The History
of
Shireoaks.

Shireoaks is one of the parishes of Worksop and lies about 2 and a half miles from the west of the centre of town. It is on fairly level ground between 150 and 175 ft above sea level. The top soil varies between clay to the north west and west to a light loam on the south and east .The river Ryton and the Chesterfield Canal pass through the parish running generally from west to east.
In 1852 it was recorded that there were 100 inhabitants of Shireoaks, this number soon grew to between 200 - 300 inhabitants following the building of Shireoaks Row.

How Shireoaks got its name.

Although there are many variants to the spelling of Shireoaks and to where the "oak"
was sited , it is eccepted that the name comes from the fact that there was a oak tree
near the village.
The tree -or possibly trees - stood near the meeting place of the three shires,
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire and the branches are said to have hung
over the three counties. The site which is generally eccepted as the original one - is now
entirely in Nottinghamshire due to changes in the boundaries over the centuries.
Ordnance survey maps show the tree on a site to the west of Steetley, where as in fact
it was in the corner of Shireoaks Park where the road branched off from Steetley Lane .

The original tree is no longer in exsistence, it is recorded that the original tree survived
until about 1800. There is a suggestion that a new tree was planted some time before
1864. This tree disappeared and is thought to have been cut down by vandals. From this date ,until 1951 there was no "Shire-oak". On the 5th of april 1951 the Mayor of Worksop planted a young sapling , but this died, fortunately a group of residents replaced the sapling which still survives. In the very early days the forest of Sherwood
did extend to Shireoaks and into the Park, the present ponds are beleived to have been the marshes within the woods.
There has been many different spellings of the name Shireoaks . One thing they all have
thing in common is the inference of the "Shire" and the "oak" or "oaks".
Some of the forms of spelling used in old documents are given below together with
the dates on which they were used.

1160- Schirokes
1216- Scriop
no date - Chirbrok
1237- Shirokes
1278- Sirake
1280-Skyrakes
1286-Shirakes
1316-Scirakes
1458-Schyroks
1525-Sherokes
no date-Sherrokes
1535-Siroks
1591-Shyreokes


Even though the first written historical records of Shireoaks as a village with in habitants were not made until the thirteenth century factual evidence indicating an earlier
occupancy was brought to light in 1959. This was when reports were made on the finding of a new archaeological site at Scratta Wood.
First indications were from aerial photographs of the area which showed an unusual
shape for one part of the ground. This could not have been seen earlier as the site was covered by brushwood and trees and had only been cleared by the farmer in the previous year to increase his arable acreage.
Excavation began in July 1959 , first discovery of pottery remains were made in 1960.
The pottery has been identified as coming from the iron age and this and other discoveries indicate a settlement which could have been inhabited from about 200-250 B.C. until the end of the first century A.D.
It is quite likely that the first inhabitants of Shireoaks were arable farmers.This assumption is based on the finding of pot querns which were used as containers for grain. Cattle were also kept .The animal enclosure was within the site itself , suggesting that the cattle might have been brought in for protection. Bones indicate that cattle, sheep, and pigs were kept and were used as food.Although in 1959 only part of Scratta Wood had been demolished the remainder has since been uprooted and burned to bring the whole area under cultivation.

The village was first recorded in the charter drawn up by Richard de Lovetot when he was refering to the gifts made by his mother when she gave land to the Worksop Priory. This gift was the land and estate of the manor of Shireoaks and the dwelling houses that belonged to the servants and cowherds who served at the Shireoaks Hall. The buildingswere the mill and the houses in which the miller lived. There was one bovate of land that belonged to a man called Audwy. There was a single house with this land which was also given to the Priory. All the property belonged to the Prior of the Worksop Priory until 1458 when he decided to lease the manor or grange of Shireoaks.

It was not until 1809 that Shireoaks had a building for religious worship. This was a Chapel of Ease built by the Hewitt family who at the time lived in Shireoaks Hall. The chapel was in use until the church was built and was converted into a school.
The foundation stone of the church was laid by the Prince of Wales. The trowel he used was made of silver and ornamented wth jewels and had a handle made of coal from Shireoaks Colliery elaborately carved.The spire of the church which was a landmark for miles had to be taken down in 1975 as it had become unsafe , partly due to the affects of mining subsidence and partly due to structual problems.
The tower which supported the spire was retained and roofed over. This tower is rather stumpy in proportion to the height of the building and it is said that this was due to a shortage of money. The church records show that the building, furnishings, seating and organ etc, cost £4,698 , later additions to the church brought the total cost to £6,800.
Although Shireoaks church had an organ and a peal of bells from the start it was not until 1947 that it had a clock. It was at the suggestion of the vicar the Rev. H. Newton and the parishioners that the memorial for those who gave their lives in the second world war should be something practical. The cost of its clock with its chimes , totalled £380 and this amount was realized mainly by public subscriptions in the short space of five months. the clock which is mounted in the tower was dedicated by the Archdeacon of Newark on sunday 9th November 1947 and was started by one of the best known citizens of the parish- Mr. W. H.Getliff who had been Headmaster of the Shireoaks School for thirty-two years until he retired in 1930.For much of that time he had been organist and churchwarden.
The church was originally built to seat five hundred people and early congregations would probably be large as it is recorded that at the first confirmation in 1863 the number of candidates presented totalled eighty-seven, with some of these coming from the neighbouring villages of Haggonfields and Rhodesia.

 

Electricity was first brought to Shireoaks in 1922 - ten years before there was a piped water supply. Street lighting was installed in 1923.
In 1932 , Shireoaks had its first piped water supply , before this date the people obtained water from the wells and from the river. The Colliery which needed a large amount of water for its steam boilers and other uses drew the water fron the canal.

 

Gas was first supplied to the houses and other properties in Shireoaks from a gas works belonging to the Colliery. This was built on the Colliery premises about 1890 and managed by a Mr. Ireland who was also probably the only workman. The gas works closed in 1925/1926 when the Colliery started to produce its own electricity and the parish was without gas until 1964 when the East Midlands Gas Board provided a supply to certain localities

 

The early brick built houses can be identified by their chimneys, they all seemed to have been built by the same firm, the chimneys have a distinctive design. Shireoaks Row is the principal example , but there are others to be seen scattered about the parish.