Swarkestone
Swarkestone is located in Derbyshire
Swarkestone
Swarkestone
Location within Derbyshire
Population187 (2011)
OS grid referenceSK372286
Civil parish
  • Swarkestone
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDERBY
Postcode districtDE73
Dialling code01332
PoliceDerbyshire
FireDerbyshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

Swarkestone is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 187.[1]

Swarkestone has a very old village church, a full cricket pitch, a plant nursery/ garden centre and restaurant called "Swarkestone Nursery", the Crewe and Harpur pub, a canal with a Georgian lock keepers cottage and moorings. It was mentioned twice in Domesday as Sorchestun or Suerchestune, when it was worth twenty shillings.[2]

History

The village

Evidence of the Beaker people living near Swarkestone was discovered in the 1950s. At that time it was estimated that people had lived near Swarkestone for at least 3,800 years.[3] The only surviving Bronze Age barrow cemetery in the Trent valley is at Swarkestone Lows near the A50. The barrow is a registered national monument.[4]

In the Domesday Book, Swarkestone was held by the King (William the conqueror) and by Henry de Ferrers.[2]

In the Battle of Swarkestone Bridge during the English Civil War (1643) it was defended by the Royalists against the Parliamentarians, but the outnumbered Cavaliers lost the day.

In 1745 during the Jacobite rising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, the advance party of his army reached here to gain control of the crossing of the Trent. Finding no reports of support from the south, they turned back to Derby; the invading army then retreated to Scotland and final defeat at the Battle of Culloden. Swarkestone was thereby the most southerly point reached during that army's advance on London.[5]

Swarkestone Bridge

Swarkestone Bridge

The ancient bridge at Swarkestone crosses the River Trent about 6 miles south of Derby and was for about 300 years the Midlands' main crossing of the Trent. The only crossing between Burton Upon Trent and Nottingham,[6] it is currently Grade I Listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Swarkestone bridge was built in the 13th century to cross the river and its surrounding marshes, between the villages of Swarkstone and Stanton by Bridge.[7] It was financed by the two Bellamont sisters. Both had become engaged and were to throw a joint celebration; their fiancés, however, had to meet the local barons on the far side of the river.[6] Following a storm the Trent became swollen; eager to return to their brides-to-be and their party, the men tried to ford the river on horseback: both were swept away and drowned.[6] The Bellamont sisters commissioned the bridge so that no one else would suffer the tragedy they had.[6] Neither sister married and both died in poverty having exhausted their fortune on building the bridge.[6] They were buried in a single grave in Prestwold, Leicestershire.

Sport

Swarkestone Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club with a history of cricket in the village dating back to the 1930s.[8] The club ground is on Barrow Turn in the village.[9] Swarkestone field three senior teams in the Derbyshire County Cricket League,[10] three women's teams in the Derbyshire Cricket Foundation Competitions[11] and an established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the South Derbyshire Development Group.[12] The club is a registered charity. They are the reigning Derbyshire Premier League Champions, having won the title on four occasions: 2013, 2016, 2022 and 2023.[13]

The Pavilion

Swarkestone Pavilion

Nearby is the Jacobean grandstand called Swarkestone Hall Pavilion and walled area, formerly connected with Harpur Hall, where (it is believed, see Pevsner, loc. cit.), they used to bait bulls. The pavilion is attributed to John Smythson who also designed Bolsover Castle, and is Grade I Listed.[14] It was repaired and is now owned by the Landmark Trust which maintains it and lets it to holidaymakers.

Images

Notable residents

See also

The chain ferry at Twyford was the next crossing north of the Swarkestone Bridge.

References

  1. ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.742 & 749
  3. ↑ Beaker Folk site found in Britain New York Times December 1956
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Lows Barrow (1019060)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Bonnie Prince Charlie banished from Derby again". The Derby Telegraph. 3 December 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Wadd, Barbara (2007). More Ghost Walks in Derbyshire. Wiltshire: Cromwell Press. ISBN 978-1-85983-556-2.
  7. ↑ Historic England. "Swarkestone Bridge and Causeway (1088337)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Derbyshire Marston's Pedigree County Cricket League Centenary Yearbook. Derbyshire: DCCL. 2019. p. 127,128 & 181,182.
  9. ↑ "Cricket Club". swarkestone.play-cricket.com. Swarkestone CC. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Derbyshire County Cricket League". derbyscountylge.play-cricket.com. DCCL. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Derbyshire Cricket Foundation Competitions". dcfcompetitions.play-cricket.com. DCFC. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "South Derbyshire Development Group". sderbysdg.play-cricket.com. SDDG. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "DCCL Competition results". derbyscountylge.play-cricket.com. DCCL. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Landmark Trust – Swarkestone Pavilion
  15. ↑ Thomas Bancroft in the Dictionary of National Biography
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