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 authority ...
in the
Amber Valley
Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. It covers a semi-rural zone with four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent ...
district of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, England. Codnor is a former mining village and had a population of 3,766 (including Cross Hill) taken at the 2011 Census. It is approximately 12 miles from
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 gai ...
and 14 miles from
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
. Codnor forms a built up area with nearby Ripley.
History
Codnor is listed in an entry in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086, the great survey commissioned by
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
; a mill and church were mentioned, and also the fact that "Warner holds it". Coalmining had a long history locally, and was, at one time, responsible for subsidence damage to some buildings. Opencast mining is still in operation today within the area and the land around the castle has also been subject to this.
east of the village centre is
Codnor Castle
Codnor Castle is a ruined 13th-century castle in Derbyshire, England. The land around Codnor came under the jurisdiction of William Peverel after the Norman conquest. The building is registered as a Scheduled Ancient Monument a Grade II Listed Bu ...
; the original
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
earthwork
motte and bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
was built by William Peveril, (Peveril of the Peak, who also built the better known
Peveril Castle
Peveril Castle (also Castleton Castle or Peak Castle) is a ruined 11th-century castle overlooking the village of Castleton in the English county of Derbyshire. It was the main settlement (or ''caput'') of the feudal barony of William Peverel, kn ...
at Castleton). The 13th-century stone structure which replaced it is now in ruins. The castle was formerly held by the powerful de Grey family. The castle overlooks the valley of the little
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, but t ...
, which forms the county boundary between Derbyshire and
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 traditi ...
, and the now defunct section of the
Cromford Canal
The Cromford Canal ran from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks.
From Cromford it ran ...
. The castle was the subject of an investigation by archaeological television programme ''
Time Team
''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' - first aired on 6 January 2008 - which discovered many new facts about the structure, as well as unearthing a solid gold coin, a 'noble' of
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
.
At one time the village had a railway station ( Crosshill and Codnor) which was operated as part of the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
. The branch line was torn up when colliery traffic waned, and the only signs of it that are now left are a converted station yard and some embankments.
Codnor had three
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
chapels, all in the Ripley Circuit, as well as the
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church of St James, at Crosshill. The village was also the birthplace of the noted Victorian
phrenologist
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
'Professor'
Joseph Millott Severn
Joseph Millot Severn was an English writer, historian, and phrenologist born in Codnor, Derbyshire.
Biography
Severn was born in 1860alms houses in the centre of the village, which still stand to this day.
In recent years Codnor has had traffic problems, because the A610 (the main road to/from Nottingham) goes through the village, carrying traffic to Ripley, and further places such as Matlock. Codnor also used to be served by trams; the ' Ripley Rattler' (so-called), used to travel between that town and Nottingham. These were quite notorious, and were even the subject of a short story - "Tickets Please" - by local writer
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
(born 4 miles away, in Eastwood). The standards, which had carried the electric power lines for the trams, and the later trolley buses, were not removed until the early 1960s.
Geography
Codnor is close to the larger communities of Ripley and
Heanor
Heanor (/ˈhiːnə/) is a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. It lies north-east of Derby and forms, with the adjacent village of Loscoe, the civil parish and town council-administered area of Heano ...
.
Sport
Codnor has its own golf club, Ormonde Fields.
Codnor has a cricket club which has been in existence since 1924. Whilst having some difficult times in the early stages of the club, the club now plays at a competitive standard in the Derbyshire county league and fields both a 1st and 2nd eleven as well as two youth teams. The club currently play on Goose Lane, which used to be home to Codnor Miners Welfare before it was shut down in 2007.
Codnor also has three football teams. There is Codnor FC, who play in the Derby City Football League, Codnor Athletic Fc who play in the Alfreton QTS League and Codnor Miners FC - who play in the East Midlands Senior Leagu http://codnorminersfootballclub.weebly.com/index.html]
Red, White and Blue Festival
The
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
held its Red, White and Blue festival from 2007 to 2009 off Codnor-Denby Lane, to the south of Codnor. It was cancelled in 2010.Daily Telegraph 04 June 2010 BNP Festival Cancelled
Notable buildings
There are three structures in Codnor civil parish that are
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
for their historical or architectural interest. These are the Church of St James beside the A6007, Home Farmhouse on Alfreton Road, and No.37 Nottingham Road. These are all listed as Grade II. Codnor Castle is also Grade II but is in the neighbouring parish of Aldercar and Langley Mill.
Notable people
*
James Woolley
Woolley in the 90's.
James Joseph Woolley (September 26, 1966 – August 14, 2016) was an American keyboard and synthesizer player, best known for performing with industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails during the 1991 Lollapalooza Tour and th ...
Clockmaker
*
Joseph Millott Severn
Joseph Millot Severn was an English writer, historian, and phrenologist born in Codnor, Derbyshire.
Biography
Severn was born in 1860Nick Wright, a former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
, was born here.
*
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) ''Autocourse Grand Prix Archive'', 14 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007. was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in . After retiring from racing in ...
, footballer, was born here.
*
Chanel Cresswell
Chanel Cresswell (born 23 January 1990) is an English actress, known for playing Kelly Jenkins in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and the three subsequent series ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' (2011) and ''This I ...
, actress, grew up here.
*
Arnold Warren
Arnold Warren (2 April 1875 – 3 September 1951) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1897 and 1920 and played for England in 1905. He was the first bowler from Derbyshire to take 100 wickets in a seaso ...
, fast bowler, lived here.
* Fred S Thorpe, local historian, lived here.