What do we have at Shipley Country Park?
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, geocaching and much more!
Find out more about these activities.
A map of Shipley Country Park is attached to this page. If you need this in another format please contact Call Derbyshire tel: 01629 533190.
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 1500s, 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 1960s 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.
We 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 2 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 and heritage leaflets are available at the visitor centre:
- The Mining Heritage of Shipley Country Park
- The Gardens of Shipley Hall
- The Nutbrook Canal
A small charge applies for these.
For further information please email: countrysideservice@derbyshire.gov.uk or contact the visitor centre tel: 01629 533991.