Horsley is a small village roughly 5 miles north of the City of
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 ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, with a population of 973 at the 2011 Census.
The
parish church of St Clement and St John, which dates from the 13th century, was rededicated in 1450.
It is noted for its fine peal of bells. The main street is Church Street which runs from east to west through the village.
Horsley has three main focal points: the village green at the West side of the village, the crossroads of The Dovecote, French Lane and Church Street, and the junction of Church Street, Lady Lea Road and Smalley Mill Road (known locally as "the triangle").
Each of these points boasts a fountain, donated to the village in 1864 by Reverend Sitwell. The fountains were named Sophia, Rosamund and Blanche after the Sitwell family's daughters. The Sitwells of Horlsey, Derbyshire, were related to the Sitwell family of
Leamington Hastings
Leamington Hastings is a small village and larger civil parish in Warwickshire, England. The civil parish covers Leamington Hastings itself, plus the nearby hamlets of Broadwell, Hill and Kites Hardwick. Its population in the 2011 census was 44 ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, where they had inherited the
lordship of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
on marrying a Wheler family heiress.
The village pub is called the Coach and Horses. Horsley also used to have a second pub called the Ship Inn, but this has been a private house for many years. A recreation ground is situated off French Lane. The rec has a small football pitch and contains the local
crown green bowling
Crown green bowls (or crown green) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green. The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is tradi ...
club. The remains of 12th-century
Horsley (Horeston) castle are about a mile away from the village itself.
Driving south from the village on Smalley Mill Road you will see Horsley Lodge and Horsley Lodge Golf Club. Opposite the golf club, Springwood Riding Club holds horse shows, on Sundays in the summer.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Horsley, Derbyshire, and Horsley Woodhouse
References
External links
Horsley Parish Council Horsley Lodge Springwood Riding Club
Villages in Derbyshire
Civil parishes in Derbyshire
Geography of Amber Valley
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