Shirley is a small village and civil parish in Derbyshire, south-east of Ashbourne. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 270. It is situated in the countryside on top of a small hill.
History Shirley was mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Henry de FerrersHenry was given a large number of manors in Derbyshire including Doveridge, Linton, Brailsford and Cowley. and being worth forty shillings.Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. p.746–7
In the nineteenth century St Michael's Church, Shirley was led by the Rev. Charles Francis Powys who had a number of literary children.
Notable residents John Cowper Powys, born in the town, "Derbyshire's most prolific author", according to Tom Bates Theodore Francis Powys, born in the town, author Gertrude Mary Powys, born in the town, painter Littleton Charles Powys, author and headmaster of Sherborne School Prof. Rev. Walter Waddington Shirley, historian at Oxford University Rev. William Richardson Linton, clergyman and botanist who wrote a Flora of Derbyshire and discovered Rubus durescens, a bramble endemic to Derbyshire
See also Listed buildings in Shirley, Derbyshire
Notes
References
External links
Village website Shirley Photographs and History Website for Shirley including aerial photos