Historic Environment Supplementary Planning Document - Consultation Draft (February 2026)

2.0 Description of Bolsover: local distinctiveness

2.1 The district falls into areas of well defined landscape 2.4 character and quality. These areas are shaped by the local geology, which has determined the pattern of use of the landscape, the age and distinctive character of the historic settlements.

Limestone Farmlands

2.2 The northern half of Bolsover is distinguished by the underlying geology of magnesian limestone and is known as the Limestone Farmlands. Within Derbyshire this was covered by extensive broad-leaved forest but was cleared for farming. The Limestone Farmlands are characterised by an elevated, gently rolling _2.5 plateau dominated by intensive arable farming, large limestone woodlands (e.g., Whitwell Wood), and scattered remnants of magnesian limestone grassland. It is a strongly rural, open landscape with hawthorn hedgerows, stone walls, and, in some areas, significant ecological interest.

2.3 The limestone plateau is dissected by a number of spectacular gorges cut by melt water at the end of the last ice age. These gorges contain some of the earliest archaeological remains in Britain including traces of _2.6 Neanderthal occupation. The presence of a ready supply of water in these steep sided river valleys meant that the pattern of human activity is closely linked to these gorges up until the 20th century.

2.4 The limestone escarpment also clearly had strategic importance with its wide vantage points as there is evidence of very early human activity. There are traces of Bronze Age and Mesolithic activity within the town of Bolsover and for a time there was also Roman occupation. Many of the settlements in the north of the district feature in Domesday (1087). In the 11th century William Peveril built the first Bolsover Castle which led to the development of Bolsover town one of only two medieval planned market towns in Derbyshire. This can still be witnessed in the town’s surviving gridiron street pattern.

2.5 The strong pattern of development in the ridge settlements of Palterton and Bolsover, is also routed in medieval origins; plots of land comprising furlongs were subdivided into paddocks and then further subdivided into the characteristic “strips” of land, running from the main street to the back street. In many instances buildings have their long axis gable-end onto the street, and have maintained their narrow enclosed paddocks following the linear plots with access to outbuildings at the rear.

2.6 By the early and mid-19th century the fertile and freedraining soils of the magnesian limestone led to largescale intensive arable and the development of modeltype farms. The Welbeck Estate (Duke of Portland) was responsible for much of the development of the model farms. A number of farm groups within the north of the district have been designated as a conservation area. Many of these date from the first half of the 19th century and a number are based on 19th century model farming principles. It is the character of the existing farm groups, their scale, massing, utilitarian appearance and historic uses which makes these important within the landscape. See Farmsteads Conservation Area Appraisal.

2.7 Coal mining was late to develop in this part of the district because of the technical difficulties of reaching the deep coal seam reserves under the magnesian limestone. This was achieved in the late 19th century with the introduction of deep mining. A consequence of this was the creation of purpose-built settlements in response to the large scale of late 19th century mining operations. The purpose-built industrial housing were complete settlements, with all the trappings of the industrialists’ aspirations and commitment to their new workforce; Co-operative stores, schools and buildings for social gatherings.

2.8 The district has two of the best-preserved model villages of their type, New Bolsover and Creswell, both built by Bolsover Colliery Company. Well-planned terraced housing is also prevalent within other exmining communities particularly Whaley Thorns and Shirebrook Model Village and Hilcote. The district also has one of only 2 surviving sets of colliery headstocks in the County at the former Pleasley Colliery (a scheduled ancient monument).Settlement in this northern area of the district includes Bolsover and Palterton which sit on the ridge of the magnesian limestone escarpment with Scarcliffe, Stony Houghton, Upper Langwith, Elmton and Whaley on the plateau beyond. Many of these settlements feature in the Domesday Book of 1087. Scarcliffe and Bolsover are strongly nucleated settlements and share this characteristic with Shirebrook, Whitwell and Barlborough. The smaller villages such as Whaley, Elmton and Belph started small with a nucleus but as common land was enclosed in the 1850’s, they developed in a more random fashion. They are now dominated by mid C19 farms and farmworkers houses. To the west of the ridge are the slopes of the escarpment with the undisturbed remains of early field enclosure.

2.9 The limestone gorges are all characterised by a strong sense of enclosure within the U-shaped valleys, with exposed limestone rock faces and caves, and a natural species-rich habitat that includes the ancient woodland, a dense deciduous forest that once covered the limestone plateau. Within this landscape the textile mills of Pleasley Vale were located on the site of an earlier 18th century corn mill. They expanded significantly in the 19th century with the growth of textile manufacturing. By 1860 the complex comprised three huge mill buildings and associated structures. The Pleasley Mills were first developed for cotton spinning, following the example of other mill owners in Derbyshire in the Derwent Valley, and later for the production of Viyella.

2.10 The limestone gorges were the subject of a detailed archaeological evaluation (Arcus – March 2004) which provides a useful source of information of the surviving archaeological remains. Creswell Crags is the northernmost location in the UK for detailed evidence of Upper Palaeolithic human activity and is of international significance. Further to the north is Markland and Hollinhill Grips, comprising limestone ditches, an Iron Age promontory fort (located on the route of the ancient Packman Way) and prehistoric caves. Clowne Crags, a smaller outcrop of magnesian limestone is centred around the village of Clun (now Clowne) which was first recorded in 1036.

Estate Farmlands and Wooded Farmlands

2.11 The eastern edge of the district is characterised by the Estate Farmlands and Wooded Farmlands. Estate Farmlands are defined by planned, orderly landscapes with large estates, parkland, and geometric fields. Wooded Farmlands are characterized by ancient woodland, high tree cover, and irregular fields. There are a number of villages comprising farm-based settlements, developed as part of the historic estate of Hardwick Hall (now owned by the National Trust and Chatsworth Estate). These villages largely escaped recent mining activity because of the historic estate control over the land.

2.12 Settlement in this area developed mainly along the edge of commons and so the pattern of the settlement is a sinuous shape reflecting the piecemeal pattern of enclosure. Rowthorne and Stainsby were ribbon settlements that share with Palterton the characteristic medieval pattern of buildings along a main street with long thin crofts behind them. Villages supported mixed farming and historically were surrounded by an estate-managed landscape but this is becoming more disparate as some of the farms have been sold and plots subdivided. The land is gently undulating and views into and between the settlements within it are therefore extremely important.

2.13 The traditional buildings are characterised by predominantly coal measures sandstone and slate or clay pantile roofs, often with an eaves course of stoneslate. Many have the Hardwick Estate distinctive identity marked by the National Trust (dark green) or Chatsworth Estate (blue green) colour schemes and by a common window pattern; timber-mullioned casements with single horizontal glazing bars. The local stone is a carboniferous sandstone that outcrops just below Hardwick Hall, although Rowthorne falls just on the limestone, reflected in the change in the local building stone.

2.14 Historic estates and their parkland landscape quality are recognised with the designation of conservation areas for Hardwick Hall, Carnfield Hall, Southgate House and Barlborough Hall. The tree cover associated with these conservation areas is high in ecological as well as landscape value. The long retention of these parks in single ownership has led to the survival of many archaeological and designed landscape features.

Coalfield Village Farmlands and Estatelands

2.15 Within the south of the district the Coalfield Village Farmlands are characterised by undulating terrain, gentle ridges, and shallow valleys formed by coal measure geology. This landscape is a mix of agricultural land and 19th-century industrial development, featuring dispersed mining settlements, low-cut hedgerows, and scattered woodland, with increasing urban influence. The conservation areas of Old Blackwell, Newton and Tibshelf all fall within this geological area of the middle coal measures.

2.16 In this area coal deposits were historically closer to the surface, either shallow or outcrops and could be removed simply by opencast or bell-pit methods this led to the earliest known mining activity in the district which dates from the medieval period. A coal pit was mentioned in Tibshelf in 1330. However, the greatest concentration of activity was in the 17th century in Hardwick (1656), South Normanton and Pinxton (1669) and Blackwell (1673). The extraction of coal continued in the south of the district into the 20th century but largely ceased in the 1960’s except for open casting.

Building Materials

Walls

2.17 The earliest standing buildings in the district used the stone immediately available to hand. The geology of the district is composed of two main building stones; magnesian limestone and coal measures sandstone. These stones vary a great deal in colour and texture.

2.18 Magnesian limestone has a wide spectrum of colour and is often mistaken for sandstone. Limestone outcrops in the Whitwell and Belph areas are pink, they become a creamier colour further south, and more yellow and gritty in texture towards Pleasley. In Palterton the stone outcrops in red, brown and yellow. In Bolsover, just a few miles further along the ridge, it outcrops in a creamy-yellow colour. These local differences are reflected in the colours of the earliest stone buildings.

2.19 In the mid-19th century improvements in transport meant that magnesian limestone could be used from further afield. In 1839 Bolsover Moor limestone was the preferred choice for the Houses of Parliament. The transportation of building materials provided villages, such as Whitwell and Palterton, which expanded in the 19th century, with buildings in a variety of colours of limestone. These more recent 19th century buildings tend to be constructed from more regular and larger blocks of creamy-coloured limestone, with square dressed lintels.

2.20 Sources of stone for building using magnesian limestone are now invariably from outside the district. Sources of local stone are unfortunately all secondhand, reliant upon the demolition of existing historic buildings

2.21 Coal measures sandstone within the district can be found to the western fringes and south-west of the magnesian limestone plateau. Numerous small quarries once existed, but there are no sources of coal measures sandstone now quarried in the county apart from Hardwick Hall quarry which is only permitted for use by the National Trust.

2.22 The appearance of the stone varies according to the age of the building. Generally, the older the property, the narrower the courses, which will have been locally hewn from small outcrops. The older buildings are finished with large dressed flush quoins. Buildings from the 19th century are likely to have been built from stone transported from elsewhere. These buildings are built from larger quarried blocks without the same need for quoins.

2.23 Barlborough falls on the edge of the coal measures and the magnesian limestone plateau. Within Barlborough the building stone reflects this mixed geology of the area as both magnesian limestone and coal measures sandstone can be seen used in the same building.

2.24 Mansfield White, a sandy dolomitic limestone quarried in Mansfield to the south of the magnesian limestone, is used on many of the buildings within Pleasley. This stone is distinctive for its blue-green veining. This stone has also been used for many of the high-status buildings in the district and was the choice for Southwell Minster.

2.25 Brick is limited in its early use to the central and north parts of the district, undoubtedly because of the local availability of stone. The use of red brick was much more common in the southern part of the district and here it is found in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, with farmyards containing generally a mixture of stone and brick.

2.26 There are a few instances where brick was used deliberately to stand out, such as the former Presbyterian Church of 1662 in Bolsover, where the use of brick combined with stone dressings was a deliberate and fashionable choice. Equally within Bolsover, there are instances where red brick was considered too strong a visual contrast with the local mellow stone and the yellow/white gault brick was used, imported from East Anglia in the late 19th century.

2.27 With industrialisation brick became more commonly used. New Bolsover Model Village (1894), for example, was built from the Colliery Company brickworks within the colliery site. Red brick is commonplace elsewhere in the late 19th century colliery villages and housing.

Roofs

2.28 Roofing materials comprise a wide palette across the district. The historic use of magnesian limestone diminishing-course roofing slate has all but disappeared. One or two examples survive within Whitwell, Steetley and Bolsover. Similarly thatch roofs are also no longer a feature of the district’s buildings, though within the southern part of the district thatch can be found used exclusively on cottages.

2.29 Graduated Westmoreland slate and Welsh slate has tended to replace these earlier types of roofing material on the more formal buildings and houses. Pantiles have however remained as a traditional roofing material for cottages and outbuildings. An eaves course of stone slate has often been inserted to the pantile roof to create a weathering “tilt” at the eaves and is seldom a vestige of an earlier stone slate roof.