Ollerton is a 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Ollerton and Boughton Ollerton and Boughton is a civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England. The main settlements are the village of Ollerton and the town of New Ollerton and Boughton. The civil parish was formed in 1996, when the ci ...

, in the

Newark and Sherwood Newark and Sherwood is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest district by area in the county. The council is based in Newark-on-Trent, the area's largest town. The district also incl ...

district, in the county of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England, on the edge of

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is the remnants of an ancient royal forest, Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, within the East Midlands region in England. It has association with the legend of Robin Hood. The forest was proclaimed by William the Conqueror and ...

in the area known as the Dukeries. The population of Ollerton and Boughton at the 2011 census was 9,840. The area is sometimes differentiated locally using the names New Ollerton for the post-1900 expansion, compared with Old Ollerton referring to the original village clustered around the church, river and mill.Statement of case on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council
"''The increase in levels of congestion at A614/A616/A6075 Ollerton Roundabout has also resulted in motorists seeking alternative routes to access and egress the A614, avoiding the Ollerton Roundabout by using unsuitable routes like Station Road through Old Ollerton despite the road being narrow and subject to physical traffic calming. A campaign group called Ollerton Village Residents Association (OVRA) was formed over 30 years ago to help preserve and protect the historic core of the Old Ollerton village''".

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes the city of ...

, 2022, section 3.3.2., also sections 3.2.3., 3.3.6., 3.3.31. Retrieved 1 February 2024

History

Ollerton is a settlement listed in

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 ...

, located in the

Bassetlaw Wapentake Bassetlaw was a wapentake (equivalent to a hundred) in the English county of Nottinghamshire. The wapentake covered an area in the north of the county, roughly equivalent to the modern Bassetlaw local government district. The wapentake was div ...

or hundred in the county of

at a crossing of the

River Maun The River Maun is a river in Nottinghamshire, England. Its source lies in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and from there it flows north east through Mansfield (which takes its name from the river), Edwinstowe and Ollerton, these being the heart of the She ...

. In 1086 it had a recorded population of 15 households, and is listed in the Domesday Book under two owners. 275px, St Giles Church Ollerton Formerly a rural village with a tradition of hop-growing centred on the parish church of

St Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

, the settlement has its origins at a point where three main routes crossed. The A614 linking

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 south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

north through

Blyth, Nottinghamshire Blyth is a village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of the county of Nottinghamshire, in the East Midlands, north west of East Retford, on the River Ryton. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 1,233, and thi ...

and on to

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

; the A6075 linking

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 ...

with the ferry crossing of the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

Dunham-on-Trent Dunham-on-Trent is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located on the A57 road, about west of Dunham Bridge, a toll bridge crossing the River Trent. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 351, falling s ...

and on via the

A57 road The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln, England, Lincoln via Warrington, Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and Manchester, and then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass (between the high moorlands of ...

to the cathedral city of

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district, district in Lincolnshire, England, of which it is the county town. In the 2021 Census, the city's district had a population of 103,813. The 2021 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, u ...

; and the

A616 The A616 is a road that links Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, to the M1 motorway at Junction 30, then reappears at Junction 35A and goes on to Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The road originally ran continuously from Newark to Huddersfield, vi ...

linking

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 ...

with the

Great North Road Great Britain The Great North Road was the main highway between England and Scotland from medieval times until the 20th century. It became a coaching route used by mail coaches travelling between London, York and Edinburgh. The modern A1 mainly parallels the ...

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

. Ollerton Water Mill Ollerton was an

ancient 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 ...

, and became a civil parish in 1866. The civil parish was abolished on 1 November 1996 and merged with the parish of Boughton to form the new civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton. In 1961 the parish had a population of 5529. The Hop Pole Hotel and war memorial

The Industrial Revolution and New Ollerton

From the 1920s onwards the main industry was

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

with Ollerton expanding greatly during the 1960s and 1970s, having the name New Ollerton. The colliery was sunk in the 1920s and completed during the

General Strike of 1926 The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

, which led to a saying of "Ollerton was ever built with

scab labour A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the orga ...

". The coal mine was established and funded by the

Butterley Company The Butterley Company was an English manufacturing firm founded as Benjamin Outram and Company in 1790. Its subsidiaries existed until 2009. Origins This area of Derbyshire had been known for its outcrops of iron ore which had been exploited at ...

, having an historic base of coal and

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

mining in nearby Derbyshire; they created a

model village A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages ...

in Ollerton for the colliery higher management and workers. A hosiery factory was established in 1937 to provide work for the miners' wives.Model Villages of the Nottinghamshire Coalfield. Ollerton, Guidebook 9
"''New Ollerton became one of the largest model villages in the Dukeries with approximately 932 houses by the Second World War. The housing at New Ollerton is very similar to Butterley's accommodation at Kirkby in Ashfield and was built by a company from the same town, Messrs Coleman and Blackburn''". Miner2Major via

. Retrieved 1 February 2024 During the expansion of the pit, many miners from closed collieries in north-eastern England and Scotland moved to work at Ollerton. There was a large Polish community amongst the miners at Ollerton, estimated to make up roughly half the workforce at the time of the 1984-1985 strike. Ollerton - The Old Post House - geograph

Ollerton - The Old Post House - geograph

Ollerton Colliery was considered one of the most

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

pits in Nottinghamshire, and was subject to heavy picketing at the time of the ballot by the Nottinghamshire branch of the National Union of Mineworkers in March 1984. A miner from Ackton Hall Colliery, near

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

died at Ollerton when

picketing Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pi ...

during the

miners' strike The following is a list of miners' strikes. Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also *List of strikes *History of coal mining in the United States References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miners' strikes Miners' labor disputes, ...

on 15 April 1984. David Gareth Jones was hit in the neck by a brick thrown by a local youth when he was picketing,Mullins, Helen ''Chad'' (Mansfield local newspaper), 18 March 2009, p.8 ''Miners' Strike 25th Anniversary'', interview with Mark Jones. Accessed 2014-11-21 but the post-mortem ruled that it had not caused his death and that it was more likely to have been caused by being pressed against the pit gates earlier in the day. News of his death led to hundreds of pickets staying in Ollerton town centre overnight. At the request of Nottinghamshire Police,

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, a major event in the history o ...

appeared and called for calm in the wake of the tragedy. However, several working miners in Ollerton reported that their gardens and cars had been vandalised during the night. A memorial bench was sited near the spot where David died. As a mark of respect for Jones, Ollerton Colliery closed for a few days afterwards.

Regeneration New Ollerton and Ollerton Village

Ollerton Hall which came into disrepair is now being renovated. Ollerton Hall was purchased by Newark and Sherwood District Council for renovation. The hall will now become 8 apartments. The mine closed in 1994, losing around 1,000 jobs. A group of locals including past colliery workers had a vision to try to establish a new facility that would – at least – provide as many new jobs as were lost. A non-profit organisation run by 10 trustees was established to raise "...just under £50,000" to purchase the 125-

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

colliery footprint from

British Coal The British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation responsible for the mining of coal in the United Kingdom from 1987 until it was effectively dissolved in 1997. The corporation was created by renaming its predecessor, the National Co ...

. A further £4.25 million was needed to reclaim and clean up the land, which was redeveloped as an ecologically sustainable business park of commercial offices occupying 40-acres, named ''Sherwood Energy Village''. Key-tenants, including

Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to: * Center Parcs UK and Ireland, a short-break holiday company based in the United Kingdom and Ireland * Center Parcs Europe Center Parcs Europe N.V. (formerly Center Parcs) is a European network of holiday villages t ...

and

, were responsible for creating their own buildings, with an emphasis on low-energy consumption by using advanced materials and technology including ground source heat pumps. Included into the layout was a nearby Tesco superstore. The original development organisation failed in 2010 and went into administration, citing difficult trading conditions after the worldwide

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, having created 500 more jobs than the original 1,000 target, and having been awarded the inaugural ''Enterprising Britain Award'' in 2005.

Landmarks

In the old part of the original village, Ollerton Watermill was built in 1713 on the

. It operated commercially producing

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

until 1984. Restored in 1993, it now houses a teashop and exhibition. Ollerton Town has a local football team, Ollerton Town F.C.

Public transport

Ollerton is served by Stagecoach Mansfield, Travel Wright. Stagecoach Bassetlaw run the Sherwood Arrow between Worksop/Retford-Ollerton-Nottingham every 60 minutes. Ollerton was served by a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the Shirebrook to Lincoln line. The line is in use for track testing between Dukeries Junction and Shirebrook, but the through route to Lincoln closed in 1980. There has been some ambition to reinstate passenger train services to the town by using the current test-track route from Shirebrook on the

Robin Hood Line The Robin Hood Line is a railway line running from Nottingham to Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in England. The stations between Shirebrook and Whitwell (inclusive) are in the county of Derbyshire. Passenger services are operated by East Midlands R ...

to a terminus at Ollerton, with potential stations at

Warsop Warsop is a civil parish in Mansfield District, Nottinghamshire, England, on the outskirts of the remnants of Sherwood Forest.OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000): At the 2021 census the population was 12,644 residents, includin ...

and

Edwinstowe Edwinstowe is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest and the Dukeries. It is associated with the legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and to a lesser extent ...

Ollerton roundabout

Ollerton roundabout on the main

A614 road The A614 is a main road in England running through the counties of Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Route Beginning at Redhill, Nottinghamshire, Redhill, the northernmost point in the Nottingham suburb of Arno ...

is a five-way junction linking to Ollerton and surrounding areas. Despite a small measure of improvement in 2010 to try to create better traffic flow by white-line marking a separate left-turn lane when joining the A614 from the A616 exiting Ollerton, Ollerton roundabout is considered a major long-term

traffic bottleneck A traffic bottleneck is a localized disruption of vehicular traffic on a street, road, or highway. As opposed to a traffic jam, a bottleneck is a result of a specific physical condition, often the design of the road, badly timed traffic lights, ...

, with highways project-ambitions for major expansion necessitating

compulsory purchase Compulsion, Compulsive, Compelling, or Compulsory may refer to: Psychology * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compu ...

land-acquisition. Speaking in October 2024 after the budget, Conservative politician Ben Bradley, then-leader of

, stated an anticipated £26 million roads plan to include Ollerton was uncertain after the change of government to Labour following the July 2024 general election. In August 2024, Bradley had queried government commitment after then-

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

secretary

Louise Haigh Louise Margaret Haigh () is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliam ...

in July 2024 announced a wide-ranging Transport Infrastructure Review. Haigh

resigned Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

in late 2024. The failure to progress highway improvements was stated to be running at an additional £2 million per year, and also is a significant planning restriction for limiting the amount of new-build housing intended for the nearby

brownfield Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

regeneration site of the former

Thoresby Colliery Thoresby Colliery was a coal mine in north Nottinghamshire on the outskirts of Edwinstowe village. The mine, which opened in 1925, was the last working colliery in Nottinghamshire when it closed in 2015. The site has been cleared and is being r ...

.Nottinghamshire council leader Ben Bradley reacts to Autumn Budget 2024
West Bridgford Wire, 30 October 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2025

Media

Ollerton receives its television signals from various transmitters: Waltham,

Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...

, and Belmont TV transmitters. Local radio stations are

BBC Radio Nottingham BBC Radio Nottingham is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Nottinghamshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on London Road in Nottingham city centre. According to RAJAR, the station has ...

Capital East Midlands Capital East Midlands was a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network, broadcasting to the East Midlands from studios in Nottingham. It launched on 3 January 2011 following the merger of Tr ...

Smooth East Midlands Smooth East Midlands is an Independent Regional Radio station for the East Midlands, 107.4 MHz, 97.2 MHz, 106.8 MHz 106.0 MHz which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6 am on Monday 26 March 2007. It is owned by Communicorp UK and oper ...

, and Bowe Radio, a community based radio station. The 'Roundabout' is a community led newspaper that delivers free to all households in Ollerton & Boughton.

Notable residents

Ollerton is the birthplace of Tim Flear

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, MVO, former career

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and HM

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2006–10 and Milan, Italy 2014–19.

Trivia

Ollerton features in a related song by Australian singer

Darren Hayes Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer, songwriter, music producer and composer. He was the singer of the pop duo Savage Garden from their 1993 establishment until their disbandment in 2001. Their 1997 album '' Savage Ga ...

entitled "A Hundred Challenging Things A Boy Can Do" on his 2007 album '' This Delicate Thing We've Made''.

References

{{authority control Towns in Nottinghamshire Former civil parishes in Nottinghamshire Newark and Sherwood