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Gypsum pits in the Vale This map from 1883 shows gypsum pits close to houses in Orston. They have all been filled in. Plaster for building is made from a mineral usually called 'gypsum' although better-quality gypsum is described as 'alabaster'. Before modern fertilizers it was also used to 'marl' fields. The sticks of 'chalk' used in classrooms are actually processed gypsum. Gypsum is a soft mineral composed of calcium sulphate dihydrate. This specimen is from Burton on the Wolds. Historical records of gypsum extraction refer to 'marl pits', 'plaster pits', 'alabaster quarries' and 'gypsum mines'. 'Pits' and 'quarries' and 'mines' denote different ways of extraction. But what was being extracted was essentially the same – other than marl being poor-quality gypsum and alabaster being high-quality. Evidence for the working of gypsum in the Vale dates back to 1252 when plaster was supplied to Nottingham Castle, perhaps for flooring. Michael Honeybone in his 1987 book The Vale of Belvoir stated that What the Vale miners valued the most was the high quality Orston stone, considered the finest in the country: in 1541 Nicholas Northe was paid 8s 4d for digging 20 tons of plaster. Nichols in 1795 described the Orston bands of gypsum as 'very irregular, but sometimes six to seven feet thick'. Throughout the time gypsum was being extracted in Orston several major improvements were made to the church, including rebuilding the tower in 1766. Furthermore a lavish rectory (now Orston Hall) was built in the late seventeenth century and refronted in the mid-eighteenth century. The current Churchwarden, Julian Humpheson, has started a research project attempting to link these improvements with wealth generated from gypsum extraction in the parish. In the 1860s a plaster pit was opened up south of Orston at the side of the railway (see map below) by Messrs Willis of London, which later became the 'Vale of Belvoir, Newark and Orston Plaster Company'. This became a mine later in the nineteenth century. But mining proved to be too expensive and the site became a brickworks. In 1991 Paul Barnes and Ron Firmin published a detailed history. Gypsum for plaster was quarried at Orston and appears to have been a valuable source of income. A row of cottages in Chapel Street was constructed around 1860 to house the workers. I'm typing this inside another of them! As far as can be established gypsum extraction at Burton on the Wolds, Leicestershire, was ending at the same time Orston's output was increasing around the 1860s. Relevant parish registers seem not to have survived so I am not able to confirm that quarrymen and their families moved from Burton to Orston. The OS maps of 1883 show two gypsum and brick works near Hawton and another near Shelton. But the major source of gypsum in the Vale was from Orston. The next-biggest gypsum quarry in the Vale was at the side of the canal at Cropwell Bishop. The buildings at Cropwell Bishop have been restored in recent decades. 'Orston Works (disused)' in 1915. The site subsequently became a Girl Guide camp. The pits have flooded and become SSSI nature reserves. To the north of Orston exceptionally low iron-content gypsum was extracted in recent decades from large pits at Kilvington. Those pits have been worked out and are now flooded. Extraction of the same quality of gypsum is currently taking place to the south of Newark. This gypsum is used for plaster of Paris and various speciality applications in industry and medicine. An article on the Wolds Historical Organisation's web site provides a brief history of gypsum and alabaster extraction. More about the former 'alabaster pits' of Burton on the Wolds. sources Peter Allen and Anthony Cooper, 2016, 'The use of gypsum plaster and lime-ash for flooring in medieval east Midlands: evidence from Bingham, Nottinghamshire', Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, Volume 120. Paul Barnes and Ron Firman, 1991, 'Gypsum working in the parish of Orston', Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Society Vol.11 No.4; available online here: web.archive.org/web/20120506173215/http://www.pdmhs.com/PDFs/ScannedBulletinArticles/Bulletin%2011-4%20-%20Gypsum%20Working%20in%20the%20Parish%20of%20Orston,%20Not.pdf Michael Honeybone, 1987, The Vale of Belvoir, Barracuda Books. Back to top of this page     Back to home page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2025 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/chronicle

Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland