In 1086 when Duke William of Normandy’s monks were compiling the Domesday Book in order to record the value or otherwise, of the conquerors’ ‘new country’, in listing the wealth of lands in the north Midlands, they recorded details of a section of countryside close to what is now called Ilkeston which was a private hunting estate owned by the king. This became part of Shipley Park, land that was to enhance the wealth of subsequent owners down the succeeding centuries. This wealth came, not from hunting in the nearby forest, but from below ground covering large amounts of high quality coal, discovered and exploited from the sixteenth century and onwards..
The major benefactors of this wealth creating coal were the Miller-Mundeys, a nearby industrial-based family, who chose to live close to their collieries, giving them direct hands on control of their interests. They lived in a then comparatively small farm house and by using their growing wealth, in the eighteenth century, managed to build the first version of Shipley Hall, designed to stand proudly at the centre of their estate.
In 1765 the Miller-Mundy family acquired the ownership of Shipley Colliery, developing its increased production by opening the Nutbrook Canal in order to move coal to fuel more rapidly to the burgeoning mills and factories of the Industrial Revolution. This canal, subsequently replaced by rail traffic, ran down to the Erewash Canal and then joined the Trent and Mersey Canal for onward transmission through the industrial Midlands. All that is left of the Nutbrook Canal is the name of a walking and riding trail that passes the delightfully named Swan Lake where, until the local council in its wisdom forced the closure of the entrepreneurial well-run mobile café, at one time the popular stopping place for lovers of the outdoors and all that it has to offer.
With their steadily growing wealth, in 1799 the Miller-Mundy’s expanded their estate by building a palatial new house and farm buildings, alongside a water tower, the whole ensemble together with its Italianate pergola was designed by William Linley, a fashionable Doncaster based architect. Following the custom of grand house builders of the time, attractive flower gardens, set amidst semi-natural woodland running downhill from a mansion set on a slight rise. Due to subsequent mining operations, all that is left of this semi-regal splendour is the outline ground plan of the house, a few outbuildings and a lodge; together with the remains of gardens, now tended by the local council’s gardeners. Shipley Country Park, together with the grounds of Shipley Hall are open to the public and well worth spending time in their midst, especially in summer when all the carefully tended bedding plants are in full bloom.
In 1887 scandal overtook the placid pace of life at the hall, when Ellen, the wife of Captain Miller-Mundy, ran off with the nineteen year-old Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot. The elopement doesn’t appear to have upset Captain Miller-Mundy over much. On his death the house and colliery interests were held briefly by his descendants. The house and coalmining interests were sold to Shipley Colliery Company in 1922. The main purpose of the sale was to enable the new owners to extend their mine beneath the hall. Regrettably this led to pollution of local water courses and subsidence within the hall’s structure. In 1948 the now decrepit hall and surrounding estate were sold to the National Coal Board. With this state ownership, the surrounding farmland and nearby woods were restored, giving nature a chance to reclaim what was once its own. This policy has continued and as a result wildlife has colonised the ponds and surrounding woodlands.
Derbyshire County Council took on the ownership of Shipley Estate in 1980, using the land to create the short-lived American Experience Adventure Park, surrounding Shipley Lake. Now only waterfowl enjoy the amenities where children once took advantage of the exciting rides. Part of the land has been built over for housing, but the rest and larger part of the once thriving colliery estate is open for walkers, cyclists and bird watcher’s enjoyment.
The walk described below starts and finishes at the Visitor Centre, which is accessed by a side road from nearby Heanor. It then follows three medium sized ponds down to the head of Nutbrook Trail where a short section of path leads over a small wooded rise towards the ruins of Shipley Hall and its gardens. The hall drive is then followed by a field track, crossing the Heanor to Mapperley lane before turning right on to a side path across a couple of fields, back to the Visitor Centre and the chance of refreshment.
USEFUL INFORMATION:
A short easy walk of 2½miles (4km) on easy, well-made paths and tracks across gently undulating farmland and through deciduous woodland. The paths and tracks are mainly suitable for push chairs and similar.
RECOMMENDED MAP:
1; 25,000 scale Ordnance Survey Explorer Map; Sheet 260, Nottingham & Vale of Belvoir.
PARKING:
Close to the Visitor Centre (pay & display), at the end of the access road into Shipley Country Park.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
Frequent buses to Heanor from Nottingham and Derby.
REFRESHMENTS:
Visitor Centre at the start of the walk. Also pubs and cafes in nearby Heanor.
The Walk :: The Walk :: The Walk ::
Following road signs into Shipley Country Park, drive along the side road from Heanor towards the start of the walk, which is next to the Visitor Centre.
Turn left, away from the car park and walk down to a surfaced track following the route of an abandoned colliery railway. Turn right and walk along the track. Cross a narrow side road and then turn right on this for about three quarters of a mile until it reaches two narrow ponds.
At the end of the second pond, turn right at a track junction and walk slightly downhill, and then up, through mature deciduous woodland for about a quarter of a mile until the track reaches the ruins and tended gardens of Shipley Hall. Refreshments are available at the gatehouse near the way up to the gardens.
Continue away from the hall, down a wooded drive until it reaches Derby Lodge (public toilets close by).
Cross the side road, by turning right and then left to follow a farm track for a little over half a mile. Ignore the side track turning right towards woodland, which appears soon after joining the farm track.
After a further couple of yards or so beyond the side track, look out for a field path bearing right and follow it towards a farmhouse in the distance.
Go past the farmhouse and head for a belt of woodland, keeping to the left along the edge of the wood.
In about a quarter of a mile, the path reaches Shipley Country Park Visitor Centre and the car park at the end of this short interesting walk back into the history of mining coal around Heanor and Ilkeston.
