Draycott is a village in the Erewash district of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. It lies around 6 miles east of

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 ...

and 3 miles south-west of

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has ...

. Draycott is part of the

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Draycott and Church Wilne. The population of this civil parish was 3,090 as taken at the 2011 Census. The meandering course of the River Derwent forms the southwestern boundary of the parish. The route of the former

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 179 ...

can still be traced across the parish. Trains on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

pass through the village but Draycott railway station is now closed. Elvaston Castle is nearby.

History

The name Draycott derives from resembling words ''dry coat'', as the village resides north of both the River Derwent and Church Wilne, a reservoir. In particularly rainy season the village used to flood, hence the name 'Dry Coat'. A prominent local family, which took its name from the village, included the eminent Irish judge

Henry Draycott Henry Draycott (c. 1510–1572) was an English-born Crown official and judge in sixteenth-century Ireland, who held a number of senior Government offices, including Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. Despite his apparent lack of legal qualifi ...

(1510-1572). Draycott was once an industrial town, in which the Victoria Mill was based.
Built in 1888, the mill shut down in 1970 but the building is intact and has, like many old mills in Derbyshire, been converted into flats.

Church Wilne

Church Wilne is a hamlet about 0.7 miles south of Draycott in a relatively inaccessible location beside the Derwent. In medieval times Draycott and Church Wilne may have been of comparable sizes, but Draycott grew much larger because of its better communications. The Church Wilne Reservoir of

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 ...

is nearby (it is actually in Breaston parish). The reservoir is used for water sports and as a nature reserve. Church Wilne is split from its larger twin hamlet, Great Wilne, by the River Derwent. In the 16th-century a substantial house at Church Wilne was the home of

Nicholas Williamson Nicholas Williamson was an English lawyer and Catholic recusant in the 1590s. He was arrested in 1595 after planning a visit to the court of James VI of Scotland. The Jesuit William Crichton had hoped that Williamson would encourage the ambition ...

. He was arrested for a political intrigue on the Scottish border, and taken to London. The house at Church Wilne was searched for incriminating papers.

Sport

Table Tennis

The Draycott Table Tennis Centre is the home of the Draycott & Long Eaton Table Tennis Club. Founded in 1986, the club moved into Draycott in 1999 and has had considerable success especially producing young players; and have been winners of both the National Junior Boys and National Junior Girls Team Championships, and have had players representing East Midlands in the National Inter Regional Team Championships. By the 2019/2020 season the Club had 20 League teams, 14 British League teams and 6 National Cadet & Junior League teams.

Gymnastics

The Mill Gymnastics Academy was founded in Draycott in 2019 with a focus on women’s artistic gymnastics, from beginners to national competitors.The Mill Gymnastics Academy
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Football

Draycott Amateurs Football Club were active in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming League Champions, Cup Champions and won the Divisional Cup (South) in the Derby Senior League in 1957.
The club's home ground was on Gamble's Field (now Thoresby Crescent). The Club ceased activity in the mid to late 1960s.

Cricket

Draycott Cricket Club had a history dating back to 1849. The club's ground was situated behind the school on Hopwell Road. Draycott Cricket Club relinquished their ground to the school in 1962 and ceased activity soon after in the early 1960s.

Notable residents

* Maurice Broomfield, photographer * Nikki Brammeier, cyclist * John Winfield, footballer

References

Villages in Derbyshire Borough of Erewash {{derbyshire-geo-stub