Shelford is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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 A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

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 ...

. The population of the former civil parish of Shelford and Newton at the 2011 census was 673. Shelford has since been created as a separate parish which counted 267 residents at the 2021 census. It is near

Radcliffe on Trent Radcliffe-on-Trent is a Village#United Kingdom, village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 United Kingdom census, Census 2011 was 8,205, falling slightly at the ...

. It has an old manor house (built on the site of

Shelford Priory Shelford Priory is a former Augustinian Monastery located in the village of Shelford, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom. The priory was founded by Ralph Haunselyn around 1160–80 and dissolved in 1536. Little remains of the original priory. Fol ...

), a church, a caravan park and bar. It also has a

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 ...

restaurant, The Earl of Chesterfield Arms. Several small farms operate in the village, engaging in arable and livestock farming, with much of the harvesting being contracted out to outside companies.

Toponymy

Shelford contains the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

word ''scelde'' for shallowness; perhaps also a shallow place, + ''ford'' (Old English), a ford, so "Shallow ford".

History

It was the location of

, a former Augustinian house. The priory was founded by Ralph Haunselyn around 1160–80 and dissolved in 1536. The village was the scene of a battle 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 ...

when the Royalist garrison of Shelford Manor was taken on 3 November 1645.C. Brown, ''A History of Nottinghamshire'' (1896), pp.77-9 A re-enactment of this battle takes place periodically by the

Sealed Knot The Sealed Knot was a secret Royalist association which plotted for the Restoration of the monarchy during the English Interregnum. The group was commissioned by King Charles II between November 1653 and February 1654 from his exile in Paris f ...

, a civil war re-enactment society. Held over a weekend, the activities centre upon West and Church Streets, the church and finally the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

Geography

On the floor of the Trent Valley, Shelford is protected from flooding by flood protection controls. This renders the probability of flooding very low. Even in the floods of 2000, the rising waters did not impinge upon the housing in the village.

Events

Every second year the village hosts a feast weekend, which features a street market, events and other activities, centred on the church and village hall. This event is attended by both villagers and visitors from nearby towns and villages. Over the weekend some houses open their gardens for a small donation to charity.

Transport

The village had a ferry which ran between Shelford and

Stoke Bardolph Stoke Bardolph is a Village#United Kingdom, village and civil parish in the Borough of Gedling, Gedling district of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census was 170, incre ...

, but this has long since disappeared. The wooden structure tethering the rope for pulling the ferry can still be seen today at the end of Stoke Ferry Lane. The vernacular of the village is red brick and red

pantile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered roo ...

, with the "important" buildings under slate.

References