Woodville, Derbyshire
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Woodville is a busy South Derbyshire village just outside Swadlincote in Derbyshire, England. The centre of the village, known as the Tollgate, is a busy traffic island on the A511.
History
Formerly known as Wooden Box, named after the wooden toll booth on the toll road from Ashby de la Zouch to Burton-upon-Trent. The area around the roundabout, which is the modern equivalent of the toll booth, is still known as 'Tollgate'. The name Woodville first appeared in a leaflet issued when the foundation stone of St Stephen's church was laid on 7 November 1845.[1]
The Woodville area is rich in heritage with a wide variety of industries such as potteries, crate-making, pipe works, breweries, rope-making and railways all having had a presence in the area which is now either totally gone or extremely diminished.[2]
Notable residents
- John Hurt,the actor, lived in Woodville from the ages of five to thirteen. His father was the vicar of St Stephen's church.
Public Amenities
Woodville High Street (which forms part of the A511) has a small shopping area incorporating a convenience store, a pharmacy and a fish and chip shop. Also located on the High Street side of the road are additional food outlets, including a Chinese takeaway, a further fish and chip shop, and Indian and Chinese restaurants.
There is a village post office together with further shops and light industrial and commercial units.
Woodville has a 24 hour petrol station, incorporating a convenience store, and a tyre and exhaust centre which is located on the Tollgate roundabout.
Woodville has an active Scout Group in based in the village. For more information Click Here
Woodville has two schools catering for Primary aged children. Woodville Infant school and Woodville C. of E. Junior School. For more information Click Here. Both schools are situated off the High Street.
Local Geography
On some approaches it is difficult to tell where the village starts and ends as it is well incorporated into the urban sprawl of the surrounding towns and villages, including Midway and Swadlincote.
On the northern edge of Woodville is the Goseley Estate, which was constructed during the 1950s. There has been much development of the surrounding area with large private estates of new homes having been constructed.
To the south of Woodville, along the county border with Leicestershire, a large community of new houses is being developed (unofficially referred to as 'Woodville Woodlands') by the developers Bloor Homes[3] and Bryant Homes[4]. This development is constructed on the former land of the Woodville Pipe Works and incorporates the planting of new trees on the former fire clay pit as part of the National Forest scheme.[5]
The Mount Pleasant works operated by John Knowles & Company, demolished in 1993, produced pottery and has also been replaced by a housing development. A fortuitous discovery by archaeologists has led to the presevation of some of its records[6].
Local Sports
Woodville is home to Woodville Rangers Football Club which was founded in 2005 and caters for all age groups from 4 up to adult. Their nickname is 'The Tollers' after the famous toll gate which was situated in Woodville for many years. The club badge depicts the toll house.
Woodville Rangers gained FA Charter Standard status early in 2008. The club details can be found at their website, www.woodvillerangers.co.uk
References
- ^ A Brief History of Knowles [John Knowles & Co (Wooden Box) Ltd], no date, page 3
- ^ Local Heritage Initiative Website http://www.lhi.org.uk/projects_directory/projects_by_region/east_midlands/derbyshire/woodville_heritage_project/woodvilles.html
- ^ Developers Website http://www.bloorhomes.com/developments/derbyshire/the-hollies/summary/120869.aspx
- ^ Developers Website http://www.bryant.co.uk/Midlands/TheCoppice
- ^ The National Forest http://www.nationalforest.org/grow_for/index.html
- ^ Archaeological report
External links
Media related to Woodville, Derbyshire at Wikimedia Commons