Pinxton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

on the western boundary of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, just south of the Pinxton Interchange at Junction 28 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

where the

A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, Bristol, Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, mak ...

meets the M1. Pinxton is part of the

Bolsover District Bolsover District is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It is named after the town of Bolsover, which is near the geographic centre of the district, but the council is based in the large village of Clowne to the north. The dis ...

and at the 2021 Census had a population of 5,652.

History

Etymology

In Anglo-Saxon times, Pinxton was a small agricultural community, thought to have been recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as "Esnotrewic." It is also thought that it was known as "Snodeswic," given by Wulfric Spott to Burton Abbey. In Norman times, it was under the control of William Peveril, for whom it was held by Drogo fitz Pons. It is thought that he renamed the manor "Ponceston" and it gradually changed to Penekeston and then to Pinxton.

Coal

Since 1800 BC,

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

had been extracted in the area. In 1794 the

Cromford Canal The Cromford Canal ran 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 canal lock, locks. From Crom ...

encouraged this trade. By the beginning of the next century there were a number of deep coal mines. Trade increased with the growth of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. There were also four

lime kilns A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is: Calcium carbonat ...

and a china works producing quality ware. Pinxton's prosperity increased further as the terminus of the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway, opened in 1819. From the profits of his colliery at Pinxton, D'Ewes Coke (1747-1811) of Brookhill Hall, a

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man colliery master, founded a local school and an educational charity. The collieries and coking ovens have been replaced by an industrial estate, and the old colliery village has all but disappeared.

John King

John King is the inventor of a mining safety device, a detaching hook, which successfully completed trials in 1873 at Pinxton No.1 colliery. The detaching hook prevents a cage raising miners from a shaft from being raised up and over the headstock pulley when raised from a mine shaft. A mining museum in Pinxton honoring John King and commemorating the invention of the detaching hook was closed in 2014 and its contents distributed to other museums and heritage centres. In Pinxton today, there remains the John King mining wheel which was used in the days when mining was available. Now the John King wheel is a historical model for the public to see. John King is also named after an infant school in Pinxton. The horse gin, or whim from Pinxton Green Colliery has been re-erected at Nottingham Industrial Museum. Pinxton signal box, which once controlled access to Bentinck Colliery has been relocated to Barrow Hill Engine Shed.

World War II

On 12 August 1940, a stick of bombs was dropped on Pinxton. One council house was hit, killing one person.

Church

The church of St Helen dates from medieval times, possibly having been built on the site of a previous small castle. Much of it was rebuilt in 1790 reusing the original materials, and only the west tower and west end of the old church remains. By 1890, it was so dilapidated that most of the services were held in the mission room. In the following century it was repaired, and a new porch and north aisle were added in 1939.

Broadmeadows

Broadmeadows is a housing estate in the Pinxton parish, built in the 1980s.

Trainspotting

"Pinxton Level Crossing" is a major tourist attraction for trainspotters who come from all over the country to take photographs of some of the unique locomotives that pass over the crossing.

Education

There are four schools in Pinxton; John King Infant Academy situated on Church St W, Longwood Infant Academy on Wharf Rd, Kirkstead Junior Academy on Kirkstead Rd, and Pinxton Nursery School on Kirkstead Rd.

Pinxton Wharf

Pinxton Wharf is a site that consists of a stretch of Pinxton Canal and a fishing pond located on the southern edge of Pinxton. Pinxton Canal was a branch of the

Pinxton FC

Pinxton Football Club is a football club based at The Welfare Ground, Pinxton. They compete in the Central Midlands League South Division. The manager is Kenny Shinfield.

Notable people

Aden Flint is a professional footballer who was born in Pinxton. He currently plays for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, and has previously played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, Cardiff City,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, Stoke City,

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and the England national C team. He has won the EFL Championship Player of the Month on two occasions, in February 2016, and September 2017.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Bolsover District Lime kilns in the United Kingdom