The Suburb Of Allestree, Derby
Categories: Local Information
Allestree is a suburb and ward of the city of Derby, a unitary authority area, in Derbyshire, England. It is the northernmost ward and is situated on the A6 road, about 2 miles (3 km) north of Derby city centre.
It is bordered by the district of Amber Valley along its western and northern edges and Erewash in its north-east corner. To the south it borders the ward of Mackworth and to the east the ward of Darley Abbey.
The ward is largely residential and has two parks, Allestree Park to the north and Markeaton Park to the south. The ward contains parts of the village of Markeaton which at one time was a large estate containing Allestree village. The village became a parish in its own right in 1864 and was incorporated into the Borough of Derby in 1968.
History
Anglo-Saxon and Norman Allestree Before the Norman conquest Allestree was a hamlet consisting of a few scattered dwellings that was part of the holding of the Earl of Northumbria. Later it was recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as Adelardestreu, an outlier of the Manor of Markeaton held by Hugh, Earl of Chester. It was given by William the Conqueror to Henry de Ferrers as a reward for his work in the Norman Conquest and later it passed to the Touchet family of Markeaton.
Plantagenet Allestree During the 12th century most of the land changed hands and was sold to the Abbey of St Mary, in Darley, and then rented back to the Touchet family. It was purchased by Sir John Mundy along with the estates of Markeaton and Mackworth from Lord Audley in 1516 and stayed in the family's possession until it was sold to the Evans family in 1781.
Allestree Park dates back to the early 19th century when Allestree Hall was built. The hall itself is a Grade II listed building made of millstone grit from Derwent bank. In 1928 Derwent Buildings Ltd and Offilers Brewery Ltd obtained the park and planned to build 2,000 houses and a golf course. By the Second World War the golf course and some houses had been built but the park was requisitioned by the army for the war effort and after that by the fire brigade. On 29 July 1947 Derby Corporation bought the park to preserve it for the people of Derby. In 1948 the golf course was opened as a nine-hole course and extended to eighteen holes in 1955.
Parts of the civil parish of Markeaton were incorporated into Allestree in 1934. Markeaton was originally a large estate that spread out through the northwest of Derby. It contained three outlying settlements that would later become Manors in their own right: Allestree, Knivedon, and Mackworth. It was owned at the time, as was Allestree, by Earl Hugh of Chester and controlled by a member of the Touchet family. The area now within Allestree contains what is left of the old village centre, which is Markeaton manor, its grounds and Markeaton park.
Allestree old village centre was designated a Conservation Area by the City Council in September 1991. The designated area starts on Cornhill encompassing part of the golf course on Allestree Park. All houses on St Edmund Close, Siddals Lane, The Poplars and the area to the north of Church Walk are included, as well as St Edmund's Church and the adjacent Red Cow inn.
Allestree village was originally centred around the conservation area noted above, with much of the growth in the area occurred in the last 40 years. The area surrounding the old village centre contains seven listed buildings, the oldest dating back to the 16th century. The church dates from the 12th century but all that remains of the original building is the ornately-carved Romanesque doorway. The carving around the arch depicts the Parable of the Sower.
Geography
Allestree lies on Upper Trias Sandstone
Allestree is the northernmost ward of the district of Derby and as such its northern and western borders are mainly countryside as the ward gives way to the district of Amber Valley. The border with Darley to the east follows the A38 from Ashbourne Road roundabout up until it crosses the River Derwent. The border then follows the river then crosses Dom's road and follows the border of Allestree Park. To the south the border runs along Ashbourne Road from the A38 to Markeaton Lane until it meets Markeaton brook, which it follows. It then runs along Kedleston Road which it leaves and goes behind Woodlands Community School and Laburnum Crescent and finishes at Allestree Park.
The geology of the area consists of thick sandstones and marls formed in desert conditions in the Triassic period, some 250 million years ago, and thin-bedded sandstones and shales formed 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period. Most of Britain at this time was a huge delta carrying vast amounts of sediment. These belong to the Millstone Grit formation which makes up much of the Peak District.
Allestree's highest point is in the northern part of Allestree Park next to the water tower. This is also the highest part of the city of Derby.
Allestree Hall
Allestree Park lies in the northern part of Allestree just inside the city boundaries. It has over 129 hectares or 319 acres (1.29 km2) of parkland, an 18-hole golf course and an angling lake. The park used to be a private estate. In May 2002, Derby City Council made most of it a Local Nature Reserve because of its wide range of wildlife habitats.
Allestree Hall has been unoccupied since the 1980s but in 1984 there were plans for it to be developed into a nature museum reflecting the park's varied wildlife. It was to incorporate a nature walk, conservation and education facilities and bird hides. Structural problems discovered at the hall, combined with a lack of funding, brought a halt to the plan. A few years later the Derby Museum proposed another plan to develop the hall into a centre for the park and surrounding countryside involving exhibitions and field study facilities. This plan was also later dropped.
Markeaton Park is the second park situated in Allestree and lies in the south of the suburb, bordering Mackworth Estate below it and Darley Abbey to the east. It was owned by the Mundys until the early 20th century. In 1903, 5 acres (20,000 m2) were donated by Mrs Mundy to be used as a recreation ground. Mrs Mundy continued to donate land to the city and in 1924 she gave several acres to the people of Derby to be used as a children's playground. The playground is still at the park and is known as the Mundy Play Centre.
The Hall and 20 acres (81,000 m2) were given to Derby Corporation in 1929 by the Reverend Clarke Maxwell. He had inherited the land from Mrs Mundy who gave it to him on condition that the land be donated to the public. The remaining 180 acres (0.73 km2) were bought by the Corporation in 1930 and in September 1975 the park and its surroundings were designated a Conservation Area.
Markeaton Park today is a public park and is the most-used leisure facility in Derby. It has a wide variety of activities that are spread throughout the park. These include a boating lake, pitch and putt course, children's playground and mini golf course.
Public Houses in Allestree are: The Markeaton (a former hotel on Allestree Lane), The Woodlands (an 'Estate' pub on Blenheim Drive), The Red Cow (the old village pub located next to St Edmunds Church), as well as Allestree British Legion (on Cornhill). During the 1960s the Park Farm Hotel was opened at Park Farm Shopping Centre, but this closed and was boarded up in the late 1990s and has never reopened due to the general downturn in the pub business. Just outside Allestree, but regularly used by residents are The Joiners Arms (Quarndon), The Broadway (Darley Abbey) and The Jonty Farmer (Kedleston Road).
Park Farm Shopping Centre is a shopping centre located on Birchover way. It has grown from a couple of shops in the early 1960s (including a co-op store), to a major centre popular with residents of Allestree, Mackworth, Quarndon and Darley Abbey. Park Farm includes Somerfield, Farmfoods, Boots, and a Wilkinsons Hardware store, as well as branches of Barclay's, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Derbyshire Building Society. Several fast-food outlets, a launderette, charity shops, a post office, bookmakers, greengrocer, library, and many other smaller shops.
The shopping centre is flanked on two sides by car parks as well as having one on the roof. Behind the centre (on Park Farm Drive) there is a doctor's and dental practice.
Demography
As of the 2001 Census Allestree has a population of 13,017 spread out over its 648 hectares. The population is predominantly white and born in England, with 96.99% declaring themselves white at the 2001 census. The next ethnic group was Asian (1.11%) followed by Chinese (0.75%) then Mixed (0.58%) and finally Black (0.57%). Only 8.24% of Allestree residents were born outside England with that figure dropping to 4.54% for outside the UK. The under 16s account for 17% of the population while the over 75s account for 11.35% which is higher than the national average 7.54%: this is reflected by a high mean age.
The area is largely Christian with 82.10% identifying themselves as such, according to the 2001 Census. The oldest church in the ward is St Edmund's church (Anglican) which has parts that date back to the 13th century. There are six churches in total in the suburb.[20] After Christianity the largest group is "No religion" then followed in descending order by Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Other and Judaism.
Economy
The area has been described as a "socially advantaged area". As of the 2001 Census the unemployment rate is lower than the English average of 5.8% at 3.6% with 25.67% of those being long-term unemployed compared with the national average of 30.26%. The main sources of employment in the ward are manufacturing (19.39%), real estate; renting and business activities (14.07%), wholesale and retail trade (14%), health and social work (11.85%) and education (11.68%). The average distance travelled to a fixed place of work stands at 12.31 km.
Education
There are two Primary Schools in Allestree; Portway Junior School on Robincroft Road, and Lawn Primary School on Norbury Close behind Park Farm. As of the 2007 Ofsted inspection Portway had 298 students from age 7-11. The report gave the school an overall score of Good, saying however that personal development and well being were outstanding. Lawn is a larger school than Portway and as of the 2005 Ofsted report had 414 children from age 4-11 on roll. The school was said to be satisfactory with a few areas for improvement.
Woodlands Community School is the local comprehensive school with a sixth form, catering for around 1150 pupils aged 11–18. It was a former secondary modern school, becoming comprehensive in September 1975. The catchment area of The Ecclesbourne School also includes Allestree. Derby County Manager Nigel Clough attended this school when Brian Clough was the Manager of Derby County in the 'Glory Days'.
The University of Derby has its main campus within the ward. It is situated on Kedleston Road and has been since the buildings were opened in 1960 for the College of Technology.
Notable people
Alan Bates, actor, was born here in 1934 and lived on Derwent Avenue.
Brian Clough, Football Manager and Player, lived in Ferrers Way, Allestree during the glory days of Derby County (1967–1973)
Nigel Clough, Derby County Manager and former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool footballer, attended both Lawn Primary and Woodlands Community Schools. He played for Allestree Juniors, the local Sunday League team.
Original information taken from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allestree
Distributed under a Creative Commons licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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