Ockbrook is a village in the Erewash district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. It is almost contiguous with the village of Borrowash, the two only separated by the A52. The civil parishisOckbrook and Borrowash. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 Census was 7,335.[1] Ockbrook lies about 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Derby.
There is evidence of human activity in Ockbrook as far back as the Mesolithic period (~8000BC) in the form of two bifacial cores of flint. A small greenstone axe head attests to Neolithic activity (4000 - 2500BC, but no archaeological evidence has yet been discovered of Bronze Age activity in the village.[2] From the Iron Age (800BC - AD43) there is a variety of evidence obtained during the excavation of a Romano-British aisled building at Littlehay Grange Farm between 1994 and 1997. This includes sherds of Ancaster Breedon scored ware and Aylesford-Swarling Pottery, a Group A one-piece brooch, an Iron Age coin of silver dating to between 40 BC and 10 AD, and an Iron Age ring headed pin or spike.[2]
Evidence of occupation during the Roman period (AD43 - 410) includes the sites of three farmsteads, one of which has been excavated. From these it appears that the fortunes of the area at that time mirrored those of nearby Derventio (Roman Derby), with a boom starting during the 2nd century AD followed by abandonment at the end of the 4th century.[2]
During the early Dark Ages, Ockbrook was part of the Kingdom of Mercia. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, this was founded in 560 by Creoda, one of whose followers may have had the personal name Occa.[2] It was this Occa (anAnglo Saxon) who established Ockbrook in the 6th century on the banks of a small stream, the Ock.[2]
During the ninth century, the Danes invaded and swept through large swathes of England until fought to a standstill by Alfred the Great. The country was partitioned as a consequence c874 and Ockbrook, being east of Watling Street (the present day A5) would have been in the Danelaw. This period is attested to by two place names, The Ridings and Carrhill, which derive from Danish. Despite frequent skirmishes between Danes and the English hereabouts, the Danelaw survived until 1066 when, according to the Domesday Book, the manor was held by Toki (probably a Dane).[2] The entry reads:
"...In Ockbrook Tochi had four carucates of land (assessed) to the geld, land for four ploughs. There are now ten villeins and two Bordars having three ploughs and four rent paying tenants rendering 14 shillings. There are five acres of meadow, woodland for pannage one league in length and half a league wide. In King Edward’s day worth £4 now 40shillings belonging to the Bishop of Chester...".[2]
By 1086 the manor had been transferred either to the extensive holdings of Geoffrey Alselin or to the Bishop of Chester (according to Domesday), both of whom were Norman. c1130 it was divided between two sons of Sir Ralph Halselin whence half descended to the BardolfsofWormegay (who sold it to the Foljambe's c1420) and half to Serlo de Grendon who granted it to Dale Abbey. At the Reformation, these shares were largely broken up amongst the freeholders, notably the Battelles, Harpurs, Keyes (ofHopwell) and Wilmots (ofChaddesden).[3]
In 1750 the Moravian Church established a settlement here, one of only three remaining in the country. This was on the edge of the old village and separate from it. The buildings are Georgian red brick and two of them, the Manse (1822) and the chapel (1751–1752) are grade II listed.[a] From the early 19th century, middle-class families from Derby and Long Eaton took advantage of the fragmented landowning pattern to acquire land and build elegant villas.[3] Also during this period, work diversified to include four silk glove makers, four shoemakers, and a straw bonnet maker.[4]
In more recent times, extensive new housing developments have turned Ockbrook into a commuter dormitory for Derby.
^Ockbrook Historical Trail, Ockbrook and Borrowash Historical Society, Derbyshire County Council.
History of cricket dates back to the mid nineteenth century, where a match report was recorded between Ockbrook and "Sawley Club" in 1843.[5]Ockbrook & Borrowash Cricket Club moved to the current ground on Victoria Avenue in 1898. In 1999, Ockbrook & Borrowash CC became the first champions of the newly formed Premier Division of the Derbyshire County Cricket League;[6] the top level for recreational club cricket in Derbyshire, England, and is a designated ECBPremier League. The club has continued to gain high acclaim and has since added a further 5 Championship ECB Premier league titles to its tally: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2014.[7][8]
Borrowood Golf Club was founded in 1902 as a 9-hole course. It was laid out on farmland south of Borrow Wood Farm between the villages of Ockbrook and Spondon. The club closed in the early 1950s.[10]
Royal Oak. Ockbrook's oldest pub, it was held by the Peet family for the three hundred years from ~1610 to 1912, a remarkable record.[3] Beer was once brewed here, using water from the pub's own well, now capped by a stone slab near the front door.[a]
White Swan. Situated opposite All Saints church on Church Street.
^Ockbrook Historical Trail, Ockbrook and Borrowash Historical Society, Derbyshire County Council.
This list of streets is taken from Street list from Streetmap.co.uk
Anne Potter Close
Bakehouse Lane
Bare Lane – See note below
Cedar Drive
Church Street
Cole Lane
Collier Lane
Collumbell Avenue
Croft Close
Far Lane: The ancient hedgerows along its upper reaches indicate that this is a very old track, probably dating from the Mesolithic. It is possible that it once connected with the Port-ways i.e. the rivers Derwent and Trent.[a]
Flood Street
Green Lane – See note below
Hargrave Avenue
Hill Croft Drive
Homefarm Close
Moor Lane – See note below
New Street
Oak Close
Orchard Close
Pares Way
Ryal Close
Shop Stones
Sisters Lane
The Paddock
The Ridings: The name is Danish either for a clearing or a similar-sounding word meaning a third division.[a]
The Settlement
Top Manor Close
Victoria Avenue
Wesley Lane
Windmill Close
Yew Tree Avenue
^ abOckbrook Historical Trail, Ockbrook and Borrowash Historical Society, Derbyshire County Council.
Note – Bare Lane, Green Lane and Moor Lane form one continuous road through the village.
The quickest route between two points in the village is often via a gitty. These were originally footpaths through fields. They have survived the encroachment of housing by mutating into high walled or fenced alleyways between the buildings and gardens of the new (and old) developments.
Gitty between old buildings.
Gitty between new buildings.
Numerous footpaths start at the village boundary (often as the continuation of a street or gitty) and lead over the fields to neighbouring villages, Hamlet_(place) and farms.
A French Parson at Ockbrook, Marion Johnson, M. Johnson, 31 October 2001, ISBN1-873064-09-8.
A history of All Saints' Church, Ockbrook: including a brief account of the early origins of the village and parish, J W Harnan, J W Harnan, 1971, ISBN0-9502209-0-6.
Bold Shall I Stand: The Education of Young Women in the Moravian Settlement at Ockbrook Since 1799, James Muckle, Ockbrook School, September 1999, ISBN0-9536600-0-1.
History Of The Moravian Church, J. E. Hutton, R A Kessinger Publishing Co, 17 June 2004 ISBN1-4191-2425-0. See references to Ockbrook at [1].
Lords of the Manor of Ockbrook: Archives 1583 to 1605 (Ockbrook & Borrowash Record S.), Marion Johnson, Greenway Publishing, 11 April 1994, ISBN1-873064-06-3.
More Memories of Ockbrook and Borrowash (pamphlet), Marion Johnson, M. Johnson, 20 October 1991, ISBN1-873064-04-7.
Ockbrook and Its Parson Samuel Hey 1810–52, Marion Johnson, M. Johnson, 1 March 1991, ISBN1-873064-02-0.
Ockbrook in Old Picture Postcards, J. Lec Smith, Europese Bibliotheek B.V., Uitgeverij Boekhandel Antiquariaat, February 1985, ISBN90-288-2983-0.
Ockbrook in the 1820s (pamphlet), Marion Johnson, M. Johnson, 31 July 1991, ISBN1-873064-03-9.
The Plumpton Letters and Papers (Camden Fifth S.), Joan Kirby (Editor), Cambridge University Press, 16 January 1997, ISBN0-521-57394-7. See references to Ockbrook at [2].
Yeomen of Elizabethan Ockbrook: Archives of the Sixteenth Century (Ockbrook & Borrowash Record S.), Marion Johnson, Greenway Publishing, 11 April 1994, ISBN1-873064-05-5.
