Brinsley
"BRINSLEY, or Brunsley, a hamlet and a chapelry in Greasley parish, Notts. The hamlet lies on the river Erewash, the Nottingham canal, and the Midland railway, near High-Park, 7 miles SE by S of Alfreton; and has a post office, of the name of Brinsley, under Alfreton. Pop., 1,139; chiefly stocking makers and colliers. The chapelry till very recently was annexed to the vicarage of Greasley, but is now a separate benefice. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £133. Patron, the Duke of Newcastle. The church was built in 1862. There are two Wesleyan chapels."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]
Note: This place is NOT an ancient parish in Nottingham. It was founded as a Civil Parish in 1896.
- The parish was in the Greasley sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2661 |
- There are two churches in the Brinsley area.
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint James the Great.
- The church was built in 1837-38.
- The church was restored in 1877.
- The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1861.
- There is a good history of the church at the Southwell Church History Project website.
- There is a book entitled "BRINSLEY AND ST JAMES THE GREAT," by Ztan ZMITH (yes, the spelling is correct). Mr. ZMITH has published some 23 books about the area.
- The Anglican church at Underwood is dedicated to Saint Michael and All Angels.
- The church was built in 1890.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1861.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Mansfield.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had two chapels here before 1881.
- The parish was in the Greasley sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837, but entries before 1896 may be listed as Greasley parish.
Brinsley is both a township and a parish. The parish lies 137 miles north of London, 7 miles north-west of Nottingham and 2.5 miles north-west of Greasley. The parish borders Derbyshire on the west and covers 958 acres.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the M1 motorway to the A610 trunk road at roundabout 27 and turn west. At the second roundabout, just past Underwood, you should be on the A608. Brinsley is just ahead, on the right.
- Alternatively, by automobile, you can take the A610just past Eastwood and turn right onto the A608.
- Brinsley Parish Hall on Cordy Lane is available for wedding hire or an event like a large family reunion.
- In Saxon times this area was densely forested.
- Brune was a Saxon who settled here, drained the marshy land and cleared some of the forest away.
- The Plague came to this area in 1666.
- Coal seams used to be on the surface in the parish, so, natually, a lot of coal was mined here starting in the late 18th century.
- D.H.Lawrence's father, Arthur, worked in Brinsley pit and this locality was the scene for some of that Lawrence's books and short stories.
- The national grid reference is SK 4620.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
There are two War Memorial plaques on the walls of St. James Church.
For the list of names, please see the Southwell Church History Project website.
- This place was an ancient extra parocial area of county Nottingham and became a modern Civil Parish in April, 1896. The parish was created from part of Greasley Civil Parish
- This parish was in the Broxtowe Hundred or Wapentake in the northern division of the county.
- The Parish Council has a website with information about the parish.
- Because of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the Basford Poor Law Union when the parish was formed in 1896.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1861 |
1,139 |
| 1871 |
1,316 |
| 1891 |
1,423 |
| 1901 |
1,418 |
| 1911 |
1,691 |
| 1921 |
1,953 |
- A National School was erected here in 1875.
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[Last updated: 26-February-2013 - Louis R. Mills]
