Brownhill Close; how did it get its name. If you are looking around for mounds of brown soil then you clearly don’t know how the Parish Councillors of the 1970s operated when choosing a name for a new street.

They referred to the map that accompanied the 1804 Enclosure Act. They looked at the names of landowners on the parish map and, time and again, would pick one. Where possible, the street name would be a reflection of the person who owned the land it stands on.

With that in mind, let’s look at the map in the region of Brownhill Close.

George Brownhill owned 3 fields in Cropwell Bishop in 1804. The one closest to Brownhill Close is of interest to us.

Compare its location with a street map of Cropwell Bishop and you see the problem faced by Parish Councillors.

Just four people owned the land now occupied by over a dozen streets: there are not enough names to go round. Also, the land that George Brownhill owned is where Hoe View Road now is.

Brownhill Close appears to occupy land owned by Mercier or Marshall, but their names had already been allocated to other streets, so the name of Brownhill was dragged from its Hoe View Road spot and given to Brownhill Close.

So, now we know the person who Brownhill Close was named after. Well, yes and no.

When trying to trace ancestors, the national census is a wonderful source of information. It is essentially, a count of the population of the country, but usually lists every home, its occupants, their ages and their relationship to the ‘head’ of the household.

The first was held in 1801 and has been held every 10 years thereafter — except 1941 during the second World War.

The earliest one available online is 1841, and the most recent is 1911. Individual records are kept secret for 100 year – the 1921 census will be released in 2022.

From 1801 to 1831 the names were collected locally and, probably as a result, are not currently available online. This makes it more difficult to collect information prior to 1841, but not impossible.

I have constructed the family tree for the Brownhills of Cropwell Bishop. Online birth and death records proved useful, but the most telling details were revealed by real-world records in Cropwell Bishop: the graves in St Giles Churchyard.

At this point, I must express my gratitude to Denis and Edith Smith, late of Cropwell Bishop (their daughter, Jane Jones, lived on Fern Road until recently).

In the days before the internet existed, they published the ‘St Giles Churchyard Survey for Cropwell Bishop’. Maybe not a booklet for everyday reading, but invaluable for research. They even used church records to correct some errors made by stonemasons. Apparently, it was not unusual for gravestones to be cut years after a death, and so errors became inevitable.

The family tree reveals three George Brownhills but, in 1804, one was three years old – a bit young to own land. The older George Brownhill was born in 1744 and was 60 years old in 1804. His son, George, was 29 years old. Which one own the land on the map, I wonder.

Tax documents show that a George Brownhill in Cropwell Bishop was a farmer and landowner in 1798. In that year older George was 54 and younger George was just 21. This convinces me that the older George was the landowner shown on the 1804 map.

As far as Brownhill Close is concerned, it makes no difference, the name is the same, but maybe we can decide which was the most deserving to have a street named after him.

Older George was born in 1744, and married Elizabeth Pilkington in 1772. They were both from Cropwell Bishop. George was a farmer here but we have no idea where his farmhouse was.

As you read this in your home in Cropwell Bishop, ask yourself if George might have passed nearby, maybe walked through your garden. During his 68 years as farmer, he must have trod every blade of grass in the parish, so he must have passed through your home.

Could it be that George and Elizabeth lived on the very land you are now living on: Well, if you are living on one of the old roads here, then could have done. One person in Cropwell Bishop will certainly be living over the foundations of their house – maybe yours.

Did they have a hard life: most certainly – just look at the family tree. George and Elizabeth’s first and third son lived past middle age, but during one 11-year period, Elizabeth lost 5 children at birth.

George had already experienced sorrow as a teenager, when his older sister, 24-year-old Martha, had died giving birth to her baby – who also died.

Elizabeth died in 1804 when she was 52 years old.

In spite of all this sadness, it seems he made a success of his farming. He also appears to have made a substantial contribution to the smooth running of the village.

He was church warden for a year and also took on the role of village constable for 10 years.

George died in 1813 and his eldest son, George, inherited the farm and continued as the Brownhill farmer of the village.

However, he seems to have also inherited the poor luck of the Brownhill family. His youngest brother, William, died just 9 months afterwards at the age of 26. And two years later, his youngest sister, Martha, died at the age of 23, after only three years of married life.

George had married his wife Hannah in 1799. There is no evidence of them having any children but, like his father, George took on the job of church warden and continued in the role for 8 years.

He also served on a Grand Jury at Nottingham County Sessions in 1830. Apparently, a grand jury generally consisted of ‘gentlemen of high standing in the county’. So, George had achieved high standing, but his good fortune would not last.

In 1834, his wife Hannah died: she was only 52 years old. That same year, his younger brother, Thomas, also died. Thomas had been living in Birmingham where he had moved with his wife, Sarah Barratt of Colson Bassett.

Three years later, George died at the age of 64, and his farm, along with all his possessions, were auctioned off. It was the end of the line for the Brownhills in the village.

The auction in 1837 was advertised in a Nottingham newspaper. As well as the farmhouse and its furniture, there were farming machines, implements, sheep, pigs, horses – and also supplies of wheat, barley and hay.

The auction was held at the farmhouse, but, as I have already mentioned, we don’t know where that was in Cropwell Bishop.

During the last two years of his life, George would have reflected on the fact that, in spite of having had 8 brothers and sisters, he was the only one still living – and he had been the eldest child.

However, he did have a nephew who would carry forward the Brownhill name in Birmingham – another George Brownhill.

Now that we know the history of the George Brownhills of Cropwell Bishop, who do we think is the most deserving of having a street named after him. I think it has to be the Older George who died in 1813.

But if history had been different, and the Enclosure Act had happened in 1814 instead of 1804, then it would have to have been his son, younger George.

If anyone asks you, just say Brownhill Close was named after George Brownhill, farmer, and leave it at that.

It is intriguing to think that there may be Brownhill family members today, living in Birmingham, totally unaware that a street was named after one of their ancestors. If they search the internet today, will Google lead them to this page: I wonder.

Tony Jarrow

Note: Thanks to Anne Terzza and Pam Barlow for their help with this article.

Rushcliffe and Nottinghamshire will enter Tier 3 for restrictions from Wednesday 2 December.

The move is part of the Government’s Winter Plan to reduce the spread of the virus following the end of the four-week national lockdown.

Tier 3 means:

• No mixing of households indoors or outdoors apart from support bubbles. Maximum of six in some outdoor public places, for example parks and public gardens
• Hospitality will close except for sales by takeaway, drive-through or delivery
• Retail, entertainment and personal care businesses can all open
• Places of worship are open but cannot interact with anyone outside household or support bubble
• Avoid travelling out of the area, other than where necessary for work, education, youth services, medical attention or because of caring responsibilities
• No overnight stays outside of local area, unless necessary for work, education or similar reasons
• 15 guests for weddings, civil partnerships and wakes; 30 for funerals. Wedding receptions not permitted
• Exercise classes and organised adult sport can take place outdoors, but should avoid contact. Organised activities for elite athletes, under-18s and disabled people can continue
• Public buildings and community venues can only open for supervised activities. A further update to clarify this will be outlined as soon as possible.

“It is important that we all follow the new rules and work together to slow the spread of the virus in our communities. People in Nottingham have worked hard to reduce rates of Covid-19 and we have seen cases in the city fall below the national average."

“There is good news about the rollout of vaccines but it’s going to be a while before whole populations are protected from the virus. In the meantime, our local health and care services continue to experience severe pressures."

“I would urge people to continue to follow the best practice around ‘Hands, Face, Space’ and reduce contact with people from other households as much as possible. In particular, anyone who has symptoms of Covid-19 – such as a fever, continuous cough or loss of taste or smell – should isolate immediately and book a test by calling 119.”

Our Leader Cllr Simon Robinson said: “These new restrictions again call on all residents to play their part to do all they can to stop the transmission of the virus, with cases and deaths at the existing levels, it is vital you continue to follow these rules."

Rushcliffe Borough Council

If you notice holes being dug in the field between Church Street and the Primary School – which is the proposed site for new homes – the reason is explained below.

Tony Jarrow

Bloor Homes’ appointed contractors will be excavating trial trenches across the site.

We are not commencing development but carrying out archaeological works required by the planning permission.

These works will start on Monday (23 Nov), lasting around 2 weeks, and they have been agreed with the County Archaeologist.

Jennifer Towers
Planning Manager – Bloor Homes

Kinoulton Road is so named because it leads to Kinoulton.

Whilst everyone today will see the logic in this, it is interesting to note that old writings about the village usually refer to the "Cropwell to Owthorpe Road".

Owthorpe is much closer to us than Kinoulton, especially if you take the direct route across fields, and for centuries has had close links with Cropwell Bishop — children even walked from Owthorpe to the school here in the early 1900s.

Nevertheless, whilst history might support the "Owthorpe Road" name, sign-post makers, car-drivers and Amazon-drivers are probably happier with "Kinoulton Road".

And, today, the road sign says Kinoulton Road, so that is what it is.

With that out of the way, let's examine what we know of its history over the last 230 years — starting from its northern end.

From Nottingham Road to the Canal

At the start of Kinoulton Road, there are 6 homes on the right-hand side – and they account for the majority of homes along its whole length, there being just 5 at the far end.

These homes were originally let as Council Houses and numbered 1-6, but in 1949 they became 2 to 12 Kinoulton Road.

Numbers 2 and 4 were built around 1931 and numbers 6 to 12 were built in 1944 for farm workers.

Numbers 10 and 12, were then demolished and replaced by two new detached house in 2007.

Canal Bridge 22

The Grantham Canal was officially abandoned in 1936 and since then, most of its bridges have been demolished and replaced with bridges that prioritise cars, not canal barges. That is why, on Kinoulton Road, Bridge 22 is now, nothing more than a painted label on a concrete lintel.

It was the only bridge over the whole length of the Grantham Canal that was a Roving Bridge. For the early barge men who used horse power, they were a blessing whenever the tow path changed from one side of the canal other — as it does here, at Bridge 22.

At the bridge, the tow path followed a route that enabled the barge men to continue their journey without even having to unhitch their horse.

There do not seem to be any surviving photographs showing how this was achieved at Bridge 22, only pictures taken from the other side. See below.

This view shows nothing out of the ordinary so the special features that made it a Roving Bridge must have been on its north side. Below is a photograph showing how it might have appeared.

By referring to old maps, we can see how much the route of the road changed following the demolition of the bridge.

Skylark Hill

About 30m south of Bridge 22, there is gap in the hedge on the west side of the road. It is the entrance to a path that goes up the hill alongside the road.

Follow it for 10m, or so, and try looking through the hedge on the right. With luck, you will see a hill on the horizon: in winter you may be able to see a houses on it. The hill is Skylark Hill.

The houses can be more easily seen from other points.

The access road to these houses is on Colston Road — but it wasn’t always so. Originally, the road to Skylark Hill was from Kinoulton Road — just about where you are standing.

At the time of the Enclosure Act in 1804, this road was constructed to allow access to fields that were not next to a public road.

Such roads were very common when fields were smaller and more numerous. Some were given the name, Occupation Road, meaning, a road needed by people to get to their occupation (ie. their work).

This particular road was called Thorping Gate, meaning, ‘entrance to’.

In 1851, cottages were built on Skylark Hill and were known as “Hills Houses”. Later, a man named Parnham lived there, and so the roadway became known as Parnham’s Lane — and it continued to be called that until the 1970s.

Once it was decided to dig an open cast gypsum mine west of Kinoulton Road (covered later in this street story), it became necessary to create a new road to Skylark Hill. This new road joins up Skylark Hill to Colston Road and it is called, ‘Skylark Hill’.

It is understood the occupants of the houses were compensated with offers of extra land around their homes.

Gypsum

These days, we think of Cropwell Bishop as a quiet place, where agricultural products and cheese are the main industrial outputs. A century ago, it was a very different place.

Men were digging out gypsum in mines, clay was being dug up and made into bricks in the brickyards here, mills were grinding the gypsum and, all the time, barges were travelling between here and Nottingham.

Gypsum has been part of Cropwell Bishop for centuries – even before its name had been coined. Yet, it is a relatively rare mineral: even today, there are only 6 gypsum mines in the UK, and they are all within 30 miles of Cropwell Bishop.

The fine looking 'Old Mill', that stands proudly on the west bank of the Grantham Canal was once the focus of the gypsum business in Cropwell Bishop. Then, it was called 'Cropwell Mill'.

It was the place where lumps of gypsum were brought from the mines and quarries; the place where they could be heated in a kiln to remove water; and the place where they were ground to a powder between steam-driven grinding stones.

And it was where barges would line up alongside the wharf to be loaded with the bagged gypsum which they would then take to Nottingham.

And it would continue like this for over 50 years until the Grantham Canal was abandoned. Even then, it would carry on with lorries doing the transporting for another 50 years.

So how did this all come about?

Lumps of white, calcium sulfate hydrate (gypsum) have always littered the fields around Cropwell Bishop; they still do.

It was long known that these rocks could be heated, and then ground into a powder which could be mixed with water to make plaster.

As long ago as 1832, it was a profitable business and Cropwell Bishop farmer, George Shelton, was listed as both a Farmer and a Plaster Merchant. He was still in the plaster trade 50 years later.

Even though there have been few gypsum mines in the UK and they have all been in the south Notts area, their seams have varied greatly in thickness and purity.

Cropwell Bishop seams have been thin, but they have been of very high purity; a great selling feature.

It was in 1878 that the plaster business really took off here. Some 408 acres of land — which included the site of the Old Mill, was offered for sale with the promise of "having valuable beds of gypsum".

The land was purchased and the "Cropwell Bishop Brick, Cement and Plaster Company" was formed.

Within 2 years, an inclined open quarry had been excavated and gypsum seams suitable for tunnelling had been located. This would have been the signal to go ahead with the building of Cropwell Mill and start production. That was in 1880.

Men would work in gangs of 3. A gypsum seam 30cm thick was considered good, and they would work in tunnels just 1.4m high.

As the workings progressed, additional shafts would be sunk, typically 10m deep. Tubs would be used to lift up the gypsum — and to transport the miners up and down.

By creating new shafts, the slow and hard work of manually moving rocks along underground tracks, was reduced.

It resulted in a large number of deep shafts in the fields around — a hazard for both animals and humans.

After the lumps of gypsum had been lifted to the surface, they were loaded onto railway trucks and taken to the Mill. Once there, they were cleaned in the "dressing shed" using hand chisels or, decades later, air chisels.

What happened next depended on its final use. If it was simply to be added to soil to reduce its acidity, or as a fire preventative in a coal mine, it would be immediately ground into a powder.

On the other hand, if it was to be used to make Plaster of Paris (for model making) or plaster casts in hospitals, it would first be broken into smaller lumps, heated in a kiln to expel its water content, before finally being ground into a powder.

It all depended on sales demand.

The mill stones were like those in a windmill used to grind corn — but they were driven by steam, not wind.

The gypsum was then transported by canal barges to Nottingham – a 10 hour journey, before being forwarded by train to customers.

Records show that in 1905 the mine and Cropwell Mill were being operated by a new company, "The Phillips Company (Notts) Ltd". Then, in 1909, the Mine and Mill closed down.

We don't know why, but maybe it had something to do with a wealthy man named Sam Heaselden, who had come to live in Cropwell Bishop about 8 years earlier.

He had had a house built, Ebenezer house on Church Street, and moved in with his family. He then bought land around the village — including land south of where the Creamery Storage Unit now stands on Nottingham Road.

He sunk a shaft at a spot between Skylark Hill and where the Creamery’s Storage Building now stands. When the shaft was about 25m deep, he found what he was hoping for: gypsum of high purity.

Gangs of miners would tunnel into the seams of gypsum to remove it – using explosives when necessary. It was hard work and dangerous: men died underground.

He built the "Heaselden Works" (just where the Creamery Storage Unit now stands), and started processing gypsum in similar way to the Cropwell Mill on Kinoulton Road — except he did not have a kiln to make anhydrous gypsum.

And all this was in 1909 — the year that the Phillips Company stopped production at Cropwell Mill. Was this a coincidence, or was Phillips unable to compete profitably?

Heaselden also used canal barges to move his gypsum, but he loaded them at a wharf near to his Works — beside Town End Canal Bridge (where Nottingham Road Crosses the Canal).

The basin on the north side of Town End Bridge was wide enough for barges to turn around — essential for return trips.

The gypsum from the Heaselden Mine was of high quality – as good as any in the country, and much of it was used in paper making. Other uses included; bleaching, brewing, and toothpaste.

Within 15 years, output was over 150 tons a week — enough to send a full barge to Nottingham every day of the week.

Even the 'waste' clay found ready buyers. It was used as a top dressing on cricket pitches and tennis courts.

Meanwhile, the Cropwell Mill on Kinoulton Road, had been taken over by "Cropwell Gypsum Mines Company Ltd." and started production again.

Just 2 years later, in 1913, it was itself taken over by "The Gotham Company Ltd".

About 30 years later, it became part of the British Plaster Board Company which had its headquarters at East Leake.

The Last Gypsum Mine in Cropwell Bishop

It was in the 1980s that the next stage of gypsum mining in Cropwell Bishop occurred — and it would be the final stage.

No shafts or tunnels, just one giant hole in the ground: an open cast gypsum mine. It was dug in the fields west of Kinoulton Road.

When mining ended in the quarry, there were suggestions that this giant hole could be used for the dumping of a great deal of rubbish.

Unsurprisingly, this idea did not go down well with the people of Cropwell Bishop. Following a protest meeting at the Memorial Hall — which was packed, the idea was eventually dropped.

In 1999, on one evening in August, a live theatrical production of ‘Quatermass and the Pit’ was staged outdoors in this gypsum quarry. Fortunately, the weather was dry.

Quatermass and the Pit was first released as a BBC television serial in 1958. It was a science fiction horror serial which had children hiding behind the settee, too scared to see what happened next (or was that just me?).

It was in black and white and, if you saw it today, you would laugh. But in 1958 it was terrifying: rather less so in 1997.

It is now over 20 years since gypsum was last mined in Cropwell Bishop.

Up the Hill to Colston Road

Kinoulton Road drops down after the Old Mill before rising to up to Colston Road crossroads. On the left as you go up the hill, live the 5 remaining residents of Kinoulton Road.

Near the foot of the hill, the canal is very near, and also very wide. This wide section of the canal was called ‘Willow Holt’ and it is where barges were able to turn around.

The first 4 houses are built on the site of older houses built in the 1930s. The last one is much newer and is built on land that was once part of the surrounding paddock.

Tony Jarrow

Note: Thanks to Anne Terzza, Pam Barlow, Tony Carter and Lance Thorpe for their help with this article.

Billie the Brownhill Bear presented a cheque for £1,126.00 to the Cropwell Bishop Surgery today.

Ruby and Ebony Partridge were pleased to see Billie again as they are very proud of him. They visited him daily over the first 3 months of lockdown.

Luckily, Dr Mahony was there to receive it on behalf of Belvoir Health Group.

Thank you again to everyone for your generous donations, especially when we got to £900.00.

To exceed £1,000 was just brilliant.

Well Done Billie!

( and well done Pam Wakefield — Tony Jarrow)