Alfreton is an attractive former coal mining Derbyshire town, situated on the A61 Derby to Sheffield road, within easy reach of Derbyshire's most attractive countryside. The M1 motorway is close enough to give Alfreton easy access to the larger cities of Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.

There are some fine 18th century buildings in Alfreton including the George Hotel which looks down over the high street, and Alfreton Hall. The Hall was built around 1724-25 for George Morewood and was owned by the Palmer Morewood family, owners of many of the local coal mines, until 1963, when the County Council acquired it and surrounding land. Part of the house was demolished, the remainder was converted into an arts and adult education centre. The land was used as part of an attractive public park, providing facilities for swimming and other sports. Now the old lido has been demolished and the land is the site of the Alfreton Primary Care Centre. The hall has been nicely restored and is now a conference centre.

Alfreton has all the modern shops, a newly built Tesco stores and a well used indoor market hall. Traffic as in similar surrounding towns appears to be quite a problem.

Robert Watchorn, a former local pit boy, returned to Alfreton after making his fortune in America and did much to improve the southern end of the town.

Just off the High street, close to the Hall is the large parish church of St Martin. It has a Perp west tower rising from a 13th century ground floor. The south arcade has octagonal piers and may date from around 1325. The north arcade was added on in 1868. Most of the windows are Perp. The church contains monuments to the Morewood family.

At the bottom of King street is a former 'house of confinement', built in 1820. It is a rectangular shaped lock-up with a round headed doorway and 2 small round windows.

Photographs from Alfreton at Alfreton Photographs

External Links

Alfreton Town Football Club

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