Edwinstowe

Edwinstowe
Village and civil parish
Sherwood Forest Art & Craft Centre, Forest Corner (off the B6034 Swinecote Road, Edwinstowe towards Budby road). They were oiginally stables for Edwinstowe Hall, then used as laboratories for the coal mining industry.
Parish map
Edwinstowe Location within Nottinghamshire
Area	6.8 sq mi (18 km2)
Population	5,320 (2021)
•  Density	782/sq mi (302/km2)
OS grid reference	SK 6266
•  London	120 mi (190 km)  SSE
District	Newark and Sherwood
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANSFIELD
Postcode district	NG21
Dialling code	01623
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Sherwood
Website	www.edwinstowe.co.uk
List of places UK England Nottinghamshire 53°10′N1°04′W / 53.16°N 1.07°W / 53.16; -1.07

Edwinstowe is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest and the Dukeries. It is associated with the legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and to a lesser extent Edwin of Northumbria, from where the village gets its name. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 5,188. ^[1] A 2019 estimate put it at 5,261, ^{[2] [3]} and was 5,320 at the 2021 census. ^[4]

Heritage

The etymology of the village name, "Edwin's resting place", recalls that the body of Edwin of Northumbria, King and Saint, was hidden in the church after he was killed in the Battle of Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster, probably in AD 633. The battle against King Penda of Mercia occurred near the present-day hamlet of Cuckney, some five miles north-west of modern Edwinstowe. ^{[5] [6]}

St Mary’s Church, Edwinstowe

Like Thoresby, Budby and Mansfield, Edwinstowe belonged to King Edward the Confessor and afterwards became the property of King William the Conqueror. ^[7]

Edwinstowe is referred to twice in Domesday Book as having five households, in addition to a priest and his four bordars, in 1086. ^[8]

Legend has it that Robin Hood married Maid Marian in St Mary's Church. Edwinstowe is known for the presence near the village of the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, a feature in the folk tales of Robin Hood, and Robin Hood's Larder.

The Major Oak, Sherwood Forest

By the turn of the 20th century Edwinstowe consisted of a cluster of houses along Town Street, East Lane, Church Street and High Street. A hamlet called Hazel Grove was bordered by Mill Lane and the railway line and a cluster of houses at the top of Rufford Road was another hamlet called Lidgett. ^{[9] [10]} Lidgett was the site of a fireworks factory owned by F. Tudsbury and Co. before George Pinder, a local wine, spirit and porter merchant who resided at Lidgett House, took over ownership by 1886. ^{[11] [12]} These settlements eventually merged as the result of infills from World War I, much of it housing for colliers and named after the largest area.

Economy

The Visitor Centre

Nottinghamshire County Council's Sherwood Forest Visitors' Centre is located near the village and was redeveloped and improved in 2017 at a cost of £5.3 million. This centre is operated in partnership by the Council and the RSPB. ^{[13] [14]}

Center Parcs' Sherwood Forest holiday village is a local employer established in 1987, close to the edge of the village. ^{[15] [16]}

Sherwood Pines Forest Park

Sherwood Pines Forest Park is set within Sherwood Forest near to Old Clipstone and has activity walking/cycling trails, play areas and bike hire for the general public. Sherwood Pines is managed by the Forestry Commission. A Go Ape adventure area is on-site too. ^{[17] [18]}

There was a post windmill south of the Mansfield Road with a small box-style roundhouse. It was driven by two common and two double-patent windmill sails. ^[19]

Thoresby Colliery served as Edwinstowe's main source of employment until July 2015, when the mine was permanently closed. ^[20] The loss of one of the last remaining deep coal mines in the country has left tourism as the main factor in the local economy. The colliery has now become a large housing development for 800 homes, to make use of the now brownfield site. ^[21]

Amenities

Edwinstowe Cricket Ground

St. Mary's Church Edwinstowe. (Alleged site of the wedding of Robin Hood and Maid Marian)

The two schools in the village are St Mary's Primary School and King Edwin Primary School. The former Rufford School on the north side of the village closed in 2003 and has become residential housing by Barratt Developments, known as Friars Park. ^{[22] [23]} A skate park on the development proved controversial with concerns over noise and anti-social behaviour. ^{[24] [25] [26]}

The village has a business services provider, a St John's Ambulance amenity, an antiques centre, workshops, a fun park, a youth hostel, two arts and crafts centres, a village hall, and a community pest-control centre. Leisure facilities include Thoresby Colliery Band and Youth Band, a high-wire forest adventure course, a mountain biking, cyclo cross and forest walks centre, a forest fun park, and an outdoor adventure park. It still has five pubs: the Black Swan, the Dukeries Lodge, Forest Lodge, Hammer and Wedge, and the Royal Oak. Other caterers include Smoke & Ice, Bistro Balsamico, The Cottage Tea Rooms, Fables Coffee House, The Honey Pot Cafe and Launay's Restaurant.

Environmental concerns are addressed under the Maun Valley Project Conservation Area.

Transport

Edwinstowe railway station functioned between 1897 and 1955. A goods line remains. The nearest passenger railway stations are at Mansfield Woodhouse and Mansfield, both about 6 miles (9.7 km) from Edwinstowe. ^[27]

The village is served by half-hourly daytime Monday–Saturday bus services to Mansfield and Ollerton, six buses a day Monday–Saturday to Worksop, and one bus a day Monday–Friday to Nottingham. Services run twice a week to Newark and once a week to Lincoln. ^[28]

Notable people

In order of birth:

• King Edwin of Northumbria (c. 586 – 632/633) gave his name to the village.
• The legendary Robin Hood is said to have married Maid Marian here.
• John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1662–1711), politician and landowner, was born here.
• Henrietta Harley, Countess of Oxford and Countess Mortimer (1694–1755), noblewoman and heiress was born here.
• E. Cobham Brewer (1810–1897), lexicographer, died at the vicarage, where his son-in-law was the vicar.
• Henry Morley (1852–1924), first-class cricketer, was born and died here.
• Fanny Jean Turing (1864–1934), politician and activist, was probably born in the village, where her father was vicar.
• Charles Otway Alexander (1888-1970), rear admiral, was born in Edwinstowe Hall.
• Fred Kitchen (1890–1969), countryside writer and autobiographer, was born here.
• Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972), Poet Laureate and father of Daniel Day-Lewis and Lydia Tamasin Day-Lewis, lived in Edwinstowe when his father, Frank Cecil Day-Lewis, was appointed vicar of St Mary's Church in 1918.
• Francis Woodhead (1912–1991), first-class cricketer, was born here.
• Philip Brett (1937–2002), musicologist and conductor, was born here.
• Brendan Clarke-Smith (born 1980), Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw, was living in the village in December 2019, but now resides in nearby Retford. ^[29]

See also

• Listed buildings in Edwinstowe

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistice. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
2. City Population. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
3. Joseph Rodgers, The Scenery of Sherwood Forest with an Acount of some Eminent People there, (1908) retrieved on the 9th April 2023
4. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Edwinstowe parish (E04007898)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 1 February 2024.
5. "Edwinstowe History". Edwinstowe Parish Council. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
6. H Gill, Summer excursion 1914: Edwinstowe church, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 18 (1914) retrieved on the 9th April 2023
7. Robert White, Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest, (1875) retrieved on the 9th April 2023
8. "Place: Edwinstowe". Domesday Book. Open Domesday. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
9. "War Memorial" (PDF). Edwinstowe Village News (8): 10. March 2014.
10. "Edwinstowe Parish Council | Edwinstowe Village Magazine". www.edwinstowe.co.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
11. "Fire Brigade". Edwinstowe Historical Society. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
12. "First World War" (PDF). Edwinstowe Village News (17): 23. March 2017.
13. Sherwood Forest Country Park Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Nottinghamshire County Council, Retrieved 30 December 2015
14. RSPB chosen to build Nottinghamshire's Sherwood Forest visitor centre, BBC News (Nottingham) 12 August 2015, Retrieved 30 December 2015.
15. Centre Parcs Sherwood Forest Village Retrieved 30 December 2015
16. Centre Parcs history Retrieved 30 December 2015
17. Sherwood Forest cite web https://www.forestryengland.uk/sherwood-pines retrieved on the 9th April 2023
18. Go Ape, Sherwood Forest, cite web https://goape.co.uk/locations/sherwood-pines retrieved on the 9 April 2023
19. Earlier photograph. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
20. "Nottinghamshire's Thoresby Colliery closes after 90 years", BBC News (Nottingham), 10 July 2015, retrieved 30 December 2015
21. Thoresby Vale The Harworth Group. Retrieved 9 April 2023
22. Edwinstowe Village News Archived 7 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine edwinstowe.co.uk, July 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2020
23. 151 new homes (Friars Park) ^{[ permanent dead link ]} southkesteven.gov.uk, July/August 2004. Retrieved 19 January 2020
24. Our concern still remains over skate park Chad, local newspaper, 22 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2020
25. Noise pollution from a controversial village skate park may have to be tackled, a parish council has admitted Chad, local newspaper, 3 June 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2020
26. Edwinstowe Skate Park Archived 28 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine edwinstowe.co.uk, 16 September 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2020
27. Distance calculator Retrieved 26 June 2016.
28. Notts bus times Retrieved 26 June 2016.
29. "About Brendan Clarke-Smith MP". Brendan Clarke-Smith MP for Bassetlaw. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

External links

• Edwinstowe Parish Council, residents' and visitors' site
• Edwinstowe Historical Society
• GeoHack Edwinstowe grid reference SK613663