Clay Cross
Encyclopedia
Clay Cross is a former mining town and civil parish in the North East Derbyshire
district of Derbyshire
, England
, about six miles south of Chesterfield
. It is directly on the A61
, the former Roman road Ryknield Street. Surrounding settlements include North Wingfield
, Tupton
, Pilsley and Ashover
.
for the North Midland Railway
, George Stephenson
discovered both coal and iron, which together with the demand for limestone, caused him to move into Tapton Hall, near Chesterfield, and set a business as George Stephenson and Co.
Stephenson's workers' houses were of high quality for their time, having four rooms compared to the normal two, and a school was provided. By 1850 there were three chapels, a church and an institute - but no constable.
When he died in 1848 his son, Robert
, took over, leaving the company in 1852 when it took the name of the Clay Cross Company.
Although the company had been formed to mine coal and manufacture coke from the railway, the supplies from Durham
were preferred, and the works turned to iron working and brick making.
For many years, the company was the towns major employer. In 1985, Biwater
took it over. In 2000 Biwater sold the site to French company, Saint-Gobain
. Some months later, it was closed down with the loss of around 750 jobs.
Demolition of the vast Biwater site began in late 2008. http://www.claycross2020.org.uk/
until 1974, when it was merged into the North East Derbyshire
district under the Local Government Act 1972
. In the 1970s the council achieved brief notoriety due to its refusal to implement the Housing Finance Act 1972 in increasing the rents of council housing
: by law the rents should have increased by £1 a week from October 1972. The council was one of several to show defiance against the Act and of three to be ordered to comply by the Department of the Environment in November 1972 (the others being Eccles
and Halstead
). Clay Cross UDC was threatened with an audit in December 1972. The constituency Labour party barred the eleven councillors from its list of approved candidates. The District Auditor ordered the eleven Labour Party
councillors to pay a surcharge of £635 each in January 1973, finding them "guilty of negligence and misconduct". Conisbrough
UDC faced a similar audit on 19 January 1973.
The UDC made an appeal in the case to the High Court. Clydebank
and Cumbernauld
abandoned similar actions in March 1973. The surcharge was upheld by the High Court on 30 July 1973, which also added a further £2,000 legal costs to their bill, as well as barring them from public office for five years. The council further defied authority (the Pay Board) in August, when they decided to increase council workers' earnings. This provoked a further dispute with NALGO. Ultimately, the dispute became moot with the replacement of Clay Cross Urban District Council with the North East Derbyshire
District Council from 1 April 1974. The councillors were made bankrupt in 1975.
A book on the dispute between the council and the government, The Story of Clay Cross, was written by one of the councillors, David Skinner, and the journalist Julia Langdon
. The book was published by Spokesman Books in 1974.
There is the Sharley Park Leisure Centre on the A6175 Market Street towards North Wingfield
. Next door is the community hospital. The Danesmoor Industrial Estate is on the site of the Parkhouse Colliery and is home to a Worscester Bosch site. The towns library is on Holmgate Road.
Clay Cross town centre is currently undergoing a £22m redevelopment which has so far included a new supermarket, new bus station and new relief road. The second phase of this is due to start which will see a new parade of shops plus a new medical centre. Eventually the site of the former Junior and Infant schools which is located in the town centre will be redeveloped.
is in Tupton and located about one mile to the north of Clay Cross. Previously Clay Cross had a secondary school located in Market Street, and a Junior School located off- High Street. The Junior school and infant school were merged and relocated to a new purpose built complex on Pilsley road and renamed Sharley Park Primary School. The site of the former schools has been cleared and is awaiting development.
The secondary school was closed in the early 1970s, and transferred to Tupton Hall as part of the Government's drive to comprehensive education, it is now one of the largest with around 2000 pupils, including a Sixth Form Centre. Clay Cross Secondary School was converted to an Adult Education Centre.
, Bolsover Castle
, Chatsworth House
, and The National Tramway Museum
at Crich.
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....
district of 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...
, about six miles south of 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...
. It is directly on the A61
A61 road
The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...
, the former Roman road Ryknield Street. Surrounding settlements include North Wingfield
North Wingfield
North Wingfield is a large village in the English county of Derbyshire, located approximately 4½ miles south-east of Chesterfield, and 1 mile north-east of Clay Cross. It is in the North East Derbyshire district...
, Tupton
Tupton
Tupton is a village in North East Derbyshire, Derbyshire, England, south of Chesterfield. It lies just north of Clay Cross on the A61 which runs from Chesterfield to Alfreton. It comprises the areas of Old Tupton and New Tupton. However, it is generally referred to as Tupton...
, Pilsley and Ashover
Ashover
Ashover is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. It is in the North East Derbyshire district of the county. It sits in a picturesque valley, not far from the town of Matlock and the Peak District national park. The centre of the village is a conservation area. The River Amber flows through...
.
History
Until the early nineteenth century, Clay Cross was a small village, but increasing demand for coal and other minerals trebled the population by 1840 . While driving the tunnelClay Cross Tunnel
Clay Cross Tunnel is a 1,784-yard tunnel on the former North Midland Railway line near Clay Cross in Derbyshire, England now part of the Midland Main Line....
for the North Midland Railway
North Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
, George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
discovered both coal and iron, which together with the demand for limestone, caused him to move into Tapton Hall, near Chesterfield, and set a business as George Stephenson and Co.
Stephenson's workers' houses were of high quality for their time, having four rooms compared to the normal two, and a school was provided. By 1850 there were three chapels, a church and an institute - but no constable.
When he died in 1848 his son, Robert
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
, took over, leaving the company in 1852 when it took the name of the Clay Cross Company.
Although the company had been formed to mine coal and manufacture coke from the railway, the supplies from Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
were preferred, and the works turned to iron working and brick making.
For many years, the company was the towns major employer. In 1985, Biwater
Biwater
Biwater Plc is a former British water company. It designed and built Water Treatment Works and Waste Water Treatment Works, mainly in the UK but also around the world...
took it over. In 2000 Biwater sold the site to French company, Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials.The company has its head...
. Some months later, it was closed down with the loss of around 750 jobs.
Demolition of the vast Biwater site began in late 2008. http://www.claycross2020.org.uk/
Housing Finance Act dispute
The town was an urban districtUrban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
until 1974, when it was merged into the 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....
district under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
. In the 1970s the council achieved brief notoriety due to its refusal to implement the Housing Finance Act 1972 in increasing the rents of council housing
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
: by law the rents should have increased by £1 a week from October 1972. The council was one of several to show defiance against the Act and of three to be ordered to comply by the Department of the Environment in November 1972 (the others being Eccles
Eccles, Greater Manchester
Eccles is a town in the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, west of Salford and west of Manchester city centre...
and Halstead
Halstead
Halstead is a town and civil parish located in Braintree District of Essex, England, near Colchester and Sudbury. It has a population of 11,053. The town is situated in the Colne Valley, and originally developed on the hill to the north of the river...
). Clay Cross UDC was threatened with an audit in December 1972. The constituency Labour party barred the eleven councillors from its list of approved candidates. The District Auditor ordered the eleven Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
councillors to pay a surcharge of £635 each in January 1973, finding them "guilty of negligence and misconduct". Conisbrough
Conisbrough
Conisbrough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is located roughly midway between Doncaster and Rotherham, and is built alongside the River Don at...
UDC faced a similar audit on 19 January 1973.
The UDC made an appeal in the case to the High Court. Clydebank
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
and Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for Glasgow City. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire...
abandoned similar actions in March 1973. The surcharge was upheld by the High Court on 30 July 1973, which also added a further £2,000 legal costs to their bill, as well as barring them from public office for five years. The council further defied authority (the Pay Board) in August, when they decided to increase council workers' earnings. This provoked a further dispute with NALGO. Ultimately, the dispute became moot with the replacement of Clay Cross Urban District Council with the 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....
District Council from 1 April 1974. The councillors were made bankrupt in 1975.
A book on the dispute between the council and the government, The Story of Clay Cross, was written by one of the councillors, David Skinner, and the journalist Julia Langdon
Julia Langdon
Julia Langdon is a British journalist and writer.A political journalist since 1971, she became a lobby correspondent in 1974. Leaving The Guardian in 1984, she became political editor of the Daily Mirror in 1984, the first woman to hold the position on a national newspaper in the UK...
. The book was published by Spokesman Books in 1974.
Local economy
Clay Cross has a large modern business park called Coney Green Business Park and is located between Egstow and Danesmoor.There is the Sharley Park Leisure Centre on the A6175 Market Street towards North Wingfield
North Wingfield
North Wingfield is a large village in the English county of Derbyshire, located approximately 4½ miles south-east of Chesterfield, and 1 mile north-east of Clay Cross. It is in the North East Derbyshire district...
. Next door is the community hospital. The Danesmoor Industrial Estate is on the site of the Parkhouse Colliery and is home to a Worscester Bosch site. The towns library is on Holmgate Road.
Clay Cross town centre is currently undergoing a £22m redevelopment which has so far included a new supermarket, new bus station and new relief road. The second phase of this is due to start which will see a new parade of shops plus a new medical centre. Eventually the site of the former Junior and Infant schools which is located in the town centre will be redeveloped.
Education
Tupton Hall SchoolTupton Hall School
Tupton Hall School is one of the largest secondary schools in the North East Derbyshire district with a large body of students and one of the largest sixth forms in the county.-Grammar School:...
is in Tupton and located about one mile to the north of Clay Cross. Previously Clay Cross had a secondary school located in Market Street, and a Junior School located off- High Street. The Junior school and infant school were merged and relocated to a new purpose built complex on Pilsley road and renamed Sharley Park Primary School. The site of the former schools has been cleared and is awaiting development.
The secondary school was closed in the early 1970s, and transferred to Tupton Hall as part of the Government's drive to comprehensive education, it is now one of the largest with around 2000 pupils, including a Sixth Form Centre. Clay Cross Secondary School was converted to an Adult Education Centre.
Local attractions
The area has many local attractions and places of special interest. In addition to the stunning peak district scenery other places people enjoy visiting include Hardwick HallHardwick Hall
Hardwick Hall , in Derbyshire, is one of the most significant Elizabethan country houses in England. In common with its architect Robert Smythson's other works at both Longleat House and Wollaton Hall, Hardwick Hall is one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of the Renaissance...
, Bolsover Castle
Bolsover Castle
Bolsover Castle is a castle in Bolsover, Derbyshire, England .-History:It was built by the Peverel family in the 12th century and became Crown property in 1155 when the third William Peverel fled into exile...
, Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
, and The National Tramway Museum
National Tramway Museum
The National Tramway Museum, at Crich, in Derbyshire, England, is situated within Crich Tramway Village, a period village containing a pub, cafe, old-style sweetshop, including the tram depots. The village is also home to the Eagle Press, a small museum dedicated to Letterpress Printing including...
at Crich.
Notable residents
- Dennis SkinnerDennis SkinnerDennis Edward Skinner is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bolsover since 1970, the Chairman of the Labour Party from 1988 to 1989, and has sat on the National Executive Committee numerous times since 1978.Born in Clay Cross, Derbyshire, Skinner is the...
was born and grew up in the town, and went to Tupton Hall Grammar School. He first worked at Parkhouse Colliery (known as Catty Pit) in 1949, a mile to the east of Clay Cross. The pit closed in 1962. He was a Clay Cross councillor from 1960–70, directly before becoming an MP in 1970. - Eddie ShimwellEddie ShimwellEdmund "Eddie" Shimwell was an English professional footballer.-Playing career:Born in Birchover, Derbyshire, Shimwell was a trainee with Sheffield United in 1939, but failed to break into the first team before the outbreak of World War II...
, FA Cup footballer, licensee of the Royal Volunteer in Clay Cross. - Arthur HendersonArthur HendersonArthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932....
, Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winner in 1934, when he was M.P. for Clay Cross