Rufford, 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 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 ...

, is the site of two

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

whose inhabitants were evicted in the 12th century.

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monasteries were established and the monks wished to ensure their isolation. The area is centred around

Rufford Abbey Rufford Abbey is a country estate in Rufford, Nottinghamshire, England, two miles (4 km) south of Ollerton. Originally a Cistercian abbey, it was converted to a country house in the 16th century after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the ...

, a large

country estate An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which generates income for its owner. British context In the United Kingdom, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, tenanted buildings, and ...

, and adjacent Rufford Country Park, a leisure amenity run by

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 ...

. The population count was 536 residents at the 2021 census. A small portion of Bilsthorpe village falls across the eastern boundary. Other local features include Clipstone forest which is part of the Sherwood Pines Forest Park. There is also a holiday village to the north of the parish.

Mill and ford

Rufford Mill ford is located within the settlement on Rufford Lane. The

mill pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the co ...

is fed by Rainworth Water. Rufford Lane was closed to through-traffic by

in December 2022, at a point near to the old mill, using a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), partly due to having become a spectator-attraction with a regular social media following particularly during flooding, exacerbated by vehicles drawn to the area to create a

wash Wash or the Wash may refer to: Industry and sanitation * WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues * Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages ...

for filming.

Nottinghamshire Police Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million. ...

made the request for closure after one casualty was reported, a motorcyclist who attempted to cross the watersplash at an inappropriate speed, who afterwards confirmed a mental-health episode, stating "...I'm that one idiot who went through the ford at 50mph on a motorbike". In December 2023, the council expressed a preference for making the closure permanent, but had to undertake a four-week minimum consultation, starting on 5 February 2024,Rufford Ford: Consultation begins on closure of infamous ford
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 5 February 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024 ending 4 March. In May 2024, a further 18-month closure was announced "to allow the council time to consider the public’s responses to the consultation". The order will run consecutively, starting from the June expiry of the initial closure period. Rufford Lane is a link between the A614 and

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 ...

main roads. Due to through-road closure, in early 2024 the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reported increased traffic levels and dangerous driving with vehicles short-cutting away from the main 'A' roads, using instead Station Road, in nearby

Ollerton Ollerton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ollerton and Boughton, in the Newark and Sherwood district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. The p ...

Closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

shows vehicles mounting the footways, and narrow-misses of residents themselves. The village street has long-standing

traffic calming Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, car drivers, pedestrians and bicycle-friendly, cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers. It aims to encour ...

measures, using raised, textured plateaux and pinch points. A 2023 Nottinghamshire County Council report quoted a detour-length of four miles. In late 2024, an

eel ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, Lock (water transport), locks and waterfalls) to facilitate Fish migration#Classification ...

, constructed by

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust founded in 1963 is a wildlife conservation charity working to protect and enhance the wildlife and habitats of Nottinghamshire. They care for over 60 nature reserves covering more than of wildlife habitat rangi ...

with funding from

Severn Trent Water Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...

, was created to assist in the upriver journeys of

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel. Their life history was a mystery for thousands of years, and mating in the wild has not yet been observed. The five stages of their development were originally thought to be differe ...

s, an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, as they climb towards the mill-pond at the weir section.Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust constructs new eel pass at Rufford Mill to support the critically endangered migrating European Eels as part of The Three Rivers Restoration Project
'' Newark Advertiser'', 20 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024

References

External links

Parish council information page at Newark and Sherwood District Council website
{{Authority control Former populated places in Nottinghamshire Forcibly depopulated communities in the United Kingdom Villages in Nottinghamshire Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire

Mill and ford

See also

References

External links