​ALFRETON, a market town in the mid-parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 14 m. N. by E. of Derby, on the Midland railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 17,505. It lies at a considerable elevation above the valley of a small stream tributary to the Derwent. The church of St Martin is Early English and later. The neighbourhood abounds in ironworks, collieries, quarries and potteries, and is thickly populated. To the north-east of Alfreton are South Normanton (pop. 5170), Blackwell (4144) and Tibshelf (3432); to the north Shirland (3929), to the south Ironville and other busy industrial villages. The foundation of Alfreton is traditionally ascribed to King Alfred.