- Church Gresley
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Coordinates: 52°45′36″N 1°33′58″W / 52.760°N 1.566°W
Church Gresley 
St George and St Mary's parish church
Church Gresley
Church Gresley shown within DerbyshirePopulation 4,085 [citation needed] OS grid reference SK2918 District South Derbyshire Shire county Derbyshire Region East Midlands Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town Swadlincote Postcode district DE11 Dialling code 01283 Police Derbyshire Fire Derbyshire Ambulance East Midlands EU Parliament East Midlands UK Parliament South Derbyshire List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire Church Gresley is a village and former civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The village is very close to the town of Swadlincote, between the town and Castle Gresley. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,805.[citation needed]
The toponym "Gresley" is derived from a term for a grassy clearing atop a hill, surrounded by forest. The Domesday Book records it as Gresele.
Contents
Priory and church
SS George & Mary parish church, drawn by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm in the 18th century
A priory of Augustinian canons was founded at Gresley in the regn of Henry I.[1] It was suppressed in 1536 in the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[1]
The Church of England parish church of Saint George and Saint Mary was built early in the 12th century as the priory's conventual church.[2] Of the 12th century building only the lower part of the tower survives.[3] In about 1820 the rest of the church and the upper part of the tower were rebuilt.[3] The present chancel was designed by A.W. Blomfield and built in 1872.[3] The tower has a ring of six bells, two of which were cast in 1639.[4]
Economic and social history
In about 1800 the Mason Cash pottery was founded at Church Gresley. Mason Cash has become a well-known English pottery, producing many kinds of ceramic mixing and baking ware. It acquired T.G. (Thomas Goodwin) Green in 2001 and became part of the Tabletop Group in 2004. T.G. Green went into administration in 2007 but in 2010 there were hopes to revive the business on a small scale.
From 1882 the local football club was Gresley Rovers, which competed in the Northern Premier League First Division and played at The Moat Ground, one of Church Gresley's landmarks. The club was relegated in 2009 to the East Midlands Counties League and is now Gresley FC. Its training pitch is the main football pitch of Church Gresley's Maurice Lea Memorial Park, which is named after Maurice Lea, who died at the age of 19 in France in World War I. The most notable homegrown talent was goalkeeper Ted Clamp who played for the team before moving to Derby County. There are also football pitches near the Swadlincote Ski Centre.
Opposite the park is Gresley Common, the venue for annual bonfire nights until 2003 and the local Scouts. There are many newly-planted woods nearby as part of the National Forest.
References
- ^ a b Page, 1907, pages 56–58
- ^ Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, page 152
- ^ a b c Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, page 153
- ^ Dawson, George (25 October 2010). "Church Gresley S George & S Mary". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Church+Gresley&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=CHURCH+GRE. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
Sources
- Page, W.H., ed (1907). "Houses of Austin canons: The priory of Gresley". A History of the County of Derby, Volume 2. Victoria County History. pp. 56–58. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40124.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth (1978) [1953]. Derbyshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 152–153. ISBN 0 14 071008 6.
External links
Media related to Church Gresley at Wikimedia CommonsCategories:- Villages in Derbyshire
- Derbyshire geography stubs
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