HEANOR, Derbyshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"HEANOR, a parish in the hundred of Morleston, county Derby, 7 miles E. of Belper, 9 N.E. of Derby, its post town, 10 N.W. of Nottingham, and 1½ mile from the Langley railway station. The parish is of large extent, including the townships of Codnor, Heanor, Loscoe, and Shipley. It is bounded on the E. by the navigable part of the Erewash river, crossed by Langley bridge on the Derby and Mansfield road. It is rich in mineral produce, and abounds in coal and ironstone. The village, which is very considerable, is situated on rising ground near the Erewash canal, and was formerly a market town.

A large portion of the inhabitants are employed in the coal-mines and brickfields, which are very extensive. Framework knitting is carried on to a considerable extent. Heanor is a polling place for the southern division of the county. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £150. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is an ancient structure with a tower containing a clock and five bells.

The interior of the church contains several monuments, some of which are to the Mundy family, also one to Samuel Watson, the eminent sculptor. There is also a district church at Codnor, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £150. A district has been formed at Cotmanhay, taking in all Shipley and part of Heanor, and a new church built. The parochial charities produce about £20 per annum, with £7 10s., left by the Rev. Francis Gisborne, to be divided annually among the poor in flannel and cloth.

The Wesleyans and Baptists have each a chapel, and the Society of Friends a meeting-house. There is a National school, supported by voluntary contributions. Heanor Hall is the principal residence. Charles Ley Hoskins Masters, Esq., is lord of the manor. In the vicinity are ruins of the ancient castle of Codnor, founded by Richard de Grey in the reign of Henry III."

"ABBOTSFORD, a small place near the village of Shipley, in the parish of Heanor, in the hundred of Morleston, and county of Derby, 31 miles from Leicester. There are coal mines near here."

"LANGLEY MILL, a railway station on the Erewash Valley branch of the Midland railway, in the parish of Heanor, Derbyshire."

"SHIPLEY, a township in the parish of Heanor, hundred of Morleston, county Derby, 7 miles N.E. of Derby, its post town, 6 S.E. of Belper, and 2 S. of Heanor. It has a station at Shipley Gate, on the Erewash Valley branch of the Midland railway. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the collieries, from which coal of excellent quality is obtained. The mines are worked by a steam-engine.

The village, which is small, is situated near the river Erewash and the Nutbrook canal. Several branch lines of railway communicate with the collieries. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Lichfield. The church is a modern edifice. In 1842 a school was established, at the expense of A. M. Mundy, Esq., who is lord of the manor and sole landowner. Shipley Hall is on an eminence, within a well-wooded park."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]