Heritage News Issue 26 - South Derbyshire District Council

SOUTH DERBYSHIRE
HERITAGE NEWS
A newsletter of South Derbyshire District Council, Sharpe’s Pottery & Swadlincote T.I.C.
Issue 26
TRAVEL PIONEER:
February 2008
Melbourne honours Thomas Cook
Quick Close, Melbourne, had never seen a crowd like it. On September 8th, the
cast bronze plaque commemorating the birthplace of Thomas Cook, Travel Pioneer,
was at last unveiled by Kate Adie OBE, who has relatives in Melbourne. She was
joined by Mr. Tom Cook of Gateley, Norfolk, a direct descendant of Thomas
Cook, and both of them gave short addresses to the large audience. As if to honour
the occasion, a Thomas Cook plane flew overhead from East Midlands Airport
while the speeches were in progress.
The unveiling event was complemented by a display on the site in a small marquee,
exploring the background of Thomas Cook’s life in Melbourne and an outline of
his life story. After the unveiling there was a private reception for invited guests at
the Thomas Cook Memorial Cottages, followed by a evening talk in the church by
Kate on her life and times. The church was full, and all the copies of Kate’s three
books provided for the evening by Waterstones were signed and sold.
A trail produced for the event, called “In the Footsteps of Thomas Cook”, takes
visitors around the west end of Melbourne describing the features that would have
been familiar to Cook, and giving an insight into his life at Melbourne. Copies are
available from the editor priced 80p including postage (see panel on back page for
• Kate Adie at Melbourne, 8th September 2007.
contact details).
“WINTER WARMER”
LECTURE LUNCHES 2008
During February and March this coming winter, Sharpe’s Pottery Museum is hosting
a selection of five lecture lunches to brighten those damp, dark days. A fascinating
series of talks is on offer, followed by a hearty winter lunch of homemade soup, filled
baguette and a hot pudding with optional custard, followed by tea and coffee. Each
lecture starts at 11am.
•
As with previous lectures, which hitherto have been evening events, the overarching
theme is heritage, but the subjects are diverse and we hope they will appeal to a wide
audience. Details are set out in the ‘forthcoming events’ section of this newsletter.
Those of you with a person-centred interest in history might like to hear about the fourtimes-married Bess of Hardwick, spitting, snuffing or hairdressing. Others might be
more drawn to pottery heritage, represented by talks on ceramic tile history and local
pottery.
Snuff taking, a cartoon by James
Gillray - just one of the historic
practices you can learn about at the At £9.95 including lunch, we hope that this new venture will appeal to our readers, and
we look forward to welcoming visitors from among you. To book your place call Sharpe’s
Sharpe’s Pottery lecture lunches!
Pottery Museum on 01283 222600. Price for lectures only, £5.
Heritage News - 1
HRH THE DUKE OF KENT PAYS A VISIT
At Halloween, most historic visitor attractions were
resurrecting their resident ghosts and preparing for an
onslaught of little witches, wizards, ghouls and gremlins. Staff
and volunteers at Sharpe’s, in contrast, were preparing to
welcome a visitor of an altogether different kind to the former
toilet factory. Curator Emma Ward explains:
On 31st October we were privileged to welcome HRH The Duke of
Kent to our museum. His Royal Highness met a diverse range of
South Derbyshire people that have played a significant role in
the history of the Sharpe’s Pottery Museum and who continue
to work towards its developing future. He showed great interest
in the importance of Victorian potteries like Sharpe Bros. in the
development of improved sanitation and public health, not to
mention World Trade. HRH was shown the historic Bottle Kiln
at the heart of the museum, where some idea of the working
conditions within the Victorian Pot Banks can still be appreciated.
•
Belmont Primary School children return to the Victorian Age.
The Duke was also able to see the pilot of our new education day
“The Victorian Potter”. Class 4s/c from Belmont Primary School
acted as our guinea pigs. The day is a mix of recreated history,
craft and handling sessions designed to utilise all of the children’s
senses and encourage learning through tasks that are crosscurricular and linked to the children’s personal heritage.
This full day programme has been made possible by an MLA
(Museums, Libraries and Archives) East Midlands Strategic
Commissioning grant that provides money to a variety of small
independent museums. The grants enable small museums to
develop accessible and enjoyable education activities. Most
importantly the programme also provides support from an MLA
education worker and funding to pay for a teacher placement) to
help develop and deliver the resulting activities.
When they arrived each child was assigned to a group based on
a real job carried out in a Victorian pottery like Sharpe’s: saggar
maker’s bottom knockers, clay blungers, jigger turners and mould
runners. Each child was issued their uniform of a flat cap and
apron and signed a contract, based on an original Sharpe’s
employment contract of 1866, at the beginning of their day. A
group photo was taken at the end of the day as a memento, which
parents could buy.
The day was a great success thanks to the hard work of Lucy
Charlton form Belmont School, Becky Hudson from MLA and our
own volunteers Sheila Cato, Catherine Roth, Monica Hudson and
Gillian Swindell. After this successful start, with a royal mark of
approval, the programme will be offered to all local primary schools
in 2008.
ETWALL AND BURNASTON:
Roger Dalton reflects on a three-year heritage project newly completed.
During the summer of 2007 the Etwall and Burnaston Local History Society
completed its three-year investigation of aspects of local heritage, funded
through the Local Heritage Initiative.
The “Etwall and Burnaston Project” aimed to raise awareness of heritage
within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Etwall which comprises Etwall,
Burnaston and Bearwardcote. Etwall and Burnaston have undergone
profound change since the mid twentieth century through housing
developments and consequent population expansion. Etwall parish
currently has a population of about 2,500 and historic Burnaston perhaps
about 350. However, Burnaston parish also includes Mickleover Park at
the site of the former Pastures Hospital, taking the overall population of
Burnaston to about 1,100. Our area is therefore a large one with a diverse
history.
The Society’s objectives were focused by the Local Heritage Initiative’s
expectation of well-defined outcomes. The outcomes have been fourfold
and reflect both the tangible and less tangible aspects of heritage. Firstly,
an oral history record has been compiled which has involved interviewing
some forty members of the local communities. Secondly, an archive of
changes in the twentieth century has been assembled including a large
photograph collection. Thirdly, three leaflets have been published as trails
or guides to key elements of local heritage as revealed in village and
farmscape. Finally, displays of material gathered have been mounted at
various events, most notably at the Etwall Well Dressing Festival.
One of the leaflets was devised in collaboration with Etwall Primary School
where, although the basic concern has been to guide children around the
village, the key idea was to help them make an imaginative leap back one
hundred years so that they could envisage what they might have
experienced on a village walk around 1900.
We also investigated the history of the people remembered on the War
Memorial in the church grounds in Etwall where 25 names are listed, 19
from the First World War and 6 from the Second. The circumstances
surrounding the death of each named person were researched and a wide
range of resources were consulted. These included Commonwealth War
Graves and regimental web sites, regimental museums, census returns
and electoral registers and local newspapers. Members of the families
concerned provided photographs and other material. As a result a local
Book of Remembrance has been compiled.
Where do we go next? Among the possibilities is the making of a diary or log
of major and minor changes in our area which, if retrospective, will provide
a definitive record of what happened when. The Project we have just
completed already has the potential to be as much a beginning for new
work than simply an end in itself!
Heritage News - 2
HARTSHORNE UPPER HALL
The Upper Hall at Hartshorne, with its
eyecatching timber framing, is a
landmark of the district, prominently
sited at a sharp bend on the A514. It
is also one of the handful of buildings
that give Hartshorne’s “upper town” a
distinct character.
It has long since been concluded
through documentary research that
this building was Mr. Benskin’s “new
house”, referred to as such in 1629
when 8 shillings church rate was paid
for it. But was the house all built at
once, and could we be sure that it was
the same house referred to in the 1629
document?
An interesting feature of the house is
the fact that the timber frames of its
various components are structurally
independent and not jointed into each
other. In this regard it differs from
Wakelyn Hall at Hilton where the
frames of all three sections of the
house are joined together in a piece.
Did this suggest that the different
sections of the Hartshorne house were
of different dates, or did it simply
reflect the method and practice of the
carpenter that built it?
The Heywood family of Broadstone
near Ticknall, carpenters and joiners,
were possibly the carpenters involved,
as one of their number (Edward
Heywood) made some fittings for
Hartshorne church in 1634-5, including
a font cover and communion rail. In the
absence of hard evidence this is pure
guesswork, and the identity of the
builders of the Upper Hall will probably
never be proven.
•
In an attempt to answer these
questions, the house has recently been
the subject of a tree-ring dating exercise
by the Nottingham Tree Ring Dating
Laboratory. Sapwood was incomplete,
so a precise felling date could not be
established, but measurement of 16
samples produced a consistent range
of rings dating from 1448 to1611.
Careful consideration of the results by
Alison Arnold and Robert Howard of the
Tree Ring Laboratory led them to
conclude that the main range of the
house was constructed of timber felled
between 1618 and 1622, with the two
storey front porch added almost
immediately, if not at the same time.
The outshot at the north end, sheltering
the ovens, is possibly a year or two
later. It is very unlikely that any part of
building is later than 1630.
Hartshorne Upper Hall from the churchyard.
Unfortunately it was not possible to
take samples from the cross wing at
the south end, which contained the
parlours of the house and is now in
separate occupation. However, given
that it shares the same chimneystack
as the main range of the house, it
appears likely that the whole building
is of a single date.
It remains remarkably unchanged,
having being “saved” from later
improvement and rebuilding by
adaptation as a tenanted property, in
multiple occupation for many years.
There have been some minor
alterations, additions and areas of
rebuilding, but in its essentials the
house remains intact.
URNING A PLACE IN HISTORY
The collection of items on loan to Sharpe’s Pottery includes two, very large, Victorian saltglazed garden urns made at the James Woodward site, now occupied by the Morrisons
Supermarket. They are said to have beenmade for the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace
in 1851, although no confirmation of this has yet been found.
Until recently, the urns stood on a garden terrace at the Dower House in Bretby Park
and they have been loaned to Sharpe’s by kind courtesy of Mr. Richard Perkins. They are
a fine example of salt-glazing being used decoratively, in contrast to its normal use
hereabouts in the production of indestructible sewage pipes!
Display space at the museum is short, and at first there was nowhere to display the urns.
Now, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of the Volunteers for Sharpe’s Pottery led by David
Ash, the two urns are on show in the main stairwell. The volunteers successfully raised
the £1,250 required for the project, including barrier wires, display accessories and lighting.
The urns are accompanied by photographs also loaned by Mr. Perkins, who attended a
special opening event.
Heritage News - 3
WHAT’S
WHA
T’S IN A NAME?
MERE POND, CALKE PARK.
The chain of ponds in Calke Park is well-known, and in most cases past
research has thrown light on their dates of origin and the meaning behind
their names. Curiously, the name of the latest of them all, Mere Pond, is
the hardest to explain. Created by the reclusive Sir Henry Harpur in the
opening years of the 19th century, it finally linked the upper and lower
ponds in a continuous chain. It appears that a “coup de theatre” was to
have been provided by a bridge across Mere Pond with a single arch
spanning 119 feet, but the bridge either failed or was short-lived.
Nonetheless, it illustrates that in some respects Sir Henry was ambitious
and fashionable, despite his reclusivity.
Why “Mere Pond”? A mere can be another name for a pond, but a mere
is usually quite broad in relation to its length. This is certainly not the case
at Calke, where Mere Pond is perhaps the most canal-like piece of
water of them all. Furthermore, “mere” is no more descriptive than
“pond”, so the name would be superfluous.
•
north bank of Mere Pond. Directly in front of it are the remains of a
boathouse and fishing temple, shown complete in a Victorian photograph
and labelled “Piscatoribus Sacrum” on an old plan. Other local fishing
temples bearing the same inscription survive at Calwich (Staffs.),
Cromford and Beresford Dale. Next to the remains at Calke is a large
piece of fallen stone, apparently part of a column (but cylindrical, not
square), next to the rotting remains of a long-fallen yew.
A mere can of course be a boundary or boundary marker. Sometimes
such markers might be low stones, more or less regular (“merestones”),
and sometimes they might take the form of a cross or pillar. It seems
quite likely that the pillar described in 1882 was such a marker, as it is
difficult to imagine what other purpose it could have served. It would need
to be high to be visible above the bracken or other undergrowth.
We know from documentary evidence that jurisdiction over the wooded
pastureland along the northern side of the chain of ponds (including tracts
of land formerly known “Castle Close” and “Bowley Wood”) was
sometimes challenged. The presence of former boundary markers in
the vicinity is also known, and there are indeed still some unrelated
Victorian examples engraved “L.M.” (Lord Melbourne) along the former
The ponds in Calke Park, from the Ordnance Survey 1901 edition.
The editor was recently re-reading an account of the gardens and park
at Calke in the “Derby Mercury” of July 12th 1882, and was reminded of
the following passage:
“Passing through the charming scenery of the park, we enter a beautiful
glen in which is an ancient monk’s cave, surrounded by some very
old, small-leaved golden yews. A remarkable example is here seen of
the great strength and grasping power of the roots of the yew tree. A
stone pillar, 9ft. high and one ft. square, has the lower end embedded in,
and firmly held, “as in a vice”, by the roots of the yew tree – the roots
encircling the pillar for about 18 inches up, and holding it securely in an
oblique position.” The “ancient monk’s cave” is probably a little brickvaulted cell, early 19th century in its current form, that still survives on the
boundary between Derby Hills and Ticknall. In the early 17th century
there was a boundary marker called the “Judge’s Cross” somewhere in
this area (which could conceivably be the marker at Mere Pond), and it
was possibly another such cross that gave its name to Shinglecross
Close, also in the vicinity of Calke Park and recorded back into the
mediaeval period.
For the time being, this suggestion for the origin of the name “Mere Pond”
remains hypothetical. Are these crosses or meerstones usually plain, or
could retrieval and archaeological assessment of the fallen column provide
further clues? Does anyone have any knowledge of ancient meerstones
and crosses, and distinctive features (if any) of them?
Heritage News - 4
MEDIEVAL PARKS IN SOUTH DERBYSHIRE.
Sue Woore and Mary Wiltshire, with others, recently
published a history of the medieval forest known as
Duffield Frith, including its eight hunting parks. With
their appetitites whetted and a wealth of background
knowledge under their belts, Sue and Mary were
inspired to research mediaeval parks elsewhere in
Derbyshire, including those of South Derbyshire. The
editor invited them to tell us more…
We were convinced that the list of around 94 parks, published
as an appendix in Gladwin Turbutt’s “A History of Derbyshire”
(1999) was not exhaustive and that there were in all probability
many more as yet unrecorded. Using Kenneth Cameron’s “Place
Names of Derbyshire” as a starting point, we recorded anything
indicative of parkland, e.g. words such as park, parroc, pale,
lawn, wood, hay, cockshut, coneygree, references to deer, etc.,
and then followed up all the references to compile a list of
possible parks. At the moment the probable total stands at well
over 120 and we are in the process of field walking every one to
find evidence on the ground.”
It must be said that the parks in Duffield Frith all started life as
deer parks and retained deer at least until the late 15th century,
some until the early 17th . Even then, these parks were multifunctional, each developing a different emphasis and having an
economic as well as a recreational purpose. We are finding
that parks elsewhere in Derbyshire had many other different
reasons for their existence, or changed direction over time; parks
sometimes developed from early ‘hays’ or enclosures,
sometimes from woodland: conversely parks occasionally
reverted back to woodland. Fashions changed the emphasis
from the hunting of deer to the protection of valuable timber:
sometimes the enclosure of demesne land to protect assets
was the reason behind emparkment at the outset, and deer
were never part of the equation.
South Derbyshire was initially somewhat outside our familiar
territory, but having spent most of 2007 ‘down south’ with maps,
macs, wellies and fortifying picnics, we are getting a feel for the
landscape. It is known from the ‘Quo Warranto’ (i.e. ‘what right’)
of 1330, when people staked their claims to holdings by stating
‘by what right’ they held their property, that John de Shepey de
Smethesby, (Smisby), had held a park there from ‘time
immemorial’. Boundary changes and detached portions of
parishes have made the indentification of this park on the ground
difficult, as there is no continuation in written records over time.
Happily in Melbourne there is a wealth of evidence in the
muniments at Melbourne Hall proving the existence of a park
from 1200 to the 17th century and beyond. Moreover the imprint
of this park is wonderfully preserved today. A remnant broad
earthen bank marks the line of the park pale, which was originally
topped with closely driven wooden stakes or similar, and can
still be traced around much of the perimeter of the park. This,
together with an internal ditch would provide a formidable deer-
•
The impressive earthwork ditch and bank of Coton Park, by
Potter’s Wood.
proof barrier. A similar impressive remnant pale can be seen at
Coton Park where a bank snakes down the western side of
Potters Wood (SK 272146) flanked by a right of way, following
a familiar pattern observed elsewhere.
Coton Park and Potters Wood are drawn in detail on the
wonderful 17th century map held at the Derbyshire Record
Office,(D77/46/1), showing the route of the ‘procession waye’
through six parishes. The settlements of Lullington, Rosliston,
Overseal, Netherseal, Clifton Campville and Linton, with their
houses and churches bounded by gated enclosures standing
like islands within open ground, give a vivid picture of the
landscape.
Old maps and documents crop up in a variety of places and
help to piece together a fascinating jigsaw of information. Field
work is rewarding in both consolidating and proving some of
these facts, predicting emerging theories and always throwing
something totally unexpected into the melting pot. We are
currently working our way in a general anti-clockwise direction
around Derbyshire, having ‘peaked’ just south of Sheffield and
so are now on the downhill slope.
THE SHRUBBERY, STANTON.
Further to the piece in the last issue of “Heritage News”, English Heritage has advised the District Council that the Shrubbery was
made a listed building on 6th December, 2007, in Grade II. The listings inspector commented that “The grouping and detailing of the
component elements of the building group to resemble a miniature Palladian ensemble is an unusual and rare manifestation of display
architecture of the period”. The property is now being sold, so a brighter future appears to be in prospect for it.
Heritage News - 5
WISE MEN? THE THREE SHEPPERDS.
Good quality church architecture from the 17th century is
rare in our region. Morale in the Church of England was low,
and Nonconformity was in the ascendance, its attendant
buildings being usually of a domestic character. Many
churches had suffered damage as a result of the Reformation
in the 16th century, including whiting over of wall paintings
and damage to ‘idolatrous’ statuary and glass. Moreover the
monastic houses, to which many churches had been
appropriated, were dissolved and the financial support for
the churches in their care was therefore discontinued.
Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that 17th century work in
churches more often consists of fixtures and fittings such
as pulpits, pews, bells or monuments than substantial
structural fabric.
At Foremark, the little Grade I listed church of St. Saviour is
a rare and complete church of the period, consecrated in
1662 to replace earlier chapels at both at Foremark and
Ingleby. It is in a simple gothic style, although classical
influences can be seen in some of the mouldings and in the
symmetrical north and south elevations of the body of the
church. This article seeks to demonstrate that its architect
and builder was almost certainly Richard Shepperd, the same
stonemason that built the beautiful church at Staunton Harold
(Leicestershire) between 1653 and 1662. To make sure that
posterity knew his name, he carved the inscription “Richard
Shepheard Artifex “ (artifex = author, artisan, artist, maker)
into the back of a parapet wall there.
Who was this Richard Shepheard? Unfortunately, his identity
is not entirely clear. The extensive list of local wills kept at
Lichfield helpfully includes that of Richard Shepperd,
stonemason, who died at Ingleby in 1673. But therein lies
an example of the wariness that researchers should always
exercise: another Richard Shepperd died at Hartshorne
nearby, also in 1673, and he was a stonemason as well.
Which did what?
Building clearly ran in the family’s blood. Thomas Sheppard
of Hartshorne, freemason, is mentioned in 1668, and yet
another Richard Sheppard, this time of Milton, mason, is
mentioned in 1676. Richard Shepperd was also the name of
the mason who built a bowl alley house at Swarkestone in
1632, which is probably the twin-towered “pavilion” still to be
seen there. He appears again in the accounts for rebuilding
part of Melbourne Hall 1629-31, and it was one of his team,
William Bolton, that raised one of the aisles on Melbourne
church in 1638-9. So South Derbyshire had at least three
separate masons called Richard Shepperd, and possibly
more.
Over at Melbourne, the various alterations to the original
Norman fabric have hitherto been thought to have taken place
over hundreds of years, on stylistic grounds. Recent research,
however, is revealing that almost all of the significant changes
took place within a few decades between the 1630s and
1680s. Work had become urgently necessary, as by 1630
the church was said to be great decay and ruin. In 2007,
tree-ring dating showed that the chancel roof at Melbourne,
which looks 16th century, in fact dates only from about 167090. The roof appears to be contemporary with the reduction
in height and squaring off of the east end of the church.
•
A little beauty! Foremark’s small but perfectly formed
church of 1662.
Again the vocabulary of the stonework mouldings suggests
a piece of work by Richard Shepperd. The junction with the
original Norman work is undeniably clumsy and untidy, but
the work itself is competent and neatly detailed. The parapet
copings, window jambs and mullions appear identical to those
at Foremark, with the jamb mouldings similarly well hollowed
out and concave in profile. The cornice beneath the parapet
is like those of both Foremark and Staunton, and the buttress
offsets are like those at Staunton. The work at all three
places, and at Swarkestone pavilion, suggests a skilled and
artistic hand, and in the mid 17th century it was still usual for
master masons to design the buildings that they constructed.
The east end of Melbourne Church therefore groups with
Foremark and Staunton to start a new little corpus of late
gothic church work in our area, and raises the question of
whether there are other local examples, currently dated too
early, which truly belong on the same short list. Can any
reader think of other possible candidates?
Gothic never completely died out as an English style before
its 18th century revival, but by the 1660s it had ceased to be
fashionable except as a political statement. It harked back
to the architecture of High Church, pre-Reformation England,
and was therefore used by the Royalist Sir Robert Shirley at
Staunton Harold as a silent protest against the Puritanical,
anti-Royalist climate of England in the 1650s. Whether such
sentiments can be read into the work at Foremark and
Melbourne, both postdating the Restoration of King Charles
II in 1660, is another matter.
Heritage News - 6
Information Centre
has now been
accredited with Visit
Britain Official
Partner status; this
means that it has
been recognised
as among the very
best in England
and we now join a
partnership that
aims to promote
excellence and
world
class
service. We also
• Helen (left), with colleagues Julia and Kathy from other TICs
have a new
in the National Forest, at the National Forest Wood Fair,
exciting addition to
August 2007.
the
Tourist
Information Centre for all to enjoy in the form of a
see different places, so why not book a place on
a coach day trip? If you haven’t already visited
rolling slide show of images of both well-known
us then please come and see what we have to
favourites and hidden gems within the Peak
offer.
District and Derbyshire. We are keen to extend
the already comprehensive range of services
Swadlincote Tourist Information Centre at
available to visitors and local people alike.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street,
Swadlincote is open Monday to Saturday 10am
We can take the hassle out of finding that perfect
until 4.30pm. Tel. 01283 222848. e-mail:
accommodation and book it for you. If you are
looking for that special gift for a loved one abroad
[email protected]
to remind them of home then pop in to see our
range of souvenirs. Maybe you would prefer to
travel further afield to find that perfect gift and
HELEN AT THE HELM
Helen Roth took up her post as Visitor
Manager at the Swadlincote Tourist
Information Centre back in May. “Heritage
News” invited her to say a few words about
herself:
Although a Burtonian, I grew up with a wonderful
view overlooking South Derbyshire’s hills and
have been enjoying its scenery for many years.
My association with South Derbyshire has more
recently involved promotion of the ever-growing
tourism destination of the National Forest through
working in my previous positions at Burton upon
Trent and Lichfield Tourist Information Centres
and volunteering at Derby Tourist Information
Centre. I have, many a time, ended up sending
visitors in this direction to visit the wonderful
variety of attractions that South Derbyshire has
to offer at the heart of the National Forest. I am
also no stranger to museums, having
volunteered at Derby Museum and Art Gallery,
where I made use of my Geology degree by
applying it to the wonderful scenery of
Derbyshire. It is a pleasure to finally be working
within such a beautiful location.
How time has flown since I started here in May
and already so much has happened! The Tourist
M
KEVIN’S WOMEN
living and historical. I’m having a lovely
time working on it although, in truth, it is at
times very emotional. It’s not the first time
I’ve worked on a project for women. My
drama serial, “The Furys” (adapted from the
novels by James Hanley), was commissioned
for BBC Radio 4’s “Woman’s Hour” as their
daily drama serial for 3 weeks and starred
Oscar winner Brenda Fricker.
Acclaimed poet and playwright Kevin
Fegan has been commissioned to produce
a book for community arts organisation
“People Express”, celebrating the women
of South Derbyshire. The book is not due
to appear in print until September 2008,
but in the meantime Kevin was invited by
Heritage News to tell us more:
I am interviewing women of all ages and
from different backgrounds in my search
for interesting characters. Unlike similar
books I’ve written previously, this one is not
a commission for me to write their life stories,
but for me to help people find ways to tell
their own.
I’m looking for personalities, not just women
who have done extraordinary things, but also
ordinary women who are the unsung
heroines of the region. I believe that
everyone has stories to tell and the
extraordinary is often hidden in the
ordinariness of people’s lives. For example,
one lady told me about a baby she looked
after during the war, until he was five years
old, and then she had to give him back.
She still thinks about him all the time.
•
Min Larbey paints silk at a People
Express “Celebrating Women” event at
Following the interviews, some individuals
are writing their own stories while others
work with me to put them down on paper.
Each piece is quite short, so it’s not an
attempt to tell someone’s entire life story,
but to try and capture the essence of their
character. I want it to be the sort of book that
both women and men will enjoy dipping into
and experiencing a window onto many other
lives. Some lives will be similar to their own,
others radically different.
I am working with several local volunteers
who are helping me identify individuals, both
Heritage News - 7
I’ve worked professionally as a writer for the
last twenty years. I’ve written over forty
plays for the theatre and several plays for
BBC Radio 4. I’ve also published seven
collections of poetry and edited several
anthologies nationwide. And I’ve worked as
a storyline writer for Granada TV’s
“Coronation Street”. I was born in Shirebrook
in North Derbyshire so I have an affinity with
this region. If you have a story to tell or want
to nominate an interesting character in your
area, then please write to me at People
Express, Sharpe’s Pottery, West Street,
Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE11 9DG or e-mail
me directly at [email protected]. The
invitation is open to women of all ages who
live, work or were born in South Derbyshire.
UPSIDE DOWN ARCHES – AGAIN.
Upside down arches have been discussed in previous issues of Heritage News. At the risk of overkill on the subject, the
following is a last word on the matter by
courtesy of Keith Reedman. Keith came up
trumps with the following clear and simple
extract from “Rivington’s Notes on Building
Construction Part 1" (1915) page 129, which
appears to tell us all we need to know. The
purpose of the arches is to spread the weight
of a building as evenly as possible over the
foundations, to lessen the risk of compressing
the ground underneath heavily loaded areas:
“Inverted Arches – Where the natural
foundation is of a compressible nature,
inverted arches are used for the purpose of
uniformly distributing over the foundations
the concentrated weights imposed by heavily
loaded piers, as shown in figure 186. Inverted
arches should have good abutments on each
side, otherwise they are liable to thrust out
the weaker portions of walling, as shown in
dotted lines”.
AN APPEAL
Sharpe’s is fortunate to have a band of dedicated and loyal
supporters who make return visits to enjoy the shop and café,
visit the “Magic Attic” and soak up the ambiance of the building
and its exhibits. It is heartening to observe that some of these
people are not from the immediate locality, and make a point of
visiting while in the area. Some repeat visitors come on the
recommendation of friends and are clearly pleased to have made
the “discovery”.
Sharpe’s is appreciative of all its visitors, but if you are one of
these key people, then we need more of you! Sharpe’s is
generously supported by the District Council, but it is vital to
appreciate that this support only partly cushions Sharpe’s from
the commercial pressures of the world. The Trust is an
independent organisation and its Board (including the District
Council representatives) are all volunteers.
It is expected that Sharpe’s should and will strive to be financially
sustainable, and minimise the amount of subsidies required to
maintain it. This is a tall order for any small museum, and one
of the ways to achieve it is to continually retune ourselves to
our public. For instance, evening events at Sharpe’s have usually
been enthusiastically received by their audiences, but those
audiences have often been too small. We need to understand
why. Is it the product that’s missing the target, or the publicity?
What sources of information do you turn to when you want to
find out “what’s on” in your area? Or do you find out just casually?
Do you take much notice of posters? If you’re a regular supporter
of Sharpe’s and live beyond the Swadlincote area, where do
you come from? Does Sharpe’s publicise itself in your area?
What sort of events and activities would you like to see provided
at Sharpe’s? Could Sharpe’s provide activities that are
inadequately catered for elsewhere? What’s your idea of a good
evening out? Would Sharpe’s be a suitable venue for it? What
aspect of local heritage or the modern environment most
intrigues you? Can you think of friends and relations that would
appreciate being told about Sharpe’s?
We appreciate that questions like these are easy to ask and
sometimes less easy to answer, but we would really like to
hear from you and all suggestions will be carefully considered.
Although Sharpe’s is a museum, all community uses can validly
be considered. We are not going to invite you to fill in a
questionnaire, but Emma Ward will gratefully receive your
comments either in writing, by email, or just in an informal
telephone call. Emma’s contact details are at the end of the
newsletter. If you can take a minute or two to make contact
and help direct Sharpe’s future development, it will not be time
wasted.
E-MAIL OR SNAIL MAIL?
Where possible, we would like both to cut down costs and be more “green” in the production of “Heritage News”. If you have access
to the internet, we invite you to consider whether it would be convenient for you to download Heritage News from the District Council
website: www.south-derbys.gov.uk/LeisureCulture/LocalHistoryHeritage/heritage_news.htm
Issue 19 and subsequent issues are already posted on the site in .pdf format. If you would like to access future issues in this way, we
can send you an e-mail advising you whenever a new issue is added. To subscribe to the e-mail list, please email the
editor:[email protected]
Heritage News - 8
CORNISH BLUES
Tuesday 3rd July 2007 proved to be a significant date in
South Derbyshire history. Without fanfare or ceremony,
Church Gresley’s renowned pottery industry reaching
back nearly a quarter of a millennium finally came to
an end with the sudden closure of the Mason Cash
factory. Mason Cash, perhaps best known for their
mixing bowls and pet food dishes, had taken over the
manufacture of Cornish Blue in 2004 when the T. G.
Green pottery next door closed.
The survival of
Cornish
Blue
manufacture had
been precarious for
some years. Given
that it had survived
against the odds
while all other local
potteries had closed,
perhaps its demise
should not surprise
us, but there was
• This special Cornish blue mug, produced always a hope that its
for Heritage Open Days in September 2006, very uniqueness
proved to be one of the last such “specials”
would give it a future.
that the pottery produced.
This time, however, there seems to be no chance of a
reprieve. The workforce, having been laid off, is
effectively split up and scattered, and the site and
assets are being sold separately. The site and buildings
are being offered for sale through A. R. Argyle of Burton
on Trent, while the stock, goodwill and intellectual
property rights are being offered for sale through
Charterfields (International Asset Consultants) of
Sheffield.
Much is written in guidance to planning departments
about the importance of preserving local
distinctiveness, but this can be a difficult call in places
like Burton, Woodville and Swadlincote, where local
distinctiveness has been so closely related to local
industry and its particular building types. Particularly in
urban areas, small industries and businesses are the
kingpin of local distinctiveness, but they struggle to
survive. With the disappearance of local industry from
the familiar scene, usually replaced by anonymous
steel framed sheds in segregated industrial areas, local
distinctiveness is an imperilled quality.
Often, the best that a planning authority can do is to try
and preserve the “skeleton”, i.e. the townscape created
by past industries, such as the warehouses at
Shardlow, bottle kilns in Swadlincote and brewery
buildings in Burton. Although their original functions
have gone, the character and spirit that they impart to
an area may linger on indefinitely.
NEW FRONTAGE FOR
SHARPE’S POTTERY
S
harpe’s Pottery has frontages to two roads. Its
principal frontage is to West Street, but it also has a
frontage to Alexandra Road, dominated by the last
surviving bottle kiln.
The Alexandra Road frontage of Sharpe’s Pottery has
gradually undergone a transformation. Until 2005, most of
the frontage was taken up by an unattractive, steelframed building of 1928, in poor repair. Following its
demolition, the original brick and tile pottery buildings
were exposed to full view once more. As an added bonus,
the ground levels have also been re-graded, enabling
water to run off the site more effectively than before.
This was a very worthwhile improvement, as the Sharpe’s
pottery buildings occasionally get invaded by excess
surface water during heavy rains.
The steel-framed building was known to occupy the site
of earlier pottery buildings, so archaeological supervision
was arranged while the ground levels were reduced.
Foundations of the earlier buildings, not wholly explicable,
were revealed, along with a quantity of broken yellow
ware and broken Rockingham-glazed teapots. Once the
archaeological work was complete, the area was
resurfaced with gravel.
•
Much improved: the Sharpe’s Pottery frontage to Alexandra
Road.
Attention then turned to the making good of the outside
wall of the historic pottery buildings. This wall had been
defaced over time by alterations and coatings of paint, but
during recent months the eaves have been rebuilt, the
brickwork repaired and most of the paint lightly cleaned
off by a specialist cleaning company. It is neither to be
expected, nor desirable, that the building should look new
after this work, and it doesn’t. It still has the time-worn
look befitting its 200 years of life, but the net result is a
building whose historic character can once again be
appreciated, and which is an asset to the town.
Heritage News - 9
SCENE THROUGH A KEENE EYE
Photographic exhibitions and other news from the Attic.
Keith Foster writes:
The latest two exhibitions by The Magic Attic were a roaring success and were seen by over 1,000 visitors.
During the first ten days of October the Magic Attic mounted a major exhibition of local photographs in the
library at Burton; the same exhibition was also displayed over the weekend of the 17th November in the Attic.
The photographs were taken by the renowned Burton photographer – Richard Keene (1852-1899) and the
exhibitions were sponsored by the National Forest Company.
The photographs were printed from original 10 by 8 inch glass plate negatives donated to the Magic Attic by
The Burton Mail. Keene of Burton was the son of the famous Derby photographer Richard Keene. Richard
junior had four brothers and four sisters, three of the brothers being renowned photographers or artists.
Compared to his father, not a great deal is known about Richard. He was born in Derby and was living in
London in 1861. In 1871 he was working as an accountant in St Marylebone, London. By 1877 he had
moved back to Derby and also became a photographer, starting off in Siddals Road and Derwent Street
(1877) in Derby. In about 1878 he opened a studio at 52 High Street, Burton-upon-Trent.
In 1879 he married Eleanor and by 1881 he was living at 138 High Street. He claimed to have assisted in
the development “of the New Dry Process - the forerunner of the Polaroid.” Richard died on 3rd January
1899, leaving Eleanor to run the High Street photographic business. She carried on until the business was
declared bankrupt on 29th March 1906, and died in Burton in 1911. The couple left no children.
Further details of the Magic Attic can be obtained from our new internet website – www.magicattic.org.uk.
• The location of this cottage is thought to be
The Hollow at Winshill, formerly in South
Derbyshire but long since transferred to
Staffordshire.
WALKING FESTIVAL, MAY 2008
Marion Horton explains a new initiative in the National Forest:
17th-26th May 2008 sees the first ever “Footsteps in the Forest” – The National Forest Walking Festival. This offers the
opportunity to join in with a variety of guided walks of varying lengths, mostly within the forest boundary but also including a
few outside.
Join us to discover the canals, towns, rural villages, reservoirs and woodlands of this very varied landscape. There is something for
almost all walkers, whatever your interest and abilities. Walks will include fascinating facts about wildlife and the local heritage of
this beautiful area, all led by local enthusiasts who are keen to share their knowledge with you.
The programme of walks is still in the course of preparation, but fixtures so far include walks around Ashby, Calke Park, Swadlincote,
Melbourne Park, the Ticknall Limeyards and Grace Dieu Priory. Walks with a natural history bias include bird walks at Branston
Water Park and Drakelow Nature Reserve, and a “Creatures of the Night” walk at Staunton Harold.
Register your interest to receive information on Footsteps in the Forest – The National Forest Walking Festival by contacting
Swadlincote Tourist Information Centre on 01283 222848 or visit www.thenationalforestwalkingfestival.org.uk
A number of excellent walks packs have been produced to help visitors get to the heart of this forest in the making. If you would like
further information, please contact Swadlincote Tourist Information Centre on 01283 222848.
A FEW CURRENT PROJECTS
14, Chambers Row, Melbourne
Much-needed repairs are underway at 14, Chambers Row, Melbourne, where the District
Council negotiated a comprehensive scheme of works with the late owner. Chambers Row
is a stone-built terrace placed at right angles to the street, taking its name from Melbourne
stonemason John Chambers and his son Robert Stanford Chambers, who built the ten
houses (perhaps in stages) between 1792 and 1809.
No 14, the end house in the row, was the largest; it abuts the roadway and therefore
incorporated a butcher’s shop in a rear wing, to take advantage of the street frontage. A
Melbourne resident writing in the 1920s recalled that the shop was also used as a
slaughterhouse in his youth.
“Mrs. Harriet Brewin … lived in the first house on the row, and she was a character in
more ways than one. And when she lived there, what is now a back kitchen was a
slaughter house where a butcher killed all his cattle and sheep, and pigs, and calves.
He used to open the top half of the door and then when the beast looked at him he shot
it in the forehead, and everybody as went by could see all as were going on, and there
were always some lads to watch him do it”
Heritage News -10
•
Work in progress at no. 14,
Chambers Row, Melbourne.
A FEW CURRENT PROJECTS continued
Civic Way, Swadlincote
At Swadlincote, a new wall 89 metres long
is being built by the side of Civic Way,
enclosing one of the town centre parking
areas to the west of Church Street. The
materials have been carefully chosen to
reinforce local distinctiveness. The bricks
are by the Furness Brick Company and
closely match the bricks used locally in
the Victorian period. The copings, by the
Cradley Special Brick Company, are also a
good match to the local terracotta specials
once produced in great quantity in the
Swadlincote area. The new wall will be
complemented by the planting of a row of
London Planes and re-siting of the
recycling centre.
opportunity was taken to give these jitties
formal names for the first time, so they have
been named “Pipeyard Passage”, “Potbank
Passage” and “Miners Passage” in
homage to the industries that shaped the
growth of Swadlincote.
The grant scheme for restoring historic
properties in the town centre will run until
2010 and all owners and lessees are invited
to assess the potential for eligible works
and make applications. Funding is offered
at the rate of 50% of eligible costs for
repairs, and 80% of eligible costs for works
for restoration (i.e. reinstatement of
missing features).
Etwall Hospital
At Etwall, proposals to repair the stone
centrepiece of the Almshouses or Hospital
are in their final stages. The work will
include lead capping to protect vulnerable
stone cornices, and the repainting of the
four armorial shields. The almshouse are
a focal point of the district, being a
rebuilding of 1681 in conservative style to
replace the original almshouses first
erected in the 1550s.
•
Work in progress on the new wall at
Civic Way, Swadlincote.
What is the new wall for? When the
second part of Civic Way was driven
through Swadlincote in 1981-2 from
Midland Road to Hill Street, little thought
was given to the appearance of the
frontages to the new road. Views were
opened up from the new road to the backs
of buildings on the High Street, often
poorly presented. For some visitors, these
unsatisfactory views make that vital first
impression on arriving in Swadlincote town
centre via the A514. The High Street itself
is more attractive, and is becoming more
so as the scheme to restore historic
buildings there gathers momentum, but is
not the first thing a visitor sees as it is
wholly pedestrianised.
Funding for the new wall has been
provided by Wm. Morrison Supermarkets
PLC and the East Midlands Development
Agency (EMDA).
It is the latest in a series of projects to
improve the image of the town. Other
measures include an ongoing grant
scheme with English Heritage to restore
historic properties in the town centre, new
granite kerbs and gullies on Church Street,
and repaving of three jitties or “passages”
along the High Street in blue brick. The
The basic aim is to prevent water from
penetrating the stonework. The carved
stonework is held together by a series of
iron “cramps” buried in the structure,
which bridge the joints between the
stones and are held in place by short legs
at each end, let into holes in the stones
which were then filled with molten lead.
Water reacts with the cramps, which rust
and expand, rupturing the stonework. In
severe cases of rust expansion, large
chunks of stonework can fall off a building.
This was one of the problems the National
Trust faced when re-roofing Calke Abbey
in the 1980s, as rust expansion had
seriously damaged the heavy stone
cornice around the top of the walls.
•
Etwall Hospital
Heritage News -11
At Etwall, most of the iron cramps are not
causing problems, but the few that are will
be removed. Where necessary, nonrusting replacement ties and pins of
stainless steel will be introduced, a material
which was not available to the original
builders.
The Royal Oak, Ticknall
At the former Royal Oak Service station in
Ticknall, the old building on the site is
being converted and extended as two
dwellings, and a new detached house is
being added. The old building has been
extended forwards towards the road edge
again, as its was formerly. This will make it
more prominent in the street scene, thereby
preserving the historic character of the
village.
Walnut Farm, Burnaston
At Walnut Farm, Burnaston, work is
continuing on a scheme of repair and
conversion of all the buildings, but already
the farmyard is greatly enhanced
compared to its appearance a few years
ago. The pavements around the edges
have been re-laid in blue brick and the
brickwork of the fine early 18th century
farmhouse has been carefully repaired and
repointed.
One of the small but most satisfying
improvements has been the reinstatement
of the attractive semicircular canopy to the
front door. Apart from the decayed side
brackets, the original had vanished long
ago, being replaced with a feeble and poorly
executed version in plywood.
The roadside farmbuildings at Walnut
Farm had fallen into very poor condition
with failing roof and first floor structures,
and leaning brickwork. A great deal of
rebuilding was necessary, but the work
has been carefully done and after a year or
two of weathering will not be obvious.
The farmhouse is one of the best in the
district. A lead rainwater head inscribed
W.W.E. 1730 appears to date the main three
-storey block, attached to an earlier twostorey block which was subsequently
rebuilt. Many other such examples may
be cited in South Derbyshire of 18th century
farmhouses that are attached to lower,
humbler remains of earlier houses on the
site, usually containing service rooms such
as kitchens, sculleries, dairies and pantries.
VANISHING ROADS.
The phenomenon of moving roads and villages to improve the
outlook from country seats is well-known, Edensor by Chatsworth
being the Derbyshire example that is most often cited. There are
several less dramatic examples known in South Derbyshire, and
background research for the District’s series of conservation area
histories and character statements has highlighted a few more.
Many, but not all, of them are known through the highway
diversion orders from 1773 onwards, preserved at the County
Record Office in Matlock. Readers may be interested in a few
examples:
In Melbourne a public road was stopped up as early as 1647, in order
that Sir John Coke the younger of Melbourne Hall might extend his
gardens across its site. The deed for closure of the road still exists, with
individual wax seals affixed by the signatures or “marks” of all the
Melbourne householders. Later, in 1789, the old main road between the
Hall and Melbourne Pool was replaced by a new length of road from
Melbourne High Street southwards to the county boundary, to improve
the amenity of Melbourne Hall. The new route, with a steep hill, was
not nearly so convenient for the townsfolk as the old route had been
and was the cause of some ill-feeling. Nevertheless, it paved the way
for further improvements to the environment of the Hall and Pool that
are a focal point of the district today.
x x x x x
At Calke, the diversion of part of the village street in 1779 was part of
an ongoing scheme to enlarge the park at the expense of the village,
which was always small and scattered. In 1761, only 40% of the parish’s
land area was in Sir Harry Harpur’s own hands. By 1800, with the park
greatly increased in size, the proportion in his son’s hands was 78%,
increasing probably to 84% by 1819. Meanwhile, seven farmhouses at
Calke were demolished in the fifty years or so after 1761, having become
redundant as their lands were swallowed up in the park. The diversion
of the street in 1779 took it further away from the east front of Calke
Abbey, and was a precursor to the landscaping works that extended the
picturesque views further down the valley in that direction. A new
pond, “Big Dogkennel Pond”, was constructed between 1779 and 1781
between the new and old routes of the village street, accompanied by
new tree planting, but is now submerged under the Staunton Harold
Reservoir
inexplicably abandoned. Neither the architect, nor the intended style
and appearance of the house, are known. A parkland setting was created
for the new house, of which some evidence yet remains. Small
plantations were established at farmsteads lying in the view, to render
them invisible from the house site.
On the face of it, it seems that the old road from Lullington to Edingale
was diverted in order that it did not pass the front of the proposed new
house and interrupt its privacy or its view. The new house is said to
have been a project of C. R. Colvile when he bought Lullington in the
late 1830s, though firm
evidence of the project
appears to be absent
and seems to have
come to us solely
through hearsay.
Documentary evidence
shows that the road
was moved in 1832. Is
it possible, then, that
the new house was a
project of the Gresleys
before they sold
Lullington, and had
nothing to do with the
Colviles after all? This
would explain the
abandonment. After
the death of Sir Roger
Gresley 8th Baronet of
Drakelow in 1837,
Lullington had to be
sold by Sir Roger’s
• It is hard to imagine now that this
executors because he
was the main road through
had lost a fortune
Melbourne until a new route was
through extravagance,
laid out in 1789.
heavy gambling and
attempts to buy his way into Parliament. Was Lullington Park, the
house that never was, an example of this extravagance?
x x x x x
Another possible example of road diversion to improve an estate is
Shardlow, where the main road appears formerly to have passed in
front of the hall. It passed through the south end of Great Wilne hamlet
en route to the mediaeval bridges over the Trent at SK 460302, whose
previously unknown remains were discovered in 1990-1993. From these
bridges the road headed towards Kegworth via a track called the
“Portway”, shown on an 18th century map of Hemington.
•
An early 19th century view of Calke Abbey, looking east
towards Big Dogkennel Pond, made when the villag street
was moved.
x x x x x
At Aston on Trent, the main road to Weston was moved further west
in 1786 to give more breathing space for Aston Hall. Similarly, at Newton
Solney in 1809, the old road that ran right in front of Abraham Hoskins’
house became a private drive and a new replacement road was made
further away. The new road was sunk between two walls in the manner
of a ha-ha so that it was invisible from the house – at least until a
carriage went by!
x x x x x
A case at Lullington is more enigmatic. The terraces and foundations
for a large new hall here were laid out in the 1830s or ‘40s, commanding
an extensive view towards Lichfield. They are still there, including
some low stone walls, just as they were left when the project was
By 1675 the bridges appear to have been abandoned and the river was
crossed via Wilne Ferry instead, near the spot where Cavendish Bridge
(1761) was built. The straight route between Shardlow Church and the
end of Wilne Lane, heading for Cavendish Bridge, was further away
from Shardlow Hall and made the Hall more private. We do not actually
know when this section of road was laid out, but it seems likely to have
occurred between the mid 17th and early 18th centuries.
The Fosbrookes of Shardlow Hall were large owners in Shardlow and
prominent carriers on the Trent navigation, so were in a good position
to influence a change in the crossing point of the river. It is difficult to
decide, however, whether the change of route was made to provide
more privacy to the house or was done simply for practical purposes,
caused by factors such as a shift in the river banks or river bed that
made the old bridge site unusable. It seems most probable that physical
conditions of the river demanded a change in the crossing point, and
that the Fosbrookes used their influence to place the new road in a
position that suited them. The picture remains unclear and more research
is necessary.
Heritage News -12
SHARPE’S POTTERY EVENTS FEBRUARY TO MARCH 2008
www.sharpes.org.uk
February
March
To - Friday 29th February – Craft Exhibition in the Museum Shop.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am – 4.30pm. Modern Ceramic Pots by David Orme and Wood
Turning by Peter Rutter for sale in the museum shop.
Telephone: 01283 222600.
Friday 1st February – Coffee Shop Exhibition by Karina Goodman.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am-4.30pm. Exhibition of Stylised Landscapes in the Cornishware
Coffee Shop. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Saturday 2nd February – A Stirring Finish. Sharpe’s Pottery Museum,
West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9DG. 7.30pm. A one man
black comedy play in the Kiln by George Telfer. Admission: £7.00
Telephone: 01283 222600
Wednesday 6th February – Antiques Valuation Day.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 2.30pm - 4.30pm. James Lewis of Bamford’s auctioneers will be
offering advice and valuations; £1 donation requested per item towards
the upkeep of the museum. Every first Wednesday of the month. Tel:
01283 222600.
Saturday 9 th February – Winter Warmer’s Lecture Lunch Decorative Tiles – 1000 years of tile style by Myra Challand.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 11am.
Join Myra as she traces a myriad of decorative styles through the ages
and reflects on how the humble tile has reflected these styles. Choose
from soup or a baguette for lunch followed by a hot pudding with optional
custard. Booking essential. Admission: £9.95. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Saturday 16th February – Farmer’s Market.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am – 2pm. The market will be held in the museum courtyard and
is a perfect place to pick up some fresh, local and home grown products.
Every 3rd Saturday of the month. Free admission. Telephone: 01283
222600.
Saturday 16th February – Volunteers Second Hand Book Sale.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am-2pm. Sharpe’s Volunteers will be having a Second Hand
Book Sale. Good reads for all tastes. Free Admission. Telephone: 01283
222600.
Saturday 16th February – Winter Warmer’s Lecture Lunch – Bess
of Hardwick and her Husbands by Emma Ward.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 11am. 400 years after this remarkable woman’s death join Emma
Ward, our Curator as she takes an overview of the woman and her
succession of marriages. Choose from soup or a baguette for lunch followed
by a hot pudding with optional custard. Booking essential. Admission:
£9.95. Telephone: 01283 222600
Saturday 23rd February – Winter Warmer’s Lecture Lunch - The
Habits of a Lifetime – The inhabitants of Calke Abbey by Dale
Jackson.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 11am. Over the last 300 years many of the habits of living have
changed – some, thank goodness, have disappeared altogether. Come
and hear about spitting, snuffing, pissing, sex and eccentricity and find out
how the former residents at Calke Abbey engaged in these activities.
Choose from soup or a baguette for lunch followed by a hot pudding with
optional custard. Booking essential. Admission: £9.95. Telephone: 01283
222600.
Saturday 1st – Monday 31st March – Coffee Shop Exhibition by
Michael Bailey.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am-4.30pm. Exhibition of Pencil, Pen and Ink Drawings by Michael
Bailey in the Cornishware Coffee Shop. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Saturday 1st March – Wednesday 30th April - Craft Exhibition in
the Museum Shop. Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote,
Derbyshire, DE11 9DG. 10am – 4.30pm. Woodfired Slipware by Carol
Glover for sale in the museum shop. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Saturday 1st March – Winter Warmer’s Lecture Lunch – Wig Blocks,
Curling Tongs and Dinky Curlers – The Changing face of
hairdressing by Linda Iliffe. Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street,
Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9DG. 11am. Listen as Linda looks back
on the changing methods and instruments of hairdressing during her
career and historically through the centuries. Choose from soup or a
baguette for lunch followed by a hot pudding with optional custard. Booking
essential. Admission: £9.95. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Saturday 1st March – Friday 21st March - Easter Egg Competition.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am – 4pm. Design your own Easter Egg. Winner to picked at
12noon on Good Friday. Winning entries will be displayed on Good
Friday and Easter Saturday. Great prizes to be won. Please call in for
further details. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Wednesday 5th March – Antiques Valuation Day.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 2.30pm - 4.30pm. James Lewis of Bamford’s auctioneers will be
offering advice and valuations; £1 donation requested per item towards
the upkeep of the museum. Every first Wednesday of the month. Tel:
01283 222600.
Saturday 8 th March – Winter Warmers Lecture Lunch - Local
Pottery by David Ash. Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street,
Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 9DG. 11am. Come and join our resident
advisor as he celebrates the diversity and skill of our local pottery
production. Choose from soup or a baguette for lunch followed by a hot
pudding with optional custard. Booking essential. Admission: £9.95.
Telephone: 01283 222600.
Saturday 15th March – Farmer’s Market.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am – 2pm. The market will be held in the museum courtyard and
is a perfect place to pick up some fresh, local and home grown products.
Every 3rd Saturday of the month. Free admission. Telephone: 01283
222600.
Saturday 15th March – Wedding Fayre.
Sharpes Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. A variety of stalls to help you plan for your perfect day. Admission
free. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Friday 21st March and Saturday 22nd March – Les the Rat’s Easter
Trail.
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 10am – 4pm. Our resident rat dons his bunny ears to lead you
round and follow the clues to discover an Easter Surprise. Admission: £2
per child. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Friday 21st March – Easter Chocolate!
Sharpe’s Pottery Museum, West Street, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11
9DG. 1pm – 3pm. Come along and join Louise to make, decorate and
wrap your own personalized Chocolate Easter Egg. £5 per egg. Booking
advisable. Telephone: 01283 222600.
Heritage News -13
BOTTLE KILN BUILDING AT SHARPE’S, 1935.
Perhaps the best-known historic
images of Sharpe’s Pottery are the
views from the top of the Majestic
Theatre on Alexandra Road, taken
between the 1930s and 1950s and
showing a tight cluster of six working
bottle ovens. We know, from the
Sharpe’s directors’ minute books, that
the last two traditional bottle ovens
had been built there in 1935. We also
know that their replacement with
electric ovens began scarcely more
than twenty years later, so the scene
that looks so well-established and
permanent in the photographs was
actually a transitory one.
Nevertheless, the inter-war period
was a highly productive time for
Sharpe’s, as witnessed by a large
•
The two bottle kilns built at Sharpes
in 1935 were among the last
generation of such kilns to be built in
the area, and the editor was interested
to hear from James Whitaker of
Sharpe Bros. that he had found the
company’s account book spanning the
years 1931-1946 that records the
payments for building them.
At that time, most of the materials
required for such a project could still
be sourced locally. Many of the
suppliers are names that will be
familiar to local readers. Fireclay and
bricks (including specials such as
arch bricks, broadbacks, squares and
thins) came from Mansfields, Wraggs,
Bretby and “Church Gresley”
The bottle ovens at Sharpe’s, ?early 1950s.
amount of new build and
reconstruction at the works. Most
people, at last, could expect a
bathroom, and bathrooms were
Swadlincote’s business.
(presumably the Church Gresley
firebrick works). Lime was brought
from Breedon, cement from Woottons,
gravel from Branston, asbestos sheets
from Holdrons, guttering from Burton
Foundry and wired glass from
Pilkingtons. The iron bands
encircling the kilns were provided and
fitted by Warrens, who also provided
furnace fronts and bearers.
In places, the repairs listed in the
account book read like a diary of local
events in the Second World War. They
include air raid damage on Coppice
Side and to Hastings Road Methodist
Church 1940-41, building air raid
shelters for Burton on Trent
corporation in 1941, air raid damage
repairs at Donisthorpe Chapel 1942,
a new kiln at H. R. Mansfields in 1943,
and repairs due to subsidence at Albert
Village in 1944. Subsidence had
become a significant hazard in the
Swadlincote area, vividly captured in
a Pathe newsreel in 1954.
It is a happy circumstance that the
Sharpe’s Pottery Heritage and Arts
Trust works closely and amicably
with Sharpe Bros. and Co. Ltd., the
freeholders of the site. Sharpe Bros.
still hold much of the pottery archive
at their offices at Church Gresley and
James Whitaker actively encourages
its use by serious researchers. The
period prior to 1894 is poorly
documented, but as a whole the
archive is a rich one that has been
indispensable to the Trust in
interpreting the buildings and
presenting them to the public. A book
of contacts with pottery employees in
the 1860s is one of the jewels of the
collection, and has been used as the
basis for an education project with
schools, described elsewhere in this
issue.
South Derbyshire Heritage News No. 26 Winter 2008
“Heritage News” is published by South Derbyshire District Council three times a year, usually around April/May (Spring issue), August/
September (Autumn issue) and December/January (Winter issue). It is circulated to all parish councils / meetings, amenity societies and historical
groups within South Derbyshire, and is also distributed to libraries and to local press contacts. We are always pleased to advertise the work of local
groups where possible, so please call us with any news for our next issue. The deadline for inclusion in No. 27 (Spring 2008) is Monday 24th March.
Contacts:
Philip Heath
Heritage Officer /Editor of “Heritage News”
Marilyn Hallard
Design & Conservation Officer
Emma Ward
Curator, Sharpes Pottery
Helen Roth
Visitor Manager, T.I.C.
tel:
01283 595936
fax:
01283 595850
e-mail: [email protected]
tel:
01283 595747
fax:
01283 595850
e-mail: [email protected]
tel/fax 01283 222600
e-mail: [email protected]
tel/fax 01283 222848
e.mail: [email protected]
The postal address is: Philip Heath, Heritage Officer, South Derbyshire District Council, Civic Offices, Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE11
0AH. “Heritage News” may be downloaded in .pdf format from the South Derbyshire District Council (SDDC) website.www.south-derbys.gov.uk,
Note: The non-editorial contributions to “Heritage News” reflect the views of their authors and may not necessarily coincide with those of the
District Council.
Heritage News -14