Samuel Lewis's "A Topographical Dictionary of England", published in 1848, states that Heanor parish "abounds with coal and ironstone, both worked extensively, the collieries alone affording employment to more than 2000 persons. The town is pleasantly situated upon an eminence, on the road from Derby to Mansfield. The principal articles of manufacture are silk and cotton goods, hosiery, and bobbinet lace, providing occupation to about 800 persons." The parish then covered and was in the union of Basford and the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, with Heanor town itself covering with 3,058 inhabitants. The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, was "a very ancient edifice, with a lofty substantial tower, from which is an extensive view," though the dictionary noted there were also "places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Ranters".