Villages lost to the Bełchatów mine

The opencast mine removed the buildings of Piaski, Wola Grzymalina and Kuców. Not everything vanished in the same way: the church stands elsewhere, the parish has a new cemetery, and the mill survives only in accounts. This page separates these fates.

A summary of the supplied material (versions V1/V2), not a new source search. Dates and places marked “to be checked” have not been verified here.

Field · a sign of landscape change

  1. Piaskiearliest of the three · no coordinates
  2. Wola Grzymalinaafter Piaski, before Kuców · 1980s
  3. Kucówlast of the three · church closed 30 June 1991

Wooden church (Wola Grzymalina) · stage 1 of 3 (Former village): Village with a wooden church

This field is a sign of landscape change, not a map of the excavation. The order of the names comes from the researchers' accounts, not from the villages' locations. The material gives neither the coordinates of Piaski nor the boundaries of the opencast mine.

Four traces beyond the field

Choose a trace. Then choose a stage: former village, disruption, today. The stage stays when you change the trace, so it is easy to compare where each trace stands today. The length of the orange line shows only stage 1–3, not a distance or a route.Four traces below, each with three stages.

    1. Village with a wooden church

      Before the village was liquidated, until the 1980s

      Wola Grzymalina had a wooden church. Research by Piotr Czepas (Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź) reconstructed the layout of the village, its crafts, and the social and economic life of its residents. This is a reconstruction from sources, not an outline on a map.

      Basis: Czepas (2020); research by the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum (MAiE) in Łódź.

    2. Church dismantled before the opencast mine

      1980s · exact date: not given in the material

      According to the order given by the researchers, the village was liquidated after Piaski and before Kuców. The wooden church was dismantled beam by beam in order to save it.

      Basis: Czepas (2020); account by MAiE researchers (Łódzkie.pl).

    3. Today: rebuilt in Biała near Pajęczno

      Since the 1980s (according to the material)

      The church was rebuilt in Biała near Pajęczno. It survived as a building, but its former surroundings and neighbourhood have to be reconstructed from sources. The presence of the church in Biała does not recreate the village.

      To be checked: the status of the building (filial or parish church), its manager and its accessibility to visitors.

      Basis: V1 dossier (Czepas; Łódzkie.pl).

    1. The church of 1895 and the parish cemetery

      1895 – June 1991

      The history of Kuców is linked to the Evangelical Reformed community and Czech settlement. The masonry church was completed in 1895, and around it stood a parish cemetery with the residents' gravestones.

      Basis: Nierychlewska, Olędzki (2022).

    2. Church closed on 30 June 1991

      30 June 1991 · closure of the church

      On 30 June 1991 the church in Kuców was closed. The material also mentions the relocation of remains from the parish cemetery to a new place, but does not date it (date of relocation: not given in the material). According to the material, Kuców closes the order of liquidation: after Piaski and Wola Grzymalina. The date refers only to the closing of the church; it is not the date on which every family was moved out or the burials were relocated.

      Basis: Nierychlewska, Olędzki (2022).

    3. Today: parish and cemetery in Kleszczów

      Since 1991 (according to the material)

      A parish was opened in Kleszczów, where the remains transferred from Kuców were laid to rest. The material speaks of the continuity of the community and of relocated burials — a different kind of trace from a surviving building.

      To be checked: the current state of the community, the cemetery rules and the parish office hours.

      Basis: Nierychlewska, Olędzki (2022).

    1. An older layer of Kuców: prehistory

      Prehistory · date range: not given in the material

      Archaeological research documents prehistoric settlements and a burial ground — a layer of Kuców's history much older than the modern village.

      Basis: Nierychlewska, Olędzki (2022).

    2. Documenting the ground before the opencast mine

      The years before extraction began · dates: not given in the material

      Archaeologists documented the sites and the burial ground, recovered movable artefacts and drew stratigraphic profiles before the opencast mine destroyed the area. The ground was not moved — what remains is its description.

      Basis: Nierychlewska, Olędzki (2022), University of Łódź Press.

    3. Today: the 2022 monograph and documentation

      2022 and later

      The monograph “Historia i prahistoria nieistniejącej już dziś wsi Kuców” [History and prehistory of the now non-existent village of Kuców] sets the village's history beside the documentation of the ground. It is a lasting record in a publication, not preserved land.

      No data in the material: where the recovered artefacts are kept. To be checked: access to the monograph online.

      Basis: Nierychlewska, Olędzki (2022).

    1. A mill on the old bed of the Widawka

      Before the mine was established · dates: not given in the material

      There was a mill in Piaski, used by people from the surrounding area. The researchers place it on the Widawka, noting that the river then followed a different course. There is no exact location — the material gives no coordinates.

      Basis: interview with MAiE researchers (Łódzkie.pl).

    2. Piaski disappears first of the three

      Before Wola Grzymalina and Kuców · date: not given in the material

      According to the ethnographers, Piaski disappeared first of these three villages. This is an order, not a single common date on which all families were moved out.

      Basis: accounts by MAiE ethnographers in Łódź.

    3. Today: an account and description of its function in MAiE research

      At present

      The mill survives as an account and a description of its function, gathered in research by the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź. The record says why people came here and how closely the area was connected. It is not a surviving structure.

      No data in the material: where and in what form the interview materials are kept.

      Basis: V1 dossier; MAiE in Łódź; Łódzkie.pl.

What of each trace stands today, endures, or is only recorded

Four traces side by side, without choosing a pair. The frame highlights the trace selected above. Hatching means there are no data in the supplied material — it is neither zero nor “no”.

How a trace leaves the field

  • relocated building
  • community and burials
  • documentation and publication
  • account and memory of a function

The line style says what left the field. The length of the orange line shows only stage 1–3, not a distance or a route.

How to read the cells

  • Yesthe material indicates it
  • Nothe material says it did not survive
  • No datathe material is silent
  • Not applicablethe question does not fit the trace
This comparison is an editorial summary of the V2 material, not an expert opinion. Sources for each cell: the “Sources” section.
Question Wooden churchWola Grzymalina → Biała near Pajęczno Parish and cemeteryKuców → Kleszczów Archaeological sitesKuców → monograph, Łódź Memory of the millPiaski → MAiE record, Łódź
Does the building stand today? Yes

It survived as a building, rebuilt in Biała near Pajęczno (Czepas 2020).

 No

The masonry church of 1895 is described as dismantled; the material does not give the building's later fate.

 Not applicable

The subject is layers in the ground, not a building.

 No data

We know the mill from accounts; the material does not describe the condition of the building.
Does a community or burials endure? No data

The material describes the relocation of the building, not the fate of the parishioners.

 Yes

A new parish in Kleszczów, remains from the cemetery relocated (Nierychlewska, Olędzki 2022). Current state of the community: to be checked.

 Not applicable

Prehistoric settlements and a burial ground were documented, not a living community.

 No data

The material does not describe the fate of the residents of Piaski.
What can be read today? Yes

Czepas's work (2020) and MAiE research: village layout, crafts, social life.

 Yes

Nierychlewska and Olędzki (2022): the history of the congregation and the relocation of the necropolis.

 Yes

University of Łódź monograph (2022) with documentation of the sites. Online access: to be checked.

 Yes, accounts only

Accounts by MAiE researchers (Łódzkie.pl); no structure is described.
Have the village's former surroundings survived? No

The village layout and neighbourhood have to be reconstructed from sources.

 No

The former village buildings can be reconstructed only from sources.

 No

The layers were described before the opencast mine destroyed the area; the documentation remains.

 No

The river then followed a different course; the mill's location is without coordinates.
Where are the artefacts or interview materials kept? Not applicable

The trace is a building.

 Not applicable

Burials: see above.

 No data

The material does not indicate where the movable artefacts are kept.

 No data

The material does not indicate where the recordings or notes from the interviews are kept.

Limits of this page

Three different events

The relocation of a building (Biała), the continuation of a community with its burials (Kleszczów) and the transfer of knowledge into a publication or collections (Łódź) are three different things. They must not be merged into a single “the village survived”.

Relocated does not mean preserved in full. The church from Wola Grzymalina survived as a structure, but its surroundings and neighbourhood have to be reconstructed from ethnographic sources. After the mill in Piaski, what remains is interviews and the memory of its function. Each village left a different kind of trace.

Before anyone goes in search of a trace

The lists below are questions to put to an owner or manager, not information on access. The page gives no opening hours, directions or permission to enter.

Biała near Pajęczno — the relocated church
  • Who manages the building, and can it be viewed outside services?
  • What are the hours and contact details? The manager provides them, not this page.
  • Is the building today a filial or a parish church? The material mentions both possibilities.
  • How to get there by public roads, respecting the place of worship?
Kleszczów — the parish and cemetery after Kuców
  • What are the rules for visiting the cemetery and the church?
  • What are the times of services and the parish office hours?
  • This is a burial place — silence and the manager's rules apply.
Łódź — MAiE and the University of Łódź
  • Is the 2022 monograph available online, or in a reading room?
  • What are the rules for using the reading room and the collections?
  • Are the materials from the interviews about the mill in Piaski made available at all? The material does not settle this.
Public viewpoint outside the mine
  • The material mentions the area of Żłobnica; the name, status and hours have not been checked here.
  • Stay on the designated platforms and public roads.

Mine site: no entry

The Bełchatów opencast mine is an active mining operation. Entry to the mine grounds and technical zones is prohibited. Landslides of earth masses and the work of heavy machinery pose an immediate threat to life.

This page does not point to routes or approaches to the excavation, nor to anything that looks like permission to enter. Access to a present-day trace in Biała, Kleszczów or Łódź gives no right of entry to the mine grounds.

Orange on this page marks only the selected trace, never a hazard or an accessible place.

Sources and what needs checking

Piotr Czepas (2020)

Utracone w XX wieku. Wieś Wola Grzymalina w badaniach Muzeum Archeologicznego i Etnograficznego w Łodzi [Lost in the 20th century. The village of Wola Grzymalina in research by the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź], “Studia Etnologiczne i Antropologiczne”, vol. 20. Used for: wooden church.

Anna Nierychlewska, Marek Olędzki (2022)

Historia i prahistoria nieistniejącej już dziś wsi Kuców w powiecie bełchatowskim [History and prehistory of the now non-existent village of Kuców in Bełchatów county], University of Łódź Press. Used for: parish and cemetery, archaeological sites.

MAiE in Łódź / Łódzkie.pl

Poszukiwania wsi, które zniknęły z powierzchni ziemi [The search for villages that vanished from the face of the earth] — researchers' accounts of the mill on the old course of the Widawka and of the order of liquidation. Used for: memory of the mill, order of the villages.

Material: the bibliographic descriptions were carried over from version V2. V2 gave no online addresses for these publications, and they were not checked in this version. A photograph of the opencast mine is not embedded here so that the page works offline: Phil MacDonald, “Odkrywka Bełchatów” [Bełchatów opencast mine], 18 November 2017, Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. The photograph shows the industrial context and does not indicate the site of any former farmstead.

To be checked before the content is treated as established

What has changed relative to V2

Notebook saved in the browser — removed
It was not needed to understand the subject. The page saves nothing on the device.
Free comparison of two traces — replaced by a fixed table of four
All the traces are visible at once, and the selected trace is highlighted with a frame.
Selectable “site verification” — replaced by the “Limits” section
The no-entry notice is always visible, and the lists of questions are collapsible. Nothing pretends to check accessibility.
Map with layers and vectors to Biała, Kleszczów and Łódź — replaced by a sign-field
The notional positions of the nodes could suggest geography. Now the order of the villages comes from the researchers' accounts, and the type of line says exactly what left the field.
Retained
Four traces and three stages of each, the content and warnings about the mine grounds, the descriptions of sources, and the links to the photograph and licence.