Shipley Country Park facilities and history

With the facilities on offer, and 1000 years of history, we hope that your visit to Shipley Country Park will be enjoyable.

People Walking on Shipley Hill

Facilities at Shipley Country Park include:

Our facilities provide opportunities for walking, cycling, horse riding, angling, exercising, jogging, dog walking, Health Walking, Wayfaring, kite-flying, picnicking, photography, bird watching, exploring the park and much more! For further information about these activities please visit our Things To Do page.

You can download a map of Shipley Country Park from the more information section on this page.

If you require this document in another format please contact Call Derbyshire on 08 456 058 058.

The History of Shipley Country Park

The Shipley Estate is an ancient manor mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086), when it was recorded as belonging to Gilbert of Ghent, the nephew of William the Conqueror. Records dating from the 14th century show that the land was used as a sporting estate with a hunting lodge on Shipley Hill and the area was prized for its extensive forest and excellent hunting.

Shipley Country Park has long had an association with coal mining, however, from the mid 1500’s, coal mining began to play an increasingly important part in shaping the landscape at Shipley and providing income for the owners. By 1722 coal mining was in full swing on the estate, and around 1765 the Miller Mundy family took over the running of the mines themselves.

With the death of Alfred Edward Miller Mundy in 1920, the Shipley Colliery Company (founded by the Miller Mundy family) took over complete control of the mines and ran them until nationalisation in 1947.

The Woodside and Coppice pits continued in production until the 1960’s when they were closed because they were uneconomic. This brought a close to over 250 years of deep mining at Shipley and left behind a legacy of spoil heaps, derelict buildings, polluted lakes and 30 abandoned mine shafts.

Derbyshire County Council determined that a Country Park was a suitable memorial to mining in the area. The National Coal Board obtained permission in 1970 to reclaim the land in the vicinity of the closed collieries by opencast methods. Work started in 1970 and was completed by July 1974. A further two years were spent contouring the site, seeding fields and meadows, planting trees and constructing facilities for the public.

Shipley Country Park opened to the public on 26 May 1976.

The following history/heritage leaflets are available at the visitor centre:

  • The Mining Heritage of Shipley Country Park
  • The History of Shipley Hall
  • The Shipley Estate until 1600
  • The Shipley Estate 1600 - 1729
  • The Gardens of Shipley Hall booklet
  • The Architecture of the Shipley Estate
  • Life in Victorian Shipley
  • The History of Shipley Railways
  • The Nutbrook Canal
  • Heanor and Ilkeston: Hosiery and Lace

A small charge applies for some of these leaflets.

For further information please contact the visitor centre on 01773 719961 or email countrysideservice@derbyshire.gov.uk

The map available in the more information section below is available in Portable Document Format (PDF). You can download the PDF software for free if it isn't available on your computer. Download Adobe Reader (opens in a new window) or visit our PDF information page to find out more about accessing PDF files.

Related documents

The following document is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You can download the PDF software for free from the Adobe website (opens in a new window)

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