Sawley is a village and civil parish within the

Borough of Erewash Erewash () is a local government district with borough status in Derbyshire, England, to the east of Derby and the west of Nottingham. The population of the district as taken at the 2011 Census was 112,081. It contains the towns of Ilkeston, ...

, in southeast Derbyshire, England. With a slightly higher than average number of people over 65, the population of just the civil parish was measured at 6,629 as at the 2011 Census. Every year around the August Bank Holiday, Sawley All Saints holds a flower festival, with themed floral displays inside the church and a beer festival held in the village. There are several events throughout the year including a May Day festival, and a Garden Trail. Shardlow to Sawley Marinas

Sawley Marina is one of the most prominent features of the village, with access to the region's main waterways.

History

The old name for Sawley was ''Sallé''. Between Sawley and Church Wilne and

Great Wilne Great Wilne is a small village in Derbyshire, England on the border with Leicestershire. It is south east of Derby. It is a village split from its church of St Chad's by the river. The church is at the very small hamlet of Church Wilne which can ...

is the junction of the River Derwent and the Trent. It is to this that Sawley owes its position. The church of All Saints is thirteenth century and contains Saxon and Norman work. and commands a position on a small rise near the river. Sawley

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

Church, was built on Wilne Lane in 1800.

Up until the 19th century, Sawley was the most important village in the area, commanding the first river crossing,

Harrington Bridge Harrington Bridge crosses the River Trent near Sawley in Derbyshire carrying the ''Tamworth Road'' ( B6540) into Leicestershire. The stonework of the bridge dates from 1790, but the central section was replaced in 1905 after it was damaged by f ...

, above Nottingham. travelers on the road to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

had to cross the Trent either by ferry or by ford, and it was not until 1790 that the

was built. This was a toll bridge, and charges were levied on all except the Lord of the Manor, his servants and the inhabitants of Sawley and

Hemington, Leicestershire Hemington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lockington-Hemington, in the North West Leicestershire district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 298. In 1790, the nearby H ...

.

In the vicinity of the Sawley churches lies Bothe Hall once owned by the Booth family. The

Booths Booths is a chain of high-end supermarkets in Northern England. Most of its branches are in Lancashire, but there are also branches in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. It has been described as the "Wait ...

were a wealthy landowning family from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

whose principal seat was at Dunham Massey. Bothe Hall was built between 1660 and 1680, and has an interior that contains some exposed ceiling beams and a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

staircase.

Sawley Cut and the Locks were built around 1796, to bypass difficult and shallow sections of the Trent Navigation, also in response to the Trent Navigation Company losing out to the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middle ...

Derby Canal The Derby Canal ran from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, in Derbyshire, England. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 17 ...

Erewash Canal The Erewash Canal is a broad canal in Derbyshire, England. It runs just under and has 14 locks. The first lock at Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal. Origins The canal obtained its act of parliament in 1777 with John Varley ...

, and

Nottingham Canal The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the sa ...

.

Sawley Marina was developed by the Davison family, and by the 1960s the marina became established as a leading inland marina after the

chandlery A chandlery was originally the office in a wealthy medieval household responsible for wax and candles, as well as the room in which the candles were kept. It could be headed by a chandler. The office was subordinated to the kitchen, and only exist ...

shop was opened, and the "Narrow Boat Register" for boat sales was created.

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...

bought the concern in 1999 of what has now become one of the finest inland marina's on the British Waterways system. The marina has the capacity to hold up to 400 boats at any one time.

The Sawley Memorial Hall and Community Centre, opened by Richard Attenborough in 1958, is built in honor of those who died during the two World Wars. The Sawley and District Historical Society held a display about the war years associated to the village and surrounding areas, in the Sawley All Saints Church, back in August 2009.

Sport

Golf

Trent Lock Golf & Country Club, founded in 1991, situated at the end of Lock Lane, has a floodlit driving range and two courses: the original 9-hole Canalside course and the 18-hole Riverside Course. Trent Lock Golf & Country Club is a venue for the famous annual Trilby Tour.

Cricket

The village of Sawley has a long history of recreational

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. The first match report was recorded in 1843, between

Ockbrook Ockbrook is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is almost contiguous with the village of Borrowash, the two only separated by the A52. The civil parish is Ockbrook and Borrowash. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 Census was 7,33 ...

and "Sawley Club", but the earliest known reference to Sawley was a report of a match fixture against

Shardlow Shardlow is a village in Derbyshire, England about southeast of Derby and southwest of Nottingham. Part of the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne, and the district of South Derbyshire, it is also very close to the border with Leicesters ...

in 1834.The History of Cricket in Long Eaton, Sandiacre & Sawley, 1994, Keith Breakwell. The original ground, aptly named ‘Trent Bridge Ground’, was situated behind the Harrington Arms near

. Albeit a very picturesque part of the village, the ground was beset with problems with the likes of pastoral activity and frequent flooding from the nearby river. Eventually, the club moved onto the new Sawley Park in the 1960s, but ultimately moved from Sawley to nearby West Park in 1977. The club pavilion is named after Bill Camm, a Sawley Councillor, prominent local politician and former president of the Club.The History of Cricket in Long Eaton, Sandiacre & Sawley, 1994, Keith Breakwell. Sawley Cricket Club currently have 4 Senior XI teams competing in the

Derbyshire County Cricket League The Premier Division of the Derbyshire County Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Derbyshire, England, and is a designated ECB Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Asso ...

and a long established Junior training section that play competitive cricket in the

Erewash Young Cricketers League The Erewash Young Cricketers League (EYCL) is a part of Cricket Erewash, which was formed in 2004 as a result of an amalgamation of the EYCL, The Erewash Cricket Development Group and The Long Eaton & District Cricket Association; with an aim ...

Notable residents

* John Clifford - Campaigner for educational reform and anti-war campaigner was born here in 1836

References

External links

Sawley Parish Council

Sawley and District Historical Society
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire Borough of Erewash