Oakwood is a modern

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

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 g ...

, UK, built mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. At the time of construction, it was one of the largest new housing estates in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Development

It is situated on the outskirts of the city, bordering the suburb of

Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chadd, is a large residential suburb of Derby, United Kingdom. Historically a separate village centred on Chaddesden Hall and the 14th century St Mary's Church, the area was significantly expanded by 20th-centu ...

, which is one of the largest council housing estates in England. Oakwood is built on land which used to be known as Chaddesden Common, and has three clusters of shops. The largest of these shops carries amenities suitable to supply a large village. New houses are constantly being added to expand the coverage of Oakwood.

History

The original oak wood, from which the area is named, has been preserved as Chaddesden Wood Nature Reserve, and is maintained by the council. It is the only ancient oak woodland in the city of Derby. In 1991, it was declared a local nature reserve. The wood contains a nature trail open to the public, roughly half a mile long. This is a popular resource for the people of North Derby and in Spring the wood is covered by a carpet of bluebells as can be seen in the photograph on this page. There are still remains of an old small railway line on the green area at the roundabout of Oakwood Drive and Bishops Drive. This small railway was privately owned and is thought to have stretched south down to the old Chaddesden village and as far north as the old mainline just north of the suburb.

Layout

In addition to residential areas, a leisure centre, a school and a football academy are also situated within Oakwood. The leisure centre was first planned by a private businessman before being taken over and completed by the council. In 2008 the leisure centre was expanded to include a much enlarged gym and a library opened. The school promised from early on in the development of Oakwood is a primary school (ages 3–11) that caters for some of the children living within the local community (although it is far too small to cater for all of them). The football academy at Moor Farm is owned by

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 188 ...

Football Club who moved to the premises from their old training ground, the RamArena, at Raynesway. There is also a sizeable park surrounding a modern community centre, as well as many smaller areas, or "green wedges" that have been designed to provide routes throughout the estate for use by walkers and wildlife.

Gallery

File:Derby oakwood shops.jpg, Oakwood shopping centre, April 2007 File:Chaddesden bluebell wood.jpg, Bluebells, Chaddesden Wood, April 2007 File:Derby springwood leisure centre.jpg, Springwood Leisure Centre, April 2007

References

External links

{{Suburbs of Derby Areas of Derby Housing estates in England Wards of Derby