Little Eaton
Encyclopedia
Little Eaton is a village
in the English
county of Derbyshire
. The name originated from Anglo Saxon times and means the little town by the water.
It is situated on the former route of the old A61
(now B6179), just north of the Derby
section of the A38
. At the southern exit to the village from the A38, there is a Little Chef
. Since 1974 the village has been part of the Borough of Erewash
.
"Little Eaton is a chapelry and village, in that part of the parish of St. Alkmund which is in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, rather more than one mile from Duffield. Here are many valuable collieries and productive stone quarries; bleaching grounds, belonging to Messrs. Smith & Sons, and machine-paper works of Messrs. Tempest & Son; there are, besides, malting concerns, and corn-mills on the Derwent river."
Many of the village's historic buildings are built of stone which came from local quarries
in the 1800s. The wealth of grit stones, minerals and coal in the area and further north in Denby
, Horsley
and Smalley
, put Little Eaton on the map. Previously, pack horses had been used to transport goods to Derby, but in 1793 the Derby Canal
was extended to Little Eaton. It continued to operate until 1908 but is now largely filled in.
Peckwash paper mill
c. 1800 at the north end of the village was recorded in 1851 as one of the largest in the world and brought much prosperity to the area. It is now a private house - the chimney continues to be a dominant feature of the landscape. To the east of the mill, on the hill, is a terrace of 14 cottages known as Blue Mountain cottages built for the paper mill c.1850.
Other buildings of note include the carefully renovated Grade II listed Malthouse on Duffield Road which was built in 1780 and is the former home of the Little Eaton Brewery Company (which was later owned by Offiler’s).
and The Elms farmhouse at 21 Duffield Road, a Grade II listed working farmhouse originally built in 1704.
Little Eaton was once the terminus of the Little Eaton Gangway
– the Derby Canal Railway –where it joined the Derby Canal. A gang was a set of six to eight wagons drawn by four horses. The bodies of the wagons were loaded onto the barges at the canal wharf which were towed by horses down to Derby. This 3' 6" gauge horse-operated line was authorised by the Derby Canal Act of 1793 and its construction was largely the work of Benjamin Outram; it was opened in 1795 and closed in 1908. The tramroad ran from the terminus of the Derby Canal northwards to Smithy Houses, a distance of four miles, and then continued for a further mile to Denby Hall Colliery. In this area were several branches; to Salterwood North Colliery near Marehay Hall, Denby Pottery and Henmoor Colliery. A bridge remains at Little Eaton and a culvert at Smithy Houses, in addition to general earthworks. The main line was single with passing places at intervals. Between the rails the ground was always made up level with the tops of the sleeper blocks to provide a clear surface for the horses.
Little Eaton was later served by Little Eaton railway station
on the Midland Railway Ripley Branch
.
In the early 20th century, Little Eaton was a popular resort for many working people with a train trip or canal ride to local woods quarries and tearooms being a popular Sunday and bank holiday outing.
A well known and popular character was Alice Grace, the 'Little Eaton Hermit' born in 1867 who on being evicted from her cottage lived in sheds, barns and disused buildings, until finally residing in her famous box home (a box that used to hold bacon that was donated by the local butcher) at the pinfold on 'Th Back o' the Winns' in Coxbench Wood. She spent 20 years as a hermit
until forcibly taken to the Union workhouse
at Shardlow in 1907. She died aged 60 in 1927. Her story is told in a song "Alice in the Bacon Box" by Derbyshire singer-songwriter Lucy Ward
.
On 26 March 1903, Thomas Bates, a prominent figure in Little Eaton, died. Bates was born in a house on Duffield Road and was educated at the local National School
, which then became the original village hall (also known as the parish rooms). In his will Bates donated £1000 to the village, for the draining, levelling, fencing and laying out of a park - having donated the land for a park during his lifetime. He also left money to employ a caretaker for the park. According to the will, the park was to be named St Peter's Park, a fact which puzzled those who knew of him because of his love of St Paul's Church (built in 1791, enlarged in 1837 and then heavily modernised in 1851), which can be found directly opposite the park. There was a reason behind his request however - he was born on St Peter's Day, 29 June.
There is a polished granite pillar by the entrance to the park. The north-facing side of the pillar bears an engraving celebrating the coronation of King Edward VII with the legend 'Fear God, Honour the King' underneath. The south side has an inscription honouring teachers of the National school; Mrs Cocker, schoolmistress; William Brown, schoolmaster; John Latham, vicar and Samuel Lewis, Sunday school teacher. Although he isn't mentioned on the pillar, the park is also dedicated to Bates. The two plaques visible on the base of the obelisk also mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (02 June 1953), the Golden Jubilee of the park (13 June 1953) and the Centenary of the park (June 2003).
, opened in 2010 and heavily used by a wide range of clubs/groups of people in the village.
In late June/early July, the village carnival is held. Following a week of events, the carnival concludes with a fancy dress parade from the top of the village at Westley Crescent through the village to the park. On the park a small fair sets up, along with book, white elephant and jewellery stalls, tombolas and refreshments and a barbecue serving meat from the local butchers. In the evening a live music with hot food event is sometimes held at the park or in one of the local pubs.
Little Eaton is a linear settlement and benefits from passing trade. There is a Co-op
on Alfreton Road next to the local primary school. On the opposite side of the road is the well known Barry Fitch butchers established in 1969. Much of the meat is reared in the fields around Little Eaton. On the southern exit to the village is the Derby Garden Centre.
There are three pubs: the New Inn on the corner of Duffield Road and New Inn Lane, the Queen's Head on Alfreton Road and the Bell and Harp to the north of the village. Little Eaton has a great history for independent brewers, The Queens Head was originally named the Delvers Inn after the "delvers" who worked in the local quarries. It later picked up the royal connection - first The Kings Head. Following Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, it becamse the Queens Head.
It was announced in June 2011 that the The Derby Brewing Company has joined forces with Everards
in a £400,000 project to restore the Queen's Head. The deal has seen the two breweries share the cost of buying and revamping the grade II-listed alehouse which dates back to 1835. The pub will feature 10 hand pulls featuring Derby Brewing Company beers, hand selected guest ales and a hand pull cider plus beers, wines and spirits from around the world. The pub will return to its original layout, with a central entrance leading directly into the newly-positioned bar area. The aim is to introduce a new fresh gastro food menu featuring locally sourced ingredients. The pub will open on 17th November 2011.
The village also has a resident blacksmith. Little Eaton Smithy is situated in the original 18th century village smithy. Steven Oldknow is a third generation blacksmith using time honoured skills and knowledge that has been passed down father to son. Steven's father Peter is the other resident blacksmith. The traditional techniques of forge work including riveting, banding and forge welding continue to be practiced.
On Drum Hill to the east is the transmitter for Capital FM East Midlands and Radio Derby
. Drum Hill is also used by Derbyshire Scouts and Guides for camping and other events.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. The name originated from Anglo Saxon times and means the little town by the water.
It is situated on the former route of the old A61
A61 road
The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon...
(now B6179), just north of the Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
section of the A38
A38 road
The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...
. At the southern exit to the village from the A38, there is a Little Chef
Little Chef
Little Chef is a chain of roadside restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 and owned by the UK private equity group RCapital. Little Chef's previous owners were The People's Restaurant Group Ltd., a company belonging to British catering entrepreneurs Simon Heath and Lawrence Wosskow,...
. Since 1974 the village has been part of the Borough of Erewash
Erewash
Erewash is a local government district and borough in eastern Derbyshire, England, to the east of Derby and the west of Nottingham. It contains the towns of Ilkeston, Long Eaton and Sandiacre and fourteen civil parishes....
.
History
Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835 described Little Eaton as follows:"Little Eaton is a chapelry and village, in that part of the parish of St. Alkmund which is in the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, rather more than one mile from Duffield. Here are many valuable collieries and productive stone quarries; bleaching grounds, belonging to Messrs. Smith & Sons, and machine-paper works of Messrs. Tempest & Son; there are, besides, malting concerns, and corn-mills on the Derwent river."
Many of the village's historic buildings are built of stone which came from local quarries
Quarries
Quarries - The "Royal Quarries" — not found in Scripture — is the namegiven to the vast caverns stretching far underneath the northern hill, Bezetha, on which Jerusalem is built. Out of these mammoth caverns stones, a hard limestone, have been quarried in ancient times for the buildings in the...
in the 1800s. The wealth of grit stones, minerals and coal in the area and further north in Denby
Denby
Denby is a village in the English county of Derbyshire that is notable as the birthplace of John Flamsteed, England's first Royal Astronomer, and the location of the Denby Pottery Company....
, Horsley
Horsley, Derbyshire
Horsley is a small village roughly 5 miles north of the City of Derby, England, with a population of circa 500.The parish church of St Clement and St John, which dates from the 13th century, was rededicated in 1450. It is noted for its fine peal of bells...
and Smalley
Smalley, Derbyshire
Smalley is a village on the main A608 Heanor to Derby road in Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England.Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Smæl-lēah = "narrow woodland clearing"...
, put Little Eaton on the map. Previously, pack horses had been used to transport goods to Derby, but in 1793 the Derby Canal
Derby Canal
The Derby Canal ran from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, Derbyshire, England. The canal gained its Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 1796...
was extended to Little Eaton. It continued to operate until 1908 but is now largely filled in.
Peckwash paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
c. 1800 at the north end of the village was recorded in 1851 as one of the largest in the world and brought much prosperity to the area. It is now a private house - the chimney continues to be a dominant feature of the landscape. To the east of the mill, on the hill, is a terrace of 14 cottages known as Blue Mountain cottages built for the paper mill c.1850.
Other buildings of note include the carefully renovated Grade II listed Malthouse on Duffield Road which was built in 1780 and is the former home of the Little Eaton Brewery Company (which was later owned by Offiler’s).
and The Elms farmhouse at 21 Duffield Road, a Grade II listed working farmhouse originally built in 1704.
Little Eaton was once the terminus of the Little Eaton Gangway
Little Eaton Gangway
The Little Eaton Gangway, or, to give it its official title, the Derby Canal Railway, was a narrow gauge industrial wagonway serving the Derby Canal, in England, at Little Eaton in Derbyshire.- The Derby Canal :...
– the Derby Canal Railway –where it joined the Derby Canal. A gang was a set of six to eight wagons drawn by four horses. The bodies of the wagons were loaded onto the barges at the canal wharf which were towed by horses down to Derby. This 3' 6" gauge horse-operated line was authorised by the Derby Canal Act of 1793 and its construction was largely the work of Benjamin Outram; it was opened in 1795 and closed in 1908. The tramroad ran from the terminus of the Derby Canal northwards to Smithy Houses, a distance of four miles, and then continued for a further mile to Denby Hall Colliery. In this area were several branches; to Salterwood North Colliery near Marehay Hall, Denby Pottery and Henmoor Colliery. A bridge remains at Little Eaton and a culvert at Smithy Houses, in addition to general earthworks. The main line was single with passing places at intervals. Between the rails the ground was always made up level with the tops of the sleeper blocks to provide a clear surface for the horses.
Little Eaton was later served by Little Eaton railway station
Little Eaton railway station
Little Eaton railway station was a railway station which served the village of Little Eaton in Derbyshire, England. It was opened in 1856 by the Midland Railway on its Ripley branch from Little Eaton Junction to Ripley....
on the Midland Railway Ripley Branch
Midland Railway Ripley Branch
The Midland Railway Ripley Branch connected Derby to Ripley in Derbyshire, England running from Little Eaton Junction on the Midland Railway line to Leeds.-Origin:...
.
In the early 20th century, Little Eaton was a popular resort for many working people with a train trip or canal ride to local woods quarries and tearooms being a popular Sunday and bank holiday outing.
A well known and popular character was Alice Grace, the 'Little Eaton Hermit' born in 1867 who on being evicted from her cottage lived in sheds, barns and disused buildings, until finally residing in her famous box home (a box that used to hold bacon that was donated by the local butcher) at the pinfold on 'Th Back o' the Winns' in Coxbench Wood. She spent 20 years as a hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
until forcibly taken to the Union workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
at Shardlow in 1907. She died aged 60 in 1927. Her story is told in a song "Alice in the Bacon Box" by Derbyshire singer-songwriter Lucy Ward
Lucy Ward (musician)
Lucy Ward is a British singer, guitarist and concertina player from Derby. She performs, with a voice described as expressive and powerful, traditional English folk songs as well as her own material...
.
On 26 March 1903, Thomas Bates, a prominent figure in Little Eaton, died. Bates was born in a house on Duffield Road and was educated at the local National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
, which then became the original village hall (also known as the parish rooms). In his will Bates donated £1000 to the village, for the draining, levelling, fencing and laying out of a park - having donated the land for a park during his lifetime. He also left money to employ a caretaker for the park. According to the will, the park was to be named St Peter's Park, a fact which puzzled those who knew of him because of his love of St Paul's Church (built in 1791, enlarged in 1837 and then heavily modernised in 1851), which can be found directly opposite the park. There was a reason behind his request however - he was born on St Peter's Day, 29 June.
There is a polished granite pillar by the entrance to the park. The north-facing side of the pillar bears an engraving celebrating the coronation of King Edward VII with the legend 'Fear God, Honour the King' underneath. The south side has an inscription honouring teachers of the National school; Mrs Cocker, schoolmistress; William Brown, schoolmaster; John Latham, vicar and Samuel Lewis, Sunday school teacher. Although he isn't mentioned on the pillar, the park is also dedicated to Bates. The two plaques visible on the base of the obelisk also mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (02 June 1953), the Golden Jubilee of the park (13 June 1953) and the Centenary of the park (June 2003).
The village today
When St Peter's Park was first created, it was little more than a four-acre fenced area of flat grass. Today, one corner of the park has become a children's play area, with swings, slides, tunnels and monkey bars. The rest of the park is given over to a football pitch, cricket pitch and tennis courts. The park is also used as the village primary school's playing field, the school lacking a field of its own. Also prominent in the park is the new Little Eaton village hallVillage hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
, opened in 2010 and heavily used by a wide range of clubs/groups of people in the village.
In late June/early July, the village carnival is held. Following a week of events, the carnival concludes with a fancy dress parade from the top of the village at Westley Crescent through the village to the park. On the park a small fair sets up, along with book, white elephant and jewellery stalls, tombolas and refreshments and a barbecue serving meat from the local butchers. In the evening a live music with hot food event is sometimes held at the park or in one of the local pubs.
Little Eaton is a linear settlement and benefits from passing trade. There is a Co-op
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
on Alfreton Road next to the local primary school. On the opposite side of the road is the well known Barry Fitch butchers established in 1969. Much of the meat is reared in the fields around Little Eaton. On the southern exit to the village is the Derby Garden Centre.
There are three pubs: the New Inn on the corner of Duffield Road and New Inn Lane, the Queen's Head on Alfreton Road and the Bell and Harp to the north of the village. Little Eaton has a great history for independent brewers, The Queens Head was originally named the Delvers Inn after the "delvers" who worked in the local quarries. It later picked up the royal connection - first The Kings Head. Following Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, it becamse the Queens Head.
It was announced in June 2011 that the The Derby Brewing Company has joined forces with Everards
Everards
Everards is an independent British regional brewery founded in Leicester in 1849 by William Everard and Thomas Hull.It produces cask ales and owns over 160 tenanted pubs, mainly around the Leicestershire area and has won 'The Publican Pub Company of the Year Award' three times.The company is one...
in a £400,000 project to restore the Queen's Head. The deal has seen the two breweries share the cost of buying and revamping the grade II-listed alehouse which dates back to 1835. The pub will feature 10 hand pulls featuring Derby Brewing Company beers, hand selected guest ales and a hand pull cider plus beers, wines and spirits from around the world. The pub will return to its original layout, with a central entrance leading directly into the newly-positioned bar area. The aim is to introduce a new fresh gastro food menu featuring locally sourced ingredients. The pub will open on 17th November 2011.
The village also has a resident blacksmith. Little Eaton Smithy is situated in the original 18th century village smithy. Steven Oldknow is a third generation blacksmith using time honoured skills and knowledge that has been passed down father to son. Steven's father Peter is the other resident blacksmith. The traditional techniques of forge work including riveting, banding and forge welding continue to be practiced.
On Drum Hill to the east is the transmitter for Capital FM East Midlands and Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby is the BBC Local Radio station for the English county of Derbyshire, covering all but the northern tip of the county, and also serves eastern Staffordshire, mainly Uttoxeter and Burton upon Trent. The station broadcasts from its studios in Derby on 104.5, 95.3 and 96.0 FM and 1116...
. Drum Hill is also used by Derbyshire Scouts and Guides for camping and other events.