New Bolsover model village is a village adjoining the town of
Bolsover
Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover (borough), Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from London, from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby, Derbyshire, Derby. It is the main town in the Bols ...
in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
.
History
The
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 ...
was begun in 1891 by the Bolsover Mining Company. It is a
model village built by
philanthropic
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
colliery owners which was to benefit and improve the lives of workers at
Bolsover Colliery.
The architects for the village were
Arthur Brewill
Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur William Lancelot Brewill (17 May 1861 – 18 February 1923) was an architect based in Nottingham.
Background and family
He was the son of William Rastall Brewill (1804–1897) and Sophia (1820–1886). He was educated ...
and
Basil Baily
Captain Basil Edgar Baily FRIBA (14 January 1869 – 1942) was an architect based in Nottingham. Much of his earlier work had to do with nearby churches.
Background and family
Basil Baily was born in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, son of th ...
of
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
.
The village had a school and a Cooperative store. On the edge of the village were allotments, pig sties and the village cricket pitch. The village had no public houses, but there was an institute that would serve workers no more than three glasses of beer a day. The colliery company employed a policeman and anti-social behavior could result in fines or dismissal.
The "Model", as it is known locally, was completed in 1896 by the Bolsover Colliery Company. It had 200 houses for miners and colliery officials. A tram track round the back of the village linked it to the pit and coal was delivered directly from the colliery to the coal store behind each house. The contents of the
ash privies were carried away. The "Model" remains in good repair. Its houses are either privately owned or owned by the local authority.
Architecture
The village houses are built in a double horseshoe around a
village green
A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
. Two-storey cottages with attics were built in terraces of eight in red brick with a decorative first floor band and saw tooth eaves cornices. Their Welsh slate roofs have decorative ridge cresting. Each house has three-light casement windows in
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
surrounds and a doorway with ashlar
lintel
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
s and an overlight. The first floors have two-light casement windows under chamfered ashlar lintels.
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d dormers to the attics have two-light casements with small panel glazing. Similar two-storey cottages were built without dormers to their attics. All the houses have back yards enclosed by brick walls. The village houses are grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
s.
See also
*
Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it ...
*
Bournville
*
Creswell Model Village
Creswell Model Village is an arts and crafts style model village in the village of Creswell, Derbyshire, England. The pit village was built in 1895 by the Bolsover Colliery Company to designs by architect Percy B. Houfton for the workers of Cre ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
["Bolsover Remembered" by Bernard Haigh]
External links
Villages in Derbyshire
Bolsover
Populated places established in 1896
Model villages
Basil Baily
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