Kimberley 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

Borough of Broxtowe Broxtowe is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately west of the city of Nottingham, and most of the built-up areas of the ...

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, lying 6 miles northwest 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 ...

along the A610. The town grew as a centre for

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

and

hosiery Hosiery, (, ) also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the foot, feet and human leg, legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also ...

manufacturing. At the 2011 census the town had a population of 6,053, and this fell to 6,033 at the 2021 census.

History

Kimberley is referred to as Chinemarelie in

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. With the accession of William to the throne Kimberley came into the possession of William de Peveril.''Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration''. London: Penguin, 2003. p.772 The Peverils lost control when they supported the losing side in the civil war which preceded the accession of

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

in 1154. The King became the owner of the land. King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

granted land in the area to Ralph de Greasley in 1212 who took up residence at Greasley Castle and also at around this time to Henry de Grey whose son re-built Codnor Castle on the site of an earlier castle established by William Peveril. Ralph de Greasley's land passed by inheritance and marriage to Nicholas de Cantelupe who took part in

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

's Scottish campaigns and also the

Battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France ...

. Nicholas founded Beauvale Priory using part of his Kimberley holding in 1343. That part of Kimberley which had become the property of Beauvale Priory was claimed by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. The Priory's land was redistributed by the King and came into the possession of

Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (20 February 16089 March 1649), of Hadham Hall and Cassiobury House, Watford, both in Hertfordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised ...

again by inheritance and marriage in 1627. Arthur was beheaded in 1649 having fought for the Royalists in 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 ...

. Arthur's son was created

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

in 1661. In 1753 the land was purchased by Sir Matthew Lamb whose grandson William Lamb became Prime Minister in 1834. The Lamb's Kimberley estates passed by marriage to the 5th Earl Cowper in 1805 and on the death of the 7th Earl in 1913 were sold off in pieces. That part of Kimberley retained by the Cantelupe's passed by inheritance and marriage to John Lord Zouch who died at the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...

with

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

in 1485. He was posthumously found guilty of high treason with his property forfeited to Henry VII. John Savage (-1491) received this part of Kimberley in gratitude for his efforts on behalf of Henry VII at Bosworth. The Savage family sold this land to the Earl of Rutland in the early 17th century. The Duke of Rutland's Kimberley estates were sold in parcels in the early 19th century.

Industry

Kimberley has been home to a lot of industry including:

and

manufacturing. All major industry in Kimberley has stopped, the last being Kimberley Brewery which ceased brewing in December 2006. Most businesses are now retail-based concerns.

Kimberley today

One of Kimberley's most notable structures is its unusual

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, in the form of a rotunda which is used as the emblem of Kimberley School. This

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

has a catchment area which extends into the neighbouring areas of

Nuthall Nuthall is a village and civil parish located in Nottinghamshire, England, neighbouring Kimberley, Watnall, Cinderhill and Basford. The population of the civil parish at the 2021 census was 6,583. an increase from 6,311 of the 2011 census ...

, Eastwood, Watnall, and Hempshill Vale. Kimberley Chapel of Rest Small

On the south side of Kimberley lies Swingate, which has many different walking and cycling routes into the woods and surrounding countryside. The twin towns of Kimberley are

Échirolles Échirolles (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Isère Departments of France, department, southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration), it is the second-largest suburb of the city of Grenoble, which is immediately ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and Grugliasco in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Kimberley Brewery was taken over by

Greene King Greene King is a British pub and brewing company founded in 1799, currently based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The company also owns brands including Hungry Horse and Farmhouse Inns, as well as other pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed o ...

in 2006, another major brewer in a multimillion-pound deal which marked the end of the traditional Kimberley Ales as

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

brewing ceased shortly afterwards and only a distribution centre remained there. The former Kimberley Brewery site has within its boundaries a geological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI). It is listed under the title of "Kimberley Railway Cutting" as an important location for

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

Gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s. The Permian -

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...

can be found in the Kimberley Railway Cutting. Since 1974, Kimberley forms part of the

borough of Broxtowe Broxtowe is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately west of the city of Nottingham, and most of the built-up areas of the ...

. From 1894 to 1974 it was part of Basford Rural District Council area. There has been speculation that the

Nottingham Express Transit Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a tram system in Nottingham, England. The concept of a modern tramway to reduce road congestion and promote urban renewal was formally identified during the late 1980s while detailed planning was undertake ...

(NET) want to extend their tram line that currently terminates at Phoenix Park stop through Kimberley towards Giltbrook Retail Park.

Famous residents

* William Bryan (1856–1933), first-class cricketer * John Reynolds was British Superbike Champion, 1992, 2001 and 2004 *Sergeant Richard Bolitho was the Rear Gunner on a Lancaster bomber which crashed with the loss of the whole crew during the Dambuster raid in

World War II 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 ...

Sport

* Kimberley Town F.C. were the main local football team until they folded in 2012. * Kimberley Miners Welfare F.C. * Kimberley Institute Cricket Club is the town's

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team. *Awsworth - Kimberley & District

Rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

Club * Kimberley & District Striders Running Club

Media

Local news and television programmes are BBC East Midlands 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, and the Nottingham relay transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Nottingham, Capital East Midlands, Smooth East Midlands, Hits Radio East Midlands and Greatest Hits Radio Midlands. The town is served by local newspaper, Mansfield and Ashfield Chad (formerly Eastwood & Kimberley Advertiser).

References

External links

* * *
YouTube video - parish visit journal
{{authority control Towns in Nottinghamshire Places in the Borough of Broxtowe Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire