Monument record MDR5908 - Model Village (remains of), Ironville

Ironville was built between 1834 and 1860 by the Butterley Company. It is now being redeveloped but King William Street, dating from 1834, still remains unaltered. There are also early stone built cottages alongside the abandoned road called Golden Valley Terrace. (1) Ironville is a mid 19th century company model village, and although much of it has now been destroyed or radically altered as a result of a comprehensive redevelopment scheme, the essential characteristics of the original village remain clear [written in 1975]. Although hardly on the scale of Robert Owen's New Lanark or the Cadbury family's Bournville, Ironville was a village that was entirely the creation of one company, the Butterley Company. It was built between 1834 and 1860. The partners in the Butterley Company, particularly the Wrights, were concered for both the physical and spiritual welfare of their employees. This was reflected not only in the provision of both a church and a school by the Company, but also in the endowment of the village with a complete range of public services, including its own gas and water works and a Mechanics' Institute containing 'an artisans' library' and swimming baths. With its long rows of houses in the industrial setting of the Erewash Valley, the village forms a startling contrast to the other model village with which the Company was involved, namely Osmaston near Ashbourne. In its heyday, Ironville was a completely self-contained unit, revolving entirely around the activities of the Butterley Company. A remarkable sense of community developed, which survived the difficult years up to the time of the break-up of the old Butterley Company in 1968 and which remains apparent in the village to this day [1975]. (2) The King William Street terraces mentioned by Authority 1 are no longer extant [2016]. (3)