The pattern of small fields enclosed with walls, woodlands and moorland grazing was laid down in the Medieval period

It is during the Medieval period (1066 AD to approximately 1500 AD) that the first documents record land-use in the Upper Derwent, adding another layer of evidence to use in interpreting the past.

From the 11th century AD onwards land west of the River Derwent was within the Royal Forest of the Peak, a hunting estate for the Crown.

During the 13th century Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, was granted land which by the end of the century included most of the Upper Derwent.

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