Sawley is a village 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 ...

within the

Borough of Erewash Erewash () is a non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Derbyshire, England. The borough is named after the River Erewash. The council has offices in both the borough's to ...

, in southeast

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. With a slightly higher than average number of people over 65, the population of just the civil parish was measured at 6,629 as at the 2011 Census. Every year around the August Bank Holiday, Sawley All Saints holds a flower festival, with themed floral displays inside the church and a beer festival held in the village. There are several events throughout the year including a May Day festival, and a Garden Trail. Shardlow to Sawley Marinas

Sawley Marina is one of the most prominent features of the village, with access to the region's main waterways.

History

The old name for Sawley was ''Sallé''. Between Sawley and

Church Wilne Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and Great Wilne is the junction of the River Derwent and the Trent. It is to this that Sawley owes its position. The church of All Saints is thirteenth century and contains

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

and Norman work. and commands a position on a small rise near the river. Sawley

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church, was built on Wilne Lane in 1800.

Up until the 19th century, Sawley was the most important village in the area, commanding the first river crossing, Harrington Bridge, above

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 ...

. travelers on the road to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

had to cross the Trent either by ferry or by ford, and it was not until 1790 that the Harrington Bridge was built. This was a toll bridge, and charges were levied on all except the Lord of the Manor, his servants and the inhabitants of Sawley and Hemington, Leicestershire.

In the vicinity of the Sawley churches lies Bothe Hall once owned by the Booth family. The

Booths E. H. Booth & Co., Limited, trading as Booths, is a chain of high-end supermarkets in Northern England. Most of its branches are in Lancashire, but there are also branches in Cheshire, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. It has been ...

were a wealthy landowning family from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

whose principal seat was at Dunham Massey. Bothe Hall was built between 1660 and 1680, and has an interior that contains some exposed ceiling beams and a

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

staircase.

Sawley Cut and the Locks were built around 1796, to bypass difficult and shallow sections of the Trent Navigation, also in response to the Trent Navigation Company losing out to the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middl ...

, Derby Canal,

Erewash Canal The Erewash Canal is a broad canal in Derbyshire, England. It runs just under and has 14 canal lock, locks. The first lock at Langley Mill, Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal. Origins The canal obtained its act of Parliament, ...

, and

Nottingham Canal The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the sam ...

.

Sawley Marina was developed by the Davison family, and by the 1960s the

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

became established as a leading inland marina after the

chandlery A chandlery ( or ) was originally the office in a wealthy medieval household responsible for wax and candles, as well as the room in which the candles were kept. It could be headed by a chandler. The office was subordinated to the kitchen, and on ...

shop was opened, and the "Narrow Boat Register" for boat sales was created.

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...

bought the concern in 1999 of what has now become one of the finest inland marinas on the British Waterways system. The marina has the capacity to hold up to 400 boats at any one time.

The Sawley Memorial Hall and Community Centre, opened by

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

in 1958, is built in honor of those who died during the two World Wars. The Sawley and District Historical Society held a display about the war years associated to the village and surrounding areas, in the Sawley All Saints Church, back in August 2009.

Sport

Golf

Trent Lock Golf & Country Club, founded in 1991, situated at the end of Lock Lane, has a floodlit driving range and two courses: the original 9-hole Canalside course and the 18-hole Riverside Course. Trent Lock Golf & Country Club is a venue for the famous annual Trilby Tour.

Cricket

The village of Sawley has a long history of recreational

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 ...

. The first match report was recorded in 1843, between Ockbrook and "Sawley Club", but the earliest known reference to Sawley was a report of a match fixture against Shardlow in 1834.The History of Cricket in Long Eaton, Sandiacre & Sawley, 1994, Keith Breakwell. The original ground, aptly named ‘Trent Bridge Ground’, was situated behind the Harrington Arms near Harrington Bridge. Albeit a very picturesque part of the village, the ground was beset with problems with the likes of pastoral activity and frequent flooding from the nearby river. Eventually, the club moved onto the new Sawley Park in the 1960s, but ultimately moved from Sawley to nearby West Park in 1977. The club pavilion is named after Bill Camm, a Sawley Councillor, prominent local politician and former president of the Club.The History of Cricket in Long Eaton, Sandiacre & Sawley, 1994, Keith Breakwell. Sawley Cricket Club currently have 4 Senior XI teams competing in the Derbyshire County Cricket League and a long established Junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Erewash Young Cricketers League.

Notable residents

* John Clifford - Campaigner for educational reform and anti-war campaigner was born here in 1836 * Alec Leamas, the protagonist of ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', states that he is from "Sawley, Derbyshire".

References

External links

Sawley Parish Council

Sawley and District Historical Society
{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Civil parishes in Derbyshire Borough of Erewash