Assembly Rooms
Assembly Rooms
s in other towns, the Assembly
Rooms in Derby was a popular
meeting place in the 18th century,
where young people danced and the
elderly people played cards whilst
keeping a watchful eye on their
offspring. The aim of an assembly
was to bring all sorts and classes
of people together harmoniously,
but in Derby this was not to be,
certainly not around
1714 as there had
evolved two very
separate assemblies:
one at the corner of
the Market Place and
Full Street for the
gentry of the county
and one for the lesser
mortals of the town. This second
assembly was situated at Moote Hall
or meeting place, part of which still
exists, although now incorporated
into the modern facade of the
Derbyshire Building Society on the
corner of the Market Place and Iron
Gate.
bizarre incident happened there
on the night of 5 December 1745.
People had come from far and wide to
a reception held there for Prince
Charles Edward Stuart, who had
arrived in Derby on his way to take
the English crown. The crush of
people was so great that a table
bearing the Royal Standard was
overturned and the standard was
broken. This was considered a bad
omen by many of the prince's army
and, although the decision was taken
on military grounds alone, following
that fateful reception the order was
given for the retreat of the Highland
army back north. There eventually
followed, of course, the Battle of
Culloden, the slaughter and
transportation of hundreds of Scots, the
burning of their homes, the killing of
their cattle and eventually, the
Highland Clearances.
county assembly
had been built in
Derby in 1714, and an
even larger building
was erected on the
Market Place in 1763.
This was badly damaged by fire 200
years later and a
much larger Assembly Rooms, opened in
1977, now occupies the old site on the
Market Place, including the site of the
Duke of Newcastle's house, where
King Charles I stayed in 1637. The
modern Assembly Rooms complex
still provides entertainment for
Derbyshire people as well as playing
host to national exhibitions and
sporting events.
ccording to many people, the
present building is haunted. Mick
Taylor, the house manager, was in the
building at 3am one morning,
standing in the concourse with his
back to the Darwin Suite. Also
present was another member of staff.
Mr Taylor turned around - why, he
did not know - and saw an elderly
lady dressed in Victorian costume.
She appeared to have no legs and
seemed to be floating. He alerted his
colleague, who also turned around,
and both witnessed the figure gliding
across the floor before disappearing.
n many other occasions, security
guards have seen what appeared to be
a ring of children dancing in the
Darwin Suite and have often reported
the eerie sounds of laughter when
there is no one in the building.
he new Assembly Rooms were
built between 1973 and 1977. As the
footings and foundations were being
installed a builder reported seeing
what he believed, along with several
work colleagues, to be the remains of
an old Viking ship, and of course this
is quite feasible as the site is close to
the River Derwent. He reported the
matter to his superiors but was told
that because of a penalty clause in the
contract, the work had to be finished
on time and so hundreds of tons of
concrete were poured over the
remains of what might have proved to
be one of Derby's most important
links with the past.
To the Derby Index page
Swann Internet Services.
The information on this page is supplied courtesy of Wayne Anthony (author) and Richard Felix (local historian).
Copyright (c) '96-'98 All Rights Reserved. Individual trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners...