Westhouses: Midland Railway Village The Early Years

By Dudley Fowkes

The village of Westhouses took its name from a farm called West House in the western extremeties of Blackwell Parish, farmed in the second half of the nineteenth century by the Downing family, Samuel Downing in 1861 and latterly his son William. In 1861 it was described in the census as a farm of 175 acres; by 1871 it had been enlarged to 29 acres.

The Erewash Valley extension from Pye Bridge to Clay Cross through the site of Westhouses was opened to passenger traffic on 1st May 1862 and was under construction at the time of the 1861 census. Its impact on the industrial development of Blackwell and on the settlement pattern was at this stage nil. No pits were opened; no new houses were built. What there was however was a short-lived navvy settlement during the construction of the line so a short period in 1861 the Downing family at West House Farm were joined by the inhabitants of what are described in the 1861 census as 'six railway 'huts''. These lasted for the period of the construction line and were too short-lived to appear on any maps.

Not surprisingly, the inhabitants of this small temporary settlement came from far and wide, not least from Ireland, and it seems unlikely that anyone would stay in the immediate vicinity given that the big development of collieries in Blackwell did not come until the decade 1871-1881 following the opening of the Blackwell branch.

The details of the inhabitants of the six railway 'huts' are given below

Hut 1
John Hullet (Married) - Age 36 - Railway Labourer - Born Lincoln
Sophia Hullet (Wife) - Age 35 - Born Wisbech
Susan Hullet (Daughter) - Age 8 - Born Wisbech
Mary Ann Hullet (Daughter) - Age 4 - Born Wisbech
John T Hullet (Son) - Age 2 - Born March, Lincs
George Wiseman (Lodger) - Age 18 - Railway Labourer
Henry Jackson (Lodger) - Age 36 - Railway Labourer - Born Nottingham
Ann Jackson (Wife) - Age 32 - Born Nottingham
John Roughroad (Lodger) - Age 36 - Railway Labourer - Born Kilkenny, Ireland

Hut 2
George Ward (Married) - Age 21 - Railway Labourer - Born Nottingham
Mary Ann Ward (Wife) - Age 20 - Born Nottingham
Sarah Ward (Daughter) - Age 2 - Born Nottingham

Hut 3
William Needham (Married) - Age 30 - Bricklayer - Born Leicester
Ag (sic) Needham (Wife) - Age 31 - Born Scotland
William Parr (Lodger) - Age 30 - Bricklayer - Born Birmingham

Hut 4
John Gadley (Married) - Age 40 - Railway Labourer - Born Roscommon, Ireland
Bridget Gadley (Wife) - Born Ireland
John Gadley (Son) - Age 6 - Born Sheffield
Elizabeth Gadley (Daughter) - Age 11 Months - Born Chesterfield
Joseph Burn (Lodger) - Age 49 - Railway Labourer - Born West Meath, Ireland
Mary Burn (Wife) - Age 43 - Born Dublin, Ireland
Mary Burn (Daughter) - Age 14 - Born Comden, Gloucs
Francis Burn (Son) - Age 3 - Born Bryn, Monmouthshire

Hut 5
Henry Morgan (Married) - Age 38 - Railway Labourer - Born Harmaston, Leics
Sarah Morgan (Wife) - Age 38 - Born Gapton, Sussex
Henry Morgan (Son) - Age 14 - Labourer - Born Westham, Sussex
John Morgan (Son) - Age 11 - Born Harmaston, Leics
William Morgan (Son) - Age 8 - Born Battle, Sussex
Thomas Morgan (Son) - Age 4 - Born Trinsbury, Kent
Joseph Morgan (Son) - Age 2 - Born Jasfield, Sussex

Hut 6
Cornelius Amphlett (Married) - Age 37 - Railway Labourer - Born Kempsey, Manchester
Ann Amphlett (Wife) - Age 34 - Born Sedgley, Staffs
William James Amphlett (Son) - Age 4 - Born Monmouthshire
Henry Amphlett (Son)- Age 1 - Born Templecombe, Somerset
Terry Cummings (Lodger) - Age 60 - Railway Labourer - Born Cork, Ireland
John Chivers (Lodger) - Age 43 - Railway Labourer - Born Road, Somerset

The assorted birthplaces of the children of those workers with families show how navvies moved around the country in search of work. The Amphlett's young family being born in Monmouthshire and Templecombe respectively is an excellent example.

In the same way that the opening of the main line had no effect on the permanent settlement pattern, so the opening of the branch to Tibshelf and Teversal in 1866 had similarly little influence. The sinking of the collieries at Blackwell - A Winning in Blackwell village and B Winning in Hilcote - accompanied by the opening of the Blackwell branch had an enormous impact on Blackwell parish however, with the population increasing from 542 in 1871 to 2195 in 1881. Many developments of colliery housing took place at Primrose Hill and at the 'Colliery Rows'.

Nothing permanent was to happen on the site of Westhouses however, until the decision to build a motive power depot there. This development enabled the Midland Railway to deal more efficiently with the ever-increasing amount of coal traffic originating in the vicinity.

At the time of the 1891 census, the creation of the new railway settlement of Westhouses had begun in earnest. The station had been opened and was accompanied by a stationmaster's house: five properties known as 'Westhouses Cottages' had been built along with the first twenty houses of Midland Terrace. The other rows of Railway houses - Allport, Pettifor and Bolden Terrace - had yet to be started and private development was still non-existent.

The Westhouses of 1891 therefore was a very new settlement with engine driving and firing very much dominant occupations. As the places of birth indicate, people had come in from far and wide to work at the new depot so Derbyshire accents would have been far from dominant, at least among adults. It would be interesting to know how many of these pioneer Westhouses families put down roots in the village and remained in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Left) Midland Terrace, Westhouses.
Front view from northern end, 27th July 1999 - The terrace is currently a host to a large colony of House Martins
(Right) Midland Terrace, Westhouses
Front view from southern end, 27th July 1999

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midland Terrace, Westhouses
Rear view overlooking Tibshelf sidings, 27th July 1999

Sources
The census of population for Blackwell 1861-1891 - Leleux, Robin (ed)
A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain Vol IX The East Midlands - David & Charles, 1984 p.149
All photos by John Eggleshaw

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