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Eckington is a town and
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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in
North East Derbyshire North East Derbyshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Derbyshire, England. The council is based in the large village of Wingerworth. The district also includes the towns of Dronfield and Clay Cross as well as numerou ...
, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Chesterfield and 9 miles (14 km) southeast of
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, on the border with
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
. It lies on the B6052 and B6056 roads close to the A6135 for Sheffield and Junction 30 of the M1. It had a 2001 population of 11,152, increasing to 11,855 (including the parish of Bramley, Renishaw, Marsh Lane and
Troway Troway () is a hamlet in North East Derbyshire, England. Population details are included in the civil parish of Eckington. Troway is located in the Moss Valley, on both banks of the Troway Brook and its tributary the Vale Brook. The Troway Brook ...
) at the 2011 Census.


History

Ten
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
coins discovered in December 2008, near Eckington Cemetery may be evidence of a Roman settlement or road in the area. The oldest of the silver and copper coins is from the reign of the emperor
Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...
(AD 81 to 96) while the others are from the reigns of
Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
(AD 98 to 117) and
Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
(AD 117 to 138). Eckington 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
in 1086 as ''Echintune'',''Domesday Book: A Complete Translation''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.1340 a manor given to Ralph Fitzhubert.who held several manors including some in Derbyshire given by the king,
William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
. They included Eckington and lands in
Barlborough Barlborough is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. According to the 2021 census it had a population of 2,855. The village is near junction 30 of the M1 motorway and is about north of Bolsover. Barlbo ...
, Whitwell, Stretton, Ashover, Ogston,
Crich Crich is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. Besides the village of Crich, the civil parish includes the nearby villages of Fritchley, Whatstandwell and Wheatcroft, Derbyshire, Wheatcroft. The population of the civi ...
, Wessington, Ingleby,
Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population was 4,902 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census.Area E04002820 (Wirksworth parish) in Table PP002 - Sex, from Wirkswor ...
and
Hathersage Hathersage ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately south-west of Sheffield. Toponymy The origin of its name is disputed, although it is ...
Some parts of the parish church of St Peter and St Paul date to 1100. George Sitwell, son of George and Mary was baptised in 1601 in Eckington. George's father died whilst he was a child but as an adult he acquired the freehold of land in Eckington and exploited it by mining iron ore. In 1625, he built Renishaw Hall which is now owned by Sir Reresby Sitwell's daughter, Alexandra and her family. Sitwell exploited the minerals beneath his estate, chiefly iron and built a blast furnace at Plumbley a mile north west of Eckington in the 1630s with his mother's second husband, Henry Wigfall. In 1652 Sitwell built a furnace at Foxbrooke, close to Renishaw, which became the core of the largest ironworks in Derbyshire. Sitwell made saws at Pleasley and in 1656, installed a rolling and slitting mill at Renishaw to supply the rod iron used by numerous local nailmakers. During the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
coal and iron ore were mined and local streams, such as the Moss Brook, were harnessed to provide power for factories. The Sitwells built a large
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
and ironworks.
Scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...
s, sickles and nails were made in the town for local use and for export. The Moss Brook was dammed to provide water power at eight sites including ChapelWheel, Carlton Wheel and Fields Wheel, to grind the blades. The remains of an old forge and drift mines exist in the valley. Eckington had a
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
mine in the eastern part of the village, one of the very few in the country which is still operated.


Governance

Eckington falls under the jurisdiction of
Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is ba ...
, North East Derbyshire District Council and Eckington Parish Council.


Geography

Eckington covers an area of 2,089 acres. The geology is the coal measures containing coal and ironstone. The
Chesterfield Canal The Chesterfield Canal is a narrow canal in the East Midlands of England and it is known locally as 'Cuckoo Dyke'. It was one of the last of the canals designed by James Brindley, who died while it was being constructed. It was opened in 1777 ...
and
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 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 ...
passed through the parish. The Moss Brook is a tributary of the River Rother.


Schools

The oldest school in Eckington is Camms CE Primary School. In 1702, Thomas Camm endowed a schoolhouse and a schoolmaster to teach 24 poor children in the parish. In 1832, Robert Harrison moved the school to a new building which cost £600, and it was moved again to its current location on Castle Hill in 1975. Eckington School is a large comprehensive school, attracting pupils from the surrounding areas of
Killamarsh Killamarsh is a village and civil parish in North East Derbyshire, England, close to Derbyshire’s border with South Yorkshire. It forms part of the Sheffield urban area and lies about 8 miles south-east of the centre of Sheffield. Killamars ...
, Renishaw, Beighton, Ridgeway and
Mosborough Mosborough is a village in the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of Derbyshire, its name being a linguistic blend of 'moor' and 'borough'. During the late 19th century and 20th century, the village was noted for ...
. Despite being closer to several Sheffield residential areas the admissions policy favours pupils from Derbyshire feeder schools. Eckington Grammar School in Halfway became Derbyshire's first comprehensive school in 1957, changing its name to the Westfield School, and since 1967 has been controlled by the city of Sheffield. Eckington is also home to Eckington Junior School and Birk Hill Infants.


Amenities

Eckington has a swimming pool near the library, built in the 1970s as part of a town centre improvement. The town has a bus station (halt). Eckington Woods to the north of the village forms part of the Moss Valley conservation area. They are also known as the Bluebell Wood because of the quantity of bluebells in the springtime.


Transport

Eckington is served by bus services to Sheffield, Chesterfield,
Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...
,
Clowne Clowne is a town and civil parish in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. The population was 7,590 at the 2011 Census and 7,755 at the 2021 Census. It lies north east of Chesterfield and south west of Worksop. History Etymology C ...
and other surround settlements.


Sport and Leisure


Cricket

Eckington Cricket Club is an English amateur
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
club with a history of cricket in the village dating back to 1885 on paddocks by the Renishaw Hall. The club ground is located on Staveley Lane and they field 3 Senior XI teams in the Derbyshire County Cricket League, two Senior XI teams in the Mansfield & District Cricket League, an indoor Woman's hardball team in the South Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League and they run a Junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Ben Jessop Sheffield and District Junior League.


People

Notable people from Eckington include: * Ann Alexander, financier, was born here in the 1770s. * Walter Bussey, footballer * Herbert Henry Elvin, trade union leader * Joseph Gales, Sr., politician and journalist * Joseph Gales, Jr., journalist and Mayor of Washington, D.C. * Joan Hinde, trumpeter * George Sitwell,
ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a larg ...
was born here in 1601Philip Riden, 'Sitwell, George (bap. 1601, d. 1667)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 2 March 2010
/ref> * Paul West, writer * Zoë Baker, swimmer


See also

*
Listed buildings in Eckington, Derbyshire Eckington, Derbyshire, Eckington is a civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The parish contains 82 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for Engla ...


Photos

Image:EckingtonCenotaph.JPG, Eckington War Memorial Image:EckingtonParishChurchFeb07.JPG, St Peter & St Paul's Image:Eckington_Market_Street_4.jpg, Old Market Street


References

Citations Bibliography * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (1994) ''Ruislip Past''. London: Historical Publications


External links


Eckington Parish council
* *
Eckington Methodist with St Luke's church
{{authority control Eckington, Derbyshire Villages in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire North East Derbyshire District