Bingham is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in West Bridgford. The borough also includes the towns of Bingh ...

borough 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 ...

, England, east of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, 12 miles (18.8 km) south-west of

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

and 15 miles (23.3 km) west of

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

. The town had a population of 9,131 at the 2011 census (up from 8,655 in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

), with the population now sitting at 10,080 from the results of the 2021 census data. Bingham is twinned with Wallenfels in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Music groups have visited to and from the twin towns, and a

beer festival A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales. Asia China *Qingdao International Beer Fes ...

is held in Bingham every year.

Geography

Bingham lies near the junction of the A46 (following an old Roman road, the

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis ( Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bat ...

) between

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and Newark-on-Trent and the A52 between Nottingham and Grantham. Neighbouring communities are Radcliffe-on-Trent, East Bridgford, Car Colston, Scarrington, Aslockton, Whatton-in-the-Vale, Tithby and Cropwell Butler.

History

Margidunum

The first known people to settle at this area were the Coritani, a

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

tribe that governed most of the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

who would have called the fort "Marigidun", which meant "fort-of-the-king's plain". This name would later be Latinised to "Margidunum". The Romans built a fortress at this site, the ruins of which lay north of Bingham, and a settlement at the river crossing at ''Ad Pontem'' ( East Stoke) on the Fosse Way, which ran between '' Isca'' (

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

) and '' Lindum'' ( Lincoln).

Anglo-Saxons

The area was called Byngehamshou Hundred by the Anglo-Saxons and Binghamshou Wapentake by the Danish. It would also have been called Bynnaingham, then Bynningaham, and later morphed into Byngeham. This name comes from the chief of the

Angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...

tribe that settled the town, named "Bynna", followed by the connective "ing" meaning "of", and "ham" meaning "homestead". Hou, meaning "hill", would have referred to a meeting point of the

Hundred Court A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

, who met in the Moot-House Pit, which is on a hill near the

. Later, the town would be referred to "Binghehā" in the Domesday Book. There is also another theory for the naming of Bingham, that comes from the "NCy word ''bing'' denoting (''a'' ) 'heap,' (''b'' ) 'bin, receptacle,'". This

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

village, founded around the start of the 7th century, would have been oval shaped, surrounded by a ditch and huts. The Bynna "kindred" (an Anglo-Saxon pagan family unit) placed their village next to a marshland, a source of water which would later be drained, leaving extremely valuable fertile lands for farming. Bingham would have converted to Christianity at around the same time as the rest of the

Kingdom of Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

, around the second half of the 7th century.

Normans

Following the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, the Domesday Book of 1086 allows us to estimate that the village had a population of around 300, and that the majority of freeholders in the district were Danes. The first Norman owner of the manor surrounding Bingham was

Roger de Busli Roger de Busli (c. 1038 – c. 1099) was a Anglo-Normans, Norman baron who participated in the Norman conquest of England, conquest of England in 1066. Life Roger de Busli was born in or around 1038. His surname comes from the town now known as B ...

, however he died without an heir after only a few years and so Bingham Manor became part of the King's

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

, and even now much of Bingham remains crown land. The Domesday book valued the town and surrounding area at £10 13s, which today is worth around £90,000. Bingham acquired a

market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in 1341.

Tudors

During the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

Tudor, the Bingham Manor was owned by

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Bryan Stapleton, who lived in Carlton, although he lent out the manor to a man named Thomas Leeke, who was possibly the maternal grandfather of Bess of Hardwick. At this time, farming in Bingham was quite collectivistic, with lots of common area in the Bingham moors to keep pigs and to collect firewood. In order to maintain these common lands, the Manor Court, which met around the Church gate, contained 5 elected officers. A foreman of the fields, A hayward in charge of the common grazing land, a pindar in charge of the

pinfold An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding. Etymology The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...

(an enclosure for stray livestock), a ringer for hogs and swine, and a woodward who made sure that not too many trees were chopped down.

Civil War

During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, Bingham was stood in the middle of the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

stronghold of Nottingham and the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

stronghold in Newark.

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

, on his way to relieve Newark, encamped in the fields surrounding Bingham. Given that 700 roundhead soldiers sought refuge in Bingham, a conclusion could be drawn that it was generally sympathetic to the Parliamentary cause, especially given that many men of Bingham would have died in battles around Nottingham.

Industrial Revolution

In 1801, the population of Bingham was 1,082. This increased slowly to 2,054 in 1851, but fell back again and in 1901 was just 1,604. In 1951 it was 1,692, and since then Bingham has expanded vastly. Although some buildings in the centre of the town such as Church of St Mary and All Saints were built in the 18th century, the majority of the buildings in Bingham are relatively new and much of the growth in the town happened after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The first major wave of growth in the town happened around the time of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

as the workforce expanded and more housing was needed for the growing population of the town. This was compounded by the arrival of the railways into the town in 1851, although as England's agricultural sector began to decline and the

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...

of lace and stocking knitting were overtaken by factories in Nottingham, Bingham would plunge into high levels of poverty and unemployment. A sharp decline in population and growth followed this, and the town would not recover until after the Second World War.

Post-war redevelopment

After the war, the Bingham Rural District Council inspected the state of over 2,000 houses in the area to see if they needed to be demolished or could be repaired for the redevelopment. It was decided in the redevelopment that farming property should remain out in the countryside instead of mixed in with the other residential properties. Some notable buildings that were destroyed are Stanhope

Workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

on Stanhope Way and the Rectory on East Street, drastically changing the look of the town. The 1960s and 1970s saw almost constant development with new houses being built to accommodate the local population. More recently, a new housing development in the north of Bingham named the Romans' Quarter (after the nearby Ancient Roman site of Margidunum) started around 2018 with plans for around 1,000 new houses.

Amenities

Schools and library

Bingham has five schools, Robert Miles Infants School opened in 1909, Robert Miles

Junior School A junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at an infant school, which covers the age range 5–7. Since both infant and junior schools provide pri ...

built in the 1960s on the site of the

Rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

, Carnarvon

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, Bingham Primary School & Nursery, and Toot Hill

Comprehensive School A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

. Two other schools operated in the past, the Church School and the Wesleyan School, the latter of which shut down in 1909 and was demolished in 2002. Bingham's library has existed in some form since around the late 1950s, starting as a "charity penny library" in a

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing structures open on one or more sides (colloquially referred to as lean-tos in spite of being unattac ...

on 7-9 Newgate Street. Eventually the County Library took it over, and in 1973 it was moved Eaton Place, where it remains to this day.

Churches

The Anglican parish Church of St. Mary and All Saints, Bingham, occupies a Grade I listed medieval building restored in 1845–1846 and again in 1912. It has a peal of eight bells and a 19th-century organ. It belongs to the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. A new Bingham Methodist Church and social centre, built by public subscription, opened on 1 April 2016 at Eaton Place, on the site of the earlier church. It belongs to the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Circuit. Archive documents for Bingham Methodist Circuit date back to 1843.

Economy

The open-air food market in the central Market Place takes place every Thursday and a farmers' market there on the third Saturday of the month. Bingham provides shopping, medical and other services to surrounding villages. Planning permission was gained to build a large supermarket near the town centre, but the planned site was later used to build the new Bingham Arena Leisure Centre. In March 2015 planning permission was given for two other chain supermarkets. To the north of the town there is an industrial estate holding about 40 businesses. The largest include Midland Filtration, Screwfix, Focus Label Machinery, Trent Designs, XACT Document Solutions, The Workplace Depot and Water at Work, and a business club.

Leisure and sports

Of the six

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s in the town, four remain as such: ''The Butter Cross'' (

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

, formerly ''The Crown''), ''The Horse & Plough'' ( Castle Rock Brewery), ''The White Lion'' and ''The Wheatsheaf''. There is also a bar/bistro called ''Gilt'' and a Cafe/bar called ''Cured''. Bingham Arena has sports facilities, a swimming pool, conference facilities and a large assembly hall. This replaced the former Bingham Leisure centre, next to Toot Hill School. Bingham has

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

troops with about 140 young members: 1st Bingham Scouts includes Beavers and Cubs. The town's sports clubs are: *

British Canoe Union British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

*Bingham Town Youth Football Club *Bingham Cricket Club *Bingham Rugby Club *Bingham Badminton Club *Bingham

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

Club (Barkers School of Taekwondo) *Bingham Lawn Tennis Club *Bingham Leisure Centre Archery Club *Bingham Sub-Aqua Club *Bingham Penguins – Swimming Club *Vale of Belvoir Cycling Club *Vale Judo Club

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC East Midlands BBC East Midlands is the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire (except High Peak, Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and the northern areas of the Derbyshire Dales), Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire (except Bassetlaw), Rutland, South Kest ...

and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

. Television signals are received from the Waltham TV transmitter, BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

can also be also received from the Belmont TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Nottingham, Hits Radio East Midlands, Capital Midlands, Smooth East Midlands, Greatest Hits Radio Midlands and 103 The Eye Radio (103FM). The

Nottingham Evening Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...

and Newark Advertiser are the local newspapers that serve the town.

Film and TV locations

Bingham was a location in Midlands film director

Shane Meadows Shane Meadows (born 26 December 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in independent film, most notably the cult film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its three sequels (2010–2015). Meadows' other films inc ...

' film Twenty Four Seven, which contained scenes shot at Toot Hill top field, the Linear Walk, and Bingham Boxing Club. Bingham has also appeared in two episodes of

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site ...

, and in some episodes of '' Crossroads'',

Woof! ''Woof!'' is a British children's television series produced by Central Independent Television about the adventures of a boy who shapeshifts into a dog. Based on the book by Allan Ahlberg (who wrote several episodes of the series), it was dire ...

and Boon. Dickinson's Real Deal was filmed at the Bingham Leisure Centre in 2015 and broadcast on TV on ITV1 in March 2016. ''Four in a Bed''
Series 11 Episode 18
was filmed a
Bingham Townhouse Hotel
in May 2016 and first aired in the late autumn of 2016.

Notable people

In birth order: Harry Churchill Beet VC

Robert Lowe Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, GCB, PC (4 December 1811 – 27 July 1892), British statesman, was a Liberal politician who helped shape British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William Ewart Glad ...

, 1st. Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–1892), statesman born in Bingham into the family of the local rector. *

Frank Miles George Francis Miles (22 April 1852 – 15 July 1891) was a London-based British artist who specialised in pastel portraits of society ladies, also an architect and a keen plantsman. He was the artist in chief of the magazine ''Life (magazine), ...

(1852–1891), artist of pastel portraits of society ladies, an architect and a keen plantsman. *

Harry Churchill Beet Harry Churchill Beet VC (1 April 1873 – 10 January 1946) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Be ...

(1873–1946), awarded a

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

for valour at Wakkerstroom, South Africa, in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

on 22 April 1900, born at Brackendale Farm near Bingham. * Mary Joynson (1924–2013), director of Barnardo's from 1973 to 1984, born in Bingham. * Spencer Cozens (born 1965), a Bingham-born musician, writer and producer.

Sport

* Thomas Foster (fl. 1820s), first-class cricketer with

Nottingham Cricket Club Nottingham Cricket Club was an English cricket club which played in Nottingham during the 18th and 19th centuries. Matches have been recorded between 1771 and 1848 and the team played in 15 first-class matches between 1826 and 1848. The earlie ...

(1827–28), reportedly born in Bingham. * Thomas Brown (1848–1919), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire), born in Bingham. * Philip Miles (1848–1933), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire), born in Bingham. * John Brown (born 1862), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire) born in Bingham. * Albert Widdowson (1864–1938), first-class cricketer (Derbyshire), born in Bingham. * Stafford Castledine (1912–1986), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire), born in Bingham. * Jonathan Stenner (born 1966), cricketer and gastroenterologist, born in Bingham. * Joe Heyes (born 1999), from Bingham, a professional rugby union player for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

Transport

Trentbarton Trentbarton (stylised in all lowercase) is a bus operator providing both local and regional services in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the Wellglade Group. History In October 19 ...

provides a frequent public bus service into Nottingham. Bingham's main

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

provides an hourly service to and beyond

and

and to

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

along the Poacher Line. Another station south of Bingham named Bingham Road was opened on the Nottingham-Leicester-Northampton Line. It closed in 1951 to passengers and 1964 to freight. The station site has been demolished and the trackbed is now used as a greenway. Bus services are provided by Vectare, Centrebus, and Trentbarton.Trent Barton.
/ref> The A46, to the west of the town, was upgraded and completed in 2013 as a grade-separated dual carriageway. The Widmerpool-Newark Improvement has been diverted to the west of the former Roman town to preserve archaeological remains. The A52 bypass to the south of the town opened in December 1986.

Signpost gallery

File:UK Bingham (Sign1).jpg File:UK Bingham (Sign2).jpg File:UK Bingham (Sign3).jpg File:UK Bingham (Sign4).jpg

References

External links

Bingham Town Council
{{authority control Towns in Nottinghamshire Market towns in Nottinghamshire Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire Rushcliffe