Risley is a small village and parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in Erewash

Erewash

Erewash is a local government district and borough in eastern Derbyshire, England, to the east of Derby and the west of Nottingham. It contains the towns of Ilkeston, Long Eaton and Sandiacre and fourteen civil parishes....

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county 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...

. It is just over four miles south of Ilkeston. Sandiacre

Sandiacre

Sandiacre is a town in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England adjoining the border with Nottinghamshire....

 is next door to the east.

Geography

It is almost midway between Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 and Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 and is near junction 25 of the M1 motorway

M1 motorway

The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...

 and the A52

A52 road

The A52 is a major road in the East Midlands, England. It runs east from the junction with the A53 at Newcastle-under-Lyme near Stoke-on-Trent via Ashbourne, Derby, Stapleford, Nottingham, West Bridgford, Bingham, Grantham, Boston and Skegness before terminating on the east Lincolnshire coast at...

. In 1870 it had a population of 203 when there was a grammar school that served seven neighbouring parishes.

History

All Saints Church was built in Elizabethan times by members of the Willoughby family, who had acquired Risley in 1350 AD and who also founded a free school in the village. Apparently this is rare in that it belongs to a period when most churches were being pulled down rather than being built. Risley is a long thin village with most properties lying on either side of the main road. With the village hall standing on one side of the church and the school on the other, this is the closest one can get to the village "centre". The church belongs to the Stanton group of churches with Dale Abbey

Dale Abbey

Dale Abbey is a village and civil parish in the borough of Erewash in Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England, 6 miles north east of Derby....

 and Stanton by Dale

Stanton by Dale

Stanton by Dale is a village in the South East of Derbyshire, England. It lies south of Ilkeston and North of Sandiacre. Since 1974 it has been part of the Erewash Borough.-Early history:...

. The village pub is the Risley Park formally the Blue Ball on Derby Road

Risley Manor originally belonged to the Mortimers. It passed to the Sheffields and then the Willoughbys and, in 1870, it belonged to J. L. Ffytche. The manor was held by Sir Hugh Willoughby

Hugh Willoughby (sea captain)

Sir Hugh Willoughby of Risley, Derbyshire was an early English Arctic voyager. He was sent out on 10 May 1553, as captain of the Bona Esperanza with two other vessels under his command and with chief pilot Richard Chancellor, by a company of London merchants known as the Company of Merchant...

, the navigator, who sailed on 10 May 1553, with three ships, in search of a north-east passage, but was frozen to death with all his crew in the following January. It is now a country house hotel

Risley Hall (Derbyshire, England)

Risley Hall is an 11th century country house hotel and spa set in of private landscaped grounds in the Derbyshire countryside, close to Junction 25 of the M1...

.

A silver vessel known as the Risley Park Lanx

Risley Park Lanx

The Risley Park Lanx is a large Roman silver dish that was discovered in 1729 in Risley Park, Derbyshire. Among the Romans a lanx was generally a large serving platter in size about 15 by 20 inches. Particularly ornamented ones were used to make offerings or sacrifices...

, 20 inches by 15, said to have belonged to a church in France in 405, was found near the Hall in 1729.

Notable residents

• Sir Hugh Willoughby
  Hugh Willoughby (sea captain)
  Sir Hugh Willoughby of Risley, Derbyshire was an early English Arctic voyager. He was sent out on 10 May 1553, as captain of the Bona Esperanza with two other vessels under his command and with chief pilot Richard Chancellor, by a company of London merchants known as the Company of Merchant...
  
  , the navigator, owned the manor here.
• Teresa Hooley
  Teresa Hooley
  Teresa Hooley , known mostly for a war poem A War Film about World War I, was a pseudonym of Mrs. F. H. Butler. This much information is given in Modern Poetry 1922-1934 by Maurice Wollman; who adds some further biographical information that is hard to check...
  
  , poet, was born here in 1888.

External links

• Risley Parish Council