Westhouses is a village within Derbyshire, situated close to the town of Alfreton. It is in the Bolsover district of the county. It is in the civil parish of Blackwell. Named after West House Farm, the settlement was founded in the 1870s.
Railway
The Midland Railway (later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway) was the main employer and landowner. Many roads such as Allport Terrace, Bolden Terrace and Pettifer Terrace were named after Midland Railway directors, and the school was also built and maintained by the company.
Most of the houses were two up and two down, with an outside toilet in the back yard, although the engine drivers' houses were bigger. They did not have mains electricity until the early 1957 and were owned by the Midland Railway, later by the British Railways Board until about 1969. There should have been 100 houses by the school but only 75 were built, stopping at 2, Bolden Terrace, apparently making it a semi-detached house by accident. However, there were only ever two, built for the two shed foremen.
A history of Westhouses was written by Gordon Henry Warwick in about 1962 as follows: "The Hamlet of Westhouses Now of this small village. I should like to enlighten the inhabitants a little of its history. To begin with the houses and the population. In its early stages, less than 80 years ago, there were only three houses in the village, which were all farm houses. Now it has grown considerably and there are now 215 houses. To start with the farms, there are three: West House Farm, West Pasture Farm and Park Mill Farm. Park Mill Farm, which is in Park Mill Lane, but before I go any further, I must tell you, that it is not really in West houses as that is in Blackwell Parish, and the farm is in Shirland parish, abut none the less it is always looked on as being in West houses. I have been told that the dividing line between the two Parishes, is in the middle of the road and the farm. The reason it is called Park Mill Farm, is because there was an old water mill attached to it, but it has not been working for a good number of years. The old mill was demolished in around 1860. There is also a brook running along the side of the farm, which was renowned for its trout fishing, and people used to come from far afield, to fish there, but unfortunately, when Industrial Progress started around here some years ago, in the form of Coke Ovens, at Morton Colliery, it polluted the water with the Chemicals and killed all the fish, which caused great indignation amongst the fishing enthusiasts. The age of the farm dates back to the 17th Century, but I cannot tell you the exact date, but the present house, dates back 1898, but some of the out houses in the farm yard, belong to the original farm house. It has been inhabited by the Booth Family, for many years, buts its present owner is Mr H. Holmes. We now cone to another farm, West Pasture Farm. The present owner Mr E. Moore, and it has been in the Moore family for a good many years. The present owner’s grandfather was a very old gentleman, who died at the ripe old age of 94, but he was not the original owner of the farm. It was originally built for the farm workers, of Westhouse Farm and a man named Mr Wood, lived there, as he worked for the Downings. The old house was built in 1768, but that has quite recently been demolished. Mr E. Moore’s, grandfather was a very active and enterprising man, in his heyday he built the first cottages in the village, eight in all, in the year 1886. Then he built the grocer’s shop and house in 1894, when the hotel in 1900, he sold the Hotel to the Shipstone Brewery Company in 1913. Referring to the name of the farm West Pasture Farm, there are very few people in the village who know the name of the farm. There was also an old village pump at the top of what is known as Moore’s lane and also an old well in the old house yard, which had a windlass, for drawing water and that well was used to supply most of the village with their water, in fact it used to be carted every day up to Westhouse Farm, as the water supply was very poor in those days. West House Farm; this is the last of the farms and is the oldest farm of the three. It dates back over three hundred years, and has been in the Downing family since it was built until quite recent years, when it changed hands. The owner then being Mr Swain, until he died, and then it changed hands, to Mr Fretwell, who is the present owner. These was an old font found in the basement of the house, which was very old indeed, but I cannot tell you the age of it, But Mr and Mrs Swain gave it to the Parish Church, and it is now in the Church yard, amongst other relics, which have been found from time to time.