Swadlincote

Coordinates: 52°46′26″N 1°33′25″W / 52.774°N 1.557°W / 52.774; -1.557
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Swadlincote
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Areas of the town
(2011 census BUASD)
List
(Village)
Post townSwadlincote
Postcode districtDE11
Dialling code01283
PoliceDerbyshire
FireDerbyshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Derbyshire
52°46′26″N 1°33′25″W / 52.774°N 1.557°W / 52.774; -1.557
Pronounced
(listen)
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Swadlincote is a historic

mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England. It lies within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Derby. It covers the suburban areas of Church Gresley, Goseley, Midway, Newhall, Oversetts and Woodville and had a population of 34,576 at the 2021 census.[1]

History

Swadlincote's name is derived from the Old English Swartlings Cottas, Swartling being a man's name and cottas meaning cottages.[2] Past forms of the name include Sivardingescote and Swartlincote.[3] Local residents sometimes shorten its name to "Swad".

The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded Swadlincote as a small manor. It was part of the parish of Gresley (latterly Church Gresley) until the 19th century.[3][4][5]

The first record of mineral extraction in the area is from the end of the 13th century, but the area remained rural until the

Second World War.[6] One traditional bottle-shaped kiln survives in Alexandra Road.[7]

The fire-clay strata in the coal measures has a high alumina content. Swadlincote is one of only six places in Britain with clay deposits of such quality. This makes it particularly suitable for salt glazing. The properties of the clay mean it is easily shaped into pipes that are resistant to sewage. The Public Health Act 1875 created a huge demand for locally produced pipes.[8]

Emmanuel Church of England parish church is a Gothic Revival building consecrated in 1846,[4] designed by Henry Isaac Stevens and completed in 1848.[7] Swadlincote also had a Wesleyan chapel by then.[4] Today the town has also the Roman Catholic church of Saints Peter and Paul designed by the architect George Bernard Cox[9] and completed in 1958.[10]

urban district was merged with Repton Rural District and part of South East Derbyshire Rural District to form the present South Derbyshire District.[13]

Coat of arms of the former Swadlincote Urban District Council

The urban district council was granted a

fireclay and coal. The Latin motto adopted: E terra divitiæ ("Riches from the earth") also referred to the mineral industries of Swadlincote.[14]
The current arms of South Derbyshire District Council, which bear the motto "The Earth Our Wealth", and also reflect this heritage.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the town's Rink venue (now demolished and the site of industrial units) hosted major British and American pop stars. Gene Vincent appeared on 7 September 1963, and Ringo Starr in 1962, while he was drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.[15]

Governance

Swadlincote covers four of the 17

wards of South Derbyshire District, returning 11 of the 36 district councillors: Church Gresley (two councillors), Newhall and Stanton (three), Midway (three) and Swadlincote (three). Of the eleven elected in 2007, ten are Labour Party and one a Conservative.[16]

Swadlincote forms part of the

General Election, the seat was won by the Conservative Party candidate Heather Wheeler, an ex-leader of the Conservative group on South Derbyshire District Council. A notable previous MP is Edwina Currie (Conservative). Until 1983 the area was part of the Belper constituency.[13]

Geography

The town is located within the

National Forest, and there has been significant tree planting around Gresley Common, Swadlincote Woodlands and Church Gresley.[17]

The suburbs of Newhall and Stanton to the north-west lie along the

Burton-on-Trent. Most of the green belt lies in Derbyshire, with small tracts in Staffordshire.[18]
Hence most of Swadlincote's 21st-century expansion has been to the south and east of the centre, particularly adjacent to Woodville and Church Gresley.

Swadlincote is encircled by several villages and hamlets including Hartshorne, Albert Village, Blackfordby, Overseal, Moira, Linton, Boundary, Norris Hill and Spring Cottage.

Demography

Swadlincote had a population of 34,576 in the 2021 Census.[19]

The town's ethnicity composition was recorded at:

  • White - 33,534 (97%)
  • Mixed Race
    - 457 (1.3%)
  • Asian
    - 348 (1%)
  • Black
    - 135 (0.4%)
  • Other - 94 (0.3%)

The town's religious composition was recorded at:

  • Irreligious
    - 16,099 (49.5%)
  • Christians
    - 15,968 (49.1%)
  • Other - 151 (0.5%)
  • Sikhs - 98 (0.3%)
  • Muslims - 82 (0.3%)
  • Hindus - 67 (0.2%)
  • Buddhists - 63 (0.2%)
  • Jews
    - 11 (0.1%)

Economy

The town originally had a prominent manufacturing heritage that made pipes and earthenware. It was the centre of the South Derbyshire coalfield, but mining ceased when Rawdon Colliery closed in 1993. Light manufacturing and service companies are sited on large industrial estates.

Swadlincote has a moderate-sized

Midlands, containing national chain stores and small local businesses. It had a branch of Somerfield before the Co-operative Group took over the chain in 2009. The opening of a large chain supermarket on Coppice Side has been blamed as a factor behind the closure of several small independent shops.[20] The shops that lined West Street and High Street from 1901 had disappeared by the early 21st century.[21]
Hepworth Retail Park is a modern development with a restaurant, cinema and various shops.

Plans were announced in 2008 for a new retail complex consisting of a cinema, DIY store and a nationally recognised clothing store.

Member of Parliament
and pipe-yard owner.

A pub bar and restaurant opened on the former Empire Cinema site in April 2007, named The Paramount after Paramount Cars, a manufacturer based in the town in the 1950s.[23] The pub closed in June 2013.

Transport

Swadlincote is near the junction of the A514 (Derby to A444) and A511 (Burton-upon-Trent to Ashby-de-la-Zouch) roads.

In 1804 the Ashby Canal opened, with its northern terminus at Moira, Leicestershire. Also built were tramways to carry coal and ceramics from Swadlincote and elsewhere to the canal for shipment.[4][5]

The

Ivanhoe Line.[24] This plan was shelved after the privatisation of British Rail
, and Swadlincote remains one of the UK's largest towns without a railway station.

Swadlincote is served by the Arriva Midlands and Diamond East Midlands bus companies.[25][26]

Swadlincote is on

National Forest
.

Media

Television signals can only be received from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter which broadcast BBC West Midlands and ITV Central (West).[27] However, BBC East Midlands and ITV Central (East) are also received through cable and satellite television such as Freesat and Sky. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Derby on 104.5 FM, Capital Mid-Counties (formely Touch FM) on 101.6 FM, Smooth East Midlands on 101.4 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 106.0 FM.

Education

Schools in Swadlincote include Granville Academy at Woodville, William Allitt School at Newhall, St George's School and Pennine Way Junior Academy in Church Gresley, Belmont and Springfield Junior Schools and The Pingle Academy on Coronation Street, which with 1,200 pupils is Swadlincote's largest secondary school.

The closest university is the University of Derby, 18 miles (29 km) to the north, with Staffordshire University's Lichfield campus an equal distance to the south-west.

Amenities

The Ski Slope
Sharpe's Pottery Museum

The main attractions in Swadlincote are local parks, such as Maurice Lea at Church Gresley and Eureka, Green Bank Leisure Centre, a large dry ski slope, and a '50s American Diner, said to be the largest such establishment in the UK.[28] All are within easy reach of the town centre.

Swadlincote Woodlands Forest Park is an 80-acre site, with more than 40,000 trees, two recreational forest trails and has a number of view points across the town.[29] It is also the proposed site for the Pipeworks arts and media project, a charity-based community theatre and media production facility.[citation needed]

The town's one museum is the Sharpe's Pottery Museum,[30] devoted to the town's ceramic heritage. It contains a café and the town's Tourist Information Centre is based there.

Local youth organisations include No. 1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron of the Air Training Corps based in Eureka Park.[31]

Sport

Gresley Rovers is a semi-professional association football team based at Moat Street, Church Gresley.

A greyhound racing track existed from 1948 to 1962, it was called the Darklands Sports Stadium and was located off Darklands Lane. The racing was independent (known as a "flapping" track) because it was unaffiliated to the sport's governing body, the National Greyhound Racing Club. The venue was also used for Harness, Pony Racing and Stock Car Racing.[32][33] [34]

Accent and dialect

The area around Swadlincote has historically had a distinct dialect.

Burton-upon-Trent (West Midlands) and Derby (East Midlands
).

Recently, people have been moving to the town from Staffordshire (Tamworth, Rugeley, Lichfield, etc.), who use Swadlincote as a dormitory site, working elsewhere. This West Midlands accent can be heard alongside the traditional one.[citation needed]

Notable people

In birth order:

  • George Stanhope (1660–1728), royal chaplain and promoter of church building, was born at Hartshorne near Swadlincote.
  • Henry Isaac Stevens (1806–1873), architect, designed Emmanuel Church in Swadlincote.
  • George Lloyd (1820–1885), archaeologist and cleric, was curate of Church Gresley in the 1860s.
  • Helen Allingham (née Paterson, 1848–1926), water colourist and illustrator, was born to a Swadlincote doctor's family.
  • Oxford wrote Shakespeare
    " theory, died in Swadlincote.
  • George H. Widdows (1881–1976), schools architect, designed the Grade II listed Springfield Junior School in Swadlincote.
  • John Hurt (1940–2017), actor, lived in Woodville while aged five to twelve. His father was Vicar of St Stephen's parish church.[citation needed]
  • John Bloor (born 1943), owner of Bloor Homes and Triumph Motorcycles Ltd[37]
  • Joe Jackson (born 1954), jazz-rock musician and singer-songwriter, spent the first year of his life in Swadlincote.
  • The Pingle School
    in Swadlincote.

Sports

  • John Hulme (1862–1940), county cricketer, was born in Church Gresley.
  • Arthur Archer (1874–1940), professional footballer, played also for Swadlincote Town FC.
  • Ben Warren (1879–1917), England international footballer, was born in Newhall.[38]
  • John Heath (1891–1972), was a first-class and international cricketer born in Swadlincote.
  • George Harrison (1892–1939), professional footballer and publican, was born and died in Church Gresley.
  • Frederick Heath (1894–1967), first-class cricketer, was born in Swadlincote.
  • Lew Bradford (1916–1984), professional footballer, was born in Swadlincote.
  • Douglas Meakin (1929–1998), first-class cricketer
  • Bobby Mason (born 1936), professional footballer, lives in Swadlincote.
  • Alan Arthur Jackson (born 1938), professional footballer and schoolteacher, was born in Swadlincote.
  • Jack Bodell (1940–2016), British heavyweight boxing champion, was born in Newhall.[39]
  • Luke Simpkin (born 1979), is a Swadlincote-based light heavyweight professional boxer.
  • Marc Goodfellow (born 1981), professional footballer, was born in Swadlincote.
  • Carl Dickinson (born 1987) is a Swadlincote-born professional footballer playing for Yeovil Town.
  • Zach Parker (born 1994) is a professional boxer, was born in Swadlincote.
  • Harry Ward (born 1997), professional darts player, was born in Swadlincote.
  • Paralympic
    , S9 swimming champion, was born in Swadlincote.

See also

Notes

  1. South Derbyshire District Council. Retrieved 14 December 2007.[permanent dead link
    ]
  2. English Place Name Society
    . Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b Lysons & Lysons, 1817, pp. 165–172.
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, 1848, pp. 280–283.
  5. ^ a b Lewis, 1848, pp. 338–340.
  6. ^ "Swadlincote – a potted history". South Derbyshire District Council. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  7. ^ a b Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, p. 336.
  8. ^ James Woodward Limited, Swadlincote; South Derbyshire District Council, 2003.
  9. ^ "New R.C. Church for Swadlincote". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 29 June 1956. Retrieved 17 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Swadlincote – St Peter and St Paul". Staking Stock. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  11. ^ Historic England. "Town Hall (1334526)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  12. ^ Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire and Rutland. Kelly's Directory. London. 1895. p. 355.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ a b Youngs Jr, Frederick A (1991). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Vol. II: Northern England. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 658–660.
  14. ^ Scott-Giles, C. Wilfrid (1953). Civic Heraldry of England and Wales. London: J. M. Dent & Sons. p. not cited.
  15. ^ "Seven things you might not have noticed in Swadlincote town centre". Derbyshire Live. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Find your councillor". South Derbyshire District Council. Archived from the original on 14 October 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  17. ^ "Local Development Framework" (PDF). south-derbys.gov.uk. South Derbyshire Council.
  18. ^ "South Derbyshire District Council – Community and Planning Services: South Derbyshire Local Plan PART 1" (PDF).
  19. ^ "Swadlincote (Derbyshire, East Midlands, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  20. ^ Bull, Keith (12 January 2007). "Fears growing for town shops". Burton Mail. Retrieved 17 July 2008.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ A Century of Shopping in Swadlincote, 2011, pub. The Magic Attic
  22. ^ Bull, Keith (14 February 2008). "Town revamp plan revealed". Burton Mail. Retrieved 17 July 2008.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ Bull, Keith (13 March 2007). "New bar retains sense of history". Burton Times. Retrieved 17 July 2008.[permanent dead link]
  24. ^ "Chapter 7 – Accessibility and Transport". Structure Plan. Leicestershire County Council. 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  25. ^ "Public Transport in Derbyshire and the Peak District". Derbyshire County Council. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  26. ^ "Swadlincote" (PDF). Derbyshire Public Transport Maps. Derbyshire County Council. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  27. ^ "Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  28. ^ "The 50s American Diner". The 50s American Diner.
  29. ^ "Swadlincote Woodlands". South Derbyshire District Council. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  30. ^ "Sharpe's". Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  31. ^ "1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron". 1211sqn.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012.
  32. ^ "SWADLINCOTE". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  33. ISBN 0-948955-15-5
    .
  34. ^ "Swadlincote Greyhound Racing". Leicester Evening Mail. 30 August 1949. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  35. ^ BBC Derby. "Discovering the Derbyshire Accent". BBC Online. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  36. ^ "Swadlincote dialect". LANDshapes. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  37. ^ Post, Birmingham (23 January 2014). "Birmingham Post Rich List 2014: No.7 - John Bloor (£520m)".
  38. ^ "Ben Warren's England profile". Englandstats.com.
  39. ^ Hack, Billy (10 November 1971). "The Name of the Game is Money" (PDF). 7 Days. 1 (3): 16 – via Amiel Melburn Trust Internet Archive.

Sources

External links

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