Upper Saxondale is a residential area mainly in the parish of

Radcliffe on Trent Radcliffe-on-Trent is a large village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the Census 2011 was 8,205. Location Radcliffe has a population of about 8,000. It is to the eas ...

, in the Nottinghamshire borough of

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council Cropwell Butler Cropwell Butler is a village and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, one mile east of the A46, under the NG12 postcode. It shares a parish council with Tithby and is adjacent to the south to Cropwell B ...

. It lies in an upland area between the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-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 Midland ...

and the

Vale of Belvoir The Vale of Belvoir ( ) covers adjacent areas of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, England. The name derives from the Norman-French for "beautiful view" and dates back to Norman times. Extent and geology The vale is a tract ...

, and between the A52 and

A46 road The A46 is a major A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway developm ...

s, close to their junction at Saxondale Roundabout near Bingham. The nearby

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Saxondale ''Saxondale'' is an English television situation comedy programme, starring Steve Coogan and co-written by Coogan and Neil Maclennan. The series is directed by Matt Lipsey and produced by Ted Dowd. Coogan and Henry Normal served as executive pr ...

was the site of an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

, visible from the A52.

Growth and features

Upper Saxondale was developed on the site of the former

Saxondale Hospital Saxondale Hospital was a psychiatric hospital near Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, built to replace the Sneinton Asylum in Nottingham. History The foundation stone was laid on 25 July 1899 by Lady Belper, wife of the chairman of Notting ...

by David Wilson Homes from about 1995 to 2001. It includes some 350 dwellings, ranging from three-bedroom converted hospital buildings to newly built five to six-bedroom detached houses. There is also a restaurant and bar called Sanctuary, a hairdresser, a tennis club and a bowling green. The estate is surrounded by parkland, much of it owned by Upper Saxondale Residents' Association. Upper Saxondale has a designated

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

of 30 hectares (74 acres). The rare

flame brocade The flame brocade (''Trigonophora flammea'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The nominate subspecies ''T. f. flammea'' is found in Europe, mostly in the Mediterranean area up to Normandy. It is also found on the Channel Islands and it has sprea ...

moth ''(Trigonophora flammea)'' has been spotted there. The area boundary encompasses the former Saxondale Hospital site and includes extensive semi-wooded grounds, parkland landscape and fine trees. The chapel was built in 1902 to the designs of E. W. Roberts, then County Architect, for use by hospital staff and patients. The small

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building is now home to the Catalyst Church (part of Christian Growth International). David Wilson Homes originally called the development St James Park, but a change of name to Upper Saxondale was voted at a Residents' Association meeting in 1999. Upper Saxondale also includes original houses in Saxondale Drive, which are not part of the development. The converted Victorian buildings, mature parkland, core of community buildings and public open spaces amount to a residential area of unusual character. There are several ghost stories relating to the area. One has a troop of Roman soldiers marching up Henson Lane. The ghost of Lady Elinor Denison is said to haunt the grounds.

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufo ...

is said to have camped on land to the west during the

Battle of Stoke Field The Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487 may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims derived from descent from the houses of Lancaster and Yo ...

. A RAF Avro Anson Mk.I bomber crashed close to Upper Saxondale during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Both crew were killed. The site is marked by five mature trees set out in the shape of a cross in the middle of a field close to the main Saxondale Drive. The impact made a slight hollow and piles of earth are still clearly visible. The site was marked with a memorial stone, but this has now been removed.

References

External links

Upper Saxondale Residents' AssociationCatalyst Church
*https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=209749 {{Nottinghamshire Villages in Nottinghamshire Radcliffe on Trent