Erewash Museum

 

Background Research on Erewash Museum

For this project, our brief was to make something that tied into the idea of 'structure' but to also relate it to the museum in which it will be placed, the Erewash Museum. I started on researching all about the museum and its surrounding areas in hopes to find something I could use. 

Erewash Museum is situated in Ilkeston, Derby in a late Georgian house called Dalby House. It was previously a family home and school accommodation before turning into a museum in the 1980s. 

The museum is community led social history museum, focusing on the geographical area of Erewash Borough and its history and exhibitions for local societies. It features exhibitions on the Second World War, archaeology and the Stanton Ironworks.

Ilkeston and the World Wars

The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army for just under 90 years between 1881 and 1970. Many local men (including those from ilkeston) joined the Sherwood Foresters. 

The regiment was formed on the 1st July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms. These were put into place after the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny had highlighted the inefficiency and poor logistics of the British Army. High Childers was appointed as Secretary of State War and was mandated to complete the reform process and cut arms expenditure. Under the reform, each regiment across the Army was restructured so it had two regular, or line, battalions and two militia battalions. 

Childers also decided that the facings on the uniforms of soldiers from different British countries should vary in colour, with the English and Welsh regiments wearing white facings. Before 1881, The Sherwood Foresters had deep green facings on the lapels, cuffs and linings of their red coats typical of the 18th century, with officers wearing silver lace on their coats until 1830. They then adopted the white facings of non-royal English line infantry regiments. The historic Lincoln green however was restored in 1913. 

Pre 1914

The 45th Nottinghamshire Regiment of Foot (raised in 1741) and the 95th Derbyshire Regiment of Foot (raised in 1823) were redesigned as the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment) alongside a few other regiments. They fought in Egypt during the Anglo-Egyptian War and were stationed in Malta from September 1898.

In October 1902, the Nottinghamshire Association was made explicit, where the name changed from the Childers Reforms to the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiments). In 1908, volunteers and Militia were recognised nationally, The volunteers becoming the Territorial Force, and the Militia becoming the Special Reserve. The Regiment now had two Reserve Battalions and four Territorial Battalions. 

WW1

Within the Regimental Army, the 1st and 2nd Battalions went for service on the Western Front, with the 1st at Le Havre being part of the 8th Division in November 1914, and the 2nd at Saint-Nazaire as part of the 6th Division in September 1914. 

The 3rd (Reserve) and 4th (Extra Reserve) Battalions were depot and training units. The 3rd moved to Plymouth and the 4th went to Sunderland in August of 1914. During May of 1915, the 3rd Battalion joined the 4th Battalion in Sunderland, and they both remained here as part of Tyne Garrison, as holding and reinforcing units. 

The 5th-8th Battalions landed in France as part of the Sherwood Foresters Brigade Territorial Force in the North Midlands Division in February 1915 for service on the Western Front.

Between Wars

In 1920 the Sherwood Foresters were in Flesburg-Mürwik at the Naval Academy Mürwik to supervise the elections to the Schleswig plebiscites. In December 1936 the 46th (North Midlands) Division disbanded and its headquarters were reconstituted as the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division to control the increasing number of AA units being created North of London. At the same time, several infantry battalions converted into searchlight Battalions if the Royal Engineers (RE), including the 6th and 7th Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters becoming the 40th (Sherwood Foresters) Anti-Aircraft Battalions. Together forming part of the 32nd (South Midlands) Anti-Aircraft Group in two Anti-Aircraft Divisions. 

WW2

During the Second World War, the Sherwood Foresters Regiment served in the Norwegian Campaign, the Battle of France, Dunkirk, NorthAfrica and Italian Campaigns. Nearly 27,000 men who served in the Regiments 17 Battalions, and 1,500 outhouse officers and men were killed in action. The Regiment won ten battle honours and 400 decorations, including the Victoria Cross. 

Stanton Ironworks

Stanton Ironworks was once Ilkeston's biggest employer of local labour in the area with Stanton and Staveley group being part of the British Steel Corporation, forming parts of its Tubes Division. At its height, the company employed around 12500 people of which 7000 worked at the Stanton works. 

Evidence has been found that iron production has taken place in this areas since the Roman times and the remains of the medieval bloom furnaces have been uncovered at Stanley Grange near to West Hallam. The origin of the Stanton Ironworks however go back to 1846 when Chesterfield bred Benjamin Smith and his son Josiah brought three blast-furnaces into production alongside the banks if the Nutbrook Canal. Between 1865 and 1867, Smith's original three furnaces were replaced with five new furnaces, the site becoming known as the Old Works. Smith;s furnaces produced about 20 tons of pig iron per day but the company soon experienced financial difficulties and there followed a series of take-overs during the middle of the 19th century.

Over the years, the Ironworks had been passed through a few different owners, but the company in its entirety has produced a vast range of products. Spun iron pipes, pig iron, pre-stressed concrete pipes, street furniture, lighting columns and cast-iron tunnel segments, used i the construction of the London underground and the Mersey tunnel. Other by-products included chemicals, coke oven gas, bitumen and road-stone. It was also a vital producer of artillery shells in both World Wars.

During the Great World War of 1914-1918 Stanton produced large numbers of shell casings, while during the conflict of 1935-1945, both shell and bomb casings, gun barrels and concrete air rid shelter components were produced. With its experience of high quality concrete products, Stanton was also involved in the production of experimental concrete torpedo casings, and produced a total of 873500 bomb casings in the second world war.

Today however, most of the site has been demolished, whatever remains is now derelict and it is believed that it will be soon scheduled for demolition. 

The ladle pictured above was used to transfer up to 5 tons of molten iron from larger ladles, which was then poured into pipe making machines. This ladle was the smallest size used at Stanton Ironworks, the largest being 6 times as big. It is not made of solid metal but of fire-proof bricks which were used to line the inside, and covered with a thin layer of steel. Inside you can see the remains of the last load it carried, including the slag (waste material) contained in the iron which now looks like glass. The labels were fastened to overhead cranes which moved them around the site. 

Archaeology

In 2001 a small team of members and friends of the IDHLS and the Erewash Museum uncovered remains of two unknown buildings that were believed to be the foundations of a Tudor barn and one other building dating back to the late 14th century. The team were invited by the new owners of the former vicarage of St Mary's when they found pieces of old masonry under a heap of garden rubbish against the wall that separated the church yard from the property. 

William de Cantilupe, 1st Baron Cantilupe

Within this rubbish heap were several pieces of carved masonry which bore resemblance to illustrations of the tomb of William de Cantelupe who died in 1308. William was born in 1262 at Lenton Priory in Nottinghamshire to Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe of Withcall, Greasley and Ilkeston, and Eustachia FitzHugh heiress of Greasley, Ilkeston and Claydon. His Father was buried in St Mary's Church when he was four, and his mother remarried to William de Ros of Ingmanthorpe. 

He was summoned by King Edward 1 on the 29th of December 1299 and was created Baron Cantilupe, a title in the peerage of England. He married twice, first to Maud d'Arches, and then to Eve de Boltby who fathered two sons; William and Nicholas. 

he later died in 1308 and his tomb originally stood in the chancel of St Mary's, where his father was buried. William's monument was broken up and removed from the church during a restoration in the mid 1850s, and was left scattered around the church yard.

The Tudor Barn

During a clear up of the grounds surrounding walls, a seven metre long section of the wall was found to be made of sandstone. Further sandstone foundations were found lying at right angles at both ends of this section, rendering it possible that this was a surviving wall to a previously unknown building. Throughout the surrounding area, a number of early to mid 16th century pottery shreds were found. Examinations of current and past ordnance survey maps (dating back to 1598) showed a building placed exactly above these foundations. It was then considered possible that the remains were of a building dating back to at least the late 16th century. 

The Medieval House

Alongside the remains of the Tudor barn, they uncovered the foundations of other walls. These walls however begin at a lower level than the others, and was surrounded by lots of rubble, broken medieval tiles and late medieval and Tudor pottery. The presence of so much medieval material and artefacts suggested that this other building dated back to this same period. Records were then found which stated that in the early 15th century, there was a priest's house and a church in ilkeston, and therefore these remains were presumed to be one of these two buildings. 

Conclusion

After conducting this research for my project, I have come to the realisation that I get no inspiration to create anything from the history. For this reason, I have chosen to focus on the 'structure' side of the project brief. I have found some artists that interest me, such as Sophie Ryder, and I believe I will have more success following this side of the brief rather than history. Although I am not using any of this research, I am glad I did it as it's given me a much better understanding of the context in which I will be exhibiting.