Upper Saxondale

Upper Saxondale
Upper Saxondale
Upper Saxondale shown within Nottinghamshire
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town NOTTINGHAM
Postcode district NG12
Dialling code 0115
Police Nottinghamshire
Fire Nottinghamshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK Parliament

Upper Saxondale is a residential area situated mainly in the parish of Radcliffe on Trent, in the Nottinghamshire borough of Rushcliffe. A section also falls within the parish of Cropwell Butler. Upper Saxondale is located in an upland area set between the River Trent and the Vale of Belvoir and between the A52 road and the A46 road close to their junction at Saxondale Roundabout near Bingham. The nearby hamlet of Saxondale was the site of an Anglo-Saxon fort and earthworks, clearly visible from the A52 road.

Growth and features

Upper Saxondale was developed on the site of the former Saxondale Hospital[1] by David Wilson Homes from about 1995 to 2001. It includes some 350 dwellings, ranging from three-bedroom converted hospital buildings to newly built five to six-bedroom detached houses. There is also a restaurant-bar called Sanctuary, a hairdresser, tennis club and bowling green. The estate is surrounded by parkland, much of it owned by Upper Saxondale Residents' Association.[2]

Upper Saxondale has a designated conservation area of 30 hectares. The boundary of this encompasses the former Saxondale Hospital site and includes extensive semi-wooded grounds, parkland landscape and fine trees.

The chapel was built in 1902 to the designs of E. W. Roberts, then County Architect, for use by hospital staff and patients. The small Gothic Revival building is home to the Catalyst Church (part of Christian Growth International).

David Wilson Homes originally called the development St James Park, but a change of name to Upper Saxondale was voted at a Residents' Association meeting in 1999. Upper Saxondale also includes original houses in Saxondale Drive, which are not part of the development.

Today the site is a blend of old and new. The conversions of the Victorian buildings, the mature parkland, its core of community buildings and its public open spaces amount to a residential area of an unusual character and quality.

The rare Flame Brocade moth (Trigonophora flammea) has been spotted at Upper Saxondale.

There are several ghost stories relating to the area. One has a troop of Roman soldiers marching up Henson Lane. The ghost of Lady Elinor Denison is said to haunt the grounds.

King Henry VII is said to have camped on land to the west during the Battle of Stoke Field.

A RAF bomber crashed close to Upper Saxondale during WW2. The site is marked by five mature trees set out in the shape of a cross in the middle of a field close to the main Saxondale Drive. The impact made a slight hollow and piles of earth are still clearly visible. The site was originally marked with a memorial stone, although this has now been removed.

Saxondale Hospital

Nurses at Saxondale Hospital

The hospital was the county asylum for Nottinghamshire, and used as a military hospital during World War I from August 1918 to October 1919, to care for shell-shocked soldiers.[3] It was built to replace Sneinton Asylum. The foundation stone was laid on 25 July 1899. The new building — designed by architect E. Purnell Hooley, better known as the inventor of Tarmac — was two stories high, cost £147,000 and had accommodation for 452 patients (226 of each sex). The 130 acres (0.53 km2) surrounding the hospital cost £6,800. It was officially opened 24 July 1902 by Lady Elinor Denison. In 1913 extensions were made for 148 patients, which cost £29,833. In 1920, Charlie Chaplin was admitted to Saxondale Hospital suffering from depression. In 1932, two further blocks were erected, each to accommodate 50 female patients. In 1955, two further villas were built, one to accommodate 36 females and the other 36 males. The hospital closed in 1987 and was partly demolished prior to redevelopment.[4]

A woman alleged in June 2014 that Jimmy Savile lifted her skirt when she was at a disco at the hospital and then aged 14. She was a local resident rather than a patient. Savile had a fundraising association with Saxondale Hospital from 1972 to the early 1980s.[5] The official report on the incident stated, "There was no reason to doubt that she gave an honest and truthful account of the incident as she recalled it."[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Saxondale Hospital". County Asylums. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  2. ↑ "Upper Saxondale Residents Association". Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  3. ↑ http://www.1914-1918.net/hospitals_uk.htm . Retrieved 2007-08-10
  4. ↑ "Index of English and Welsh Lunatic Asylums and Mental Hospitals". Middlesex University. Archived from the original on 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  5. ↑ Jimmy Savile and the NHS Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  6. ↑ The Guardian, 26 June 2014 Retrieved 27 January 2017.
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