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Monument record MDR11028 - Creswell Colliery Model Village, Creswell

Type and Period (7)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Full Description

Planned industrial village consisting of some 280 houses around an open green. It was developed to house miners moving into the area to work the Creswell Colliery after the sinking of the first shaft in 1895 and was regarded at that time as a model example of modern housing for workers. (1) Creswell Model Village was built for the Bolsover Colliery Company between 1896 and 1900 to house workers at the company's Creswell Colliery. The village was designed by the architect Percy B Houfton on the principles of the garden village movement and incorporates 276 houses employing a variety of Arts and Crafts features, including ornate gables and moulded brickwork. The village is octagonal in plan, consisting of a large central green surrounded by houses arranged in two concentric octagons separated by a road. The houses in the inner octagon face onto the green and those on the outer octagon face away from the village. The rear of the houses back onto the road which extends round the entire village. This road originally carried a tramway by which means the miners' coal allowance was brought to their homes and by which the domestic refuse and sewage was removed. The village is divided by a second road which crosses the green on a north-west to south-east axis and divides it into two equal parts. The village also incorporates what was originally a Co-operative Store (now three separate retail businesses) on the north-west side of the outer ring, and a Miners' Institute on the south-east side of the outer ring. The green was originally provided with a bandstand and a children's' play area which no longer survive. In 1973-4 the National Coal Board undertook a programme of modernising the village housing, in which a kitchen/bathroom extension was added to the rear of every terraced house and the original windows were altered throughout the village. In doing this an essential element of the original Arts and Crafts Design was lost. At the same time, entrance porches were removed from the front of the terraces. (2) Creswell Colliery Model Village. Colliery model village begun, like New Bolsover, in the 1890s. Oval in plan with a large central green and intact community centre. Built by the Bolsover Colliery Company. There is a variety of house designs but most are brick with slate roofs and in terraces of 4 to 8. A minority of the houses have shaped gables, adding a most unusual variation. The spoil heap of the closed Creswell Colliery is visible beyond the model village and the residual buildings are incorporated into an industrial estate. (3) The village is not shown on the 1st ed. OS 25", is only partially constructed on the 2nd ed., but is shown as completed on the 3rd ed. The village contained, in addition to the housing: a school, a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, a working men's club, a cricket ground, a bowling green, allotments, a drill hall, a bandstand and a tramway to the colliery. (4) Creswell Model Village was built in the 1890s to provide homes for colliery workers. Its 281 houses are arranged around a central green. However, the loss of coal mining jobs, culminating in the closure of the local pit in 1991, caused decline, leaving empty and unfit properties. In 2001 Bolsover District Council started repair work on 90 homes, many of which are owned by private landlord Villagate. A second phase of work began in 2004 with the repair and refurbishment of 160 properties, including work such as reroofing with slate and moving bathrooms upstairs. Work on the homes ended in October 2006, with works to communal areas and the village green due to be finished in April 2007. (5) Model institute is a central feature within Creswell Model Village. Large red brick building with tile roof. Currently vacant and in a deteriorating condition due to vandalism. Discussion ongoing (2008) to transfer the lease to secure new community use for the building. (6)

Sources/Archives (6)

  • <1> Unpublished document: County Treasure Recording Form. 9(b).1, with photos.
  • <2> Unpublished document: RCHME. 1995. Historic Building Report, The Model Village, Elmton with Creswell, Derbyshire. SMR Doc. No. 731.
  • <3> Bibliographic reference: Fowkes, D. 2000. Derbyshire Industrial Archaeology. Part V. North East Derbyshire. p 8, illust..
  • <4> Personal Observation: Brown, J. Observation based on personal experience, map evidence, site visit etc..
  • <5> Article in serial: 2007. 'Creswell Model Village, Derbyshire', Regeneration & Renewal. January 12.
  • <6> Unpublished document: Bolsover District Council. 2008. Bolsover District Council Historic Environment Scheme 2008-2012.

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Location

Grid reference Centred SK 52112 73884 (509m by 756m)
Civil Parish ELMTON, BOLSOVER, DERBYSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (2)

  • EDR2635
  • EDR4701

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Record last edited

Jun 4 2024 11:21AM

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