Chesterfield

Market town in Derbyshire, central England, on the River Rother, to the east of the Peak District National Park, 40 km/25 mi north of Derby; population (2001) 73,000. Industries include iron-founding, engineering, and the manufacture of chemicals, pottery, and glass. Extensive coalfields are mined to the southeast.

The locomotive engineer George Stephenson is buried in Trinity Church. All Saints' Church, dating from the 14th century, is renowned for its twisted 69 m/228 ft tall spire which leans nearly 3 m/9.5 ft from the true centre.

Explanations for the distortion include the warping of unseasoned timbers beneath the spire's lead covering, the lack of cross-braces on any of its eight sides, and the combined 32-tonne weight of its lead tiles.

Chesterfield

Title formerly borne by the English family of Stanhope, later Scudamore-Stanhope, created in 1628.

In 1883 the direct line failed, and Henry Scudamore-Stanhope became the 9th earl. The title devolved on the 7th Earl Stanhope on the death of the 12th Earl of Chesterfield in 1952, and both earldoms became extinct at his death in 1967.

Chesterfield

City in St Louis County, east-central Missouri, USA, 32 km/20 mi west of St Louis; population (1990) 38,000. It is a growing residential suburb on Route 40, just south of the Missouri River.

Chesterfield

Town in Cheshire County, southwestern New Hampshire, USA, on the Connecticut River, 18 km/11 mi west-southwest of Keene; population (1990) 3,100. A largely agricultural community, the town is also a tourist centre, with Chesterfield Gorge, resorts on Spofford Lake, and Pisgah State Park close by.