Quarndon is a pleasant, residential village situated on a hillside 3 miles from Derby. Despite it's proximity to the city, the village is seperated by a green belt of agriculture and parkland, and though it has seen some recent development, it still retains a rural character.
Quarndon centre was moved up from the foot of the hill to it's crest in Victorian times. Here can be found the church, church hall and the village school. The Parish Church of St Pauls, with its broach spire was built in 1874 on the site of an older building. There are some fine views from it, towards the Derwent Valley, Allestree Park and Kedleston.
Quarndon gained some fame in the 17th and 18th centuries as a spa because of the properties of its chalybeate spring water. The well dried up around 1900, but the well head can still be seen.
The Scarsdale family, who owned the nearby Kedleston Hall, built an inn in the 18th century to accommodate visitors. This is now the Kedleston Hotel. There was also a thriving stocking weaving industry with at least 25 hosiery frames at work, in around 1846. It is now mainly a dormitory village for Derby and surrounding areas.
The popular village pub, the Joiners, is situated at the foot of the village. A Miss Hampshire, a centenarian, was the last survivor of a family which kept the pub in an unbroken line for 300 years, ending in 1928.
The village boasts a successful cricket team, winning the All England Village Cricket Competion at Lords in 1983. There are several thriving social organizations, and an annual garden fete is held each June in the grounds of Quarndon Hall.
