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Start: Duffield Cricket Club Car Park, Donald Hawley Way, DE56 4JD

The name Duffield comes from the Anglo Saxon Duva feld, meaning “wide land by the River Dove”. Duffield once formed part of the Appletree Hundred, an early administrative area stretching from Bradley to Heage.

1. From the car park, turn right through the railway underpass, cross the bridge over the Ecclesbourne and head towards the town. At Town Street turn right, cross by the pedestrian lights opposite the White Hart, and continue for a quarter of a mile past the station and Duffield Castle.
   Duffield Castle was excavated in 1886, revealing the remains of a Norman keep, thought to be one of the largest in England after the Tower of London and Colchester. Evidence of earlier Roman and Anglo Saxon settlement has also been found here.
2. At the junction with Avenue Road, take the footpath ahead signed to The Chevin. Follow the road to the golf club and continue round it until you reach a stile on the left. Cross the stile and keep to the hedge on your right through two fields. Cross the bridge, then bear left uphill with trees on your right as you follow the track through the golf course.
3. Continue across the field towards the left of the wood and past the 17th tee. Cross the stile and turn left along the wide path.
   From here you get fine views over the Derwent Valley.
4. At the farm buildings turn right through the gate and climb briefly before turning left over three close together stiles. Cross the large field towards the top left corner, go over the stile and turn left down the lane. Pass Hazelwood Spring, built in 1897 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and once the main village water supply. Continue to the road junction, turn right up Hazelwood Hill, and after 100m take the footpath on the left. Follow the track down as it bears left.
5. Go through the kissing gate and head downhill with the hedge on your left. Cross the track and continue straight to a stile and footbridge. Bear right to continue downhill with the hedge on your right, crossing another footbridge before heading diagonally left to a stile.
6. Cross the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway line with care, then continue with the hedge on your left. Cross the stile and bridge over the Ecclesbourne. Turn right and continue across two more fields with the river on your right, heading to the stile beside a telegraph pole.
7. Cross the footbridge and head diagonally left to the stile by the road. Cross carefully and follow the track uphill to the left of Frampton Rise. Continue along the track through the gate towards Windley Hill Farm.
8. Before reaching the farm, turn left and keep the field boundary on your right. Go through the right hand gate and continue downhill over the next two fields with the hedge on your left. To the southeast is Stephenson’s Sighting Tower, used in the 1840s to align the Derby–Sheffield railway; to the northeast are the aerials on Alport Hill.
9. Climb the stile and continue towards the wood and track ahead. Turn right before the bridge and walk uphill. In the woodland to the left lie remains of Famah Hall; further on is the site of a medieval moat. This area forms part of the Kedleston Estate. Follow the track through two gates and past Champion Farm to the road.
10. Cross carefully and follow the footpath opposite towards Quarndon. Keep the hedge on your right to the next stile, continue ahead, then bear right over another stile. Turn left across the field, again keeping the hedge on your left. Cross the stile and head up the next field to the road. Cross with care and turn left.
11. After 300 yards, turn left down the tarmac drive. After 100 yards bear left over a stile and follow the fence line down to the track. Cross it and take the stile straight ahead. Continue downhill with the hedge on your left.
12. Cross the stile by the holly tree and head for the gate. Continue across the next field with Duffield Parish Church ahead. Near the bottom, take the stile on the left and cross the arable field towards the houses. Go over the stile to reach Broadway.
13. Cross carefully and take the alleyway between houses opposite and slightly left. At the next road, again take the alleyway opposite as it bears left.
14. Follow the path by the stone wall to reach the A6. Cross carefully and walk along Makeney Road before turning right down Church Walk. Cross the railway by the footbridge to reach the church, then follow the road beside the railway back to the car park.
    Nearby is Duffield Millennium Meadows, a nature reserve created in 2000 where the Derwent and Ecclesbourne meet. Its varied habitats support rich wildlife and are managed by the local conservation trust.

Disclaimer

Please note that the council update these leaflets on a periodic rolling basis and that some landmark information may have changed. The footpaths should remain in place and be signposted and be clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey maps. Please report problems you may find so that these can be investigated to tourism@ambervalley.gov.uk.