div. of St. David's College, Lampeter. The Roman Catholic chapel, erected in 1906, has 350 sittings ; it is served from Staveley. There is a Baptist chapel, built in 1862, with 300 sittings, and United Methodist, Wesleyan Methodist and Primitive Methodist chapels.

L.M. & S. Railway Co. (Barrow Hill station) collect & deliver here.

Post, M.O., T. & T.E.D. Office, New Whittington. Letters through Chesterfield.

Post, M.O., T. & T.E.D. Office, Whittington Moor. Letters through Chesterfield.

Constabulary, Whittington Moor & New Whittington Railway Stations, New Whittington & (L.M. & S.) Sheepbridge.