Little Eaton - A Queen
And Two Saints
w/e 11 January
2004
Little
Eaton is a small place on the northern outskirts of Derby but
it contains much of historical interest. On this fleeting visit
there is only time to view a little of the village - a good excuse
to revisit at a later date for another look.
The A38 bypasses
the village and now takes most of the heavy traffic but the vehicles
parked outside the Queens Head were engaged in the "school
run" picking up children from the Primary School opposite.
The Queens Head was formerly known as the Delvers Inn, after
the "delvers" who worked in the local quarries, and
is a listed gritstone building dating from 1835.
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The low stone
built building next to the pub is a blacksmith's shop and is
reputed to be over 300 years old. Apparently it is still in use
as a blacksmith's although on this particular afternoon all of
the doors and shutters were closed.
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Towards the
western side of the village, a large piece of open land was donated
by Thomas Bates in 1902 and is now called St Peter's Park. Before
levelling to create cricket and football pitches for the community,
the land showed evidence of ridge and furrow farming. The sports
pavilion in the centre of this image was built in 1966 using
funds raised by the villagers.
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Overlooking St Peter's Park
is St Paul's Church. This was built in 1791, using money raised
by voluntary subscription, on the site of an earlier chapel that
was in ruins by 1760, the remains of the chapel for a while being
used as a blacksmith's shop. The church has been enlarged several
times and the Lych Gate was erected as a memorial to those who
lost their lives in the First World War. Plaques inside the Lych
Gate now record the names of those who perished in both World
Wars.
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A little further up the
lane beyond St Paul's and still overlooking the park is the Church
Hall. Also known as the Parish Rooms, this building of 1841 was
originally the National School, Little Eaton's first school.
The building is now used on a regular basis by many community
groups in the village.
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Finally on this visit we can
take a look at the granite obelisk just inside St Peter's Park
(note the Parish Rooms behind). This commemorates the coronation
of King Edward VII and the teachers of the National School. The
two plaques visible on the base of the obelisk also mark the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (02 June 1953), the Golden Jubilee
of the park (13 June 1953) and the Centenary of the park (June
2003).
For more images of Little Eaton
visit Andy Savage's Derby Photos web site.
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