Wilford is a village close to the centre the city of Nottingham, UK, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been described as a semi-rural village in a city. The village is bounded to the north and west by the River Trent and to the east by the embankment of the now closed Great Central Railway. The now demolished Wilford Power Station was located on the bank of the River Trent.
To some with longer memories Wilford should be called South Wilford.
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Wilford Church is a fellowship, and part of the Church of England, that meets, worships and prays together in Wilford, Nottingham. The Wilford Church Family has a membership of around 300. The church's formal name is St Wilfrid's and it has a parish area that covers Wilford, Silverdale, Nottingham and a large part of the Compton Acres estate. There are two Church of England Schools in Wilford..
Saint Wilfrid lived in the area from 634 to 709 A.D. He was for many years Bishop of York and his diocese included Nottinghamshire. He baptised in this area and it is quite likely that he baptised in the ford near the present-day Wilford church.
The Church contains two memorials to the Nottingham poet Henry Kirke White who drew much of his inspiration from the Wilford and Clifton areas of Nottingham.
Within the area of Wilford, there are two Primary Schools
There is also a small nursery that is run within the Church Hall within the village.
But also within greater Wilford, there are a further two Secondary Schools
(Greater Wilford including parts of Rushcliffe, east of the village)
Wilford has numerous sports clubs for football, rugby, basketball, bowls and archery.
Wilford incorporates a local branch of the Co-operative Local Stores, a Social and Bowls Club, The Ferry Inn (a branch of the Chef and Brewer Restautant chain), and The Wilford Farm Harvester (a restaurant of the Harvester chain). There is also the headquarters of the Architects and Surveyors company, Gleeds. There are also many companies based at Wilford Industrial Estate; including Seriff, a large supplies distribution company.
Within a short walk of the village, is the Gresham Sports Pavilion which includes an all purpose and weather football pitch, and indoor changing facilities. Across the Toll Bridge is also Victoria Embankment, which includes the annual Riverside Festival, War Memorial and park, and Children's Play-area and large paddling pool.
The Nottingham village of Wilford is believed to have been named after an amalgamation of the church name, St. Wilfrids and an ancient ford at the site which crossed the River Trent (i.e.'Wil' - 'Ford'). William The Conqueror's Domesday Book contains a 1086 entry referring to the settlement as 'Wilesforde'. At that time the lands were owned by William Pevrel who also owned the lands of nearby Clifton. He must have been very important as he lived in Nottingham Castle. 'Wilesforde' had a fishery, a priest and 23 sokemen (general land administrators). The land passed to the Clifton Family in the 13th Century.
The village was certainly in existence in Roman times as many Roman coins have been unearthed in the area. A submerged Roman ford was found in the river in 1900. It consisted of a paved path with rows of black oak piles on each side. Wilford is also located within what was once the southern tip of Sherwood Forest, the stomping ground of the legendary Nottingham hero, Robin Hood.
The chiefly agricultural village was unaffected by the growth of Nottingham until the middle of the 19th century. Prior to this, the dense woodlands and picturesque river views made Wilford a popular retreat for many Nottingham people. The Wilford Ferry Inn was a particular favorite and was renowned for its cherries. Wilford was a beautiful place and attracted writers, poets and authors from all over the county. In 1846 the poet Spencer Hall wrote 'Who ever saw Wilford without wishing to become an inmate of one of its peaceful woodbined homes.'
The communities of Wilford and Clifton were remarkable in that they managed to detach themselves from the effects of the nearby town. One early 19th century traveller to Wilford commented, 'the rural manners of the inhabitants have been preserved to a great degree from the leaven of the town; and nothing can be more striking than the contrast of life in so short a transition. There is nothing, absolutely nothing - in the village itself to denote its proximity to the town.'
In 1870 the Wilford of Henry Kirke-White changed forever when the meadows and woodlands on the opposite river bank were industrialized by the Clifton Colliery. Coal dust can still be seen today on the partially blackened stone work of St. Wilfrids Church. In 1880 Thomas Miller (a popular author of over fifty books) wrote of Wilford 'Where are the famous cherry eatings of Wilford now? The poetry around the neighbourhood is fast fading.'. John T. Godfrey described Wilfords decline twenty-eight years later:- 'Wilford has lost much of its pristine beauty. Fire and Tempest, devastating floods and the decay of nature, have ... wrought sad havoc ... old thatched cottages have given place to modern brick buildings which do not fail to offend the artistic eye; the majestic elms have all been decimated ... a colliery which works its way beneath the meadows on the opposite side of the river rears its hideous Hydra-like head'.
In 1887 an act of Parliament split the parish into North Wilford & South Wilford. The Meadows area, once covered in bright Corcuses became a housing estate. By 1901, four and a half thousand people lived in the Meadows, almost ten times the population of the entire Wilford area in 1801.
In the 1950s Wilford itself expanded in line with Clifton from an agricultural community to a suburban housing estate. The Silverdale housing estate (named after a farm that covered part of the land) not only swallowed up much of Wilford's farm land. It also expanded the southern boundary of Wilford. The huge ugly gray Clifton Bridge and its busy approach roads on the opposite banks of the Trent and another housing estate in 1986 ended Wilford's pretense as a country village. The new housing estate, equal in size to Silverdale, called Compton Acres, sadly built over a very pleasant and fertile meadow area between the original Wilford village and the Silverdale estate.
Its quite disturbing today to read so many accounts of Wilford's lost beauty when compared to the modern Wilford. Large housing estates, wide busy roads and empty featureless playing fields occupy most of the surrounding lands. Clifton Grove still retains some of its charm and gives an insight into the Wilford of previous centuries.
The original Wilford village is today however strangely quiet. It is detached from Nottingham by the River Trent and no longer on the direct traffic route from Nottingham after the conversion of the Wilford Toll Bridge to a foot bridge in the early 1970s. The Clifton Colliery is no more and in its place are a number of less intrusive commercial sites. The avenues and roads are full of eye catching, interesting and cosy looking spacious buildings and cottages. They all seem unique, with a half hidden ivy window here, a colourful stain glass window there or even a set of grand white pillars flanking a porch entrance!
Mary Bates lived in The Grange (now Grange Close) and notably used her surrounding environment as basis for her works.
Laura Knight, Mary Bates cousin, visited the village many times with her cousin, basing much of her work also on the surrounding environment.
Captain John Deane lived in the village, was and adventurer/mercenary who owned a galley named The Nottingham, of which sank off the coast of New England. He was famous at the time for his crew resorting to canablism, he was also instrumental in setting up a Navy in Russia for Peter the Great. He is buried in grounds of Wilford Church.
William Wilberforce lived in Wilford for a short time whilst writing his bill for the abolition of slavery.
Jeremiah Brandreth - revolutionary, was born here in 1790.[1] He was the last person to be decapitated with an axe for treason.[2]
Benjamin Carter founded the local Primary School, whilst also establishing much housing and charitable help throughout Wilford.
In 1908, Jesse Boot built the Dorothy Boot Homes in Wilford, for veterans of the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. They consisted of 11 almshouses with a clubroom and library.
The last public lynching tree was located at the Wilford Crossroads.
Wilford Church's black stone composure is mainly because of the black smoke from the previous power station, and coal dust from the Clifton Colliery located where the meadows is now, across the river.
Wilford is home to a number of nature reserves - two being Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) managed by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Wilford also has a number of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
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