Newton
With Blackwell Parish
Alan Cooke 1999 MW
The meaning of the word Newton is New Farm. This
is derived from dividing Newton
into two segments. The letters ton are of old English origin and mean farm, so Newton was the new farm in
the Manor of Blackwell.
Newton and indeed Blackwell Parish lay on the border of Sherwood Forest. This was determined by surveys carried
out in the fourteenth and sixteenth century, at which time Sherwood was a royal
forest.
The brook which forms the
border is also the Parish and County boundary with Nottinghamshire. From it’s
source in Whiteboro, the brook flows to cross the road near the Woodend , formally
the Railway Inn, public house. The brook having crossed the road then flows
down the fields to join another brook which has it’s source at Newton Wood Farm
and flows through Diminsdale,[originally named Demonsdale] and on through the
fields at the bottom of Revill’s Hill, where it crosses under the road and
through the fields to Hilcote, on through Blackwell, Westhouses and Alfreton to
join the River Amber at Toad Hole Furnace. The forest boundary left the brook
at Hilcote and proceeded over Fulwood Cuttings and onto Kirkby Bentink.
Old names for areas of Newton include Scoftyard Lane ,
the original name for Main Street.
A Scoftyyard Yard was\an area of land usually under cultivation, and on slope,
so the lane was a strip of land as broad as a maltsters shovel which led to the
Scoftyard. In this instance the Scoftyard was in Tibshelf where the playing
field, the riding stables and housing up to Spa Croft are now situated.
Hall
Lane.
On at least one map known as Hollow lane. This was because the lane lay in a
hollow from where it starts at the junction with Cragg Lane round to the Green and across
the top of the school field on towards Old Blackwell and Hilcote.
Town
Lane.
Still extant and believed to lead to the original settlement of Newton, now buried
beneath the motorway. A property still on Town Lane was once an inn, known as the
Sign of the Trooper. Also in the vicinity of the Old Hall we had a Barracks
Yard and a dog pool. Barracks Yard was situated where the new houses now stand
between the hairdresser’s shop and the old farmhouse on Alfreton Road . The dog pool was opposite
these properties near the field entrance. The old farmhouse mentioned is where
Jedidiah Strutt lived when he first came to Blackwell Parish from his
birthplace in South Normanton. He lived with
his uncle who was a farmer, and it was while he lived there that he completed
the invention of the stocking rib machine which had been strated by a local
blacksmith. On his marriage to Elizabeth Woolatt 25th Sep 1755
,Jedidiah and his wife lived in a cottage nearby which is no longer in
existence.
The Far Riddings. An area of land situated over to the left at the top of Littlemoor Lane.
The Motorway Service station is now built on this area of land. Newton is part of
Blackwell Parish and most recorded history relates to the parish as opposed to
each individual village.
Blackwell was and is part of
the Scarsdale Hundreds, an area of land which in medieval times was meant to
provide fighting men for the King in defence of the realm.
Newtonwood lane and Littlemoor Lane
form part of the Peveril Way.
This was a route used in the days of William the Conqueror to travel
between Alfreton and Bolsover. A route which in those days
skirted the edge of Sherwood Forest.
The route was named after William
Peveril who controlled much of Northern England on behalf of William the
Conqueror and had domicile at Bolsover and Castleton( Peveril Castle).
Alfreton was the seat of the
Lord of Alfreton another supporter of William 1st. The Lord of
Alfreton was also the Sheriff of Nottingham
and Seneschal of Normandy, two very important positions in those days. The
Manor of Blackwell which we know as Blackwell Parish was part of the domain of
the Lord of Alfreton.
The Old| Hall. The present building dates from about 1690and was built in local stone.
There are references to an earlier house on the same site which was in the
possession of the Earl of Sheffield. It is possible for a building to have been
there since Norman times when Newton
was recorded on the Domesday Book.
From the middle of the
sixteenth century to the middle of the eighteenth a family by the name of Richardson lived at
Newton Hall. Lady Ann Sheffield granted the Bailiff, Mr Richardson, who lived
at the Old Hall in 1554, together with a man named Dawson,
permission to mine for coal in Blackwell with egress through the parishes of
Blackwell and South Normanton. Some old bell
pit type mine working were discovered on Cragg Lane when the railway line was cut
through in the early 1890’s. The late Mr J S Ball, a loco driver at the time
said the first engine ran through in 1894. It is recorded that in 1586 Anthony
Richardson , Bailiff of all Lord Sheffield’s lands in Derbyshire, was
instructed to build six dwellings on Littlemoor for colliers “in places at your
discretion and that you likewise take would to build the same, and that you
further provide as you shall think most convenient two or four like collier’s
houses in such places as you shall find fit and convenient”. Other mine
workings existed on Pit Lane
which we now call Huthwaite Lane.
These bell pit type mine workingsare shown on a map which depicted the site of
the possible motorway service area, a copy of which is in Newton School.
Another area of coal extraction is in Diminsdale from which a railway line was
constructed to the top of Berristow
Lane at South Normanton and then over to Pinxton
to join the Cromford Canal at Pinxton
Wharf. From Hilcote the
coal tubs were pulled up the hill to a coal wharf at the top of Berristow Lane by a
static steam engine. A short piece of this line ,which was made in the shape of
a letter L is in the possession of Mr Frank Smith of Pinxton who is connected
with the John King Memorial.
In the grounds of the Old
Hall are three graves of a Mr Downing and his two wives. The reason for the
graves being there is because the vicar of the day refused to inter the
Downings in the church yard because of Mr Downings adultery. Mr Downing had
married his wife’s sister whilst his wife was still alive, although very ill
and expected to die.
At the beginning of the
twentieth century a family by the name of Salmond lived in the Old Hall. One of
the sons, Sir John Salmond became the first Air Marshall of the R.A.F. His
brother who was a naval officer was killed in the First World War and had a
military funeral from the Old Hall.
A Perambulation of Newton
On entering Newton you start to walk along Main Street. On
your right is New Street.
When a street is ‘new’ it is often the oldest street in a village off the main
highway.
On the left after New St. is a wide
space between the houses which is an access to a filed known for many years as
Tommy Newnies. On map records at Chatsworth Estates this is known as a street.
Could this be forgotten George
Street?
Down the field was an old coal mine near the railway line. The spoil heaps
can still be seen. On the other side of the railway is the site of the old
Tibshelf Bottom Pit and brick kilns, where Tibshelf bricks were produced. Many
houses in Newton
are built with Tibshelf bricks. Moving to the top of the hill we have Bamford St. which may
also have been known as George Street.
This name can be found in Parish Council records but the location is not specified.
The next building of note is the Methodist Chapel. This building was opened in
1904 after much hard work and raising funds by local people. Before this time a
building in the Newton Farm farmyard was used as a chapel ,and the vicar of Blackwell Church often conducted services there
for the local people. In about 1860 a disagreement arose and the building was
taken over by the Primitive
Methodist Church,
Mansfield Circuit.
In the chapel a table with
ink wells was provided so that children could learn to write. In 1877 the roof
of the building collapsed and it was necessary to find room for school and
other services. The club room of the New Inn was the only place available, so this
was used.
The club room could not be
used at holiday times as the proprietor of the inn required it for County Festivities
of band and club special days. On other Sundays preaching services, Sunday School
and class meetings were held, but for special days a room was acquired over the
Blacksmith’s shop owned by Mr T Ford. The goods room of the Midland Railway
Station was also used on occasions.
Meanwhile preparations were
being made for the building of a school room and this was completed in 1880.
This is the building which stands opposite the main chapel and is now in
disrepair.
Moving on from the chapel we
have the garage which was once a furniture shop which changed to a billiard
hall on the upper floor, with a table tennis area and hairdressing salon on the
ground floor.
Towards the green we reach an
area on the right where the old peoples bungalows now stand. The bungalows have
replaced older houses which were built on areas knows as Shooters Row, Shooters Yard,
Victoria Terrace [known locally as Nan’s Nick]and Morning Star Terrace. Meadow
grove has replaced Shooters Row. This and other names have been consigned to
history. Arriving on the Green we have the Community Centre which was built in
1930 by Mr J S Barnes as Newton Church Hall at a cost of £1000.
This replaced an old army hut
which was purchased on the site after the First World War. His Grace the Duke
of Devonshire donated the land for this purpose. The Church Hall was purchased
by the Parish Council and refurbished to become the Community Centre in 1994.
The war memorial was erected in 1920 to commemorate those killed in the First
World War 1914-1918, with names added to remember those killed in the Second
World War 1939-1945.
Leaving the green walk past
the school to the George and Dragon and turn onto Cragg Lane. This public house is totally
different to the original building which was built of stone and butted up to
the wall of the Old Hall. Photographs exist to show the changes to the original
building and also changes to the Old Hall. Opposite the hall is a farmhouse where
between the years of 1860 -1877 preachers and ministers from Mansfield and
Alfreton held meetings and were entertained. These were people connected with
the Chapel.
Further along Cragg Lane is the
entrance to Town Lane.
The first properties on the left in the lane were originally an inn called The
Sign of the Trooper. These properties
are subject to an annual rent of £1 a year payable to what was the Charles
Rowland Charity, now part of Blackwell Relief in Need Charity. Further along
Cragg lane is a property known as Forge Cottage, this property was once Red
House.
Alfreton
Road
Often known as Mount Pleasant because
this road traverses an area of land by that name. This road was part of the Peveril Way
mentioned earlier. The railway line which passed under the road via the old
hump backed bridge was the Great Central Line from Nottingham to Chesterfield and on to Manchester. The Five Pits Trail now starts by
this bridge and follows the route through to Holmewood. The trains which ran on
this railway were frequently used by local people for a days shopping trip to
Nottingham Victoria
station now the Victoria Shopping Centre.
Returning to the Green walk
along Littlemoor lane onto Newton Wood Lane, the bungalows on the left are
built on land where an old stone property existed know as the Homested. This
property was also an ale house which served the miners on their way home from
working coal in Dimingsdale. Moving along you cross over a railway bridge
called the Drum and Monkey bridge. At the top of Wood Lane is the site of an iron age
fort. This was a man made fortification with water and grazing nearby for
cattle in Whiteboro. The water works now occupies part of the site.
Blackwell Church and
Parish
The name Blackwell is an old English
name derived from the two elements black and well. Well was a word for the
brook which flows along the valley between Blackwell and South
Normanton. Because the brook flowed over an exposed coal measure
this made the water appear to be black, hence the name Blackwell.
The parish is a very ancient
division. We know of it’s occupation in Saxon times from the existence of the
remains of a Saxon cross in the church, believed to date from 650 AD.
The dedication of the church
to St Werburgh who was a Saxon Lady , the daughter of Queen Ermenilda and King
Wulfere of Mercia who lived in the seventh century.
St Werburgh became a nun at
Ely, and when she died on Feb 3rd AD 699 she was general
superintendent of all the nunneries of Mercia. She died at Trentham and
she chose Hanbury ,one of her nunneries for a burial place. Werburgh lay there for one hundred and seventy
five years “in a costly shrine” already venerated as a saint, until the
invasion of the heathen Danes caused the removal of her relics to safety at Chester in AD 874. Her
body rested in the Church of St Werburgh and St Oswalds for more than six century
until 1538 when in the reign of Henry the Eighth all shrines in England were
confiscated and destroyed.
At the time of the survey for
the Domesday Book an entry tells us that Newton Leuric and Levenot had three carucates
of land to be taxed, and there was land for five ploughs. There was then in the
demesne one plough and thirteen villeins and four bordars having five ploughs.
There was a priest having one border, seven acres of meadow and wood pasture
one mile long and a half mile broad. In the reign of Edward the Confessor,
before the Norman Conquest, this was valued at four pounds , but at the time of
the Domesday Book it was worth only thirty shillings(£1.5).
The growth of population in
the parish was very slow and in 1783 there were only seventy three houses
inhabited within Blackwell Parish. The population of the area increased slowly
in the nineteenth century, when in 1851 the number of houses was ninety eight
with 467 inhabitants ,of whom 217 were male and 250 female. By 1891 the
population had increased to 3104, much of this increase was due to the opening
of A Winning and B Winning collieries in the 1870s . The first school in the
parish was endowed in 1835. The lord of the Manor at the time gave the school
twenty pounds per annum, for which tweleve children were to be taught free. A
small building near the church lych gate was used for this purpose.