Our Victoria County History spin-off book on Hasland, after some delay, is in the final stages of preparation. You can find out more about the book in this blog.
Our VCH County Editor – Philip Riden – has brought together hours of work by our Chesterfield research group, for the first authoritative history of this expansive parish. It’s written in our usual VCH style, which means there’s lots of source references and a thorough index for those wishing to explore more about the story of Hasland.
But what many people now regard as the modern Hasland, was much more extensive. Our map above (from the book) shows just how big Hasland parish once was. At one time it comprised not only what we now call Hasland but also Grassmoor, Winsick, Spital, Hady, parts of Boythorpe and Birdholme. It also included much of Chesterfield’s former heavy industry including the Tube Works and Bryan Donkin’s premises on Derby Road. No wonder the book will number some 200 odd pages.
As is standard in VCH, there’s sections on landownership, economic, social and religious history and local government. Within these sections are histories on such diverse topics as the Reema concrete plant based at the former Broad Oaks blast furnaces (itself covered), SS Augustine’s church and other places of worship, local collieries, Penmore hospital and many others. Lessor remembered features such as the Grassmoor and Hasland cinemas, tobacco and textile manufacture also feature.
Our second extract from the book is a page from the index, which gives a snap-shot of a few of the items covered. Illustrations and maps will also feature in the publication.
We’ll be keeping you up-to-date with progress on the book, which should be published around May this year. In the meantime we’ll feature some of the stories from the publication in our blogs.
This is the second VCH spin-off publication. Our first – ‘Chesterfield Streets and Houses’ – is still available.