Derbyshire market place revamp sees miners’ memorial gardens near completion

Bolsover District Council has revealed that the town centre Shirebrook Market Place: REimagined Project which started in the summer is expected to see the completion of its latest phase of work involving a new memorial garden during September.

The latest phase of the project includes new memorial grounds with surfacing, landscaping and tree works aimed to complement the town’s new mining memorial which was raised in 2023 to commemorate Shirebrook Colliery’s miners and the 74 men and children who died at the colliery.

Council Leader, Cllr Steve Fritchley, said: “The plans we have will significantly improve the market place, make better use of the space and provide a central area that people will want to visit, where they can watch the world go by, whilst also providing more footfall for our businesses.”

The council secured money from the Valencia Communities Fund and from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for the latest phase of the project and with support from Shirebrook Town Council and market traders work has been getting well underway on the memorial garden.

Additional funding has also been secured for further phases of the overall project with proposals including a new Events Hub Pavilion that will include public toilets provision, better market stall storage, and a new commercial space to increase footfall in Shirebrook town centre.

A council spokesperson stated that it is hoped the new area will transform the town centre and create a vibrant place for everyone to live, work and visit.

Bolsover District Council confirmed at the end of July that it had received £15m of Government regeneration Levelling Up funding for the district with a £4m share to be used to make improvements in Shirebrook.

These include £2m of funding for a Green Skills and Retrofit Skills Centre, on Portland Drive, with a retro-fit training hub and training rooms based on green technologies, and £2m for the Shirebrook Market Place Pavilion, on Market Square, Shirebrook, with a new landmark building with public toilets, market storage for traders’ equipment and a commercial space.