Eastwood

The town library was established in 1840. It is normally open 5 days a week, is wheelchair friendly and has a local history collection and a newspaper collection.

The Library at Nottingham will also prove useful in your research.

• The Cemetery of 4 acres was opened in 1890 on Knapp Avenue with one mortuary chapel. It was managed by the Burial Board of the Broxtowe Borough Council.
   
• The Cemetery had expanded to 7 acres by 1912.
   
• The chapel at the cemetery was destroyed by fire in early 2014. The cause appeared to be arson.
   

• The parish was in the Greasley sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church was dedicated to Saint Mary.
   
• There has been a church on this site since 1250.
   
• This church was rebuilt in 1858 on the site of the old church.
   
• The church seated 740.
   
• The church was partially destroyed by fire in 1963, leaving the tower untouched. The fire had been started by two 15-year-old boys.
   
• The present church was added to the tower in 1967.
   
• David KELLEY has a photograph of St. Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2014.
   

• The Anglican parish registers exist from 1711. Earlier registers were destroyed by a fire in the rectory in 1711.
   
• The Notts Archives Office has the parish register covering the period from 1711 to 1834.
   
• The church was in the No. 1 deanery of Nottingham (or the rural deanery of Mansfield).
   
• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) includes records from this parish for the period 1750-1859.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1835. It was replaced in 1876.
   
• David BEVIS has a photograph of the Wesleyan Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2007.
   
• The Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1898.
   
• The Congregational chapel was opened in August, 1868. It is now a frozen food retail shop. This was the place where the LAWRENCE family (of D. H. LAWRENCE fame) worshipped.
   
• The Baptists also had a chapel here before 1883. The present Baptist chapel is on Percy Street.
   
• The Roman Catholic church of "Our Lady of Good Council" was on the Derby Road in 1894.
   
• There is a modern-day Catholic Church on Nottingham Road.
   

• The parish was in the Greasley sub-district of the Basford Registration District.
   
• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   

This small town and parish lie 135 miles north of London, 10 miles northeast of Derby and 8 miles north-west from Nottingham city. The parish borders on Derbyshire, covers 940 acres and includes the hamlet of Langley Mill (which also lies partly in Heanor parish).

The Erewash River runs just west of the village. Nottingham Road is the principal street in the village. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A610 arterial road north-west out of Nottingham. The road passes along the southern edge of the village.
   
• Bus service is provided by Trent Barton.
   
• The nearest railway station is at Langley Mill.
   

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Eastwood to another place.

• This is the birthplace of David Herbert LAWRENCE (Sept. 1885 to March 1930). From 1902 to 1906, LAWRENCE served as a Pupil Teacher at the British School in Eastwood.
   
• John SUTTON has a photograph of D. H. LAWRENCE's birthplace on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2016. D. Herbert LAWRENCE was born 11 Sept 1885 to Arthur John LAWRENCE and Lydia BEARDSALL. LAWRENCE's mother would die of Cancer in 1910. You can find the LAWRENCE family in the 1901 census of Greasley, NTT, where David is 15 years old, his father is 53 and his mother is 48 years old.
   
• After retiring from Naval service at the age of 36, Dr. Benjamin DRAWATER (or DRAWWATER) went to live at Eastwood to practise medicine. It is in Greasley parish that he married Dorothy TOPLIS in October, 1785. Dr. DRAWATER had served as ship's surgeon (or surgeon's mate) on some of Captain COOK's voyages. He died in 1815, after moving to Mansfield.
   

• Much of the parish workforce was employed either as frame-work knitters or colliers in the 1800s. The Butterley Company owned and operated the colliery.
   
• In 1832, a meeting was held in the Sun Inn, which lead to the founding of the Midland Railway.
   
• The Mechanics Institution was built in 1864.
   
• The Statutes Fair for hiring servants was held each November.
   
• Gary ? has a photograph of the D. H. LAWRENCE Birthplace Museum sign on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2019.
   
• Eastwood has a "D. H. Lawrence Heritage Trail", marked by a thin blue line. Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Thin Blue Line on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2018.
   
• The last colemine in the area closed in 1985.
   
• Ian S. has a photograph of the Railway Tavern at Langley Mill on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2016.

• Trevor RICKARD has a photograph of Eastwood Hall on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2011. The Hall was built in 1810.
   
• Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of Eastwood Hall on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2018.

• See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK462469 (Lat/Lon: 53.017755, -1.3128), Eastwood which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Trevor RICKARD has a photograph of the Recreation Ground Memorial Garden on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2009. It was created by the Town Council to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D Day landings in June 1944.

There was a Boer War Memorial in the church, apparently destroyed by the fire. It was a marble tablet on the south wall of the church. It was dedicated in 1904. No known photographs exist. Luckily a newspaper article allowed the Roll of Honour to be captured for posterity.

The War Memorial was erected in 1921 and contains the list of men killed in World War I. The men of World War II were added after that war and the memorial was moved to Plumptre Way. We have a WM List of Names from the monument provided by Dai BEVAN.

There is a photograph of the War Memorial at the Nottinghamshire Govt. Site along with a complete list of names.

In the 1086 Domesday Book, the parish name is rendered as "Estewic".

• The local newspaper was the Eastwood and Kimberley Advertiser, published every Friday on Nottingham Road by Geo. C. BRITTAIN and Sons Ltd.
   
• It was founded in 1894. Up until 2007 it bore the subtitle and Greasley, Awsworth, Newthorpe and Watnall News.

• This place was an ancient parish in northern Nottingham county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• This parish was in the south division of the ancient Broxtowe Hundred or Wapentake.
   
• On 1 April, 1935, some 226 acres were gained from the Civil Parish of Greasley.
   
• You may contact the local Eastwood Town Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to provide family history searches for you.
   
• District governance is provided by the Broxtowe Borough Council.
   

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Nottingham petty session hearings.
   
• The Common Land was enclosed here in 1791.
   
• In 1815, Benjamin DRAWATER left the interest on £21 for distribution to the poor as bread given out on Christmas day.
   
• In 1836, Thomas HARRISON left the interest on £100 for distribution to the poor as bread in each February.
   
• The parish built 12 almshouses around 1885 with a bequest from T. BARBER.
   
• After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, this parish became a part of the Basford Poor Law Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1801	735
1821	1,206
1841	1,621
1861	1,860
1871	2,540
1881	3,566
1891	4,363
1901	4,815
1911	4,692
1921	5,069
1931	5,360

• In 1869 the parish had three National Schools for boys, girls and infants.
   
• In 1883 the National School was on Church Street.
   
• The Eastwood Junior School dates from 1910. This school is next to St. Mary's Church.
   
• The Eastwood Comprehensive School is a more recent school out on Mansfield Road.