Stapleford () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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, west 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 ...

. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 14,991, at the 2011 census it was 15,241, and 15,453 at the 2021 census.

Geography

Stapleford lies on the border between

and Derbyshire. To the north of Stapleford is Ilkeston and to the east is Beeston. To the west across the

River Erewash The River Erewash is a river in England, a tributary of the River Trent that flows roughly southwards through Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, forming the boundary between the two counties for much of its length. It rises near Kirkby-in-Ashf ...

is Sandiacre, and in the south is

Toton Toton is a large suburban village in the Borough of Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, England. It forms part of the built-up area of Beeston, Nottinghamshire, Beeston, which in turn forms part of the wider Nottingham Urban Area. The population of th ...

Politics

Stapleford is part of Broxtowe borough and the Broxtowe Parliamentary Constituency. From 1935 until 1974 Stapleford was paired with the town of Beeston in the Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having previously been part of the Stapleford Rural District. The town was parished in 1987 and now has a town council. The local MP is Juliet Campbell of the Labour Party from July 2024, and the town is represented on Nottinghamshire County Council by the Conservative Party and also on Broxtowe Borough Council by two Labour Party, one Conservative Party and one Independent Councillor and two Liberal Democrats. The town council is a mixture of Labour Party, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green and four Independent councillors since the election in May 2019.

Brief history

The place-name is first attested in the

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 ...

of 1086, where it appears, unusually, spelt as now, and in the

Pipe Rolls The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rollsBrown ''Governance'' pp. 54–56 or the Great Rolls of the Pipe, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury, and its successors, as well as the Exche ...

of 1197 . The name means "ford marked by a post or posts". Stapleford's origins can be traced to before the

Norman Conquest 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 ...

. In the churchyard of St Helen's church is the Stone Cross which is Saxon and believed to be the oldest Christian monument in the Midlands. Stapleford owed its development in part to its closeness to the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

and the River Erewash as the town became a point of trade. The antiquary John Weever defined a staple town "to be a place, to which by the prince's authority and privilege wool, hides of beasts, wine, corn or grain, and other exotic or foreign merchandize ic!--merchandize in original--> are transferred, carried or conveyed to be sold." The area also expanded in the late 18th century when the stocking hose trade thrived in the Midlands. Evidence of this history can be found today with the original Stocking Knitters' Houses still standing alongside more modern properties and shops such as on Nottingham Road. The main crossroads in Stapleford at the junction of Nottingham Road, Derby Road, Toton Lane and Church Street is called The Roach. The name is from the time when French prisoners from the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

were set the task of cutting through rock to create roads and this was referred to as La Roche. Stapleford is also home to the Hemlock Stone on Stapleford Hill. It is approximately 200 million years old, dating to the Triassic Period. In 2006, a new

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Health Centre and Walk-In Centre opened in the town, but has since closed and has been succeeded by a large multi use healthcare centre with a mental health unit and cafe on site.

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

local was opened on the site of the former Total petrol station in 2007. Stapleford is the home of the Full Mash microbrewery.

Nickname

The town is often referred to informally as "Stabbo". It is not known when or where this colloquialism originated. The local newspaper, Nottingham Post, conject that 'Stappo' might have been used as a contraction of 'Stapleford', and that this became 'Stabbo' over time.

Notable people

* Tom Johnston,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and player. * Arthur Mee, the writer, journalist and educator, was born in Stapleford in 1875. * Gallipoli hero Walter Richard Parker, recipient of the

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 ...

, lived in Stapleford and is buried in the town cemetery. * Dave Watson, who was a defender in the

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

team that won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1973, was born in Stapleford in 1946. * Sir John Borlase Warren, an 18th-century MP for Nottingham and an admiral, lived in Stapleford. The now closed Happy Man and Warren Arms pubs were named after him and his family. A large

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 ...

named after him is located in the town centre. * John Radford, wine and food writer, author and broadcaster, grew up in Stapleford from 1949 to 1965 * Frederick Attenborough, academic, principal of University College, Leicester. * Frederick Randon, cricketer * Sir Robert Salisbury, renowned educationalist, professor and author * Alan Charlton, British diplomat * Katie Redford, actor and writer; plays Lili Pargetter in

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

* Bonnie Blue, pornographic actress

Schools and colleges

Primary schools

*Albany Infant and Nursery School *Albany Junior School *Fairfield Primary Academy *Wadsworth Fields Primary School (formerly Fredrick Harrison's Infant school & Stevenson's Junior School) *St John's C of E Primary School *William Lilley Infant and Nursery School

Secondary schools

* George Spencer Academy

Colleges

* George Spencer Sixth Form

Media

Television

Local news and television programmes are BBC East Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Waltham TV transmitter, and the Nottingham relay transmitter.

Radio

The town is served by these local radio stations: * BBC Radio Nottingham on 103.8 FM * Smooth East Midlands on 106.6 FM * Capital East Midlands on 96.2 FM * Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 106.6 FM * BBC Radio Leicester can also be received in the town on 104.9 FM

Newspapers

The Nottingham Post is the town's local newspaper.

Transport

Road transport is the primary method of transport in and out of the area. East Midlands Airport is approximately 10 miles or 16 kilometres away, the airport provides domestic and international routes, focused mainly on EU/EEA/Swiss routes.

Bus

Bus services operate to

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, Beeston, Ilkeston and other local towns.

Trentbarton

* i4: Nottingham – QMC – Stapleford – Sandiacre – Risley – Derby. * my15: Old Sawley – Stapleford – Ilkeston.

NottsBus

* 510: Beeston – Attenborough – Toton – Stapleford. (Subsidised by Nottinghamshire County Council) * 511: Stapleford Shopper. (Subsidised by Nottinghamshire County Council)

CT4N

In October 2018, CT4N took over the running of the trentbarton service '18'. * eighteen: Nottingham - QMC - University Boulevard - Boots - Beeston - Stapleford

Roads

Stapleford is connected to Nottingham,

and the

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

by the A52.

Railway

The closest railway station (with regular services) is Beeston providing direct services to Nottingham, Derby, London, Lincoln, Bedford, Burton upon Trent, Leicester, Loughborough, Tamworth, Newark (Castle), Luton, East Midlands Parkway, Birmingham and Matlock.

Light rail

In August 2015, a Light Rail (tram) line was opened towards Stapleford via Beeston and Chilwell as part of 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 ...

system. A

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

station, called Toton Lane Park & Ride, has been built about one mile south of Stapleford town centre, and adjacent to some residential areas of the town. It is on Toton Lane, just south of the A52 roundabout, and is the terminus of line 1 of the Phase 2 expansion. There are no current plans for extension into the centre of Stapleford.

Conservation

The parish contains 17 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, one is at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.

References

External links

Official site of Stapleford Town CouncilStapleford Town Football ClubStapleford Community Group WebsiteStapleford WebsiteBroxtowe Borough CouncilLocal news and events website, includes town history
{{authority control Towns in Nottinghamshire Places in the Borough of Broxtowe Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire