Alfreton
Encyclopedia
Alfreton is a town and civil parish in Amber Valley
, Derbyshire
, England
, adjoining the Bolsover
and North East Derbyshire
districts. It was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton Ward was 7,928 at the 2001 Census. The villages of Ironville, Riddings, Somercotes and Swanwick were historically part of the Manor and Urban District, and the population including these was 24,476 in 2001.
but after the mines closed in the 1960s it changed to light industry, warehousing, retailing and the service sector. A substantial proportion of local jobs are in the latter, such as health, education and leisure. A significant but declining proportion of the area is still agricultural. Alfreton town is a busy urban centre with a number of national chain stores, along with independents and charity shops, but is dominated by a large branch of Tesco
. There are several banks, building societies, estate agents and other services. There is an indoor market, library, two post offices, job centre and numerous pubs and food outlets. There is a health centre, a leisure centre, swimming pool and park at the west end of the town, and a golf course outside the town to the west.
, sited to the north-east of the town, was closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching Axe
, but on 7 May 1973 a station was opened on the same site called Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway. When Mansfield
regained its own station as part of the Robin Hood Line
re-openings, the name was changed to Alfreton. Services run to London St Pancras
in the morning and evening peaks with an hourly service also running to Liverpool
and Norwich
. A new hourly service has also been introduced and serves the Leeds to Nottingham route.
, the MP
is Nigel Mills (Conservative). The local council for Alfreton is Amber Valley
Borough Council.
is Alfreton Grange Arts College
(ages 11–18) on Grange Street. The school was recently renamed, having previously been known as the Mortimer Wilson School for many decades.
, who play in the Conference National
division.
Alfreton Cricket Club currently play in the Derbyshire Premier League and run four senior teams on Saturdays. They play on the picturesque Alfreton Park.
Alfreton has an active cycling club, organising a full programme of Audax
events. They meet at Roger's Lane car park on Sundays at 9.00am and Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm.
Professional wrestling
shows were often shown in Alfreton, with the likes of British legends as Big Daddy
, Jackie Pallo
and Blackjack Mulligan
performing.
There is also a snooker
club situated on High Street, as well as Alfreton Golf Club on Wingfield Road close to the cricket club.
Alfreton Leisure Centre
was re-opened in May 2008. The centre offers brand-new top-class equipment, including a 60-station gym
, sauna
, dance studio, swimming pool, badminton
and squash
courts.
Alfreton is home to 1401 (Alfreton and Ripley) Squadron of the Air Training Corps
.
Alfreton's rugby club (Amber Valley Rugby Club) is based at Somercotes, and as of 2010/11 season play in RFU Midlands 3 East (North).
The historian C. Bateman wrote in 1812, "Alfreton is said by immemorial tradition to have been founded by King Alfred and to have derived its name from him." In a similar vein the historian Glover wrote in 1829, "There is a traditional account that this town was built by the renowned King Alfred, from whom it took its name; and that the royal founder had a palace here." The placename appears in different forms throughout the ages, such as 'Elstretune' in Domesday, but the earliest appears to be in AD1004 in the will of Wulfric Spott, the founder of Burton Abbey. Amongst his bequests was 'Aelfredingtune', or 'Alfred's farmstead', which is believed to relate to Alfreton. However there is no evidence that this Alfred was the famous king, and it does seem rather far-fetched that the king would 'found' a small settlement here unless there was some military purpose. At that time it was not even a significant communications hub.
To the south-west near Pentrich was a Roman fortlet on the major road known as Ryknield Street. Another Roman road known as Lilley Street ran from here to the southern end of Alfreton, suggesting that settlement in the area predated the time of King Alfred by several centuries. Johnson suggests that Angles would likely have settled in the area long before the Norman conquest, although a lack of Danish and Norwegian placenames suggests the latter had no significant presence in the immediate locality.
The initial settlement was centred at the top of the modern King Street hill, where the original market place developed. On the hilltop there was also an ancient meeting hall (the 'Moot Hall') until 1914, and several inns became established over the centuries, some of which survive to this day. To the west was a manor house where the lord of the manor resided, and the nearby Church of St. Martin, parts of which date back to 1200. The manor of Alfreton spread over lands to the south and east, including the parishes of Somercotes
, Swanwick
, Riddings
and Ironville
. The first Lord of the Manor was Earl Roger de Busli, who delegated the position to Baron Ralf Ingram. The position was passed down variously through heredity, gift and sale over the centuries up until William Palmer-Morewood, the last Lord of Alfreton, who died in 1957.
In common with most inland settlements, the economy during the medieval period was centred on agriculture and associated crafts. However, the presence of readily accessible and extensive deposits of coal and ironstone in the area meant that mining and iron-working grew in importance. In some parts of the manor coal seams were so close to the surface they were often ploughed up, and numerous small workings developed. Pits developed throughout the Manor, with those in Swanwick and Alfreton being the most productive. Alfreton colliery was sited to the north-east of the town. Rope-making was allied to this industry, and the locality became famous for the quality of its ropes. In the 18th century Alfreton was the chief coal-mining centre in Derbyshire, and the third-largest town in the county. The pits closed in the late 1960s and their sites have been reclaimed for other development.
Local iron working began in the low-lying land to the south of the current town in the vicinity of the A61, where a dam was made to power a water mill. This would have been quite a small operation, along with another at Lower Birchwood, and it was not until the 18th century that iron working was expanded into major enterprises, centred on Riddings and Butterley
in the south and south-east of the manor.
The growth of these industries formed the basis of the area's prosperity, and attracted huge numbers of workers in the 19th century, rapidly swelling the local population. The extensive brick terraced housing in the area dates to this period, and brick-making and tile-making were significant local industries. Boot-making and repairing, and tanning of leather, were also substantial employers due to the need for footwear for these heavy industries. According to Census figures, in 1801 the population of the area that would become the Urban District stood at 2,301, rising to 21,232 in 1931. It has remained within about 3,000 of that number ever since.
After the closure of the pits and Riddings Ironworks in the 1960s, local employment shifted to factory, retail and service-based enterprises, many of which grew up on industrial estates occupying formerly despoiled colliery lands. Initially only a few major employers were present, such as Aertex
and English Rose, but this was to change with the development of several industrial estates to the east of the town.
Communications in the area developed much as elsewhere in England; initially basic trackways which were gradually improved as roads, some by the Romans, then vastly improved and extended by turnpikes
in the late 18th century; the advent of canals around the same time to serve the coal and iron industries towards the southern and eastern parts of the manor, supplanted by railways in the mid-19th century. The Cromford Canal
at the southern end of the Manor was built in 1793, and had a 3,000-yard long tunnel. Turnpike Acts affecting the area were obtained in 1759, 1764 (amended in 1790 and 1812), 1786 and 1802. These provided Alfreton with good road links to Derby
, Nottingham
, Mansfield
, Chesterfield
and the High Peak
. The town became a coaching centre, which accounts for the inordinate number of inns that were formerly in the vicinity of the market place. A legal requirement on turnpike companies to provide milestones resulted in a local curiosity, a cast-iron marker on the town cross-roads with the notation 'Alfreton 0 Miles'. In the 19th century, coaching and canal transport were rendered increasingly obsolete by railways built to the east of the town and along the eastern and southern boundaries of the former manor. The canals fell into disuse, and road and rail transport burgeoned. Rail underwent a temporary decline in the 1960s due to the Beeching cuts, which included the Alfreton station
.
Alfreton and the former manor have several historic buildings of note. The local Lords and wealthy industrialists invariably had significant houses. Alfreton Hall
was the successor to the original manor house, and was built c.1750, with an additional wing added c.1850; it is now a conference centre and restaurant. Alfreton House just off the High Street dates from c.1650 and is now occupied by the Town Council. The former George Inn at the top of King Street dates back to the 18th century, and was used as the meeting place for the local Turnpike Trust and local Assizes. On the west side of the southern approach to Alfreton is a small and distinctive stone-roofed building known as the 'House of Confinement'. This was built in the 1820s and was the local jail. There are also several churches, the oldest of which is St. Martin's at the west end of the town, part of which dates back to 1200. Beyond the town but within the ancient Manor are Carnfield Hall
(15th century, now a private residence and events venue), Riddings House (now a nursing home), Swanwick Hall
(c.1690, now a school), Swanwick Old Hall (1675, private residence), The Hayes (c.1860, now a conference centre), Newlands House (19th century, now flats) and the Jessop Monument (1854) at Ironville.
Amber Valley
Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in Derbyshire, England. It takes its name from the River Amber and covers a semi-rural area with a number of small towns formerly based around coal mining and engineering...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, adjoining the Bolsover
Bolsover
Bolsover is a town near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It is 145 miles from London, 18 miles from Sheffield, 26 miles from Nottingham and 54 miles from Manchester. It is the main town in the Bolsover district.The civil parish for the town is called...
and North East Derbyshire
North East Derbyshire
North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire....
districts. It was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton Ward was 7,928 at the 2001 Census. The villages of Ironville, Riddings, Somercotes and Swanwick were historically part of the Manor and Urban District, and the population including these was 24,476 in 2001.
Local economy
The main industry of Alfreton was historically coal miningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
but after the mines closed in the 1960s it changed to light industry, warehousing, retailing and the service sector. A substantial proportion of local jobs are in the latter, such as health, education and leisure. A significant but declining proportion of the area is still agricultural. Alfreton town is a busy urban centre with a number of national chain stores, along with independents and charity shops, but is dominated by a large branch of Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
. There are several banks, building societies, estate agents and other services. There is an indoor market, library, two post offices, job centre and numerous pubs and food outlets. There is a health centre, a leisure centre, swimming pool and park at the west end of the town, and a golf course outside the town to the west.
Transport
The area has a heavily used and extensive road network, in particular the arterial A61 and A38, the latter linking to the nearby junction 28 of the M1 motorway. The town grew as a centre for bus transport throughout the 20th century and still has extensive bus services. Alfreton's railway stationAlfreton railway station
Alfreton railway station serves the town of Alfreton in Derbyshire, England. The station is on the Erewash Valley Line 29 km north of Nottingham....
, sited to the north-east of the town, was closed in the 1960s as part of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, but on 7 May 1973 a station was opened on the same site called Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway. When Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
regained its own station as part of the Robin Hood Line
Robin Hood Line
The Robin Hood Line is a railway line running from Nottingham to Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The stations between Shirebrook and Whitwell are in Derbyshire.The towns and villages served by the route are listed below:*Nottingham*Bulwell*Hucknall...
re-openings, the name was changed to Alfreton. Services run to London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
in the morning and evening peaks with an hourly service also running to Liverpool
Liverpool Lime Street railway station
Liverpool Lime Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Liverpool, England. The station lies on a branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston, and on the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network...
and Norwich
Norwich railway station
Norwich is a railway station serving the city of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk. The station is the northern terminus of the Great Eastern Main Line from London Liverpool Street. It is also the terminus of railway lines from Ely, Sheringham, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.-History:At one...
. A new hourly service has also been introduced and serves the Leeds to Nottingham route.
Geography
Alfreton is located at 53°06′00"N 01°23′00"W (53.1000, -1.3833)1.Politics
Alfreton is part of the Amber Valley constituencyAmber Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Amber Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system. It is a marginal constituency between the Conservative and Labour parties...
, the MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
is Nigel Mills (Conservative). The local council for Alfreton is Amber Valley
Amber Valley
Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in Derbyshire, England. It takes its name from the River Amber and covers a semi-rural area with a number of small towns formerly based around coal mining and engineering...
Borough Council.
Notable residents
- Benjamin OutramBenjamin OutramBenjamin Outram was an English civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist. He was a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways.-Personal life:...
, civil engineerCivil engineerA civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
was born here in 1764. - Robert Watchorn emigrated to America through Castle Garden. He served as the USUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis IslandEllis IslandEllis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
, between 1905 and 1909. He later worked as vice president of the Union Oil Company. Robert Watchorn was a benefactor of Alfreton after the first world war. In 1927, the Watchorn Memorial Primitive Church was founded and later a school, a manse and cottages, all in memory of his mother. A sports ground and pavilion were given in remembrance of his son. He also had the Lincoln Library built, now a Masonic Hall. - James Young patented a process to obtain oil from coal whilst working in Alfreton in 1848.
- Tom Fox recently received an MBE from the Queen for his outstanding contribution to the youth in the Amber Valley area. He joined Derbyshire County Council over 30 years ago in 1972 and started working at Alfreton's Polygon Youth Centre. Although he retired from his youth workerYouth WorkerA Youth worker is a person that works with young people to engage them in informal education. Youth workers can work in many contexts. In the UK and elsewhere, the main distinction is usually made between statutory, those who work as part of a government run initiative, and non-statutory, those...
job in 2006, he still helps out one night a week. The emphasis of the award was for his work with children with special needsSpecial needsIn the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
. - Sally Pepper who presents the weather on the BBC's local evening news programme East Midlands Today.
- Norman WhiteheadNorman WhiteheadNorman Whitehead was a landscape painter, working mainly around his hometown Alfreton, Derbyshire. Active mainly in the 1930s he was greatly influenced by the works of Paul Nash and the Vorticism movement, experimenting with form and developing a style which was very much his own.-Biography:In...
(1915–1983) was born and painted actively in the area during the 1930s. - William Mugliston (died 1788), born locally, was an eighteenth-century poet. His works are now largely forgotten, but reference to him can be found in an early history of Alfreton held at the Derbyshire County Archives in Matlock, Derbyshire. His most notable work is "A Contemplative Walk with the Author's Wife and Children in the Park of George Moorewood Esq at Alfreton" (c 1782). He was featured in the Lady's Magazine (sic). Other works include "The Cruelty of Removing the Poor".
Education
The local secondary schoolSecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
is Alfreton Grange Arts College
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...
(ages 11–18) on Grange Street. The school was recently renamed, having previously been known as the Mortimer Wilson School for many decades.
Sport
The local football club is Alfreton TownAlfreton Town F.C.
Alfreton Town F.C. is an English football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire. The club was reformed after a merger between Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfreton United in 1959...
, who play in the Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
division.
Alfreton Cricket Club currently play in the Derbyshire Premier League and run four senior teams on Saturdays. They play on the picturesque Alfreton Park.
Alfreton has an active cycling club, organising a full programme of Audax
Audax (cycling)
Audax is a cycling sport in which participants attempt to cycle long distances within a pre-defined time limit. Audax is a non-competitive sport: success in an event is measured by its completion. Audax has its origins in Italian endurance sports of the late nineteenth century, and the rules were...
events. They meet at Roger's Lane car park on Sundays at 9.00am and Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm.
Professional wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
shows were often shown in Alfreton, with the likes of British legends as Big Daddy
Shirley Crabtree
Shirley Crabtree, Jr, better known as Big Daddy was a British professional wrestler famous for his record-breaking 64 inch chest...
, Jackie Pallo
Jackie Pallo
Jackie "Mr TV" Pallo was an English professional wrestler, a star of British televised wrestling in its 1960s and 1970s heyday, when the sport had a regular 40-minute slot before the Saturday afternoon football results on ITV.Even before the publication of his 1985 autobiography "You...
and Blackjack Mulligan
Blackjack Mulligan
Robert Jack Windham , better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan is a former professional wrestler and a former American football player...
performing.
There is also a snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
club situated on High Street, as well as Alfreton Golf Club on Wingfield Road close to the cricket club.
Alfreton Leisure Centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
was re-opened in May 2008. The centre offers brand-new top-class equipment, including a 60-station gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
, sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
, dance studio, swimming pool, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
and squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
courts.
Alfreton is home to 1401 (Alfreton and Ripley) Squadron of the Air Training Corps
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
.
Alfreton's rugby club (Amber Valley Rugby Club) is based at Somercotes, and as of 2010/11 season play in RFU Midlands 3 East (North).
History
Information for this section has been mainly taken from Reginald Johnson's A History of Alfreton (1968).The historian C. Bateman wrote in 1812, "Alfreton is said by immemorial tradition to have been founded by King Alfred and to have derived its name from him." In a similar vein the historian Glover wrote in 1829, "There is a traditional account that this town was built by the renowned King Alfred, from whom it took its name; and that the royal founder had a palace here." The placename appears in different forms throughout the ages, such as 'Elstretune' in Domesday, but the earliest appears to be in AD1004 in the will of Wulfric Spott, the founder of Burton Abbey. Amongst his bequests was 'Aelfredingtune', or 'Alfred's farmstead', which is believed to relate to Alfreton. However there is no evidence that this Alfred was the famous king, and it does seem rather far-fetched that the king would 'found' a small settlement here unless there was some military purpose. At that time it was not even a significant communications hub.
To the south-west near Pentrich was a Roman fortlet on the major road known as Ryknield Street. Another Roman road known as Lilley Street ran from here to the southern end of Alfreton, suggesting that settlement in the area predated the time of King Alfred by several centuries. Johnson suggests that Angles would likely have settled in the area long before the Norman conquest, although a lack of Danish and Norwegian placenames suggests the latter had no significant presence in the immediate locality.
The initial settlement was centred at the top of the modern King Street hill, where the original market place developed. On the hilltop there was also an ancient meeting hall (the 'Moot Hall') until 1914, and several inns became established over the centuries, some of which survive to this day. To the west was a manor house where the lord of the manor resided, and the nearby Church of St. Martin, parts of which date back to 1200. The manor of Alfreton spread over lands to the south and east, including the parishes of Somercotes
Somercotes
Somercotes is a village and Parish in the District of Amber Valley in the English county of Derbyshire, close to the border with Nottinghamshire. It is a former mining village and was once surrounded by more than five pits. It is now one of the fastest developing villages in the Amber Valley area,...
, Swanwick
Swanwick, Derbyshire
Swanwick is a village in Derbyshire, England, also a Parish within the Amber Valley district, with a population of 5,316 at the 2001 census.It has a number of shops, pubs and other businesses, a Church of , as well as Methodist and Baptist churches...
, Riddings
Riddings
Riddings is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is located 2 miles south of Alfreton near the hamlet of Golden Valley. The name derives from Ryddynges, a clearing or riding in a wood. This was the ancient forest known as Alfreton Grove within the manor of Alfreton...
and Ironville
Ironville
Ironville in Derbyshire, England, was built about 1830 by the Butterley Company as a "model village" to house its workers. It is situated between Riddings and Codnor Park....
. The first Lord of the Manor was Earl Roger de Busli, who delegated the position to Baron Ralf Ingram. The position was passed down variously through heredity, gift and sale over the centuries up until William Palmer-Morewood, the last Lord of Alfreton, who died in 1957.
In common with most inland settlements, the economy during the medieval period was centred on agriculture and associated crafts. However, the presence of readily accessible and extensive deposits of coal and ironstone in the area meant that mining and iron-working grew in importance. In some parts of the manor coal seams were so close to the surface they were often ploughed up, and numerous small workings developed. Pits developed throughout the Manor, with those in Swanwick and Alfreton being the most productive. Alfreton colliery was sited to the north-east of the town. Rope-making was allied to this industry, and the locality became famous for the quality of its ropes. In the 18th century Alfreton was the chief coal-mining centre in Derbyshire, and the third-largest town in the county. The pits closed in the late 1960s and their sites have been reclaimed for other development.
Local iron working began in the low-lying land to the south of the current town in the vicinity of the A61, where a dam was made to power a water mill. This would have been quite a small operation, along with another at Lower Birchwood, and it was not until the 18th century that iron working was expanded into major enterprises, centred on Riddings and Butterley
Butterley
Butterley is a village in the English county of Derbyshire near to Ripley. It is the site of the Midland Railway - Butterley, as well as the old Butterley Brickworks.- Notable residents :...
in the south and south-east of the manor.
The growth of these industries formed the basis of the area's prosperity, and attracted huge numbers of workers in the 19th century, rapidly swelling the local population. The extensive brick terraced housing in the area dates to this period, and brick-making and tile-making were significant local industries. Boot-making and repairing, and tanning of leather, were also substantial employers due to the need for footwear for these heavy industries. According to Census figures, in 1801 the population of the area that would become the Urban District stood at 2,301, rising to 21,232 in 1931. It has remained within about 3,000 of that number ever since.
After the closure of the pits and Riddings Ironworks in the 1960s, local employment shifted to factory, retail and service-based enterprises, many of which grew up on industrial estates occupying formerly despoiled colliery lands. Initially only a few major employers were present, such as Aertex
Aertex
Aertex is a Manchester based British clothing company, and also the name of the original textile manufactured by that company.The company owns the trademark for Aertex fabric, a lightweight and loosely woven cotton material that is used to make shirts and underwear...
and English Rose, but this was to change with the development of several industrial estates to the east of the town.
Communications in the area developed much as elsewhere in England; initially basic trackways which were gradually improved as roads, some by the Romans, then vastly improved and extended by turnpikes
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
in the late 18th century; the advent of canals around the same time to serve the coal and iron industries towards the southern and eastern parts of the manor, supplanted by railways in the mid-19th century. The Cromford Canal
Cromford Canal
The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks....
at the southern end of the Manor was built in 1793, and had a 3,000-yard long tunnel. Turnpike Acts affecting the area were obtained in 1759, 1764 (amended in 1790 and 1812), 1786 and 1802. These provided Alfreton with good road links to Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
, Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
and the High Peak
Dark Peak
The Dark Peak is the higher, wilder northern part of the Peak District in England.It gets its name because , the underlying limestone is covered by a cap of Millstone Grit which means that in winter the soil is almost always saturated with water...
. The town became a coaching centre, which accounts for the inordinate number of inns that were formerly in the vicinity of the market place. A legal requirement on turnpike companies to provide milestones resulted in a local curiosity, a cast-iron marker on the town cross-roads with the notation 'Alfreton 0 Miles'. In the 19th century, coaching and canal transport were rendered increasingly obsolete by railways built to the east of the town and along the eastern and southern boundaries of the former manor. The canals fell into disuse, and road and rail transport burgeoned. Rail underwent a temporary decline in the 1960s due to the Beeching cuts, which included the Alfreton station
Alfreton railway station
Alfreton railway station serves the town of Alfreton in Derbyshire, England. The station is on the Erewash Valley Line 29 km north of Nottingham....
.
Alfreton and the former manor have several historic buildings of note. The local Lords and wealthy industrialists invariably had significant houses. Alfreton Hall
Alfreton Hall
Alfreton Hall is a country house in Alfreton, Derbyshire. It was at the heart of local social and industrial history in the county. The history of the estate goes back to Norman times, but by the 17th century it was owned by the Morewood family, who were linked to local industry, mainly in coal...
was the successor to the original manor house, and was built c.1750, with an additional wing added c.1850; it is now a conference centre and restaurant. Alfreton House just off the High Street dates from c.1650 and is now occupied by the Town Council. The former George Inn at the top of King Street dates back to the 18th century, and was used as the meeting place for the local Turnpike Trust and local Assizes. On the west side of the southern approach to Alfreton is a small and distinctive stone-roofed building known as the 'House of Confinement'. This was built in the 1820s and was the local jail. There are also several churches, the oldest of which is St. Martin's at the west end of the town, part of which dates back to 1200. Beyond the town but within the ancient Manor are Carnfield Hall
Carnfield Hall
Carnfield Hall is a privately owned country house located at South Normanton, near Alfreton in Derbyshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building...
(15th century, now a private residence and events venue), Riddings House (now a nursing home), Swanwick Hall
Swanwick Hall School
Swanwick Hall School is a Technology College located in Swanwick, Alfreton, Derbyshire.The school has strong university links and its the only secondary school in Derbyshire to be awarded Training School status. The school has been a specialist college since 1998....
(c.1690, now a school), Swanwick Old Hall (1675, private residence), The Hayes (c.1860, now a conference centre), Newlands House (19th century, now flats) and the Jessop Monument (1854) at Ironville.