User:Chzz/eastwood/bit

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[edit] History

It seems that "Eastwood" is a hybrid place-name, formed from Old English "Est", for "East", and Old Norse "Þveit" (pronounced /θveɪt/), for "meadow", "cleared meadow", or "clearing in a wood": this is a common element in English place-names, often found as "Thwaite".^[1] Therefore "Eastwood" might mean "eastern clearing", the place possibly beginning as a Viking Age clearing in Sherwood Forest.^[2]

Eastwood is one of the few places where the distinctive dialect of East Midlands English is extensively spoken, in which the name is pronounced /ˈeɪswʊd/.

There is some evidence to suggest that the land around Eastwood was occupied in the Middle and Late Palaeolithic periods. Stronger indications of later settlement include fragments of characteristic Bronze Age pottery, weapons, and dug-out canoes, now preserved at Nottingham Castle, and at the University of Nottingham.^[3] The location of the settlement is due primarily to the availability of rich agricultural land, the proximity of the River Erewash and – most importantly – the extensive and easily mined coal deposits.^[3] It is mentioned in Domesday Book as "Estewic", part of the fee of William Peverel:^[4]

In Estewic [Ulfketel] had 4 bovates of land [assessed] to the geld. [There is] land [...] It is waste. William [Peverel] has the custody of it. [There is] woodland pasture 3 furlongs long and 3 broad. In King Edward's time it was worth 5 shillings.

– Domesday Book

During the reign of Henry I (1100 -1135), William Peverel was confirmed in possession of his estates, but his son, William Peverel the Younger, forfeited these to the Crown in 1155.^[3] The estates were eventually divided, much of the land around Eastwood being given to the Greys of Codnor Castle. Tenant farming prevailed throughout the Middle Ages, whilst common pasture was mainly used for grazing.

When King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603, Eastwood had a population of about 170, and it remained a small village until the 18th century when, in 1779, the Trent Navigation Company opened the Erewash Canal.^[5][6] This was one of the first man made waterways in England, with locks at Beeston linking Eastwood to the River Trent and Nottingham, and its arrival led to a rapid expansion of the local coal mining industry. Other industries soon followed, including framework knitting, corn milling, pottery, brewing, rope making and brick making.

The town expanded rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and in the 19th century it experienced the greatest increase in population density of any parish in Nottinghamshire.^[7] By 1880 the population had increased to 4,500.^[8] Factories were built to accommodate the new industries, land becoming available for them as the rural population moved to urban areas. This industrialisation of the countryside was only restricted from the early 19th century, when, somewhat belatedly, the effect of the Enclosures began to be felt in Nottinghamshire.^[3] In a local manifestation of this period of upheaval, marchers of the Pentrich Revolution of 1817 passed through the town, and were met by soldiers at nearby Giltbrook: the residents of Eastwood boarded up their houses and hid in the woods.

In 1832, a historic meeting took place at the Sun Inn (built 1750), which resulted in the creation of the Midland Counties Railway, and the construction of a line from Pinxton to Leicester. Industrialisation continued with the opening in 1868 of Moorgreen Colliery, and in 1875 the demand for coal resulted in the construction of a line to Eastwood, running from the Great Northern Railway line between Nottingham and Sheffield. (that sort of looks right from the map at [1], but more detailed examination needed?) A passenger station was provided for Eastwood, but this closed in 19xx.^{[citation needed re closure - if there was a station, it ain't there now!][9]}

D.H. Lawrence was born in Eastwood in 1885, and the local area is mentioned in many of his novels, especially The White Peacock, against a backdrop of industrialisation. There were ten coal mines, or "pits", within easy walking distance of his home, and an overwhelming majority of the local male population were colliers.^[10] As Lawrence was growing up, the coal boom was ending. Nonetheless Eastwood continued to expand, Nottingham Road and its feeder streets becoming established as a shopping area, and local administration was modernised with the establishment in 1908 of an Urban District Council centred on the town. However, few jobs remained outside the coal industry. Most women were housewives, and boys were desperate to reach the age of fourteen, when they could start working in the mines. In the early 20th century, trams provided a new means of transport, connecting Eastwood with Nottingham, Ripley and Heanor. Lawrence lived next to the line, and described it as the most dangerous tram service in England.^{[citation needed]}

During the two world wars, Eastwood coal, metal castings, rope, wire and agricultural products made valuable contributions. In the Second World War, Eastwood supplied soldiers to the Sherwood Foresters Regiment. A memorial on Nottingham Road commemorates Eastwood residents who gave their lives in both world wars.^[8]

In 1946 the coal industry was nationalised, and the new National Coal Board acquired Eastwood Hall as their Area Office. This later became their National Office, and was the location for several crisis meetings during the national Miners' Strike of the 1980s. At its height of production in 1963, Moorgreen Colliery alone produced one million tons of coal, but the last coal mine in the area closed in 1985.^[9]

In recent years, tourism has become increasingly important. Lawrence's birthplace is now a museum, and a painted line on the pavement, called the ‘Blue Line Trail’, guides visitors around eleven sites of local interest, including three of Lawrence's homes. The trail was the first of its kind in England, the concept being based on the Freedom Trail in Boston, USA.^[11]

[edit] References