The Wardwick is one of the oldest street names in Derby and is recorded in 1085 as Walwick Strete, originally Walda’s Dairy Farm. It was close to the Wardwick that the Mercians first established a village settlement quite distinct and apart from the later Saxon settlement of Derby.

The Jacobean House is particularly impressive, though three bays were demolished in 1855 for the construction of Becket Street. It was built in 1611 for one of the Gisbornes in red brick with stone dressings and is a fine example of a 17th century town house,  note the coach arch now used as a window. The Derby solicitor, Francis Jessopp once lived there and it has been used as an Estate Agent and various offices for many years and is now a bar called The Haus.

There are a reported 14 ghosts in Jacobean House, making the building one of the most haunted within the city of Derby. Next to it is Mundy House, another fine residence.

Above left is the Wardwick Tavern built for the Alsop family in 1708, although remnants of an earlier stone building are evident, the Lowes eventually took over the establishment from the Alsops, the Lowes were a well known brewing family, who built a brewery at the rear, after the Lowes came the Altons who immediately set about enlarging the brewery, sadly the brewery buildings were demolished in the 1930s to make way for the Telephone Exchange, on Colyear Street. Up to the late 60's Allied Breweries used the premises as there brewery offices, and in 1969 the offices reverted back into a pub. Above right and just down from the pub, can be found this fine Georgian town house with the Shing Do Chinese restaurant and the Cats protection league below

This is the front of the Mechanics Institution building, commissioned by Joseph and Edward Strutt and opened October 18th 1837. to provide for the educational needs of the working man. The building is next to the Central Museum and Library, it was once home to the Co-op Bank, and has now been converted to a modern cafe-bar

The library was the result of an architectural competition won by R K Freeman of Bolton with his Franco-Flemish design and opened in 1879. The above pictures were taken in 2005 and the picture below were taken in 1991

It was financed by Michael Thomas Bass, a brewer and philanthropist who was also MP for Derby 1848-83. He also presented the citizens of Derby in 1882 with an art gallery, designed by Story of Derby, to the rear of the library on the Strand frontage

The statue of Michael Bass, sculptured by Sir J E Boehm, was the son of William who was renowned Burton Brewer, this statue one stood in the Market Place, it later was moved to the front of the art gallery, pictured above right and more recently moved again to the edge of the newly named Museum Square, opposite right

Aquabar on the junction of Curzon Street, Cheapside and the Wardwick which was previously known as The Lord Nelson pub, originally built in 1891 by the architect James Wright, for the wine merchant Pountains

Originally this prominent corner building was the premises of Edgar Horn & Co, piano and organ merchants, later it became the Refuge Assurance building, and for many years was also home to Strand Wool.

This was the main central post office and telegraph office for Derby, being built in 1865, it closed down in 1997 and moved to smaller premises down the road, which was the former Tramway offices, the building is now a bar called Coyote Wild

The former Tramways offices which now house the Post Office, note the doorway above right, great place for a post box!

Victoria Street above left and right is Derby's widest Street and standing prominently on the left hand side is Debenhams, built at the beginning of the 1960's. Here is a post world war 2 building that really does make a positive contribution in its own right and as part of the street scene. Opposite an elevated view of the same street scene, dating from around 1930

St Werburgh's Church stands at the junction of  the Wardwick and Cheapside. Its tower contains the (now named) Johnson Chapel, where Samuel Johnson married Elizabeth "Tetty" Porter in 1735. In 1989 part of the building was converted into a shopping mall called the St Werburgh's Cloisters, this unfortunately failed due to a combination of factors including high rent, council tax and a lack of active customers possibly do to the cloisters being quite a distance from the main city shopping areas