Webmaster, Derbyshire VCH Trust

One of the features of older Chesterfield was the large number of long yards in the Market Place area. In this post we look at one of these survivors – Angel Yard which started in the Market Place and ran right up to Saltergate.

When the Crown officials, who had charge of the manor of Chesterfield, decided to move to a new and present market area, at the end of the 12th century, they also laid out burgage plots. On the Low Pavement and Central Pavement side of the market these went right down to the banks of the river Hipper. But, on the opposite side they were constrained by those already on Saltergate. Many had yards to access the properties that were built on them.

You can still see remnants of these plots and yards today. A traceable one is Angel Yard, which ran from the Angel Hotel on the Market Place, right up to Saltergate. Our first photograph shows the one-time Angel – decorated for the turning of the first sod of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway in 1892. The archway to the right leads up to Angel Yard. Fast forward to the late 1920/1930s for our second photograph – complete with trolley bus. The Angel Hotel was burnt down in 1917, but had closed in 1915. The adjacent post office (which opened in 1886 after being in the Market Hall) took advantage by extending towards its next-door neighbour – the then Westminster Bank. Note the gap between the two – probably remnants of our Angel Yard. This gap is still there – our third photograph.

At Saltergate – our fourth photograph – next to the Barley Mow public house, Angel Yard still exists. You can still see it has a street name plate and it actually looks like a yard. It runs down towards its now isolated end in the Market Place, cut off by the relatively modern Rose Hill.

There are still other fragments of the burgage plots and their yards left – perhaps most notably on Central Pavement with Theatre Yard and Ward’s Yard. But many went when The Pavements shopping centre was developed at the rear of Low Pavement. A stark illustration of the former burgage plots can be seen on our seventh and final illustration – part of the 1883 Ordnance Survey 6 inches to 1 mile map of Chesterfield. Note the long black blocks of property – following the boundaries of the old burgage plots.

You can find out lots more in our Chesterfield Streets and Houses book.

We have started to add some draft text to our website, starting with Whittington (and Brampton), both near Chesterfield.

The former township and later civil parish of Whittington, Chesterfield, is a diverse one of some 1,581 acres. The former township of Brampton occupied about 7,900 acres. They are very much work in progress, but take a look here https://derbyshirevch.org/draft-text/. We’d be grateful for comments, additions or corrections.

For Whittington you’ll find information on manorial history, education and some of the economic history chapter. The Albion Pottery (as advertised here in about 1938) is covered, but the larger Pearson’s Pottery isn’t. It is actually in Newbold parish – as we explain. We also include an account of Frith’s works at New Whittington, responsible for a fair part of the growth of this community. Other industry, including mining, is also covered. Representing text to come is a contemporary photograph of the devastation caused to the 1863 parish church, in a January 1895 fire. It was rebuilt – the new 1896 building still stands today.

We are back to Chesterfield for this posting – more from our ‘Chesterfield Streets and Houses’ book.

Time for a game of bowls? It’s often been said (and written) that the bowling green off South Place and New Beetwell Street, Chesterfield, dates from 1294, but there’s no evidence for this. It is, though, one of the oldest in the country still in use – it was first mentioned in 1651. It’s seen here in an engraving from Ford’s 1839 ‘History of Chesterfield…’ The building behind is the old Guild Hall, demolished and replaced in the late 1840s, by a new building – itself now demolished.

Our second illustration shows the Chesterfield Borough Police Force on the bowling green, outside the 1840s replacement Municipal Hall, for the annual inspection of equipment. At one time the hall acted as offices, courthouse and police station.

Posted 26 January 2021

For the start of this new year and new decade we have now made our first foray into the world of online; previously we have been happy to be hosted under the umbrella of the IHR website, in turn managed by the School of Advanced Study, part of the University of London. However, recent changes to that arrangement have meant that we have lost the ability to manage and maintain our own area on that site. Hence, now we find ourselves here with a brand new website.

The added complications of the Covid-19 Pandemic have meant that our regular classes and meetings have had to be suspended, so, like so many other societies and local history groups, we have had to move online to keep in touch with our loyal supporters.