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| Ilkeston | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
  Ilkeston Location withinDerbyshire | |
| Population | 40,953 (2021)[1] |
| Demonym | Ilkestonian[2][3] |
| OS grid reference | SK 46399 41774 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Areas of the town | List
|
| Post town | ILKESTON |
| Postcode district | DE7 |
| Dialling code | 0115 |
| Police | Derbyshire |
| Fire | Derbyshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Ilkeston (/ˈɪlkəstən/ ⓘILL-kis-tun) is a town located in theBorough of Erewash inDerbyshire, England, with a population of 40,953 at the 2021census.[1] Its major industries,coal mining,iron working andlace making/textiles, have now all but disappeared. Part of theNottingham Urban Area, the town is located between the citiesDerby andNottingham, near theM1 motorway, and on theRiver Erewash. Its eastern boundary bordersNottinghamshire to the east and is only two miles from Nottingham's western edge.
Ilkeston was likely founded during the 6th century, and gets its name from its supposed founder Elch or Elcha, who was anAnglian chieftain. The town appears as Tilchestune in theDomesday Book of 1086, when it was owned principally by Gilbert de Ghent. Gilbert also controlled nearbyShipley,West Hallam andStanton by Dale.[4] Ilkeston was created a borough by Queen Victoria in 1887.
Ilkeston is one of several places where the distinctive dialect ofEast Midlands English is extensively spoken. Ilkeston is referred to as 'Ilson' in this dialect.[5] Generally the name is pronounced with three syllables,Ilkisstun, notIlk's tun.
The American Adventure, a large theme park which closed in 2007, was located on the outskirts of Ilkeston on the former Woodside Colliery adjoiningShipley Country Park.
NatWest's Ilkeston branch gained much media interest when a hole in a neighbouring wall received an influx of reviews onTripadvisor, causing them to suspend reviews in February 2020.[6]
One of the biggest and most important local employers was the Stanton Ironworks, later known asStanton and Staveley – the continuation of a long-standing tradition of iron working in this area. There has been evidence of iron working and quarrying in the area sinceRoman times, and the industry began blossoming into a huge industrial concern in the 1780s. By the mid-19th century there were several blast furnaces and the production rose from around 500 tons of pig iron per month to 7,000 at the end of the century. The Stanton Ironworks acquired a number of smaller ironstone quarrying and ironworks companies. These included theWellingborough Iron Company in 1932.[7]
Steel pipe manufacturing began at Stanton afterWorld War I and later concrete pipes were produced, Stanton being the first in the UK to develop the 'spun pipe' process.
In the mid-19th century the works produced 20,000 tons of iron castings per year, 2.5 millions by 1905. Up to 12,500 people were employed during the period when the works were part of British Steel Corporation, of which 7,000 worked at the Stanton works.[8][9]
During its long existence the works produced huge quantities of a variety of products, including pig iron, tunnel castings, (used in projects such as theLondon Underground), pipes and street furniture as well as bitumen, roadstone, chemicals and munition casings.
The works gradually declined, the business being run from 1985 by the FrenchSaint-Gobain Group. The last casting was an emotional event in 2007.[10] The huge Stanton site has been partially given over to business park and the rest of the site is earmarked for redevelopment which is subject to local opposition.[11]
Ilkeston Market Place is the site of aCharter fair.[12] The fair celebrated its 772nd anniversary in 2024, the Charter being granted byKing Henry III in 1252. This makes the fair older thanNottingham's famousGoose Fair and it is one of the largest street fairs in the Country, indeed in Europe.
The present fair developed from two separate fairs, as another 'agricultural hiring fair' or 'Statutes Fair' was traditionally held onWakes week in October as well as the original Charter Fair which was held on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August). The two fairs were combined in 1888 and the one Charter Fair has been held in October ever since.
Since 1931 the fair has been officially opened by the Mayor - first of Ilkeston and since 1974 ofErewash - on the Fair Thursday at noon with the Town Clerk (Chief Executive) reading the Charter from the steps of the Town Hall.
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From early in the 19th century the existence of natural mineral waters was noted here and exploited. A local businessman Thomas Potter built, in 1831, the famous Ilkeston Bath at the bottom of Town Street attached to the Rutland Hotel.[13] For over 60 years the baths helped tourism to the town at a time when spa towns like Bath and Harrogate enjoyed popularity. 'If you're doubled in pain and thin as a lath, Come at once then and try, the famed Ilkeston Bath,' was a well known advertising slogan. A mixture of a general decline in the popularity of spa bathing and, reportedly, contamination of the waters from mining activities led to the eventual closure of the baths just before 1900. The baths and the adjacent Rutland Hotel, which also enjoyed a revenue from tourism, no longer exist though they are remembered in the name of 'Bath Street'.
Ilkeston did not have a railway station from 1967 to 2017, despite its substantial population and the fact that theErewash Valley Line (formerly part of theMidland Railway, later theLMS) skirts the eastern edge of the town. Ilkeston once had three railway stations.Ilkeston Junction station, also known as "Ilkeston Junction & Cossall" was on the former Midland Railway and laterLMS Erewash Valley Main Line: this station closed in January 1967. A short branch led from this station toIlkeston Town station, at the north end of Bath Street, which closed to passengers in June 1947.
Ilkeston's third station wasIlkeston North, on the formerGreat Northern Railway (laterLNER) line from Nottingham toDerby Friargate station, closed in September 1964. A major feature of this line wasBennerley Viaduct, a 1,452-foot (443 m) long, 61-foot (19 m) high, wrought iron structure which still crosses the Erewash valley just to the north east of Ilkeston. Once threatened with demolition, it is now a Grade 2 listed building, though the line and embankments have long since been removed. The Viaduct has been the subject of much renewed interest and has been reopened to the public as part of a cycleway and footpath.[14]
Following a long-running local campaign, in March 2013 Transport SecretaryPatrick McLoughlin announced that Ilkeston was one of three sites 'most likely' to get a new station as part of the 'New Stations Fund', costing £5 million and sited close to the oldIlkeston Junction station.[15] On 15 May 2013 it was announced this new station would be built, which would be namedIlkeston station. It has two platforms, which can take six trains per hour with up to six passenger cars and includes waiting shelters. A 150 space car park, cycle storage, bus stop, drop off point and taxi rank are also on site. The station is unstaffed with automated ticket machines.
Due to flood prevention work and the discovery of great crested newts, the opening was significantly delayed, the new station opened on 2 April 2017.[16]
Trentbarton operates the majority of buses around Ilkeston, including theIlkeston Flyer into Derby, My15 into Long Eaton andEast Midlands Airport, The Two into Nottingham, 31 into Kirk Hallam, 32 into Derby, 33 into Mansfield, and 34 into Hucknall.[17][18] In addition,Notts + Derby and Littles Travel operate someDerbyshire County Council tendered routes around Ilkeston, the latter operating the 14A and 14B routes intoStanton by Dale andSandiacre.[19]
First-Class County games
Every season between 1925 and 1994, theDerbyshire County Cricket Club played up to a couple offirst-class cricket matches on theRutland Recreation Ground, andone-day matches between 1970 and 1994.
Local news and television programmes areBBC East Midlands andITV Central. Television signals are received from theWaltham TV transmitter,[35] and the Nottingham relay transmitter.[36]
The town is served by bothBBC Radio Nottingham on 103.8 FM andBBC Radio Derby on 104.5 FM. Other radio stations includingSmooth East Midlands on 106.6 FM,Capital East Midlands on 96.2 FM,Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 106.6 FM andErewash Sound, a community based radio station on 96.8 FM.[37]
The town is served by the Ilkeston Advertiser[38] and Ilkeston Life newspapers.[39]
Ilkeston istwinned with:
Châlons-en-Champagne in France, since 1957.[40][41][42]
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