Sawley is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Erewash, in southeast Derbyshire, England. 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.[1]

Sawley
Trent Lock and The Steamboat
Sawley is located in Derbyshire
Sawley
Sawley
Location within Derbyshire
Population6,629 (2011)
OS grid referenceSK 47167 31881
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNOTTINGHAM
Postcode districtNG10
Dialling code0115
PoliceDerbyshire
FireDerbyshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Derbyshire
52°52′55″N 1°17′56″W / 52.882°N 1.299°W / 52.882; -1.299

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.

Canal boats moored in Sawley Marina

Sawley Marina is one of the most prominent features of the village, with access to the region's main waterways.[2]

History

edit
 
All Saints' Church, Sawley

The old name for Sawley was Sallé.[3] Between Sawley and Church Wilne and Great Wilne is the junction of the River Derwent and the Trent. It is to this that Sawley owes its position.[3] The church of All Saints is thirteenth century and contains Saxon and Norman work.[4] and commands a position on a small rise near the river. Sawley Baptist Church, was built on Wilne Lane in 1800.[5]

Up until the 19th century, Sawley was the most important village in the area, commanding the first river crossing, Harrington Bridge, above Nottingham. travelers on the road to Birmingham 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.[6]

In the vicinity of the Sawley churches lies Bothe Hall once owned by the Booth family. The Booths were a wealthy landowning family from Cheshire 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 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, Derby Canal, Erewash Canal, and Nottingham Canal.[7]

Sawley Marina was developed by the Davison family, and by the 1960s the marina became established as a leading inland marina after the chandlery shop was opened, and the "Narrow Boat Register" for boat sales was created. British Waterways 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.[8]

The Sawley Memorial Hall and Community Centre, opened by Richard Attenborough in 1958, is built in honor of those who died during the two World Wars.[9] 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.[10]

Sport

edit

Golf

edit

Trent Lock Golf & Country Club, founded in 1991,[11] 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.[12] Trent Lock Golf & Country Club is a venue for the famous annual Trilby Tour.

Cricket

edit

The village of Sawley has a long history of recreational cricket. 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.[13] The original ground, aptly named ‘Trent Bridge Ground’, was situated behind the Harrington Arms near Harrington Bridge.[14] 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.[13][15] Sawley Cricket Club currently have 4 Senior XI teams competing in the Derbyshire County Cricket League[16] and a long established Junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Erewash Young Cricketers League.[17]

Notable residents

edit
  • John Clifford - Campaigner for educational reform and anti-war campaigner was born here in 1836[18]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Civil parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  2. ^ Sawley marina website
  3. ^ a b "Sawley". The Long Eaton & Sawley Archive. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  4. ^ "Welcome to Sawley Parish Council". sawleyparishcouncil.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  5. ^ "The Long Eaton & Sawley Archive: Sawley". Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Derbyshire Places of Worship". schurchdb.gukutils.org.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  7. ^ "About Sawley Lock by Peter J Church". sawleylock.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  8. ^ "The Long Eaton & Sawley Archive: Sawley Marina". www.long-eaton.com. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  9. ^ "History of Sawley Memorial Hall and Community Centre". www.sawley.info. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  10. ^ "The Long Eaton & Sawley Archive". www.long-eaton.com. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  11. ^ English Golf-courses
  12. ^ Trent Lock Golf & Country Club
  13. ^ a b The History of Cricket in Long Eaton, Sandiacre & Sawley, 1994, Keith Breakwell. ISBN 978-0-9521-4371-0
  14. ^ Powell, Julia (2019). Memories of Breaston, Draycott, Long Eaton and Sawley. ISBN 978-0-8607-1785-0.
  15. ^ "Sawley Historical Society". sawleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Derbyshire County Cricket League". DCCL. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Erewash Young Cricketers League". EYCL. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  18. ^ "John Clifford". A Dictionary of Methodism in Ireland and England. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
edit