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Beeston is a town in the Borough of Broxtowe,
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
, England, south-west of
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
city centre. To its north-east is the University of Nottingham's main campus, University Park. The
pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...
and retail chemist group Boots has its headquarters east of the centre of Beeston, on the border with Broxtowe and the City of Nottingham. To the south lie the
River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
and the village of Attenborough, with extensive wetlands.


Origins of the name

The earliest name of the settlement was ''Bestune'', recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name derives from the Old English words ''bēos'' (bent-grass) and ''tūn'' (farmstead, settlement). Although the idea that the name derives from the Old English ''bēo'' (bee) is popular locally, this is impossible as the plural form of ''bēo'' would be ''bēon'', resulting in an "n" to historical spellings of the name. The local pastures are still referred to in the name Beeston Rylands. The putative "bee" derivation encouraged the notion of Beeston as a "hive of industry". The bee was adopted as the
emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...
of the town council. Beehives appear carved in the brick of the town-hall exterior, and in 1959 three bees were included in the
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
adopted by Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council. The
College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...
included long grasses entwined with meadow crocuses in the arms as an alternative
canting arms Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial all ...
on the likelier origin as "farmstead where bent-grass grows." With the formation of Broxtowe District (later Borough) Council in 1974, the bees were retained on its coat of arms. The bee tradition continues – litter bins and other street furniture in the High Road are decorated in black and gold with a bee symbol on each. There is a sculpture in the High Road of a man sitting next to a beehive, popularly known as the "Bee-man", "the man of Beeston", etc., though officially called "The Beeston Seat". The sculptor was Sioban Coppinger in 1987, modelling a friend, Stephen Hodges, for his "timeless ability to exude calm when all else are succumbing to stress."


History


Domesday

In Bestune at the Conquest, the Saxons Alfag, Alwine and UIchel had three manors consisting of three carucates of land assessed. These were taken from them and given to William Peverel, lord of Nottingham Castle, who had in his demesne two plough teams, 17 bond tenants called villeins, unable to leave the estate without the lord's consent, each farming some of arable, and one ordinary tenant or sochman. Together they had nine plough teams. There were of meadow. The annual yield of the estate was 30 shillings.


19th century

Beeston outgrew its village status as a silk weaving centre in the early 19th century. The first silk mill was burnt down (along with Nottingham Castle) in the Reform Bill riots of 1831. With the decline of the silk industry, many former mills gained light industrial uses in the early 20th century. Equipment made by the Beeston Boiler Company is still found all over the former
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
. Between 1880 and the turn of the century, Thomas Humber and partners made bicycles and eventually motor-cycles and cars at a factory at the junction of what are now Queens Road and Humber Road. At its height it employed 2000, although this ended abruptly in 1907 when the firm moved to Coventry.


20th century

In 1901 the National Telephone Company built a factory in Beeston for telephone materials. This was taken over by the British L.M. Ericsson Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1903. Shortly before the transfer, most of the old factory was destroyed by fire, and in the rebuilding it was extended. A new power station was built. In 1906 a large building was erected, chiefly devoted to cabinet work. Under the
Plessey The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compan ...
name these large premises continued as a major source of employment through the 1980s. Plessey became GPT with GEC's involvement. With the various restructurings of the GEC group and its rebranding as Marconi, much of the site was sold to Siemens along with the private telephone-network side of the business. Siemens sublet much of the site as a "business park". SMS Electronics was formed from a
management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena o ...
of the manufacturing facility of Siemens in 2003. It won the Queens Award for Export in 2012 and employs over 200. The whole site was acquired by
HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tr ...
in 2006 for a mixed-use "employment-led" redevelopment. In 2007 a building was constructed for Atos Origin. The Boots campus includes three listed modernist buildings designed by engineer Owen Williams (two Grade I, one Grade II), though they are difficult to see from outside. It also has a later, Grade II* listed building by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.Beeston and District Civic Society
Listed buildings.
Motor manufacture returned to Beeston for a short period in 1987, when the Middlebridge Company set up a small factory in Lilac Grove and produced 77
Scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...
cars. The firm went into liquidation in 1990. Beeston Maltings was in operation until the late 20th century. The buildings were in Dovecote Lane, opposite the Victoria Hotel, but were demolished in 2012–2013.


21st century

Proposals for a light rail (tram) line through Beeston as an extension to the
Nottingham Express Transit Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a tram system in Nottingham, England. The system opened to the public on 9 March 2004 and a second phase, that more than doubled the size of the total system, opened on 25 August 2015, having been initially ...
system were approved by the government in 2009, due to traffic jams. There was some opposition to this by local traders and others along the proposed route, fearing business losses during the construction period. However, a survey in 2004 by Nottingham Express Transit showed strong general support for the scheme. The line opened on 25 August 2015.


Geography

Mid-20th-century suburban development extended the built-up area of Beeston to the former villages of Chilwell to the west and Wollaton and Lenton Abbey to the north. Beeston is separated from
Bramcote Bramcote is a suburban village in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Stapleford and Beeston. It is in Broxtowe parliamentary constituency. The main Nottingham–Derby road today is the A52, Brian Clough Way. Nearby ...
to the north-west by the Beeston Fields Golf Course. The Broxtowe/City of Nottingham border essentially forms the town's eastern edge. The centre and shopping district lies to the north of the railway line. The mixed residential and industrial area of Beeston Rylands lies to the line's south.


Beeston Rylands

The Rylands was originally a small settlement around Beeston Lock, comprising some tens of houses and two pubs. The name now refers to all of the area south of the railway line. The ''Jolly Angler'' was originally on the river side of the canal, but has since moved. Beeston began to spread south of the railway line in the late 19th century, when a few Victorian villas were built near the level crossing by the station. Over the first few decades of the 20th century, several housing estates were built to accommodate workers at Ericssons and Boots, both of which had large factories south of the railway line. From 1934 to 1939 a significant development of 900 houses on an 57-acre (23 ha) estate, which was then called ''Cliftonside'', was designed by Alexander Wilson. These estates joined Beeston and the Rylands. Further development after the Second World War filled in the gaps, initially with an estate of council houses and flats, and latterly with private houses and bungalows. The last significant development, in 1970, was Meadow Farm: four roads of timber-framed semi-detached houses between Beech Avenue and the canal. Since then, Beeston Rylands has undergone a small amount of infill development. Beeston Rylands was historically at risk of flooding from the
River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
to the south. This reduced property values and the size of houses built there, predominantly for the rental market. The last serious flood, in 1947, reached beyond the railway line: most of Queens Road was flooded, as was Nether Street. Enhanced flood defences have reduced the risk of flooding to a probability of once every fifty years. A series of flood-defence improvements, costing £51 million and designed to decrease the expected flood incidence to once in a hundred years, began in 2009 along a stretch of the Trent.


University of Nottingham

The eastern edge of Beeston abuts the University of Nottingham's main campus, through which runs Beeston Lane.


Wards

Beeston divides into four wards for local electoral purposes within the borough of Broxtowe: Beeston North, Beeston Central, Beeston Rylands and Beeston West.Boundary Commission
– Broxtowe
Beeston's town centre is largely within the West and Central wards. The North ward includes some residential estates north of the A52 (Derby Road), including a small part of the Wollaton urban area that falls within Broxtowe. To the west lies Bramcote Hills and the Bramcote ward. The original Beeston/Bramcote boundary is still marked on the A52. The Beeston Rylands ward has a larger area than the other three wards as it includes unpopulated
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s of the River Trent and industrial areas, including the part of the Boots campus. The ward also extends north of the railway line to Queens Road and includes the former site of Nottingham Rugby Club. To the west of Beeston Rylands lies the Attenborough ward; while the Chilwell East ward lies to the west of Beeston West. A review of ward boundaries in 2000 brought changes to Beeston's western boundary. In the north-west, Beeston Cemetery and the residential streets surrounding it (to the south of Derby Road), such as Coniston Road and Windermere Road, as well as the ''Nuseryman'' pub and the eastern part of Beeston Fields Golf Course, were transferred to Bramcote ward. Beeston gained some territory from Chilwell in residential streets such as Park Road, Grove Avenue and Cumberland Avenue, and in Nottingham College and the industrial patch between Holly Lane and Wilmot Lane. The original boundary between the old Beeston and Chilwell parishes can still be identified by a road-name change on the site of the ''Hop Pole'' pub, from Chilwell Road on the Beeston side to High Road on the Chilwell side.


Elections

Beeston's four wards each return two councillors to Broxtowe Borough Council. For Nottinghamshire County Council the town is covered by two
electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...
s, each with a county councillor: Beeston North (North and West wards) and Beeston South & Attenborough (Central, Rylands and Attenborough wards). For elections to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
the town is part of the Broxtowe constituency (though from 1974 to 1983, a Beeston constituency existed). The present Member of Parliament is Darren Henry of the
Conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.


History of local government

Beeston is an unparished area and has no town council, though it was a
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
until 1935. The parish area was reduced in 1933, with some lands in the east transferred to the City of Nottingham. Boundary posts were erected on the new Beeston-Nottingham boundary and many are still in place today, with "1933" marked on them. The present four wards cover the same post-1933 area of the old parish, save for the two recent alterations made to the western boundary described above. From 1935 until 1974 (when the borough of Broxtowe was formed) Beeston was paired with the town of Stapleford (2 km to the west) in the Beeston and Stapleford
urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...
. Previously a
Beeston Urban District Beeston was an urban district in Nottinghamshire, England, from 1894 to 1935. The urban district was created by the Local Government Act 1894 on the borders of the Beeston Civil Parish and the Beeston Urban Sanitary District. It bordered the c ...
existed, covering Beeston parish. The town was the administrative centre of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council, which was based at Beeston Town Hall, and is now the administrative centre for Broxtowe Borough Council, which has its head offices on Foster Avenue.


Geographic locale


Economy

Beeston is home to many national and international companies. Of the 470 companies based in Beeston, the largest are Boots,
Changan Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...
,
Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...
, ZF, Atos and Chinook Sciences. Other local companies include metalworking lathe manufacturer
Myford Myford Limited is a British machine tool manufacturer originally based at 10-12 East Parade, Leeds, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom under its former name of L & P 240 Limited. The company is notable for its continuation of production of Myfo ...
and the internet firm Webfusion (now part of PIPEX Communications).


Demography

Beeston has a population of 37,000 people, of whom 71.2% are classed as
White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...
and 28.8% as different ethnicities, with 10.3% Chinese, 10.25% European, 2.7% Indian, 2.11% Pakistani and 3.4% other. The average household size is 2.40 and the population density 49.40 per hectare. The age ranges are 16.3% 16 to 24, 20.9% 30 to 44, and 18.06% 45 to 59.


Transport


Trains

The
Midland Counties Railway The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR ...
from
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
to
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
through Beeston opened on 30 May 1839. It later became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway company and then the London Midland Region of British Railways. Beeston station today has frequent rail links served by East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry. Direct trains to and from London St Pancras call hourly, with typical journey times for of just under two hours. Other regular direct services serve
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
,
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
, Lincoln,
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...
, Burton-on-Trent,
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
, Loughborough, Tamworth, Newark Castle,
Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
,
East Midlands Parkway East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
,
Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...
and Matlock. There are daily weekday trains to
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
and Bournemouth.


Buses and trams

Skylink Nottingham: Nottingham > Lenton > Beeston > Chilwell > Long Eaton > Castle Donington > East midlands Airport: Continues every hour to EMA gateway, Coaville or Loughborough.
13: Nottingham > Wollaton > Bramcote > Beeston.
Indigo: Nottingham > Lenton > Beeston > Chilwell > Long Eaton: Continues every 20 minutes to Derby Or Briar Gate.
I4: Nottingham > Lenton > Beeston > Bramcote > Stapleford > Sandiacre: Continues every 20 Minutes to Sandiacre estates or Derby
18(ct4n): Nottingham > Lenton > Beeston > Beeston Rylands > Beeston: Continues hourly to Stapleford.
36: Nottingham > Lenton > Lenton Abbey > Beeston > Chilwell (Inham nook).
36U: Nottingham > Lenton > University of Nottingham > Beeston > Chilwell.
18(trentbarton) Sundays only: Nottingham > Lenton > Beeston > Beeston Rylands > Beeston > Bramcote > Stapleford > Trowell > Ilkeston > Heanor.
21: Nottingham > Lenton > Bramcote > Stapleford > Trowell > Ilkeston > Heanor.
N34: Nottingham > Lenton > University Of Nottingham > Beeston.
517: Beeston > Toton > Stapleford > Sandiacre > English Martyrs Voluntary Academy.
510: Beeston > Attenbrough Village > Chilwell > Toton > Toton Lane Tram Park And Ride > Stapleford.
525: West Bridgford > Beeston > Chilwell School.
536: Beeston > Chilwell > Toton Circular.
49: Nottingham > Electric Avenue > Queens Park And Ride > Beeston (Boots).
49A: Nottingham > Electric Avenue > Beeston (Boots).
49X: Nottingham > Beeston (Boots).
Red Arrow: Nottingham > Beeston > Bramcote > A52 > Derby.
TRAM: Toton > Beeston > Lenton > Nottingham > Hucknall.


Roads

The Nottingham and
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
Road was turnpiked in 1758–1759. Tolls were removed in 1870. A branch of the Nottingham and Ashby Turnpike Road, usually called the Sawley branch, went through Beeston. In 1831 a four-horse daily coach to
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
was advertised. The present Nottingham–Derby A52 road touches the north of the town. Junction 25 of the M1 motorway is . The town centre has municipal car parks owned by Broxtowe Borough Council, as well as supermarket car parks.


Canals

The Nottingham Canal from Trent Bridge to
Langley Mill Langley Mill is a large village in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. History Originally named ''Long Lea'', the village of Langley Mill was a major employer throughout the mid 1900s with many companies including The Flour Mi ...
, via Nottingham and Lenton was authorised in 1790 and completed by 1802. It allowed goods traffic from the Erewash valley to bypass the
River Erewash The River Erewash is a river in England, a tributary of the River Trent that flows roughly southwards through Derbyshire, close to its eastern border with Nottinghamshire. Etymology The approximate meaning of the name is not in doubt, b ...
and
River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
. In response, a Beeston Canal was promoted by the Trent Navigation Company in 1794. This stretched from Beeston Cut to Lenton, over a weir at Beeston Rylands. Originally there was a second lock at Beeston Cut for small vessels to enter the Trent below the weir, but this was abandoned about 1940.


Cycles

The National Cycle Route 6 (London – Keswick) passes through Long Lane Attenborough, then along the pavement of Queens Road and Lilac Grove, past Nottingham University and the Queen's Medical Centre, where it turns left towards Wollaton and Bulwell. A circular "Big Track" for cyclists and pedestrians follows towpaths along the Trent and Beeston Canal. The Erewash Valley trail passes along the western side of Beeston. Several other cycle routes are signposted.


Built environment

Beeston has a number of historic buildings, including a manor house and the parish church of St John the Baptist. The church dates from the 11th century, but was largely rebuilt in 1843 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Both are included in the West End conservation area, which covers several buildings, many historical or of character, along Dovecote Lane, Grange Avenue, West End, and Church Street. Included in the area is the historic Village Cross. An
enclosure act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and ...
was passed for the parish of Beeston, and in 1809 the Commissioners stated that the lands amounted to , to be made tithe free, and the ancient enclosed lands and homesteads liable to tithe was £687 2s 29d. They then proceeded to fix the width of the roads. The Nottingham and Derby turnpike road was fixed at . Wollaton Road, then called Cowgate, was . The enclosures altered the appearance of part of the parish from a moor growing poor grass to cultivated fields with hedges, and so increased the food supply. It relieved farmers of their duty to pay a tenth of their product in kind. Some lands on or near Bramcote Moor, but in Beeston parish, were enclosed in 1847, by provisional order of the Inclosure Commissioners. Before the general introduction of gas in the parish, there was a limited supply from the Mill to separate houses. The church was first lit with gas in 1857. A Public Lighting Act was adopted at a vestry meeting on 13 November 1862. Opposition to the street lamps was strong, and the effigy of an active promoter of it was carried on an ass round the village and hung on a lamp-post, and but for police interference would have been burned. In 1861 gas was supplied from Nottingham by the Nottingham Gas Light and Coke Company and for street lamps in 1872. Beeston was connected to the mains water supply in 1876. Nottingham had benefitted from electric lighting from 1894. Beeston was relatively later, after the Board of Trade in 1914 issued a Provisional Order under the Electric Lighting Acts of 1882 and 1909, for the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company to be authorised to supply Beeston Urban District with electricity for public and private purposes. The crenellated
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
of the Anglo Scotian Mills remains on Wollaton Road. It became a listed building on 6 January 1976. It is a silk and lace factory warehouse dating from 1892. A rare survival is the G H Hurt & Son Shawl Factory, which is occasionally open to the public. Shawls are produced on knitting machines and hand-finished in much the same way as they have been for centuries. The factory contains examples of knitting frames from the 17th century. Lost industrial buildings include the rebuilt silk mill and the looming bulk of the Neville Works mill on the boundary with Chilwell (later occupied by the Myford lathe factory).


The Land Societies


St John's Grove Estate

After the enclosure of the land surrounding Beeston in 1809, the area of St John's Grove was allotted to the vicar of the parish church. In 1878 the land was acquired from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners by the Beeston Land Society, a group of citizens, who divided it into 28 plots of between three-quarters and and laid out wide, straight streets. Most of the houses date from Edwardian and late Victorian times. The Land Society set conditions for developers. There were to be no public houses, and strict building lines would ensure that properties were set back a consistent distance from the road. The St John's Grove Estate is now a conservation area.


Imperial Park Estate

Shortly after 1878, the Imperial Park Land Society and its sister the Beeston Building Society were founded. They aimed to assist the development and financing of superior housing around what is now Imperial Road, north of Newton Street, adjacent to the St John's Grove development and bounded on the north by North Street. The early model was to have savings made by a group of subscribers and funds allocated by the drawing of lots, in turn for each of them to build a house.


Bellevue Park Estate

This initial success was repeated when, in 1881, a syndicate acquired land from George Fellows, of the banking family that had its home at Belle Vue, now Beeston Fields Golf Club. The Belle Vue Land Society was formed to develop this land using similar methods to Imperial Park. The development lay to the north as a continuation to Imperial Park. Denison Street formed its northern extreme and Montague Street defined its eastern limit.


Cottage Grove

Cottage Grove, historically was just outside Beeston parish and part of Chilwell, was promoted by the
Labourer's Friend Society The Labourer's Friend Society was a society founded by Lord Shaftesbury in the United Kingdom in 1830 for the improvement of working class conditions. This included the promotion of allotment of land to labourers for "cottage husbandry" that late ...
in the 1840s as plots for cottages with allotments for the labouring poor. The scheme failed and the area now consists mostly of Victorian and Edwardian houses laid out along the parallel Park Road and Grove Avenue and the two short cross streets Cedar Road and North Drive. The area retains a leafy character and the roads remain unkerbed. It has been a conservation area since 2008.


The Estates today

Some areas originally developed by the Land Societies have been spoiled where original plots have been subdivided and more modern properties built in styles not in keeping with the original buildings. Many properties in the Imperial Park and Bellvue Estates have lost their original elegance with the lowering of chimney stacks, inappropriate replacement of windows and doors with modern PVC, the loss of hedged fronts to brick walls or fencing, and paving over front gardens for parking.


Other development

A prominent Methodist Church was built by the architect W. J. Morley of Bradford in Chilwell Road in 1902. Its landmark spire became more visible after the demolition of several large mill buildings in the 1990s. The front of the building was floodlit at night. The Baptist Church in Dovecote Lane was built in 1898 by Charles Nelson Holloway, but demolished in 2015 and replaced by semi-detached housing.


Almshouses

The United Charities of
Abel Collin Abel Collin (1653–1705) was a benefactor in Nottingham. He established Abel Collin's Charity. Family He was the son of Laurence Collin. His sister, Fortune Collin, married Thomas Smith, founder of Smith's Bank in Nottingham. History of the C ...
moved from the centre of Nottingham to their current location in Derby Road, Beeston, in the 1950s.


Public art

See List of public art in Beeston


See also

* The Grange, Beeston * Chilwell Road Methodist Church * Queen's Road Methodist Church * Wollaton Road Methodist Church * Beeston Brewery Company *
War Memorial Cross, Beeston War Memorial Cross, Beeston is a Grade II listed structure in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. History It was designed by the architect William Herbert Higginbottom. Constructed in Portland stone in height, it comprises an octagonal plinth of three ...


Commerce

Beeston's main shopping area is along the High Road, much of which has been pedestrianised. There are some chain stores in Beeston and independent stores, including specialist east Asian and
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
food shops. There are takeaways and several restaurants, offering a selection of food including Chinese, Thai and Indian cuisine. Cafés are to be found around the main shopping centre; ''The Square'', the centre of Beeston, is a 1960s shopping development, most of which is pedestrianised. A £1.4-million environmental improvement scheme covered pavements and lighting for the non-pedestrianised eastern end of the High Road. Further east, Broadgate saw improvements with a new space at the top entrance to Broadgate Recreation Ground; the works were completed in late 2006. The shopping centre is traversed by Wollaton Road. An area south-east of the shopping centre made room for a Tesco superstore, which opened 1 November 2010, rivalling the
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
store in the town centre and the recent Lidl store in Wollaton Road to the north of the town centre. Beeston Fire Station, on an adjacent plot, was closed and relocated to a new site on Hassocks Lane. Beeston town centre was redeveloped when the
Nottingham Express Transit Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a tram system in Nottingham, England. The system opened to the public on 9 March 2004 and a second phase, that more than doubled the size of the total system, opened on 25 August 2015, having been initially ...
extension was built, including the construction of a large gym and a Costa Coffee shop. This redevelopment was undertaken by Henry Boot. Beeston Square is the centre of further redevelopment into the 2020s, with a £50-million scheme including connection to the NET Tram network, and a new Arc cinema with seating for 700 in an eight-screen complex, the first cinema since 1968. Contracts were fulfilled by
Bowmer + Kirkland Bowmer + Kirkland Group is a British construction services business based in Heage, Derbyshire. History The company was established in 1923 as a partnership between joiner Alfred Bowmer and bricklayer Robert William Kirkland. In July 2009 the f ...
.


Pubs

Beeston is known for its various
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
s and has one of the highest concentrations of them in the United Kingdom, with 23 pubs (as of 2011) within the ''Beeston Crawl''. The ''Victoria Hotel'' is a Victorian railway hotel and pub next to the station. It received several awards, including ''Nottinghamshire Dining Pub of the Year'' by the Good Pub Guide 2002 and runner-up for
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
' ''Pub of the Year'' in 2000. The ''Victoria Hotel'' and the ''Malt Shovel'', in Union Street, both appear in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. ''The Crown'', a listed building in Church Street in the West End conservation area, was awarded the Nottingham, then the Nottinghamshire and then the
East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...
CAMRA '' Pub of the Year'' 2010 awards, which appeared in the 2011 edition of the Guide. There is a
Wetherspoon's J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It op ...
chain pub called ''The Last Post'' in the building of the old Royal Mail sorting office.J D Wetherspoon
The Last Post
In Factory Lane, in the south-east of the town, a small brewery called ''Reality'' began producing real ale in 2010, with a 2.5 barrel plant.


Royal Mail

Beeston has three post offices. Until 2017, the main post office was in Chilwell Road (on a site that also originally housed the delivery office), but moved to share premises with the town's branch of WHSmith. There is another post office in the High Road towards Broadgate and a third in Central Avenue in the north of the town. A fourth post office in the Rylands part of town closed in January 2008. The Royal Mail's main sorting office for the Nottingham area (the NG postcode area) stands on the eastern edge of Beeston at Padge Road, with the City of Nottingham boundary running round the building. It was built in 1995 and includes a new delivery office for local distribution of Beeston's mail.


Sport

Beeston is home to England Hockey Premier League team
Beeston Hockey Club Beeston Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in Beeston, England. The club was founded in 1907, and plays its home games at the Nottingham Hockey Centre in Nottingham. Beeston is nicknamed ''the Bees''. The men's 1st XI plays in the Men ...
who play at Highfields Sports Club on University Boulevard. Until 2006, Beeston was home to Nottingham Rugby Club, which sold the land next to the railway line (now the Birkin Fields housing development) and moved to share the Meadow Lane pitch at the Notts County ground. Nottingham Casuals Rugby Club still plays on the rugby pitches at Weirfields near the canal. The two
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
s adjacent to the town are Beeston Fields and Chilwell Manor. A short distance to the north is Bramcote Hill Golf Club and to the north-east the golf course at Wollaton Park. Beeston is home to several well-established football clubs, including Beeston Amateur Football Club (Beeston AFC), which has two men's Saturday sides that play in the Nottinghamshire Senior League and the Midland Amateur Alliance respectively, and Beeston Town FC, which plays its home games at Highfields and competes in Division One of the Long Eaton Sunday League. Beeston Athletics, formally Ericsson AC & Plessey AC, is now based at Chilwell Olympia and meets on Wednesday and Friday evenings and on Sunday morning. It also organises a five-mile race in May or June


Hydroelectric plant


Notable people

In alphabetical order: * Richard Beckinsale (1947–1979), an actor known for roles in BBC sitcoms ''Porridge'' and ''Rising Damp'', grew up in Beeston, attending College House Junior School and Alderman White Secondary Modern School. * Bent (1999 onwards): duo making electronic music * Anne Briggs (born 1944): folk singer *
Neil Cossons Sir Neil Cossons FMA (born 15 January 1939) is a British historian and museum administrator. Biography Cossons was born in Beeston and studied at the University of Liverpool. He was the first director of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust fr ...
(born 1939), former chairman of
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
, grew up in Beeston, attending Church Street School, where his father was headmaster. He worked for a time as a porter at Beeston railway station. * Bryn Elliott (1925–2019): professional footballer born in Beeston * William Gidley Emmett (1887–1985): industrial chemist born in Beeston * Robert William Felkin (1853–1926): medical missionary and explorer, ceremonial magician and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn * John Fellows (1881–1942): professional cricketer born in Beeston * Albert Flewitt (1872–1943): professional footballer born in Beeston * Barry Foster (1931–2002): actor famous as the Dutch detective '' Van Der Valk'' * William Foster (1859–1944): county cricketer born in Beeston * Ernest Hayes (1898–1938): a three-time Military Medal winner in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, he died in Beeston. * Alice Levine (born 1986): broadcaster and model *
Edward Joseph Lowe Edward Joseph Lowe FRS FGS FRAS FLS (11 November 1825 – 10 March 1900) was a renowned English botanist, meteorologist and astronomer, who published papers on a wide variety of subjects, including luminous meteors, sunspots, the zodiacal lig ...
(1825–1900): a botanist and meteorologist, he lived in Beeston for most of his working life. * Frederick Micklethwait (1817–1878): lawyer and cricketer born in Beeston * Frank Pegg (1902–1991): professional footballer born in Beeston. * Sir Paul Smith (born 1946): fashion designer who attended Beeston Fields Primary School * Edwin Starr (1942–2003): soul singer, who lived and died in Beeston. * Baroness Stowell of Beeston (born 1967): a former Leader of the House of Lords, she attended Chilwell Comprehensive School. * John Taylor (1849–1921): a county cricketer, he was born and died in Beeston. * Adam Tedder: actor and musician born in Beeston * William "Bendigo" Thompson (1811–1880): bare-knuckle boxer * Frederick Thornhill (1846–1876): county cricketer born in Beeston * W. F. Wallett (1806–1892): a 19th-century clown known as The Queen's Jester, he reportedly performed before
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
. * William West (c. 1548–1598): lawyer and legal writer born in Beeston * Paul Wright (born 1973): racing cyclist born in Beeston


References


External links


Exploring the history of BeestonBeeston and District Civic Society
{{authority control Towns in Nottinghamshire Market towns in Nottinghamshire Places in the Borough of Broxtowe Former civil parishes in Nottinghamshire Unparished areas in Nottinghamshire