| Scarcliffe | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Scarcliffe Location withinDerbyshire | |
| Population | 5,288 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SK495686 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Chesterfield |
| Postcode district | S44 |
| Dialling code | 01246 |
| Police | Derbyshire |
| Fire | Derbyshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Scarcliffe is a village andcivil parish in theBolsover district ofDerbyshire, England. It is sometimes calledScarcliffe with Palterton. The population of the parish (including the hamlets of Palterton, Rylah, Stockley, and parts ofStony Houghton and Hillstown (Bolsover)) at the2001 UK Census was 5,211, increasing to 5,288 at the 2011 Census.[1]
About two miles (3 km) SSE ofBolsover, the village's main street is the B6417 road betweenClowne and New Houghton, which connects at Scarcliffe to theA617 betweenMansfield andChesterfield. Other nearby settlements includeClay Cross,Matlock,Shirebrook,Warsop,North Wingfield,Tupton,Pilsley andAshover.[2]
Scarcliffe is within a few miles of Junction 29 of theM1 motorway.
Palterton is ahamlet within the parish, one mile (1.6 km) to the west of the main village. In the early 20th century it had both a school and a post office. It still has a school now, however the post office is no longer in use.
Palterton is recorded in 1086 in theDomesday Book under the land ofRalph Fitzhubert.[3]
In Palterton and Scarcliffe and "Tunstall" (inAult Hucknall Lefnoth had sixcarucates of land and twobovates to the geld with l;and for eight ploughs. There are two ploughs indemesne and tenvillans and onesokeman and twobordars having three ploughs and another tenant paying rent with another plough. There is a mill giving four shillings and eight acres of meadow and woodland pasture one league long by half a league wide. TRE[4] worth about six pounds now fifty shillings. Reynard holds it.[5]
To the east of the main village are two areas of woodland, Langwith Wood and Roseland Wood.[2]
Both Scarcliffe[6] and Palterton[7] have its own primary school, which takes children between the ages of four and eleven and has some 80 places. There are twopubs in Scarcliffe ('The Elm Tree' and 'The Horse and Groom') and the 'Palterton Miner's Welfare' in Palterton, but no shop in the hamlet or village.
The most notable building is theNormanparish church ofSt Leonard, which is a Grade II*listed building. It contains a handsome marble monument, dating to the 13th century, of a Lady Constantia, who holds a child in her arms. A stonetympanum over an ancient door is carved with geometrical patterns, and there is amedievalpiscina. The oak parish chest is almost ten feet long. Thechurch tower is fairly modern, having been added in the 1830s.[8] In the 21st century, the church has increased itspeal of bells from five to eight.
The Scarcliffe ecclesiastical parish includes Scarcliffe, Palterton and Hillstown. Scarcliffe now forms a united benefice withAult Hucknall,Astwith,Bramley Vale,Doe Lea,Glapwell,Hardwick Hall,Stainsby, Rowthorne, and Hardstoft.
The village was part of the ancienthundred of Scarsdale. Before theDissolution of the Monasteries the church was held byDarley Abbey, later becoming avicarage in the gift of theDukes of Devonshire, major landowners in the area. The 13th century resident Lady Constantia (whose monument is in the church) left 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land to provide for theringing of the church'scurfew bell for three weeks on either side of Christmas in perpetuity.[9] After some eight hundred years, the 'Bellrope Charity' continues to serve its founder's purpose.
The survivingparish registers date from 1680.
The village school was built in 1868–1869. It was established opposite the formerPrimitive Methodist church, which had been founded in 1858 but is now demolished.
John Marius Wilson'sImperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–1872) says:
SCARCLIFFE, a parish, with a village, in the district of Mansfield and county of Derby; 6 miles (9.7 km) N N W of Mansfield r. station. Post-town, Mansfield. Acres, 3,674. Real property, £3,790. Pop., 548. Houses, 126. The property is divided among a few. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £70. Patron,Earl Bathurst. The church is ancient but good, and has a tower of 1842. There are an endowed school, and charities £30.[10]
Scarcliffe railway station opened in March 1897. It was built by theLancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway, which later became part of theGreat Central Railway and subsequently theLNER). The line through the station was brought to a premature demise in December 1951 by the deteriorating state of the 2,624-yard (2,399-metre) Bolsover Tunnel a short distance to the west. The tunnel was mostly filled in with colliery waste in 1966-7 but the eastern (Scarcliffe) portal is still visible at the end of an unusually deep sheer-sided cutting.
Palterton also had a station –Palterton & Sutton – on theDoe Lea Valley Line fromStaveley toPleasley. It was opened in September 1890 by theMidland Railway, later part of theLMS. It closed to passengers in September 1930.
In the early 20th century, the main landowner was the7th Earl Bathurst.
The soil is predominantlylimestone and the subsoil limestone and clay. The village is in a region which is underlaid by a large porous water-bearing rock structure called the Magnesian Limestoneaquifer, which dips downwards to the east. Magnesian Limestone is so called because it contains quantities of the mineralDolomite, which is rich inMagnesium. Where the aquifer comes to the surface, springs appear, and theRiver Poulter rises from such a spring to the south west of the village,[11] after which it flows around the southern edge on its way to join theRiver Idle atElkesley.
Scarcliffe has its own electedparish council. While this has few powers, it is consulted on all decisions affecting the village by Derbyshire County Council andBolsover District Council, which together provide most of the local government services. Before a reorganisation in 1974, Scarcliffe was part of theBlackwell Rural District.
The village is in theparliamentary constituency ofBolsover.
