Arkwright Town

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.2371
longitude= -1.3594
official_name= Arkwright Town
population= 1,523 in Sutton-cum-Duckmanton
civil_parish= Sutton-cum-Duckmanton
shire_district= North East Derbyshire
region= East Midlands
shire_county= Derbyshire
constituency_westminster= North East Derbyshire
post_town= CHESTERFIELD
postcode_district = S44 5
postcode_area= S
dial_code= 01246
os_grid_reference= SK427713
static_

static_image_caption=New Arkwright Town.

:"For the settlement with a similar name in the USA see Arkwright, New York"

Arkwright Town, commonly referred to as Arkwright, is a settlement in North East Derbyshire, England that is notable for having moved its location in the early 1990s. Despite its name, the settlement has no official town status.

Located between Chesterfield and Bolsover on the A632 road it was formerly a coal mining village. Arkwright Colliery closed in 1988 and it was then discovered that the community was threatened by emissions of methane gas that caused some of its houses to be evacuated. The whole settlement was owned by British Coal and a decision was taken, along with Derbyshire County Council, to transfer ownership of the 52 properties to a housing trust, construct a new settlement of 56 properties to the north of the site affected by methane, and move all the residents. Construction was completed by 1995 when the old Arkwright Town was demolished.

Source and Reference

*Metropolitan Housing Trust stakeholders' newsletter, October 2005

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/126166 Monument showing the location of "Old" Arkwright Town]
* [http://www.thearkwrightcentre.co.uk/ The Arkwright centre]