page_title: Riddings
section_title: Industrial development
hierarchical_section_title: Riddings / Industrial development
caption_attribution_description: English: St James' parish church, Church Street, Riddings, Derbyshire, seen from the south.It is aligned north – south, with the chancel at the south and the tower and spire at the north.
context_page_description: Riddings is a large village in Derbyshire, England. The appropriate ward of the Amber Valley Council is called Ironville and Riddings. The population of this ward as at the 2011 census was 5,821. It is located 2 miles south of Alfreton near the hamlet of Golden Valley. The name derives from Ryddynges, a clearing or riding in a wood. This was the ancient forest known as Alfreton Grove within the manor of Alfreton. The settlement goes back at least to the 12th century, when Hugh de Ryddynges received half of the manor of Riddings and half of Watnall from his relative Ralf Ingram of Alfreton.
context_section_description: The surrounding area had traditional industries of coal and ironstone mining, which remained small in scale until the opening of a branch from the Cromford Canal in 1793 gave impetus to the construction of iron furnaces. In 1800 Derby ironfounders Thomas Saxelby, James Oakes and Forrester opened the Riddings Iron Works. By 1806 Thos. Saxelby & Co. had become the largest producers of pig iron in Derbyshire.
  Oakes became sole owner of the Iron Works in 1818 with the purchase of Forrester's shares (Saxelbye having sold up in 1808). Throughout the nineteenth century Oakes and his family expanded their industrial holdings to include several local collieries. In 1888 they established the Riddings and District Gas Company in partnership with the Butterley Company. By-products of gas production were used to produce tar, sulphuric acid and other chemicals; local supplies of clay were fired to make bricks and pipes.
  The Oakes family contributed extensively to the fabric of the village. In addition to their family home of Riddings House these contributions included a substantial part of the parish church of St James (1833) and the National School of 1845. The church has a north – south alignment. Riddings House is now (2008) a residential home for the elderly, the surrounding park is now public, and the associated Model Farm has been converted to housing.
  The German chemist Robert Bunsen, who gave his name to the Bunsen burner in scientific experiments, was brought to Riddings in 1844 by Scottish scientist Professor Lyon Playfair to examine the behaviour of the coke fired blast furnaces. The buildings in which he worked still stand today on the former ironworks site.
  The heavy industries have now gone but employment is now provided on a modern estate by lighter industries.
  There is one family business in Riddings that has spanned 8 generations and is still trading after more than 200 years.  This is the Luke Evans Bakery, founded by Henry Evans in 1804 on a site on Green Hill Lane.  The business still trades from premises on Green Hill Lane in 2015.  At various times, the business has diversified into other, non-food, areas but currently concentrates on wholesale baking, delivering to about 300 food retail businesses in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and some neighbouring counties.  It employs about 50 staff.
caption: St James' Church, Riddings
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