Barracks Yard and Troopers in Newton
On Alfreton road Newton at the end of Cragg Lane on the opposite corner to the George and Dragon pub is an area long known as Barracks Yard.
Graham Crockett, a life-long time resident of Newton, sadly now passed on, sketched a map of Barracks Yard and Green Farm as he recalled it. On the left is an extract showing Barracks Yard.
Graham wrote “In the time I knew Barracks Yard, the very small houses had been rented out to some miners and farm workers. These little places consisted of Kitchen, Living room downstairs and 2 rooms upstairs. In the olden days the local Lord of the manor had to keep so many men at arms (soldiers) ready to fight for the King, hence the barracks. They should never been allowed to destroy them as they were an important part of the village history.”
To the right is an extract of an 1876 OS map which confirms Graham’s memory.
Graham recorded 3 blocks of Barracks, about 12 small units with a block of toilets around a yard, with gardens to the side.
A document of 1803 details the establishment of a Trust Fund Society at the Sign of The Trooper, which is believed to have been renamed the George and Dragon before 1826. From this it may be assumed that there were indeed troopers based in Newton. Although to date no record of exactly when or how this came to be, there is further supporting evidence in an article in Derby Mercury of 1809, which includes Blackwell as a source of privates for the Derbyshire Militia.
A fellow local researcher, David Coates, found that “Responsibility for organising a county militia fell to the Lord Lieutenant of each county. In Derbyshire, from around 1615 to 1950 that was the job of the Earls and later the Dukes of Devonshire. Incidentally, my research has revealed that in 1803 John Slater Wilkinson (1777-1832) was created a captain in the Derbyshire Militia.” John Slater Wilkinson was a gentleman whose family built Hilcote Hall and occupied it for 250 years.