Shirland is a former
pit village
A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution where new coal mines were developed in ...
in
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 ...
, England. Together with the neighbouring villages of
Higham,
Stretton and
Stonebroom
Stonebroom is a village in the district of North East Derbyshire in Derbyshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Shirland and Higham.
Stonebroom lies to the east of the A61 road, A61 between Alfreton and Clay Cross. It has a primary, nurse ...
, it forms part of the
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 ...
of
Shirland and Higham
Shirland and Higham is a civil parish within the North East Derbyshire district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Mainly built up with rural fringes, its population was 4,802 residents in the 2011 census. The parish is north west ...
, which had a population of 4,802 at the 2011 Census. The
River Amber
The River Amber is a left bank tributary of the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England.
It gives its name to the local government district and borough of Amber Valley.
The name Amber is a pre-Celtic word with uncertain meaning.
Course
Its sou ...
flows through the parish.
History
Shirland is mentioned 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 ...
as ''Sirelunt'' in the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101.
In mathematics
100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of Scarsdale. According to this ancient document the manor was given to
William de Peveral after the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
. Peveral inherited many manors around Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire including Nottingham Castle.
The village is built around Leonard of Noblac, St. Leonard's Church. The foundations of the church date to 1220, according to the inscriptions within the church. The church grounds contain many monuments to the De Grey family, who inherited the manor in the early 13th century. The church also contains memorials to the Revill family who were well-known Derbyshire landowners in the 15th century.
Gables Farm (now demolished) at Higham in Shirland Parish was built in 1696 by Thomas and Anne Clay on a 64-acre plot.
In 1868, the inhabitants were mostly involved with agriculture but a proportion were involved with framework knitting. However, in 1864 a mine was founded, which by the end of the century employed 500 men. The community together with Higham increased from a population of 2,437 in 1871 to 3,415 in 1881. The mines shaped the community until 1965 when the mine closed. A golf course is now built on the former slag heaps.
[Shirlanduk.net]
/ref>
A new primary school was opened in September 2011, next to St. Leonards Church.Shirland Primary School
/ref>
Church
The buttressed west tower of St Leonard's Church is pictured above, alongside the A61 north of Alfreton. Parts of the church date from 1220 but the majority of the existing church is 15th-century. It is part of a Benefice with the Church of England churches in Stonebroom (St Peter's Church) and Morton (Church of the Holy Cross).
See also
*Listed buildings in Shirland and Higham
References
External links
Clays of Shirland
Villages in Derbyshire
Towns and villages of the Peak District
North East Derbyshire District
Grey family residences
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