I know I should have read up on the small mining community that was Bole Hill in Derbyshire.
But I didn’t and so I failed to make sense of the Bole Hill Institute, the Primitive Methodist Chapel and the disused Badge Mine which dug lead.
And for good measure I didn’t record the four stone plaques set in the wall of the Institute which might have provided me with clues to the building, and its possible connection to the lead mine and the chapel.
Leaving me just to fall back on Kelly’s 1912 Directory of Derbyshire which, records that, the Bole Hill Institute “is a structure of brick erected in 1889 at a cost of £150, on a site given by Thomas Hunt esq, and includes a reading room”. *
There will be someone who can point me in the right direction, and I might also strike lucky with my own research which in time will involve interrogating the census record.
I know that “by the 1841 census there were 637 inhabitants living in the village, 77 out of 209 workers being employed in lead mining. Bagshaw’s directory of 1848 calls the Bage ‘the most productive mine in the District’. 17th and 18th century references to Bage Mine*, Wall Close Mine (to the North) and Hollyhole Grove Mine (to the West) can be found among the Wooley Manuscripts”. **
But like all these things I do prefer to go looking for the information myself.
Sadly, the Topographical Dictionaries of the mid-19th century pass over Bole Hill, but it does appear in great detail on the OS for Derbyshire, which shows the Bole Hill Institute, the Primitive Methodist Chapel and the disused Badge Mine.
Today the village has pretty much morphed into a suburb of Wirksworth which is just under a mile away, but maintains its separateness, and has its own conservation area comprising 97 buildings of which one is a Grade II listed entry.
This was where we were staying, just behind the Institute and opposite the chapel, with views across the valley, and fine walks around the village. The streets are twisty turny, and layout of the place is all higgled piggily, adding to the charm.
And the point of the post is simple ………… always do your homework before going away on holiday.
Location Bole Hill
Pictures; Bole Hill, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and map of map of Bole Hill, 1900, from the OS map of Derbyshire, 1900, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Kelly’s Directory of Derbyshire, 1912, pages 441-445
**Bolehill, Derbyshire, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolehill,_Derbyshire
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| Looking out from Bole Hill, 2019 |
And for good measure I didn’t record the four stone plaques set in the wall of the Institute which might have provided me with clues to the building, and its possible connection to the lead mine and the chapel.
Leaving me just to fall back on Kelly’s 1912 Directory of Derbyshire which, records that, the Bole Hill Institute “is a structure of brick erected in 1889 at a cost of £150, on a site given by Thomas Hunt esq, and includes a reading room”. *
 |
| Bole Hill, 1900 |
I know that “by the 1841 census there were 637 inhabitants living in the village, 77 out of 209 workers being employed in lead mining. Bagshaw’s directory of 1848 calls the Bage ‘the most productive mine in the District’. 17th and 18th century references to Bage Mine*, Wall Close Mine (to the North) and Hollyhole Grove Mine (to the West) can be found among the Wooley Manuscripts”. **
But like all these things I do prefer to go looking for the information myself.
 |
| The Institute, 2019 |
Today the village has pretty much morphed into a suburb of Wirksworth which is just under a mile away, but maintains its separateness, and has its own conservation area comprising 97 buildings of which one is a Grade II listed entry.
This was where we were staying, just behind the Institute and opposite the chapel, with views across the valley, and fine walks around the village. The streets are twisty turny, and layout of the place is all higgled piggily, adding to the charm.
 |
| The Chapel, beyond the phone box, 2019 |
Location Bole Hill
Pictures; Bole Hill, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and map of map of Bole Hill, 1900, from the OS map of Derbyshire, 1900, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
*Kelly’s Directory of Derbyshire, 1912, pages 441-445
**Bolehill, Derbyshire, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolehill,_Derbyshire
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