Salvation Data 0800 075 0720

Clay Cross
Clocktower and adult education centre
Clay Cross  Clay Cross shown within Derbyshire
Population	8,573
OS grid reference	SK392631
Parish	Clay Cross
District	North East Derbyshire
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHESTERFIELD
Postcode district	S45
Dialling code	01246
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	North East Derbyshire
List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire

Clay Cross

Until the early nineteenth century, Clay Cross was a small village, but increasing demand for coal and other minerals trebled the population by 1840^{[citation needed]}. While driving the tunnel for the North Midland Railway, George Stephenson discovered both coal and iron, which together with the demand for limestone, caused him to move into Tapton Hall, near Chesterfield, and set a business as George Stephenson and Co.

Stephenson's workers' houses were of high quality for their time, having four rooms compared to the normal two, and a school was provided. By 1850 there were three chapels, a church and an institute - but no constable.

When he died in 1848 his son, Robert, took over, leaving the company in 1852 when it took the name of the Clay Cross Company.

Although the company had been formed to mine coal and manufacture coke from the railway, the supplies from Durham were preferred, and the works turned to iron working and brick making.

For many years, the company was the village's major employer. In 1985, Biwater took it over. In 2000 Biwater sold the site to French company, Saint-Gobain. Some months later, it was closed down with the loss of around 750 jobs^{[citation needed]}

Demolition of the vast Biwater site began in late 2008^{[citation needed]}

The town was an urban district until 1974, when it was merged into the North East Derbyshire district under the Local Government Act 1972. In the 1970s the council achieved brief notoriety due to its refusal to implement the Housing Finance Act 1972 in increasing the rents of council housing - by law the rents should have increased by £1 a week from October 1972. The council was one of several to show defiance against the Act, and three to be ordered to comply by the Department of the Environment in November 1972 (the others being Eccles and Halstead). Clay Cross UDC was threatened with an audit in December 1972.^[1] The constituency Labour party barred the eleven councillors from its list of approved candidates.^[2] The District Auditor ordered the eleven Labour Party councillors to pay a surcharge of £635 each in January 1973, finding them "guilty of negligence and misconduct".^[3] Conisbrough UDC faced a similar audit on January 19, 1973.^[4]

The UDC made an appeal in the case to the High Court.^[5][6] Clydebank and Cumbernauld abandoned similar actions in March 1973. The surcharge was upheld by the High Court on July 30, 1973, which also added a further £2,000 legal costs to their bill, as well as barring them from public office for five years.^[7] The council further defied authority (the Pay Board) in August, when they decided to increase council workers' earnings.^[8] This provoked a further dispute with NALGO. Ultimately the dispute became moot with the replacement of Clay Cross Urban District Council with the North East Derbyshire District Council from April 1, 1974.^[9][10] The councillors were made bankrupt in 1975.^[11]

A book on the dispute between the council and the Government, The Story of Clay Cross, was written by one of the councillors, David Skinner, and the journalist Julia Langdon. The book was published by Spokesman Books in 1974.^[12]

There is the Sharley Park Leisure Centre on the A6175 Market Street towards North Wingfield. Next door is the community hospital. The Danesmoor Industrial Estate is on the site of the Parkhouse Colliery. The library is on Holmgate Road.

Tupton Hall School is in Tupton and located about one mile to the north of Clay Cross.^[13] Previously Clay Cross had a secondary school located in Market Street, and a Junior School located off- High Street. The secondary school was closed in the early 1970s, and transferred to Tupton Hall as part of the Government's drive to comprehensive education. Clay Cross Secondary School was converted to an Adult Education Centre.

The area has many local attractions and places of special interest. In addition to the stunning peak district scenery other places people enjoy visiting include Hardwick Hall, Bolsover Castle, Chatsworth House, and The National Tramway Museum at Crich ^[14].

Dennis Skinner was born and grew up in the town, and went to Tupton Hall Grammar School. He first worked at Parkhouse Colliery (known as Catty Pit) in 1949, a mile to the east of Clay Cross. The pit closed in 1962. He was a Clay Cross councillor from 1960-70, directly before becoming an MP in 1970.

Eddie Shimwell, FA Cup footballer, licensee of the Royal Volunteer in Clay Cross.^[15]

Arthur Henderson, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1934, when he was M.P. for Clay Cross