A municipal borough, a town, a township, and a parish in Derbyshire. The town stands at the terminus of a short branch of the G.C. Railway, in the High Peak region, 2 miles from the River Etherow and the boundary with Cheshire, 9 N. by W. of Chapel-en-le-frith, 13 S.E. of Manchester, and 184 from London. Its site is an eminence in one of the deepest valleys of the Peak, and its environs include scenes of much beauty and romance. The highest and most impressive of the surrounding hills are :- Highershelf Stones (2038.9), Featherbed Moss (1680.0), Coombs Rocks (1303.0), Peak Naze (1284.0), Whiteley Nab (1000.0), and Shire Hill (923.0).

Glossop, in the good old Saxon times of St. Edward the Confessor, belonged to Levine. In the Doomsday Book it belongs to the crown, as part of Longdendale. It was granted, along with other lands in the Peak of Derbyshire, by William the Conqueror, to William Peveril, his natural son; whose memory is perpetuated by the old ruined tower of lime­stone, perched like an eagle on a rock, on the top of the famous Peak Cavern in Derbyshire. His son, Richard Peveril, being disinherited by Henry II, in 1135, Glossop, along with other lands, reverted to the crown.

Henry II, being on a military expedition in North Wales, in 1157, was made acquainted with the Monks of Basingwerke, on which occasion he gave Glossop to Basingwerke Abbey.

Glossop remained the property of Basingwerke Abbey until the dissolution of the lesser abbeys in 1536, when Henry VIII seized it, along with other lands. He afterwards gave it to the Earl of Shrewsbury, who exchanged it with the Duke of Norfolk for an estate in the north of Ireland. The present owner is Lord Howard.

Glossop, from memorials still existing appears to have been one of the strongholds of the ancient Briton, and scenes of conflicts with the Saxon invader. There is a general tradition, which may be called "The Tradition of Glossop," that the valley of Glossop was once covered with water, which was let off by cutting through the rocks at Besthill; and the appearance of the ground there strongly corroborates this tradition.

There was a Church at Glossop about the year 1,000. From what we learn the Church consisted of nave and side aisles, chancel, with chapel on the north side communicating with the north aisle, and tower surmounted by a spire at the west end. The Church was rebuilt in 1831, the chancel some time after, and the western tower and spire in 1855 by the 13th Duke of Norfolk. The only part of the old fabric now standing is the pointed archway into the chancel with its quaint bracket heads at the capitals of the jambs, and the archway, supported by corbel heads at the east end of what was the north aisle, leading into St. Catherine's Chapel, now occupied by the organ. These arches are of the Decorated period of the 14th century. There are also a few of the central bosses of the old oak roof of the nave in the centre of the present ceiling, but cut into two parts to accommodate themselves to their new position.

Opposite the Church is the old Manor-house of Glossop, an ancient building, once the residence of the Langdales, and the old Market Cross, round the steps of which, according to old inhabitants, the market folks used to expose butter for sale.

A Roman road, popularly called the Doctor's Gate, within a short distance from the town, leads to a Roman camp, now called Melandra Castle - situated on an eminence near the confluence of two mountain streams - a place interesting not only for its natural beauties but for its romantic fame.

The town was incorporated in 1866, the Corporation consisting of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors. The borough has also a commission of the peace. The Waterworks are the property of the corporation. The parish is one of the largest in England, and comprises, Hadfield, Padfield, Whitfield, Charlesworth, Simmondley, Dinting, and the town­ships of Ludworth and Chisworth. The area of the parish is 20,943 acres, including 350 of water.

The surface from its great extent and from it lying in so picturesque a region presents much variety of soil, contour, and scenery. Glossop Hall, the seat of Lord Howard of Glossop, the lord of the manor and principal landowner, was formerly a place of no attraction, but was enlarged and adorned by the late Duke of Norfolk; it is now a noble edifice in the French Chateau style of the 18th century.

Calico Printing Works, Paper Manufacturing Works, and Cotton Mills, on an extensive scale, are in the town and neighbourhood. There are also Rope Works, Iron Foundries, and Stone Quarries. Pilkington dates the rise of cotton manufacture in Glossop to 1784. The first cotton mill, however, worked by power, was built at Padfield, in 1777, by Mr. T. Thorneley.

A lofty viaduct of sixteen arches, not far from the town, takes the Great Central Railway across Dinting Vale. Markets are held on Saturdays, and Fairs on May 6th and the Wednesday on or after October 10th.