3. Princes Street

Discover more about mining heritage on Princes Street.

A town built by coal mining

If you could step back in time and see the Eastwood that Lawrence grew up in, you would feel the influence of the many mines in the area in every aspect of life in the town.

Princes Street, formed the lower edge of one of the great quadrangles of buildings on the hillside known locally as 'the Squares', and gives some sense of how the area might have looked in Lawrence's time.

From the sight of troops of men and boys trudging home from work in their pit-dirt and the slag heap and sound of machinery in the distance, to the numerous and busy public houses in the town and the lines of washing on a Monday (the mines would have been close on the Sunday meaning the air quality was slightly better on the Monday than other days of the week).

The influence of mining on Eastwood

Former miner David Amos, who also has a PHD on the 'History of the Nottinghamshire Miners (1980-1985), discusses how mining shaped the Eastwood that Lawrence knew. 

Mining life

The Screens, Brinsley, 1913. Image from the Rev. Cobb collection, The National Archives.
The Screens, Brinsley, 1913. Image from the Rev. Cobb collection, The National Archives.
Brinsley 3 o’clock shift waiting to descend, 1913. Image from the Rev. Cobb collection, The National Archives.
Brinsley 3 o’clock shift waiting to descend, 1913. Image from the Rev. Cobb collection, The National Archives.

Black and white image depicting "The Squares" mining cottages on Princes Street

Black and white image depicting "The Squares" mining cottages on Princes Street

Ramming powder charge, Brinsley 1912. Image from the Rev. Cobb collection, The National Archives.
Ramming powder charge, Brinsley 1912. Image from the Rev. Cobb collection, The National Archives.
Contact
D.H Lawrence Birthplace Museum
culture@broxtowe.gov.uk
tel: 0115 917 3824