Heanor

Heanor
Heanor Town Hall (left), with St Lawrence's Church (right)
Heanor
Heanor shown within Derbyshire
Population	17,251 Whole administrative parish (2011 census)[1]
OS grid reference	SK433465
Civil parish	Heanor and Loscoe
District	Amber Valley
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HEANOR
Postcode district	DE75
Dialling code	01773
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Amber Valley

Heanor ( /ˈhiːnə/) is a town in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. It lies 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Derby. Together with the adjacent village of Loscoe it forms the civil parish and town council-administered area of Heanor and Loscoe, which in the 2011 census had a population of 17,251.

History

The name Heanor derives from the Old English hēan (the dative form of hēah) and ofer, and means "[place at] the high ridge". In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Hainoure,^[2] with its entry stating:

6M In CODNOR and Heanor and Langley [in Heanor] and 'Smithycote' [in Codnor Park] 8 thegns had 7 carucates of land to the geld [before 1066]. [There is] land for as many ploughs. There are now 3 ploughs in demesne; and 11 villans and 2 bordars and 3 sokemen having 5½ ploughs. There is a church, and 1 mill [rendering]12d , and 35 acres (140,000 m²) of meadow, [and] woodland pasture 2 leagues long and 3 furlongs broad. TRE^[3] worth £4 sterling; now 41s 4d [£2.2] per year. Warner holds it.^[4]

Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of England, published in 1848, stated that Heanor parish "abounds with coal and ironstone, both worked extensively, the collieries alone affording employment to more than 2000 persons. The town is pleasantly situated upon an eminence, on the road from Derby to Mansfield. The principal articles of manufacture are silk and cotton goods, hosiery, and bobbinet lace, providing occupation to about 800 persons." The parish then covered 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) and was in the union of Basford and the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, with Heanor town itself covering 1,500 acres (610 ha) and containing 3,058 inhabitants. The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, was "a very ancient edifice, with a lofty substantial tower, from which is an extensive view," though the dictionary noted that there were also "places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Ranters".^[5]

Heanor Market Place was developed in the 1890s, following the break-up of the Heanor Hall estate by the Miller Mundy family of nearby Shipley Hall (the Market Place site had been part of Heanor Hall Park). Until this development the main focus of market trading activity had been at Tag Hill.^[6]

Governance

Civic history

The parish of Heanor formed a local board in about 1850 to provide services in the town. In 1895, under the Local Government Act 1894, the board's area became an urban district. In 1899 Heanor Urban District was enlarged with the addition of the neighbouring parish of Codnor and Loscoe.^[7][8] The urban district continued in existence until 1974, when it became part of the new non-metropolitan district of Amber Valley under the Local Government Act 1972.^[9] Heanor Urban District had been an unparished area,^[9] but in 1984 three new civil parishes were created within Amber Valley, with Heanor placed within the civil parish of Heanor and Loscoe (the other 2 parishes being Aldercar and Langley Mill and Codnor). In 1987 Heanor and Loscoe Parish Council resolved to designate the parish a town,^{[n 1]} so Heanor and Loscoe is governed by a town council, headed by a town mayor.

Current

Since 1984 Heanor has had three tiers of local government: Derbyshire County Council at the county level (the top tier), Amber Valley Borough Council at the district level (the middle tier), and Heanor and Loscoe Town Council at the parish level (the bottom tier). Heanor falls into two single-member electoral divisions of the County Council, Greater Heanor and Heanor Central. Following the elections of 2013, both divisions are represented by members of the Labour Party.^[10] For representation within Amber Valley Borough Council, Heanor and Loscoe civil parish is divided into three electoral wards (Heanor East, Heanor West, and Heanor and Loscoe) that each elect two councillors; as of 2014 all six councillors were from the Labour Party.^[11]

Geography

Measured directly, Heanor town is 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Derby and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) westnorthwest of Nottingham.^[12][13] It is sited on a hill between about 65 metres (213 ft) and 125 metres (410 ft) above sea-level.^[14] It is within the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield National Character Area, as defined by Natural England.^[15]

Heanor and Loscoe civil parish includes all of Heanor town except Heanor Gate Science College and a few surrounding streets on the western edge of town (near the road to Smalley), Heanor Gate Industrial Estate to the south west, and a small area of houses on the town's southeasterly fringe, near the main road to Ilkeston. The college and surrounding streets, plus half the industrial estate, are within Smalley civil parish; the other areas are within the civil parish of Shipley.^[14]

The Market Place

Heanor and Loscoe civil parish contains no conservation areas, though 30% of the area is within a green belt, and there is one nature reserve and four wildlife sites, all of local significance.^[16]

Economy

The most important economic sector in the town, employing more than 20% of the working population, is manufacturing, with the retail sector almost as significant, employing over 17%. Coal mining and textiles used to be the major industries of the town, but both of these have declined. In December 2013 the unemployment rate was 2.3% in Heanor East and Heanor and Loscoe wards, and 3.5% in Heanor West ward. The average for England at this time was 2.8%.^[16]

The Matthew Walker factory in Heanor Gate Industrial Park, famous for the production of Christmas puddings, was sold in 1992 to become part of the Northern Foods Group. Other companies on the park include Advanced Composites Group, Cullum Detuners Ltd and Isolated Systems Ltd. In 2011 the 2 Sisters Food Group purchased Northern Foods. The Matthew Walker factory is now a part of the 2 Sisters Chilled Division.

Retail chains with a presence in the town include Tesco,^[16] Aldi,^[17] Argos^[18] and Brantano.^[19] A small outdoor market takes place in the town on Fridays and Saturdays.^[20]

Heanor merges into Langley Mill.

Demography

In the 2011 census Heanor and Loscoe civil parish had 7,512 dwellings,^[21] 7,221 households and a population of 17,251.^[1] 18.7 per cent of residents were under the age of 16 (compared to 18.9 per cent for England as a whole) and 16.5 per cent of residents were aged 65 or over (compared to 16.4% for England as a whole).^[22] Like the Amber Valley as a whole, the population was found to be ethnically less diverse than the average for England; 1.84 per cent of residents were of non-white ethnicity (England: 14.58 per cent).^[23] Christianity was the most prevalent stated religious affiliation (56.4 per cent; England: 59.4 per cent); 35.6 per cent stated they had no religion (England: 24.7 per cent).^[24]

Education

Heanor has two infant schools (Corfield Church of England Infant School and Marlpool Infant School), three primary schools (Coppice Primary School, Howitt Primary Community School and Loscoe Church of England Primary School), two junior schools (Marlpool Junior School and Mundy Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School) and two secondary schools (Heanor Community College and Heanor Gate Science College).^[16] Heanor Grammar School, which was just to the east of the market place, is now part of Derby College. A book on the history of the school was published in 2008.^[25]

Sport and leisure

Shipley Hill, part of Shipley Country Park to the south of the town

Shipley Country Park, a steep wooded knoll bordering the south and west of the town, has its own riding school and three lakes surrounding it. It consists of most of the former estate of the Miller-Mundy family who lived until the 1920s at Shipley Hall (demolished in the 1940s). It was then sold for intensive open-pit mining: open-cast and deep-seam mining by what became the National Coal Board, before being restored and handed to the county council in the 1970s.

The local football team is known as The Lions – Heanor Town Football Club. Established in 1883, the club is a member of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division. It also has a youth team called Heanor Juniors. Famous ex-players include Nigel Clough, who went on to play for Nottingham Forest}, Liverpool and Manchester City. He is now the manager of Burton Albion;^[26] and Nigel Pearson, who after leaving Heanor captained Sheffield Wednesday to a League Cup win over Manchester United at Wembley, is formerly the manager at Leicester City.

The Lions share grounds with Heanor Town Cricket Club.

Heanor Clarion Cycling Club was founded in 1934.^[27]

Transport

The nearest station is at Langley Mill two miles away, which has services to Nottingham, Sheffield and beyond. Formerly the Midland Railway had a line between Shipley Gate and Butterley that passed through Heanor (closed to passengers in 1926), and the Great Northern Railway had a branch line which terminated in a goods yard and small station in Heanor (closed in 1928, though temporarily revived in 1939).

Bus routes link Heanor with larger towns in the area such as Nottingham, Derby and Mansfield. Major bus operators serving Heanor include Trent Barton and Yourbus

The nearest international airport is East Midlands Airport, south of Derby.

Media

The local newspaper which serves, amongst others, the communities of Ripley, Heanor, Marlpool, Loscoe, Waingroves, Aldercar, Crosshill and Codnor is the 'Ripley and Heanor News'. However, its circulation area is not limited to these towns and villages and could be considered to extend from Whatstandwell in the west, to Brinsley in the east; from South Normanton in the north, to Coxbench in the south. It is published each Thursday.

Notable residents

St Lawrence's Church

• Billy Bestwick (1875–1938), cricketer, was born in Heanor.
• George William Bissill (1896–1973), painter, grew up in Langley Mill and attended school in Heanor.^[28]
• Sir Richard William Barnes Clarke (1910–1975), journalist and civil servant, was born in Heanor.^[29]
• Henry Garnet (1555–1606), Jesuit, born in Heanor, was executed for involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.^[30]
• William Gregg (1890–1969), born and died in Heanor, was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in 1918.^[31]
• The Howitt brothers: William Howitt (1792–1879), author,^[32] Richard, poet (1799–1869) and Godfrey, entomologist, (1800–1873) were born in Heanor.
• Mary Howitt (1799–1888), author, lived in Heanor.
• Douglas Keen (27 October 1913 – 6 November 2008), designer of Ladybird Books, lived in Heanor and created the first title in the kitchen of his house there.^[33][34]
• Samuel Roper (died 1658), antiquary, was born in Heanor.^[35]
• Edward Smith (1819–1874), physician, medical writer and dietician, was born in Heanor.^[36]
• John Varley (1740–1809), canal engineer, supervised construction of the Chesterfield Canal, born in Heanor.
• Samuel Watson (c. 1662–1715), sculptor, was born in Heanor.^[37]

Notable buildings

There are ten structures in Heanor and Loscoe civil parish listed by Historic England as of particular architectural or historical interest: two in Loscoe and eight in Heanor. None is listed as Grade I, but the Church of St Lawrence in Heanor is listed as Grade II*. The other nine are listed as Grade II.^[38] St Lawrence's has 15th-century origins, but was altered in 1866–68 and about 1980.^[39]

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heanor.

• Heanor and District Local History Society
• Ripley and Heanor News
• Heanor news from the Derby Telegraph
• Langley Mill heritage Group