Settlements and routes

There are four villages within the parish, all are linear settlements situated along the main local roads:^[3]

The B6038 road has these two settlements aligned along its route:

• Grassmoor is the largest, and south of the area. It has Grasshill and South End in the north and south as community areas
• Churchside is 1 mile (1.6 km) away from Grassmoor, to the north west

The B6039 road has the following places:

• Corbriggs is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Grassmoor
• Winsick is 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) away from Corbriggs, to the north west

Additionally, an isolated portion of Hasland village extends into the parish at Winsick and is situated alongside the A617 road. It is focused around Honeysuckle Road and Snowberry Close.

Outside of these settlements, the parish is predominantly an agricultural and rural area.

The key route through the parish is the A617 road from Chesterfield through to the M1 motorway, running through the north eastern portion of the area. The B6039 also from Chesterfield, runs parallel through the south to Tibshelf. The B6038 branches off and then also runs parallel but directly through Grassmoor village to North Wingfield.

Landscape

Primarily farming and pasture land throughout the parish outside the populated areas, there is some forestry throughout, mainly to the east at Grassmoor Country Park.

Geology

Being a few miles from the Peak District National Park, the composition of the parish is broadly similar, with clay, coal, ironstone and gritstone featuring in the geology of the wider area. It rises through mudstones, sandstones, shales and siltstone, making up the Pennine Middle and Lower Coal Measures Group formed between 309 and 318 million years ago during the Carboniferous period.^[4] Along the River Rother, there are superficial deposits of alluvium comprising gravel, sand, silt and clay, being formed between 11.8 thousand years ago and the present during the Quaternary period.^[5]

Water features

The parish rests between the River Rother which flows through pools at the Avenue Washlands Nature Reserve, and Calow Brook which runs alongside the Grassmoor Country Park which also has a number of pools.

Land elevation

The Rother and Calow brook valleys contain the low points at their northern extremities, at ~80 metres (260 ft), with the villages on plateaus sitting a little higher; Churchside varies from 95–120 metres (312–394 ft), Corbriggs 95–110 metres (312–361 ft), Winsick ranges from 100–115 metres (328–377 ft), and Grassmoor 100–140 metres (330–460 ft) peaking along the southern boundary.

Early history

While there are not many prehistoric remains locally, there are Bronze Age finds such as an arrowhead near Hasland,^[10] and slightly further afield, a stone ax at Tupton^[11] dating human occupation in the region from 2350 BC to 701 BC. More common have been Roman Britain occupation evidence (43AD to 405AD) such as coins.^[12][13][14] Grassmoor, Hasland and Winsick lay in what was the Scarsdale hundred, which was one of the six ancient divisions of the county, dating back from medieval times until 1894. Grassmoor was referred to as Greyhirst and was associated to Wingerworth in those times. In historic Derbyshire charter records, Greyhirst Wood is mentioned as being between the hamlet of Williamtorp and the 'great road' to Chesterfield, the only route of real note at the time (1300) was called Rykneld Street which was an old Roman Road and ran from Little Chester at Derby to Chesterfield in the Rother Valley.^[15][16] Peter Perez Burdett's Derbyshire map of 1762 shows Grassmoor to be land bounded on the west by the River Rother, to the east by the Chesterfield to Mansfield road, on the south by Lings and in the north by the area now known as Hasland.

In the 13th century the Welbeck Abbey cartulary register mentions Grayhirst and Greyhyrst, the name Gresmore is shown in an unpublished Court Roll dated 1549 and as Grassmore in Chesterfield parish registers from 1568. Only a few rough paths crossed the "moor" at this time, from north to south diagonally one ran along what is now the Hasland to North Wingfield B6038 road, on the southern edge of the moor. Running from east to west and crossing the north–south road was a path which became Birkin Lane and Hagg Hill, now the road from Temple Normanton to Ashover. Approximately in the centre of Grassmoor village a pathway branched off westwards (modern day Mill Lane) passing a windmill on the left, then falling sharply to ford the River Rother and pass a water mill on a tributary of the river before joining the Derby-Chesterfield road near Wingerworth Park.^[16]

For much of its medieval life, the area became more widely known as Hasland with it being a township within the broader Chesterfield ancient parish.^[17] Many parish townships were eventually converted to parishes themselves, with Hasland becoming one in 1850 with the opening of the parish church at Churchside.^[18] The manor of Hasland passed through marriage by means of one of the coheiresses of William Briwere, to Ralph de Midleham and eventually the Duke of Portland, before an exchange with the Duke of Devonshire meant he became lord of the manor by the 19th century. A branch of the Leake family, for several generations, resided at Hasland Hall, in which John Linacre died during 1488. In the middle of the 17th century, the hall belonged to Colonel Roger Molineux, who sold it to Captain John Lowe, of the Alderwasley family, later becoming the property and residence of Thomas Lucas, whose ancestor bought it from the Lowes in 1727.^[19]

Coal industry

Coal mining has taken place since antiquity throughout the UK, but very little evidence of this being done locally until later medieval times. The extraction of coal was at first restricted to those which lay close to the surface. By the early 18th century there were no deep coal mines, the day of businesses exploiting this for commercial gain had not yet begun, coal mines locations were typically leased from the lord of the manor or landowners by yeomen and well-to-do farmers who required coal for lime burning. These sank shallow pits which supplied the domestic and industrial needs of their neighbours and themselves. This type of mine was known as a bell-pit, the depression of a few of these are still visible in the hollow north of Grasshill, with another site possibly identified for this activity,^[20] from these tentative beginnings developed deeper coal mines of later days.

Following the Industrial Revolution and smelting of coke to produce iron, which stimulated the demand for coal, deeper mine workings were sunk in Grassmoor in the mid 19th century by Alfred Barnes.^[21] Two rows of houses were built for workers, the lengthiest was named East Street, but in local parlance called 'Sluggards Row', because although the miners living here were nearest the colliery, they were usually the last to arrive for their shift. The second row named Grasshill was for colliery officials and was known as 'Four Bob', the rent for them being only four shillings per week.^[22] Coal mining would dominate the lives of the majority of inhabitants of Grassmoor until the local demise of the industry. Grassmoor Colliery closed in 1971, with Grassmoor Country Park created from the location of its spoil tips.^[23] The Avenue Coking Plant was built in 1935, and although mostly in nearby Wingerworth parish (its railway sidings were in Grassmoor) it provided a sustained source of local employment until its closure in 1993. However, this left an unwanted legacy with the site becoming one of the most contaminated of its type in the country. Following a lengthy 20 year clean up process, the area is now clear and redevelopment is ongoing, including the Avenue Washlands Nature Reserve on the site of the former sidings.^[3]

Amenities and government reorganisation

Barnes Park, in the centre of Grassmoor and named after the colliery family, was opened in 1920, with tennis courts, bowling green, football field, cricket field and children's swings. The tennis courts and bowling green were later removed. A cinema was to the far end of the village, it was opened in 1936 and was called the Electric Theatre, later becoming The Roxy, before being redeveloped into a garage and forecourt. Yet another cinema was located at the top of New Street, later became a billiards hall (named the Drum) and a betting shop, before being demolished. Prior to being a cinema, it was the location of the Grassmoor Primitive Methodist Church, which opened in 1879, replacing a small chapel built earlier in 1877, which had become too small for practical use. In 1899 the existing building was opened, and the old building continued to be used as a Sunday School, and leased to the local education board for use as a school. It was sold in 1913 to the Corporation Theatre Company.^[22]

1894 was the beginning of a loss of parish territory administratively which originally stretched up to the rivers Rother and Hipper, and encompassed Chesterfield suburbs Boythorpe, Hady and Spital, with further land transfers in 1910 and 1920 when much of the village of Hasland was absorbed into Chesterfield parish and borough. Further perimeter adjustments were made in 1988. However even with these changes, the parish was still named Hasland. In 1982, the formal name of the council was changed to include Grassmoor and Winsick.^[18] Since the 1980s, much of the housing stock is terraced properties and council housing, although new estates have been developed including larger detached properties by the Windwhistle Farm build off Birkin Lane,^[3] and since the 2010s the Honeysuckle Road/Snowberry Close development in Winsick.^[24] The Big Lottery Fund in 2012 designated Grassmoor and Hasland as a Big Local Area, and in 2014 it awarded £1+ million of funds to spend over 10 years aimed at supporting residents with community led initiatives to improve the overall well-being of those localities.^[25]

Listed building

There is one location of architectural merit throughout the parish with statutory listed status at Grade II, the 1850 built Church of St Paul at Churchside.^[37]

Green belt

Much of the parish, except for Grassmoor village and Winsick is covered by the North East Derbyshire Green Belt, which is a part of the more extensive South and West Yorkshire Green Belt, its core function affording planning protection from urban sprawl and inappropriate development.^[38]