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