Swanwick, Derbyshire

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Swanwick
Swanwick Hall
Swanwick shown within Derbyshire
OS grid reference	SK404532
District	Amber Valley
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ALFRETON
Postcode district	DE55
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire

Coordinates: 53°04′30″N 1°23′53″W / 53.075, -1.398

St. Andrews Church

Swanwick is a village in Derbyshire, England, an urban district of Alfreton, part of the Amber Valley district, with a population of 4,198 (1991 census).

Swanwick Hayes, now the Hayes Conference Centre was constructed in the 1850s as the home of Mr Fitzherbert Wright. In the early 1900s, it was converted into a conference centre, and operates as such to this day. The Hayes gained notoriety during World War Two, when it served as a POW camp for both German and Italian prisoners. Franz Von Werra, a Luftwaffe officer, escaped from here; he was recaptured at nearby RAF Hucknall, whilst trying to steal an aircraft. A film entitled The One That Got Away, and starring Hardy Krüger, was made of his exploits.

[edit] Schools

The village has four schools: Swanwick Hall, Swanwick Primary, Swanwick Pre-School and The Delves. It also has a church next to Swanwick Hall, St Andrews, as well as Methodist and Baptist churches.

There are several families that seem to figure highly in Swanwick's long history. The Turners were once major local industrialists but they faded out in the 18th century. It was Elizabeth Turner who, in 1740, had a school built to provide education for 20 children from poor families. The school house is now a private residence. Another family was the Woods, who occupied an early 17th century building in what is known as Wood's yard. It was a substantial yeoman's residence of 1678, on evidence of a date stone high up on the dormer gables, along with the crest adopted by the Wood family.

The Wood family, who were the owners of substantial land and mineral rights, later moved into the present Hall in Swanwick. Hugo Wood lived there with his family, and a nationally famous painting of his children by Joseph Wright of Derby, used to hang in its dining room. The Hall opened as a secondary school in 1922, the Derbyshire County Council having bought it 2 years earlier after the death of Hugo Young.

[edit] Beauchief ESU

Swanwick is also host to a number of youth organisations including Beachief Explorer Scout Unit, whose new headquarters is currently being constructed and due to open later in 2007. Their name is derived from a group of Monks that used to meet in Sheffield and stayed for a brief time in the Hayes Conference Centre. The founding leaders are Steve Clarke and Sandra Stew.