Manufacturing everything from Acid Stills to Lamp Columns

Staff of James Oakes Iron works

Hollyhurst Terrace Riddings built to accommodate James Oakes workers also known as  ~ The Dog Kennels

11th April 1921 ~ The Dog Kennels Coal Pickers

Mid 1960s - View of Stanton Works - The roofs of Hollyhurst Terrace can be seen behind the engine shed back left.

Mid 1960s ~ Stanton Iron Works ~ James Oakes Residence Riddings House is situated in the trees behind.

Riddings Iron Works also known as Alfreton Iron Works was opened in 1805 by Saxelbye and Co who acquired the Riddings Dome ( an exposed concentration of ironstone)  from the Rolleston Estate. Saxelbye was a pharmacist and his business partners were Edwards an attorney and Forester a physician.  During the Napoleonic Wars shells were made at Riddings and in one year 3,100 tons of ammunition were sent to the Woolwich Arsenal - a staggering feat for a small village blast furnace.  James Oakes took over from David Mushet as manager around 1810 and purchased the works in 1818. By 1825 the ironworks was producing 70 tons of iron a week from two blast furnaces.  The ironworks was situated in a location typical for the period - close to the Pinxton arm of the Cromford Canal for easy transport and with iron ore and coal immediately to hand from adjacent pits. By 1830 five hundred men were employed in the ironworks and associated coal and ironstone mines and by 1861 three blast furnaces were in operation. The emphasis continued to be of pipes and retorts and the site enjoyed a wave of prosperity until the depression just after the first world war. In 1920 they were purchased by the Stanton Coal and Iron Company who later became a subsidiary of Stewarts and Lloyds in 1939.

James Oakes was a generous employer who looked after his workers and the industry meant everything to the village. James oakes was responsible for the building of St James Church Riddings. It was in 1969 that the British Steel Corporation announced the works must close - the end of an era for the iron masters of Riddings.