Sandiacre is a town and

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 ...

in the borough of Erewash in

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 ...

, in the East Midlands region of England adjoining the border with

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. The population of the town was 8,889 at the 2011 Census. The name Sandiacre is usually thought to refer to a ''sandy acre'', though another interpretation, based on ''Saint Diacre'', is sometimes advanced.

Geography

Seven miles west of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and nine 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 ...

, Sandiacre is part of the

Greater Nottingham The Nottingham Built-up Area (BUA), Nottingham Urban Area, or Greater Nottingham is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics as which is built upon, with nearby areas linked if within 200 metres - see the List of urban ...

urban area. Being on the western side of the

River Erewash The River Erewash is a river in England, a tributary of the River Trent that flows roughly southwards through Derbyshire, close to its eastern border with Nottinghamshire. Etymology The approximate meaning of the name is not in doubt, but t ...

from Stapleford in

, it is part of the county

. Sandiacre is adjoined by

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 ...

to the south and Risley to the west. Junction 25 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

lies in Sandiacre, where it crosses the A52 Brian Clough Way.

Background

The

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 a ...

passes through the centre of Sandiacre, and the small basin immediately above Sandiacre Lock (No. 11 on the canal) was once the terminal link of the now-defunct

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 ...

. Situated next to the canal in the town centre is the Springfield Mill, built in 1888 as a lace mill and a reminder of Sandiacre's industrial heritage, now converted into a modern apartment complex. The building suffered a large fire in April 2020 which caused extensive damage. Examples of lace making and furniture making can still be found today. The discovery of local

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

led to the development of Stanton Ironworks in 1787.

DB Cargo UK DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS)), is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England. The company was established in early 1995 as ''North & South Railways'', successful ...

's Toton depot, which lies on the edge of Sandiacre, was a main employer in the town a number of years ago. Although there is currently no

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

, the town was once home to a terminal on the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

, and passenger trains travelling on the

London St Pancras St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...

- Manchester Piccadilly line still passed along the border with Stapleford during 2003–2004. Transport links to Nottingham, Derby and the surrounding area are currently provided by

Trentbarton Trentbarton operates both local and regional bus services in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the Wellglade Group. History In October 1913, Trent Motor Traction Company was foun ...

The parish church is Saint Giles' Church, which dates back to the 10th century. There is also a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

church in the town. The old

village lock-up A village lock-up is a historic building once used for the temporary detention of people in England and Wales, mostly where official prisons or criminal courts were beyond easy walking distance. Lockups were often used for the confinement of dru ...

still exists, situated near to St. Giles. The 1801

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

recorded Sandiacre's

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

as 405. By 1901, this had risen to 2,954, with the 1971 census reporting a population of 7,792. The current population is now hovering at an estimated 9,000.

Schools

The schools in Sandiacre ar
Ladycross Infants SchoolCloudside Academy
junior school and Friesland School – a secondary school with

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

Sport

Football

Sandiacre Town F.C. (established in 1978) play at St. Giles' Park. The first team compete in the Nottinghamshire Senior League Premier Division.

Cricket

Sandiacre Town Cricket Club (established in 1877) play at the ground on Longmoor Lane. Sandiacre Town CC compete 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 Assoc ...

; the top level for recreational club cricket in Derbyshire, England, and is a designated ECB

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Since the League was founded in 1999, Sandiacre have won 6 Championship league titles: 2002, 2004, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2021. They have also been the winners of the

ECB National Club Cricket Championship The ECB National Club Cricket Championship is a forty over limited overs knockout club cricket competition in England. The most successful clubs have been Scarborough, from North Yorkshire, with five titles and Old Hill, from Staffordshire, with f ...

in 2003 and 2014.

Notable people

*Sir John de Benstede was

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

of Sandiacre from 3 February 1297 until, presumably, 1308, when he married. * John Barret, the Presbyterian minister, moved to Sandiacre in 1665 after losing the living of

St Peter's Church, Nottingham St Peter's Church, formally The Church of St Peter with St James, is an Anglican parish church in the city centre of Nottingham, England. It is part of the parish of All Saints', St Mary's and St Peter's, Nottingham. The church is Grade I lis ...

in the

Great Ejection The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in England. Several thousand Puritan ministers were forced out of their positions in the Church of England, following The Restoration of Charles II. It was a consequence (not necessarily ...

. *

Enoch Cook Enoch Cook (23 April 1845 – 14 April 1927) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire in 1878 and 1879. Cook was born in Sandiacre, Derbyshire and moved to Long Eaton, where he was a lace maker. He first played for a Derbyshire side ...

, the Derbyshire county cricketer, was born in Sandiacre in 1845.Cricket Archive
Retrieved 15 March 2012.
/ref> * Sławomir Rawicz, who claimed to be a Gulag escapee, was a resident of Sandiacre until his death in 2004, and is buried in the local cemetery. *

Charlie Thomson Charles Richard Thomson (2 March 1930 – 6 January 2009), also known as Chic Thomson, was a Scottish football goalkeeper. After playing for Clyde he won the 1954–55 Football League with Chelsea and the 1959 FA Cup Final with Nottingham Fores ...

, Clyde, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest goalkeeper (1949–61), retired to Sandiacre.

References

External links

Sandiacre History & Heritage siteSandiacre Community Hub
{{authority control Towns in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire Borough of Erewash