West Stockwith

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West Stockwith
West Stockwith shown within Nottinghamshire
OS grid reference	SK790947
District	Bassetlaw
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DONCASTER
Postcode district	DN10
Dialling code	01427
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Newark
List of places: UK • England • Nottinghamshire

Coordinates: 53°27′00″N 0°49′59″W / 53.45, -0.833

West Stockwith is a village within the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England.

East Stockwith is a settlement close by, but within the county boundaries of Lincolnshire.

[edit] Etymology

Unlike other places in the region which have "-with" in their names, which is usually from Old Norse vīōr "wood", cognate withe Old English wudu "wood", the second element here is Old Norse wath "ford, river crossing", as seen in Wath upon Dearne. The first element is less clear: it is either Old English stocc "tree-trunk" or stoc "village, outlying farmstead" (as seen in Stoke-on-Trent and Stoke Poges. The name was recorded as Wessockiv in 1139.

Today West Stockwith is a village with one main street and a few side roads, one cul-de-sac of ex-farm-workers villas and another with among other buildings of note, the ex-vicarage. There are signs still of its industrial past with the well preserved "Water Lanes" which allow access from the road to the banks of the River Trent, even via a ginnel under part of one property. The industry related to the River has gone, so too the original work related to the Chesterfield Canal which reaches the Trent at the Basin. This is now the home of river cruisers and narrow boats to hire and for leisure. The river was once home to many of the workers and there were once upwards of eleven public houses, many the front rooms of cottages today, which still contain evidence of their past use. Only two pubs remain although the Yacht Club in the basin caters to the boating fraternity and holds various events over the year. Sadly the Hospital Day which was traditionally held in May to raise money by children dressing up and decorating floats (farmers' wagons usually) is no more. Of the industry that replaced that related to the water, there are locally grass and potato merchants and the former Trent-side Chemical works is now an industrial park with a variety of businesses, from engineering and motor-cycle related works to some boat building enterprises. One local public house, the White Hart has started a micro-brewery and sells to other pubs in the area and further afield. The school has also closed and both that building and the former Masters Premises are now private houses.