Architecture in Bolsover

A detail at the former telephone exchange

The two outstanding buildings in Bolsover, the church of St. Mary and St. Laurence and Bolsover Castle, are set on either end of a planned settlement with a grid pattern, which followed the building of the first stone keep by descendants of William Peverel in the C12. 

The Central Conservation Area in Bolsover

The town subsequently developed as a market town with some industry that included the quarrying of stone, including for the Palace of Westminster from Bolsover Moor, but it is the now defunct coal mining industry for which the town is probably now best known - with the “Beast of Bolsover” representing the town as an MP until the 13th of December 2019. 

Bolsover Methodist Church

According to Bolsover Civic Society, a large proportion of the vernacular buildings forming a labyrinth of courtyards and ginnels – which once occupied what is now the Central Conservation Area - were demolished in the 1960’s, to leave the town with a great number of wide open spaces that are mainly used for car parking. 

The White Swan public house

With the closure of the coal mine and decline of other manufacturing industries, like many other small towns in North-East Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, Bolsover has never recovered its economy and there has been little investment in the town centre ever since. 

The War Memorial and the Bella Blu to the rear

When I visited in July 2019, many buildings, especially the pubs around the market place, were now boarded up or have had a change of use and many of the shops dedicated to selling fast food and other low grade retail activity. 

Historic buildings in the Central Conservation Area

That said, although not of great architectural interest and probably being listed for their group value, the remaining vernacular buildings are built in the cream/yellow local dolomitic limestone – with the impressive C17 former Presbyterian chapel being built in brick. When visiting the church and castle, it is worth spending some time wandering around the old town to see them. 

The former Presbyterian church

There are several historic stone buildings on the south side of High Street, but the escarpment beneath it has been subjected to landslides, which relate to the former coal mining industry. Consolidation work has been undertaken in the past, but the possibility of future movement of the land is a potential threat to their continued survival.

Vernacular architecture on High Street

At the rear of High Street, on the Back Hills there are four Conduit Houses that, along with the Cundy House, supplied water to Bolsover Castle. I only managed to see one of these, just off Castle Lane, but they are well worth seeing and they are believed to have been used as watchtowers during the English Civil War.

A Conduit House on Back Hills