Gresley Church 005ADD000015537U00038000-SVC2-

Church Gresley is a large village and former

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

South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population of the local authority at the 2011 Census was 94,611. It contains a third of the National Forest, and the council offices are in Swadlincote. The district a ...

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. The village is situated between

Castle Gresley Castle Gresley is a village and civil parish about southwest of the centre of Swadlincote in South Derbyshire, England. The population was 1,566 at the 2001 Census increasing to 1,799 at the 2011 Census. The village is about west of the villag ...

and the town of

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...

, with which it is contiguous. By the time of the 2011 Census the village was a ward of Swadlincote, of which it is now effectively a suburb, and the population of Church Gresley ward was 6,881. The village forms part of the border with

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

to the southeast. Nearby villages include

Albert Village Albert Village is a small post-industrial village in Leicestershire, England and is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the town of Swadlincote. The area's heritage is in coal-mining and pottery manufacture, both locally defunct ...

Linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...

and

Overseal Overseal is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, south of Swadlincote, west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and due south-southwest of Derby (16.5 miles by road). The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,450. Situated withi ...

History

''Gresele'' is recorded 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 ...

'' . Its first element is of uncertain origin, possibly the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''grēosn'' meaning gravel and ''lēah'' meaning a woodland clearing. ''Churchegreseleye'' was first recorded in 1363 and distinguishes it from

Priory and church

'' See also

Gresley Priory Gresley Priory was a monastery of Augustinian Canons regular in Church Gresley, Derbyshire, England, founded in the 12th century. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the priory church became the village's parish church of St George a ...

''
A

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons was founded at Gresley in the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

, by William de Gresley, son of Nigel de Stafford. It was suppressed in 1536 in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

was built early in the 12th century as the priory's conventual church. Of the 12th century building only the lower part of the tower survives. In about 1820 the church and the upper part of the tower were rebuilt. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

was designed by

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

and built in 1872. The church is a

Grade II* 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 Irel ...

. The tower has a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells. The fourth bell was cast by Henry Oldfield of

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 ...

. Its date is unknown, but is known that Oldfield was casting bells between 1590 and 1620. George Oldfield of

cast the fifth and tenor bells in 1639.

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

of Loughborough cast or recast the second and third bells in 1958 and cast the present treble bell in 1991.

Economic and social history

In about 1800 the Mason pottery was founded at Church Gresley. It was renamed

Mason Cash Mason Cash originated as a pottery company, based in Woodville, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, UK, making a range of earthenware and stoneware kitchenware including mixing bowls, pudding basins and petware. They are most well known for their range ...

in 1901. retrieved November 2012 Mason Cash became a well-known English pottery, producing many kinds of ceramic mixing and baking ware. TG (Thomas Goodwin) Green & Co Ltd was founded in 1864 and went on to produce the world-famous

Cornishware Cornishware is a striped kitchenware brand trademarked to and manufactured by T.G. Green & Co Ltd. Originally introduced in the 1920s and manufactured in Church Gresley, Derbyshire, it was a huge success for the company and in the succeeding 30 ...

. Both companies became part of The Tabletop Group in 2004. TG Green went into administration in 2007. From 1882 the local football club was Gresley Rovers, which competed in the

Northern Premier League First Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

and played at The Moat Ground, one of Church Gresley's landmarks. The club was relegated in 2009 to the

East Midlands Counties League The East Midlands Counties Football League was an English football league that operated from 2008 to 2021, covering the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands. The league had one division, which stood a ...

and is now named Gresley FC. Its training pitch is the main

football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural tu ...

of Church Gresley's Maurice Lea Memorial Park, which is named after Maurice Lea, who died in France, the age of 19, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The most notable homegrown talent was goalkeeper Ted Clamp who played for the team before moving to teams such as

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. There are also football pitches near the Swadlincote Ski Centre. Church Gresley Round House (lock-up)

Church Gresley was one of only a handful of villages in South Derbyshire that had a Round House or

village lock-up A village lock-up is a historic building once used for the temporary detention of people in England and Wales, mostly where official prisons or criminal courts were beyond easy walking distance. Lockups were often used for the confinement of dru ...

. Used for the temporary detention of people, they were often used for the confinement of drunks who were usually released the next day or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate. Opposite the park is Gresley Common, the venue for annual bonfire nights until 2003 and the local

Scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

. There are many newly planted woods nearby as part of the National Forest. Early in the 2010s the extensive Highgrove housing development effectively created an entirely new district contiguously north of the village.

Transport

Midland Classic Diamond East Midlands, formerly Midland Classic, is a bus company from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Since August 2022, the company is a subsidiary of Rotala. History Midland Classic Midland Classic was founded in July 2005 by ...

bus company route 21 serves Church Gresley. Church Gresley is on National Cycle Route 63. The

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United Kin ...

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

route passes through Maurice Lea Park and leaves the village via Thorpe Downs Road. Route 63 uses the off-road and family-friendly Conkers Circuit to link Church Gresley with the heart of the National Forest then continues off-road to

Measham Measham is a large village in the North West Leicestershire district in Leicestershire, England, near the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire boundaries. It lies off the A42, 4½ miles (7.25 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the Natio ...

on the track of the disused Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway and parts of the Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail. An alternative branch of route 63 circles the lake at nearby

References

Sources

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External links

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Gresley Church
* {{authority control Former civil parishes in Derbyshire Swadlincote Villages in Derbyshire