1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Chapel-en-le-Frith

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, a market town in the High Peak parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 20 m. S.E. of Manchester, on the London & North-Western and Midland railways. Pop. (1901) 4626. It lies in an upland valley of the Peak district, the hills of which rise above 1200 ft. in its immediate vicinity. There are paper-works and ironworks, and brewing is carried on. The foundation of the church of St Thomas of Canterbury is attributed to the foresters of the royal forest or frith of the Peak early in the 13th century; and from this the town took name. After the defeat of the Scottish forces at Preston by Cromwell in 1648, it is said that 1500 prisoners were confined in the church at Chapel-en-le-Frith.