Whaley Thorns

Whaley Thorns is a former colliery village in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England, close to the Nottinghamshire border. Whaley Thorns lies just north of Nether Langwith and Langwith, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of Creswell, and west of Cuckney. It is in the civil parish of Langwith.

The village takes its name from a dense wood, recorded on the first Ordnance Survey Maps. "Whaley" being Celtic for water/spring, referring to both the local springs, just to the north, and the river Poulter which lies only 200 yards (180 m) to the south. And "Thorn" an Anglo-Saxon word, for wood. So the original meaning, may have been either "Wood of the Springs", or "Wood above/between the water(s)".

In the Mid-nineteenth century, much of the wood was cut down, following the discovery of coal beneath it. Thanks to the nearby railway, the site soon grew into a colliery village. The village acquired both an Anglican Chapel and a Methodist Chapel;^[1] both still hold regular services. It also acquired a large primary school, and later on in the 1940s, another school.

In the late 1970s the chief employer, Langwith colliery, closed.^[2] Since then the first school closed and re-opened as a heritage centre and a re-education centre for ex-miners. The Second has remained open as a primary school.

Following the Pit (Colliery) closure the villages' population greatly declined.

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