Rainworth

Rainworth

Main Road through Rainworth
Rainworth
 Rainworth shown within Nottinghamshire
Population 7,821 
OS grid referenceSK586584
Civil parishRainworth
DistrictNewark and Sherwood & Mansfield
Shire countyNottinghamshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town MANSFIELD
Postcode district NG21
Dialling code 01623
Police Nottinghamshire
Fire Nottinghamshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK ParliamentMansfield and Sherwood
List of places
UK
England
Nottinghamshire

Coordinates: 53°07′11″N 1°07′25″W / 53.1197°N 1.1235°W / 53.1197; -1.1235

Rainworth is a village which is split between the Newark and Sherwood and the Mansfield districts of Nottinghamshire, England.[1]

To the north of Rainworth is the village of Clipstone and to the east are the villages of Bilsthorpe and Farnsfield. Mansfield lies two miles to the west. The village of Blidworth is a mile to the south. The A617 dual-carriageway bypasses the village. The roundabout at the western terminus was the starting point for the Mansfield and Ashfield Regeneration Route. The former route through the village is the B6020.

History

Rainworth started as a settlement close to a Roman road that went through Mansfield and Newark, and provided access to the coalfields of Derbyshire for the Roman settlements in the area to the east of Nottinghamshire. The sheltered location and access to clean water from the River Idle (now called Rainworth water), meant that the area was often used by travelling Romans as a camp site. In the year 617 AD, a mighty Roman warrior, Readwald, stayed at the site prior to a battle with Ethelfrith, King of Mercia. In the battle, Readwald's son, Regehere, was killed, and from that day, the area was known as Regehere's Wath (Wath being a ford or crossing point over a river). Over the years, many changes in the spelling of the name have been recorded, from the original Regehere's Wath to Reynwath by 1268, then Raynwath, and then to the present day name of Rainworth. Rainworth Lodge was first built in 1190 as a hunting lodge. Rufus Clarke lived there in 1212 and was with King Johns hunting parties in the forest. Little more is known about the village until the 16th century, when it is recorded that it was a peaceful hamlet with 13 dwellings: • Three Thorn Hollow Farm, • Six houses in the Old Square known as Ramsden Croft, • The original "Robin Hood Inn" named the "Sherwood Inn", • The toll house nicknamed "The Inkpot" • and a handful of houses on the road leading to Mansfield. That was all! The people who lived in Rainworth were farmers or nursery men.

Until the opening of the railway line linking Mansfield to Southwell in 1871 there was no public transport and the only way to get from place to place was to walk. In 1879 an elm tree, later to be called the `Tree of Knowledge` was planted on the village green in front of the Robin Hood Inn. It became a favourite place for people to meet and talk. The tree eventually had to be cut down in 1962 when it became diseased. In 1890 Rainworth's first church, a wooden building was built. However it was later replaced by a brick building which was opened on the festival day of St Simon and St Jude in 1939. The building of the Pumping Station in 1895 meant that householders no longer had to get their water from wells and springs but from the pump outside the Robin Hood Inn. In 1911, two mineshafts were sunk marking the start of work at Rufford Colliery. Only two years later the colliery suffered its worst pit disaster when 13 men were killed in an accident. As the pit prospered so the need for housing grew and new housing was built along Kirklington Road. In 1914 the first school to be built in Rainworth, Heathlands, was opened and Python Hill School followed in 1924. It was not until 1962 that Joseph Whitaker School was built and Rainworth had its own secondary school. The school is named after the naturalist Joseph Whitaker who lived for most of his life at Rainworth Lodge on Blidworth Lane.[2]

As well as growth, Rainworth has also seen decline. The local railway service was stopped and the station closed in 1965. Also along with many other pits in the area, Rufford Colliery stopped producing coal in 1993. The Colliery provided housing for approximately 400 families, and leisure facilities such as a football ground and lido (which was in disuse by the end of the war), along with the Miners Welfare. After over 80 years of service Rufford Colliery closed in 1993. The Miners Welfare remains open, and has subsequent affiliations with the local football team and bowls club. In 1951, 40 council house had been completed, located on Kirklington Road, just beyond the Python Hill School. A large housing estate was built in the 1950s, between Station Road and Warsop Lane (the Wimpey Estate) and a further estate was built beyond the original council estate on Kirklington Road, sometime after 1965. This estate was built to accommodate families relocated from mines in the North East of England – the estate became known as the Geordie Estate.

In 1975 killer Donald Neilson (the Black Panther) was caught by police officers helped by locals at the chip shop on Southwell Road East in the village.

Demographics

The population for the Civil parish of Rainworth was 6,532 at the 2001 census and the population for the Mansfield 012A (Rainworth) area was 1,289, which means a combined population of 7,821.

The ethnic diversity of Rainworth 98% White British with only 153 people from an Ethnic Minority.

The 2011 census showed:[3]

Governance

The Newark and Sherwood part of Rainworth is a parish in its own right the Mansfield part is unparished.

Rainworth is part of Newark and Sherwood and Mansfield councils with the border being nrar the bridge over Rainworth Water on Southwell road East, The Mansfield area is part of the Ransom Wood Ward and is represented by Labour's John Smart. The Newark and Sherwood part of has its own ward with the same name and is represented by John Bradbury, John Middleton and Linda Tift – all Labour Councillors.

The Mansfield part is part of the Mansfield constituency and the current MP is the Labour Alan Meale the Newark and Sherwood part is part of the Sherwood constituency and represented by Mark Spencer MP.

Education

Joseph Whitaker School on Warsop Lane

Python Hill Junior & Infant school. This was an all ages to 15 school until the building of Joseph Whittaker

Heathlands school was built on a temporary basis at the start of World War I on Southwell Road East but lasted until 2004 when a replacement was built on a nearby site in the village

Dawn House, a private school for children with speech and language difficulties is also located in the village.

Lake View Primary School is attached to Joseph Whitaker School but is really nit a good school

Health

Rainworth lies in the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation NHS trust area. Rainworth has its own GP's office called Rainworth Primary Care Centre.[4] The King's Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield is the area's local hospital.[5] It has an Accident and Emergency Department. Out of hours GP services are also based at King's Mill.

Culture and recreation

Pubs in Rainworth are the Lurcher on Westbrook Drive, Sherwood Inn on Kirklington Road, The Archer on Warsop Lane and Robin Hood Inn on Southwell Road East (now a Tesco store) near the Co-op. There are no public houses in the Mansfield side of Rainworth.

Across from the Tesco on Kirklington Road is "The Venue" – a snooker club in the same building that used to house the old village cinema.

Lindhurst Wind Farm

Main article: Lindhurst Wind Farm

Rainworth has a five turbine wind farm called Lindhurst Wind Farm which was built in 2010, the Wind farm was controversial at the time of building.[6]

This wind farm is on Newark and Sherwood Land in the nearby parish of Lindhurst, but is built within 400 m of the Mansfield District Council part of the village who had no direct say in the planning.

Rainworth Incinerator

A waste incinerator on the site of the former Rufford Colliery was proposed in 2006 by Veolia Ltd the preferred contractor for Nottinghamshire County Council. This was met with hostile views from many local residents, concerned with the environmental impact and the increased traffic around the village.

Planning permission application was made to Notts County Council and to the Environment Agency whose consultation ended in May 2008.

Opposition was from several local environmental groups led by People Against Incineration (PAIN)[7] who obtained the support[8] of David Bellamy.

The application was heard by Notts County Council and they approved it despite heavy local opposition,[9] but a public enquiry was put in place.This inquiry sat in October 2009 only to be adjourned until April 2010 and yet again to September 2010 owing to the possibility there being nationally important nesting sites for nightjars and woodlark among other disputed matters.

On 27 May 2011 the Secretary of State formally turned down the planning application

Veolia then launched an appeal against the Secretary of State's decision but this was eventually withdrawn in October 2012.

Transport

With links to the National Cycle Network which travels through Rainworth and into Sherwood Forest which intertwines the village to the North and South.

The main road running through Rainworth is Southwell Road East, The A617 which opened in 2000 bypasses the village to the north, The village is served by bus routes 27, 28, 28B and 141

The nearest railway station is Mansfield.

The Nearest Airport are East Midlands and Robin Hood, Doncaster Sheffield

Media

The local paper covering the area is The Mansfield and Ashfield Chad which has a separate edition for the Sherwood area.

Local for the area radio includes Mansfield 103.2 FM, BBC Radio Nottingham and 96-106 Capital FM. Rainworth receives BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 from either Holme Moss or Sutton Coldfield.

Rainworth is covered by the Central ITV and BBC East Midlands TV regions broadcast from the Waltham transmitting station.

References

  1. ↑ OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000):ISBN 0 319 24040 1
  2. ↑ "History". Joseph Whitaker School. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.ukcensusdata.com/rainworth-e05006482#sthash.PeLy52Rc.dpbs UK census data for Rainworth
  4. ↑ NHS Surgeries Near Rainworth
  5. ↑ NHS – Find your Nearest Doctor, Optician, Pharmacy, dentist, hospital, Rainworth
  6. ↑ 4,700 Homes Rainworth wind farm Accepted
  7. ↑ http://www.p-a-in.co.uk/ p-a-in.co.uk
  8. ↑ http://www.chad.co.uk/news/Celebrity-botanist-backing-incinerator-fight.3669421.jp chad.co.uk
  9. ↑ http://www.chad.co.uk/sherwood/AUDIO-Rainworth-incinerator-plan-backed.4858907.jp?CommentPage=1&CommentPageLength=10#comments chad.co.uk
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