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Findern is a village and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the District of
South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Derbyshire, England. The district covers the towns of Melbourne, Derbyshire, Melbourne and Swadlincote as well as numerous villages and hamlets such as Hilton, Derbys ...
, approximately 5– south of
Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
(
Grid reference A projected coordinate systemalso called a projected coordinate reference system, planar coordinate system, or grid reference systemis a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on Earth using Cartesian coordinate system, Car ...
: ). The population of the civil parish was 1,669 at the 2011 Census. Findern is a picturesque and quaint little village full of charm and character, with many of its buildings being of both historical and architectural importance. Its traditional
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
is overlooked by the All Saints' parish church, and is surrounded by a handful of shops, and numerous black and white painted nineteenth century cottages that include The Old Forge, a former farm and blacksmith's shop. The
village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
plays host to an annual fete and the cottages were originally part of a weaving industry that peaked in 1846, when 22 velvet and silk looms existed, with each dwelling containing its own loom. A row of period buildings continue out onto Main Street with the oldest being from 1620. Somerville House, with its high gateway that allowed carriages to pass under it, was originally a gentleman's residence that was built in the mid 18th century. Its porch, wall and railings were added in the 19th century. Wallfield House on Doles Lane was constructed in 1822 as a farm, and in the 20th century became the home of racing driver and
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
team manager
Reg Parnell Reginald Parnell (2 July 1911 – 7 January 1964) was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship point ...
. He competed in the inaugural
Formula One World Championship Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the wor ...
Grand Prix at
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...
in 1950, and in 1959 won both
Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
and the World Sports Car Championship. Parnell eventually came to live – and farm – at Wallfield House, which is now a residential home, that bears a blue plaque in his memory.  Castle Hill, which previously led to a long since demolished manor house, boasts a village pump, that was used by the entire community until 1931, when mains water finally came to the village. Well Dressing is a long held village tradition. At the top of Hillside stands Tower House which was originally a windmill, built in 1715. It was converted into a private dwelling in 1914 and was the home of
Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two years, res ...
when she was MP for South Derbyshire from the 1980's onwards. It is claimed that on a clear day 22 churches including
Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Chad in Lichfield, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Lichfield, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lichfield and the principal church of the diocese ...
can be seen from the mill. Mercia Marina opened in September 2008 in the 24-acre Willington Lake, surrounded by another of countryside for dog-walking fields, a wildlife lake and a holiday home development. In building the marina, twelve islands or promontories were added to the natural contours of the lake thus creating a green oasis for people and wildlife alike. This was enhanced by a £85,000 planting scheme, featuring wildflower banks, reed beds, semi mature trees and native plants. For boaters, the layout of Mercia Marina is akin to a series of small marinas joined by wide expanses of open water. The area includes numerous shops, a bar, coffee house and tea rooms. Findern Primary School on Heath Lane was designed by the pioneering architect George Henry Widdows and constructed in 1924. The highly popular Dobbies Garden Centre is to be found on Doles Lane. The canal at Findern, forms part of the
Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middl ...
, which was completed in 1777, and connects the to more than 70 locks and five tunnels, ultimately joining the
River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...
to the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
. The railway line runs alongside the canal and was opened by the  Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway on its original route from Derby to  Hampton-in-Arden where it met the 
London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
 for London. The village is nowadays bounded on two sides by major A roads; the  A38 and the  A50. The former, to the north east, follows the course of the Roman road 
Icknield Street Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in England, with a route roughly south-west to north-east. It runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire () to Templeborough in South Yorkshire (). It passes through ...
, while the latter passes to the south of the village centre and runs parallel to the canal. In contrast to the ancient route of the A38, the A50 road was laid only in 1997.


Jedediah Strutt

Jedediah Strutt Jedediah Strutt (1726 – 7 May 1797) or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelled it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England. Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed ...
was born 25 July 1726 in
South Normanton South Normanton is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover District of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 9,445. An ex-mining village, it is two miles east of Alfreton. The historic industries of the village were agr ...
, Derbyshire.  He was the son of William Strutt, a farmer, and Martha Statham.  After showing an early interest in mechanics, Strutt was apprenticed at the age of 14 to Ralph Massey, a wheelwright who lived in Findern. There Strutt lodged at The Old Hall with a hosiery manufacturing family called the Woollatt's. Findern at the time was the base of the Nonconformist Academy with Ebenezer Latham as its headmaster.  Latham, as a friend of the Woollatt family, became a key influence on Strutt's early life, and encouraged him to expand his learning. Strutt married Elizabeth Woollatt in 1755, and along with her brother William Woollatt, took out a patent in 1759 for an attachment to a mechanical knitting machine known as a
stocking frame A stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589. Its use, known traditionally as framework knitting, was the first major stage in the mechanis ...
. The Derby Rib was a set of barbed hooks, operated vertically among the horizontal needles of the frame, that took the loops from the latter, and reversed them to make a rib stitch. In 1771, Strutt, and spinner Samuel Need joined
Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as ...
in the building of a 
cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...
 at 
Cromford Cromford () is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Derwent between Wirksworth and Matlock. It is north of Derby, south of Matlock and south of Matlock Bath. Cromford is first mentioned in the 11t ...
, using what was henceforth called Arkwright's water frame. This was the first of its kind in the world, marking the beginning of the 
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
. Further mills followed at
Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...
in 1778 and
Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...
in 1782. For each of the mills, Strutt built long rows of worker's houses and both are now part of the 
Derwent Valley Mills Derwent Valley Mills is a World Heritage Site along the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England, designated in December 2001. It is administered by the Derwent Valley Mills Partnership. The modern factory, or 'mill', fact ...
 World Heritage Site. In time there would be eight Strutt mills at Belper which would grow to a population of 10,000 by the mid-nineteenth century and be the second largest town in the county.


Additional history

There is a Neolithic cursus 1 ½ miles south of the village. The village was mentioned in the 
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
, when it was held by 
Burton Abbey Burton Abbey at Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, England, was founded in the 7th or 9th century by St Modwen or Modwenna. It was refounded in 1003 as a Benedictine abbey by the thegn Wulfric Spott. He was known to have been buried in the abb ...
 as an outlier of 
Mickleover Mickleover is a village in the unitary authority of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is west of Derby, northeast of Burton upon Trent, southeast of Ashbourne and northeast of Uttoxeter. History The earliest recorded mention of Mickleov ...
. A
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
once stood near the church, where the monks were supplied with fresh food from the fishponds on Common Piece Lane. After the dissolution of the abbey the Fynderne family, as the principal land-owners, took ownership of the village and the remaining 
Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...
. The Fyndernes lived in a fortified manor house on Castle Hill, though none of the house remains. Sir Geoffrey de Fynderne left the village to join the 
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
, and brought back the Findern Flower, which in the UK only grows in the village, and only in particular areas. The flower has become an emblem of the village and is represented in many guises, including the emblem of Findern Primary School. In 1694 an early school was started here by Rev. Benjamin Robinson, the local 
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
 minister (for which he was summoned to explain why to the bishop). The church was rebuilt and consecrated in 1863, on the site of a
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
chapel of ease, destroyed by fire. Built of sandstone, it stands adjacent to the village green. The church contains a monument to Isabella de Fynderne dated 1444, and also possesses the oldest parish communion plate in the UK. Findern also has a small
Methodist chapel Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
, built in 1835, close to the site of the old
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
. The village previously also had an early 18th century  Unitarian chapel, built just over five miles from Derby. At that time the law decreed that no Dissenting meeting house should be built less than that distance from the town. It was demolished in 1939.


Residents

Findern was also the birthplace of Ben Spilsbury who in 1884 scored
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...
’s first ever league goal, played for the Rams for five years and was capped three times for England.
Reg Parnell Reginald Parnell (2 July 1911 – 7 January 1964) was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship point ...
was a successful
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
motor racing driver from the 1930's through to his retirement in 1957, after which he became team manager until his death in 1964.
Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two years, res ...
was the  Conservative Party Member of Parliament for 
South Derbyshire South Derbyshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Derbyshire, England. The district covers the towns of Melbourne, Derbyshire, Melbourne and Swadlincote as well as numerous villages and hamlets such as Hilton, Derbys ...
 from 1983 until 1997, and was a Junior Health Minister for two years before resigning in 1988 during the  salmonella-in-eggs controversy.


See also

* Listed buildings in Findern


References

{{authority control Villages in Derbyshire Trent and Mersey Canal South Derbyshire District