Sherwood Street
Sherwood Street was built on a single field owned by Mr
Stephen Wilkinson of Hilcote Hall. He probably sold the field in the 1880s to
Charles Seely and Co for the development of houses for Tibshelf Colliery
workers. At this time the houses were lit with oil lamps, and there was no
street lighting.
Residents of Sherwood Street first appeared in the census of
1901 at which time there were 325 people living there in 108 families. The
birthplaces of these families covered 21 English Counties plus Wales, Ireland
and India, showing how the collieries attracted so many with their offer of
better paid work and new housing.
The population of the whole of Newton increased 6 fold from
188 in 1841 to 1,317 in 1901.
From Coal
Pit to Pulpit
The last house on the left at the bottom end of Sherwood
St., is one of a few which were not built by the Colliery Company. Originally
named "The Willows", it was built by Albert Rowe and his wife Mary Ann
nee Brown about 1902. Albert was a miner all his working days but with savings
and a loan from the Ripley Cooperative Society, they managed the funding. Mary
Ann used to walk to Ripley each week pushing the pram in order to pay one
shilling off the debt, about 7 miles each way.
Albert and Mary Ann had 3 sons and 1 daughter, and in 1989
Daughter-in-law Molly published a booklet, “Arthur’s Recollections of Newton”,
stories gathered from her husband Arthur. She tells of his school days at
Tibshelf and Newton, and his Primitive Methodist Sunday School which led him to
study and eventually become a Minister and abandon his 5 years Night Shifts
underground at Tibshelf Pit.
Sherwood St
Social Club
Comments
Post a Comment