Ripley, Derbyshire
Encyclopedia
Ripley is a town in the Amber Valley
area of Derbyshire
in England.
, when it was held by a man called Levenot.
In 1251 Henry III granted a charter for "One market, one day a week, on Wednesday, at [the] manor of Ryppeleg: and one fair each year, lasting three days on the Vigil Day and Morrow of St Helen". Ripley Fair pre-dates the Goose Fair at Nottingham and the market day was later altered to Saturdays with an extra market added on Fridays
In the Middle Ages, Ripley was just a few stone cottages and farms around the village green with a few dwellings further afield. Corn was ground at the mill owned by the Abbot of Darley and in 1291 there were "two water-mills with fish ponds" in Ripley.
One of the earliest companies to take advantage of mineral resources around Ripley was the Butterley Company
. The company was formed in 1790 by Benjamin Outram
and Francis Beresford. Jessop and Wright joined as partners in 1791. Benjamin Outram and Jessop were pioneering engineers best known for their input into the rail industry and also their engineering of the Cromford Canal. Outram developed the L shaped flange rail and Jessop engineered the cast iron fish belly rail.The Little Eaton Gangway
project was one of the engineering feats they completed. Sadly, the engineering part of the company closed and the site of the Butterley Company was demolished in 2010. The company was latterley in three parts, Butterley Engineering, Butterley Brick and Butterley Aggregates (all separate companies). Over the last 200 years the companies have been a steelworks, coal mining, quarrying, railway, foundry, brickworks. One of the early, and most well known, examples of the work of the company includes the graceful arched roof of St. Pancras Station in London
, recently restored to great critical acclaim as an international rail terminal. Recent major Butterley achievements were the design and construction of the Falkirk Wheel
, a spectacular canal boat lift funded by the Millennium Commission
and the Spinnaker Tower
seen in Portsmouth Harbour as the focus of the Regeneration of Portsmouth Harbour.
Ripley was also a mining community with collieries owned until the Coal Nationalization Act of 1947 by Butterley Company. These included Ripley colliery worked from 1863–1948, Britain colliery worked 1918-1946, Ormonde 1908-1970 and more pits at Upper and Lower Hartshay, Whiteley, Waingrove, Bailey Brook, Exhibition, Loscoe, New Langley and Denby Hall.
for the Cromford Canal
. The central section of the canal is currently disused, but a charitable fund has been formed to reopen the canal.
Ripley is also home to the Midland Railway - Butterley
(formerly the Midland Railway Centre) a railway preservation trust, dedicated to preserving locomotives, rolling stock and other items related to the Midland Railway
.
Ripley was once served by Ripley railway station
on the Midland Railway Ripley Branch
. It was also the northern terminus of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company
, and later the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire trolleybus system
.
Ripley is home to local radio station Amber Sound FM. A community radio station awarded a five year broadcast license in June 2008, Amber Sound is based on Unicorn Business Park just off Wellington Street.
The Headquarters of the Derbyshire Constabulary
is located on the outskirts of Ripley at Butterley Hall
. Benjamin Outram's son, James Outram (British officer) was born here on the 29/01/1803. He became an officer in the Indian Army and was later knighted. He died in Pau, Nice, France on the 11/03/1863 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, London.
The Methodist Church is reputed to be the oldest Church in town and is still active today. At the peak of the movement there were 5 Methodist Churches in the town, but over the years they have combined. Ripley Methodist Church is situated in Wood Street Ripley. Wood Street Methodist church was recently rebuilt on the same site and re-opened in November 2009. An outcome of the nearby Pentridge, or Pentrich
, Rising of 1817 was for the vicar of Pentrich Church to call for an Anglican church to be built in Ripley as soon as possible. This is why Sir Barnes Wallis was born in Ripley as his father was the curate of said All Saints' Anglican Church which was built in 1821 and is situated, appropriately enough, on Church Street(a).
Other places of worship include the Salvation Army hall, situated on Heath Road,which was opened in 1911,the Springs of the Living Water housed in the former St. John's Church on Derby Road, the Spiritual Church on Argyll Road and Marehay Methodist Chapel on Warmwells Lane, Marehay.
Ripley also has a Community Hospital with a minor A+E department, which was opened on 7/9/1912. The hospital was built after the sad demise of a miner injured at Pentrich Colliery who did not survive the road journey to Derby in time for treatment. The Ripley Hospital League of Friends have been an active fund raising group for the hospital throughout its history.
Ripley Town Hall on the Market Place was originally built in 1880. It was greatly extended and remodelled by the Amber Valley
Borough Council to form that Council's Headquarters in the 1990s.
According to research and the analysis of names in Britain in 2006, Ripley has the highest proportion of people of ethnic-English origin. Of Ripley's inhabitants, 88.5 percent have an English-ethnic background.
This reservoir has the capacity to hold 16 million cubic feet of water!
There is Carr Wood which is signposted from halfway down Butterley Hill where wildlife and the small woodland area can be enjoyed.
All around Ripley there are footpaths which can be used to take you to places such as Devils Wood ( also locally known as Bluebell Wood), around Waingroves and down Lowes Hill to Hammersmith. At Hammersmith you can see the row of terraced houses, known as ‘Poker Row’. Legend has it, when a tenant saw the Rent Man from Butterley Co; advancing towards their houses, they would knock on the adjoining house wall, using the metal poker from their coal fire, and alert their neighbour of his presence and this would continue along the terraced row and they would all lock their doors and wait until he’d gone away!
At the bottom of Moseley Street adjacent to the Red Lion pub in Ripley Town Centre there is a recreation field named after Sir Barnes Wallis which offers views over to Crich Stand, the Sherwood Foresters Memorial.
Crich Stand was built by Francis Hurt in 1778 and in 1922 was dedicated to the fallen of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment (colloquially known as the Woofers) in World War I, but now is the memorial to those in the Regiment who have died in all conflicts.
The Pit Top is an open area with some seating and a white Arch sculpture. The area is grassed over and is the site of the original Ripley Colliery owned by Butterley Company and worked from 1863 until 1948.
Crossley Park is a few acres of grassed land opened in 1935. It is surrounded by shrubs and trees on a tract of land given to the town by James Crossley in 1901. The Park contains a children’s play area with summer paddling pool, tarmacced walk around the perimeter and bandstand, which has Brass Bands playing occasionally in the summertime on Sunday late afternoons.
Greenwich to the east of Ripley has football pitches, a cricket pitch and pavilion. There is also a skateboard ramp area which local boarders use and a good open area within which you can walk your dogs.
There are further recreation grounds in Marehay and Upper Marehay.
Amber Valley
Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in Derbyshire, England. It takes its name from the River Amber and covers a semi-rural area with a number of small towns formerly based around coal mining and engineering...
area of Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
in England.
Earliest history
Not much information is available as to when Ripley was founded, but it existed at the time of the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, when it was held by a man called Levenot.
In 1251 Henry III granted a charter for "One market, one day a week, on Wednesday, at [the] manor of Ryppeleg: and one fair each year, lasting three days on the Vigil Day and Morrow of St Helen". Ripley Fair pre-dates the Goose Fair at Nottingham and the market day was later altered to Saturdays with an extra market added on Fridays
In the Middle Ages, Ripley was just a few stone cottages and farms around the village green with a few dwellings further afield. Corn was ground at the mill owned by the Abbot of Darley and in 1291 there were "two water-mills with fish ponds" in Ripley.
Industry
The Ripley area has been industrialised since the late 18th century.One of the earliest companies to take advantage of mineral resources around Ripley was the Butterley Company
Butterley Company
Butterley Engineering was an engineering company based in Ripley, Derbyshire. The company was formed from the Butterley Company which began as Benjamin Outram and Company in 1790 and existed until 2009.-Origins:...
. The company was formed in 1790 by Benjamin Outram
Benjamin Outram
Benjamin Outram was an English civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist. He was a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways.-Personal life:...
and Francis Beresford. Jessop and Wright joined as partners in 1791. Benjamin Outram and Jessop were pioneering engineers best known for their input into the rail industry and also their engineering of the Cromford Canal. Outram developed the L shaped flange rail and Jessop engineered the cast iron fish belly rail.The Little Eaton Gangway
Little Eaton Gangway
The Little Eaton Gangway, or, to give it its official title, the Derby Canal Railway, was a narrow gauge industrial wagonway serving the Derby Canal, in England, at Little Eaton in Derbyshire.- The Derby Canal :...
project was one of the engineering feats they completed. Sadly, the engineering part of the company closed and the site of the Butterley Company was demolished in 2010. The company was latterley in three parts, Butterley Engineering, Butterley Brick and Butterley Aggregates (all separate companies). Over the last 200 years the companies have been a steelworks, coal mining, quarrying, railway, foundry, brickworks. One of the early, and most well known, examples of the work of the company includes the graceful arched roof of St. Pancras Station in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, recently restored to great critical acclaim as an international rail terminal. Recent major Butterley achievements were the design and construction of the Falkirk Wheel
Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland, UK,connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, opened in 2002. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk which is in central Scotland...
, a spectacular canal boat lift funded by the Millennium Commission
Millennium Commission
The Millennium Commission in the United Kingdom was set up to aid communities at the end of the 2nd millennium and the start of the 3rd millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery....
and the Spinnaker Tower
Spinnaker Tower
Spinnaker Tower is a –high landmark tower in Portsmouth, England. It is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour, which was supported by a National Lottery grant. Its shape was chosen by Portsmouth residents from a selection of concepts...
seen in Portsmouth Harbour as the focus of the Regeneration of Portsmouth Harbour.
Ripley was also a mining community with collieries owned until the Coal Nationalization Act of 1947 by Butterley Company. These included Ripley colliery worked from 1863–1948, Britain colliery worked 1918-1946, Ormonde 1908-1970 and more pits at Upper and Lower Hartshay, Whiteley, Waingrove, Bailey Brook, Exhibition, Loscoe, New Langley and Denby Hall.
Other points of interest
Constructed under the premises of the Butterley Company is the 2966 yard long Butterley TunnelButterley Tunnel
Butterley Tunnel is a one and three quarter mile long canal tunnel on the Cromford Canal below Ripley, in Derbyshire, England, opened to traffic in 1794.-Origins:...
for the Cromford Canal
Cromford Canal
The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks....
. The central section of the canal is currently disused, but a charitable fund has been formed to reopen the canal.
Ripley is also home to the Midland Railway - Butterley
Midland Railway - Butterley
The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway, formerly known until 2004 as the Midland Railway Centre, at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire.-Overview:...
(formerly the Midland Railway Centre) a railway preservation trust, dedicated to preserving locomotives, rolling stock and other items related to the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
.
Ripley was once served by Ripley railway station
Ripley railway station
Ripley railway station was a railway station which served the town of Ripley in Derbyshire, England. It was opened in 1856 by the Midland Railway on its Ripley branch from Little Eaton Junction, approximately 3 miles north of Derby...
on the Midland Railway Ripley Branch
Midland Railway Ripley Branch
The Midland Railway Ripley Branch connected Derby to Ripley in Derbyshire, England running from Little Eaton Junction on the Midland Railway line to Leeds.-Origin:...
. It was also the northern terminus of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company
The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company was formed in 1903 to build a tramway linking Nottingham, Derby, and Ilkeston, in Derbyshire, England...
, and later the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire trolleybus system
Trolleybuses in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire trolleybus system once linked the city of Nottingham, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, with Ripley, in the neighbouring county of Derbyshire...
.
Ripley is home to local radio station Amber Sound FM. A community radio station awarded a five year broadcast license in June 2008, Amber Sound is based on Unicorn Business Park just off Wellington Street.
The Headquarters of the Derbyshire Constabulary
Derbyshire Constabulary
Derbyshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Derbyshire, England. The force covers an area of over with a population of just under one million.-Organisation and structure:...
is located on the outskirts of Ripley at Butterley Hall
Butterley Hall
Butterley Hall is an 18th century country house near Ripley, Derbyshire which now serves as the headquarters of the Derbyshire Constabulary. It is a Grade II listed building...
. Benjamin Outram's son, James Outram (British officer) was born here on the 29/01/1803. He became an officer in the Indian Army and was later knighted. He died in Pau, Nice, France on the 11/03/1863 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, London.
The Methodist Church is reputed to be the oldest Church in town and is still active today. At the peak of the movement there were 5 Methodist Churches in the town, but over the years they have combined. Ripley Methodist Church is situated in Wood Street Ripley. Wood Street Methodist church was recently rebuilt on the same site and re-opened in November 2009. An outcome of the nearby Pentridge, or Pentrich
Pentrich, Derbyshire
-Pentrich Revolution:The village gave its name to the Pentrich Revolution, which occurred on the night of 9/10 June 1817. A gathering of some two or three hundred men , led by Jeremiah Brandreth , , set out to march to Nottingham...
, Rising of 1817 was for the vicar of Pentrich Church to call for an Anglican church to be built in Ripley as soon as possible. This is why Sir Barnes Wallis was born in Ripley as his father was the curate of said All Saints' Anglican Church which was built in 1821 and is situated, appropriately enough, on Church Street(a).
Other places of worship include the Salvation Army hall, situated on Heath Road,which was opened in 1911,the Springs of the Living Water housed in the former St. John's Church on Derby Road, the Spiritual Church on Argyll Road and Marehay Methodist Chapel on Warmwells Lane, Marehay.
Ripley also has a Community Hospital with a minor A+E department, which was opened on 7/9/1912. The hospital was built after the sad demise of a miner injured at Pentrich Colliery who did not survive the road journey to Derby in time for treatment. The Ripley Hospital League of Friends have been an active fund raising group for the hospital throughout its history.
Ripley Town Hall on the Market Place was originally built in 1880. It was greatly extended and remodelled by the Amber Valley
Amber Valley
Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in Derbyshire, England. It takes its name from the River Amber and covers a semi-rural area with a number of small towns formerly based around coal mining and engineering...
Borough Council to form that Council's Headquarters in the 1990s.
According to research and the analysis of names in Britain in 2006, Ripley has the highest proportion of people of ethnic-English origin. Of Ripley's inhabitants, 88.5 percent have an English-ethnic background.
Parks and natural features
Butterley Reservoir situated at the north of the town at the bottom of Butterley Hill, has pairs of Great Crested Grebes, Coots, Moorhens and other birds to watch and platforms for anglers to use. There is a footpath to walk on and take in the scenery with the Midland Railway Trust in the background.This reservoir has the capacity to hold 16 million cubic feet of water!
There is Carr Wood which is signposted from halfway down Butterley Hill where wildlife and the small woodland area can be enjoyed.
All around Ripley there are footpaths which can be used to take you to places such as Devils Wood ( also locally known as Bluebell Wood), around Waingroves and down Lowes Hill to Hammersmith. At Hammersmith you can see the row of terraced houses, known as ‘Poker Row’. Legend has it, when a tenant saw the Rent Man from Butterley Co; advancing towards their houses, they would knock on the adjoining house wall, using the metal poker from their coal fire, and alert their neighbour of his presence and this would continue along the terraced row and they would all lock their doors and wait until he’d gone away!
At the bottom of Moseley Street adjacent to the Red Lion pub in Ripley Town Centre there is a recreation field named after Sir Barnes Wallis which offers views over to Crich Stand, the Sherwood Foresters Memorial.
Crich Stand was built by Francis Hurt in 1778 and in 1922 was dedicated to the fallen of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment (colloquially known as the Woofers) in World War I, but now is the memorial to those in the Regiment who have died in all conflicts.
The Pit Top is an open area with some seating and a white Arch sculpture. The area is grassed over and is the site of the original Ripley Colliery owned by Butterley Company and worked from 1863 until 1948.
Crossley Park is a few acres of grassed land opened in 1935. It is surrounded by shrubs and trees on a tract of land given to the town by James Crossley in 1901. The Park contains a children’s play area with summer paddling pool, tarmacced walk around the perimeter and bandstand, which has Brass Bands playing occasionally in the summertime on Sunday late afternoons.
Greenwich to the east of Ripley has football pitches, a cricket pitch and pavilion. There is also a skateboard ramp area which local boarders use and a good open area within which you can walk your dogs.
There are further recreation grounds in Marehay and Upper Marehay.
Places and villages within Ripley
From North to South- Hammersmith
- Hartshay
- ButterleyButterleyButterley is a village in the English county of Derbyshire near to Ripley. It is the site of the Midland Railway - Butterley, as well as the old Butterley Brickworks.- Notable residents :...
- Amber Heights
- LonsLonsLons is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.-References:*...
- Greenwich
- Porterhouse
- Nuttals Park,also known locally as the 'Pit Top'
- The ElmsThe Elms, DerbyshireThe Elms is a housing estate built by the town council in the 1950s to provide social housing on the south-western edge of Ripley, Derbyshire, England. It took its name from The Elms farm whose land it was built on...
- Peasehill
- Greenhillocks
- WaingrovesWaingrovesWaingroves is a small village in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, approximately two miles away from the town of Ripley. In woodland to the south of the village, there are remains of a Colliery site....
- WhiteleyWhiteleyWhiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.-Location:...
- Marehay
Notable residents
- Bombardier Charles StoneCharles Edwin StoneCharles Edwin Stone VC MM was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
(1889–1952), who was awarded the VCVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
was born in Ripley. - Barnes WallisBarnes WallisSir Barnes Neville Wallis, CBE FRS, RDI, FRAeS , was an English scientist, engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the RAF in Operation Chastise to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II...
(1887–1979), inventor of the 'Bouncing bombBouncing bombA bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined...
' lived for a time in Ripley and now has one of the town's parks and Pub 'The Sir Barnes Wallis' named after him. The house where he was born is now marked with a blue plaqueBlue plaqueA blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
. - Andy SneapAndy SneapAndy "Undie" Sneap is an English record producer, recording engineer, mixer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is best known for producing and mixing many acclaimed heavy metal albums.-Musician:...
(born 1969), prominent heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and thrash metalThrash metalThrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
musician, whose company Backstage Productions is based in the town. - John FlanaganJohn FlanaganJohn Flanagan was a sculptor who designed the Washington U.S. quarter dollar coin, which was issued in 1932. Flanagan's initials can be found at the base of Washington's neck. Flanagan designed both sides of the quarter....
(born in Ripley 1947-) Actor. Son of a local Policeman, he has appeared in several TV series and films including 'The Sweeney' and 'Shipman'. - John Bamford SlackJohn Bamford SlackSir John Bamford Slack was a British politician, member of the Liberal Party and Methodist lay preacher.He was elected to the House of Commons for the division of St Albans 27th Parliament at a by-election on 12 February 1904, replacing Vicary Gibbs.In 1905, he introduced a bill for women's...
(1857–1909), Liberal MP and prominent Methodist, was born in Ripley
- Sir James Outram, 1st BaronetSir James Outram, 1st BaronetLieutenant General Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet GCB KSI was an English general who fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and is considered a British hero.-Early life:...
(born at Butterley Hall 29/01/1803-11/03/1863), The son of Benjamin Outram, James became an officer in the Indian Army.He was knighted for his work. He died in 1863 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, London. - Percy Illsley (born in Ripley 1863) Former miner at Denby Hall Colliery, Illsley was the Midlands Featherweight Wrestling Champion in the 1920s.
Primary schools
- Ripley Infant School, Kirk Close, DE5 3RY
- Ripley Junior School, Poplar Avenue, DE5 3PN
- St Johns C of E Primary School, Dannah Street,Ripley
- Lons Infant School, Tavistock Avenue,Ripley
- Waingroves Primary School, Waingroves Road,Ripley
- Codnor Community Primary School, Whitegates
Nearby secondary schools
- Swanwick Hall SchoolSwanwick Hall SchoolSwanwick Hall School is a Technology College located in Swanwick, Alfreton, Derbyshire.The school has strong university links and its the only secondary school in Derbyshire to be awarded Training School status. The school has been a specialist college since 1998....
, Swanwick Hill, SwanwickSwanwickSwanwick may refer to:* The village of Swanwick, Derbyshire, England.* The village of Swanwick, Hampshire, England.* Helena Swanwick , British feminist and pacifist....
(2 miles north on B6179 road) - John Flamsteed SchoolJohn Flamsteed Community SchoolJohn Flamsteed Community School is a comprehensive secondary, or high school, in the village of Denby, Derbyshire, England named after Sir John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, who was a native of Denby and made early and accurate predictions of a solar eclipse in 1666.-History:There is...
, Derby Road, DenbyDenbyDenby is a village in the English county of Derbyshire that is notable as the birthplace of John Flamsteed, England's first Royal Astronomer, and the location of the Denby Pottery Company....
(2.5 miles south on B6179)
Pre-schools
- Ripley Nursery School, Sandham Lane
- Clowns Day Nursery, Cromford Road
- Clowns Day Nursery, Butterley Park, A610
- Alphabet Childminders, Ripley.