Derby - City Centre & Square

Navigating The Route

This is a circular Detective Mystery around Derby City Centre & Square, with Detectives helping DCI Buster Crook follow the threads of clues after silk factory boss Manda Plant is found cocooned in her own silk, and untangle the evidence before the case unravels.

The investigation covers approximately 1.5 miles and should take around 2 hours to complete. You'll start by the main entrance doors to Derby Cathedral on Iron Gate, gather evidence through the city centre, explore roads, pedestrianised streets, Lock Up Yard, a churchyard area and Green Lane, then loop back up to the Cathedral at the end.

This Trail is wheelchair accessible and pushchair accessible. The route uses roads, pedestrianised streets, crossings, a narrow passageway called Lock Up Yard, a downhill lane and a churchyard area. It also includes a grassy area behind the statue and a narrow Green Lane downhill to the main road.

Use crossings on the route, including at the roundabout and on the approach to St Peters St. Take care at the statue, where the text warns about the horse's hooves, and on the river bridge section where you must ascend to road level. The Trail also follows roads and a narrow lane, so keep Mini Detectives close while the case is unfolding.

Getting There

By car: Start your investigation by the main entrance doors to Derby Cathedral on Iron Gate (DE1 3GP). Chief suggests leaving the car at Chapel Street car park (DE1 3GU) and heading to the cathedral on foot.

By public transport: Make your way to the main entrance doors to Derby Cathedral on Iron Gate to begin the case. The circular route loops back up to the Cathedral at the end.

Need the Loo?

Public toilets are available in the Market Hall after Clue 09, or you can make a detour into the nearby shopping mall after Clue 14.

Bring Your Furry Sidekicks

Four-legged Detectives are welcome to join the investigation 🐾

The route includes city roads, pedestrianised streets, crossings, a narrow passageway, a churchyard area, a grassy patch, a river bridge section and a narrow downhill lane, so keep canine colleagues close around traffic, tighter spaces and busier city-centre stretches.

Food & Drink Stops

Refreshments are available throughout the city centre, with more options after Clue 11. If you would rather pack your own provisions, there is a picnic opportunity with a detour along the riverside after Clue 07.

Want to Make a Day of It?

Derby Cathedral

The case begins by the main entrance doors to Derby Cathedral on Iron Gate, one of the key landmarks in this city-centre investigation. It is a natural place to pause before or after the mystery, especially once your Detectives are no longer busy scrutinising every clue nearby.

Museum of Making

The Museum of Making is well worth the optional detour and appears free to enter. It stands on the original silk mill site just up ahead on the riverside, built by John Lombe, who went on a secret mission to Italy to steal their silk-manufacturing secrets and later helped turn that into a local silk-making process.

Fish Market

The Fish Market has been reeling in hungry customers since Victorian times. First set in the Market Place, it was moved here in 1926, and the hall's iron-and-glass design still makes a splash today. Bailey's Fishmongers, trading for over 65 years, is Derby's last surviving fish stall.

St Peter's Church

The route heads through St Peter's Churchyard and grounds, where pointed stone posts, white statues, a carved year in the wall and the year 1894 above the roofline all add extra evidence for sharp-eyed Detectives to inspect.

Sadler Gate

Sadler Gate adds a dash of medieval street history to the investigation. Much of it, including the property where one of the clues is found, was built on Burbage plots - a medieval term meaning there was a house, usually on a long narrow piece of land belonging to a King or Lord of the town.