Jacksdale & Westwood

Jacksdale has an obvious village centre with main shopping street comprising various shops catering for local needs, whilst until 1811 it comprised of only three farms as the land was considered to be of inferior quality and suffered from regular flooding. ‘Jacksland’ was traditional a term of contempt used to describe poor quality land, but in this case ‘Jacksdale’ was used because of its low-lying location.

It was not until the ‘Essex’ family leased some of the land in Jacksdale and Westwood from 1675 to mainly Underwood and Bagthorpe farmers that the land was used for farming.

Westwood was deemed to be the larger of the two settlements having four pubs, two chapels, a Co-op and butcher’s store. The 19th Century saw much growth in this village, as noted from the 1837 census when the population of Westwood rose from 120 to 1700 by 1897.

Jacksdale’’s growth meanwhile can be put down to the opening of Pye Hill Colliery in 1875 and the arrival of the Great Northern Railway Line. Numerous other collieries opened and mining provided the majority of the employment in both villages.

The Butterley Co Ltd built the first terraced houses in Jacksdale Street known as ‘Stone Row’. The Co-operative Society opened a shop in 1903, which is still trading today, and the first school opened in 1907.

Jacksdale has a primary school and there is a nursery/infant school in Westwood.

In the ‘Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004’, Jacksdale was ranked at 11,958 out of a number of neighbourhood blocks where 1 was the most deprived and 32,482 least deprived.

Jacksdale has strived hard to overcome earlier disadvantages and as a result of an active residents’ group and heritage society has been well placed in the Best Kept Village/Village of the Year awards.