Education & Religion

Education:

Altogether there have been five schools in Somercotes. Four of them have a connected history brought about by changes in the standards of education over the years and also to an extent by outside factors. They also serviced the needs of senior pupils not only of Somercotes, but also of the surrounding districts, including Ironville and Codnor Park, as villages in the area only had facilities for the education of Infants and Juniors. The schools are listed below:

Methodist Chapel School opened in c.1860
National School on Sleetmoor Lane opened in 1867, became an Infants School in 1894 and finally closed in 1933.
National Boys School on Nottingham Road opened in 1874, became a Junior School in 1933 and then an Infants School around 1974.
National Girls School on Victoria Street opened in 1894, became the Infants School in 1933 and Infants and Nursery School around 1974 (merging with the old National Boys School).
Secondary Modern School for Seniors on Bank Street opened in 1933. It changed its name to Somerlea Park around 1968. After a fire which destroyed half of the school in 1973 the pupils were sent to Swanwick Hall (at the time a Comprehensive School) and Somerlea Park then became the Junior School.

Read their histories in the section “Schools in Somercotes”

Religion:

Nonconformity played a large part in the religious life of the people of Somercotes, Leabrooks, Birchwood and Pye Bridge. Although many of the chapels which were opened in the 19th century have closed, several do still remain. The Anglican Church of St. Thomas was dedicated in 1854 and the Salvation Army has had a presence in the village since 1867. Below is a list of the Churches and Chapels:

Christadelphian Hall, Somercotes
Church of St. Thomas, Somercotes
Free United Methodist Chapel, Lower Somercotes
Methodist Chapel, Birchwood
Mission Chapel, Birchwood Lane, Somercotes
Mission Room, Pye Bridge
Leabrooks Cemetery Chapel
Non-Denomination Labour Hall, Leabrooks
Methodist Church, Somercotes Hill
Peniel Christian Church, Main Road, Leabrooks
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Main Road, Leabrooks
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Lower Somercotes
Salem Methodist Chapel, Sleetmoor Lane, Somercotes
Salvation Army Citadel, Sleetmoor Lane, Somercotes
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Nottingham Road, Somercotes

Read their histories in the section “Churches & Religion”