Litchurch is a historical area in the city 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 ...

, in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. From Medieval times it was a rural

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

associated with Derby but outside the

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

boundary, before experiencing rapid urbanisation and population growth in the 19th century. After a brief existence as a self-governing local board area between 1866 and 1889, it was absorbed by the newly created Derby county borough and has subsequently fallen into obscurity.

History

The name Litchurch is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin, meaning ''Luda's Church''. This church has not been identified with certainty, but it may refer to an early settlement around nearby St Peter's Church, Derby. The earliest reference to Litchurch is 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 also one the hundreds of Derbyshire, meaning that at one time it was the meeting place for the hundred court. By 1300, it had been combined with the neighbouring hundred of Morleston. Around the time that Derby was granted a new town charter in 1203, St Peter's Church was transferred to the control of the Abbey of Darley, while the manor of Litchurch was joined to the holdings of Peter de Sandiacre. As a consequence of this reorganisation, Litchurch now lay outside the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

boundary and was classed as a separate

within Derby-St Peter. Over the next five hundred years Litchurch remained a rural backwater on the fringes of Derby, and by 1700 was described as a "

liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

of itself but no house, only three or four cottages". In 1757 Thomas Borrow, Derby's Town Clerk, married Anne Ault of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

and came into the use of £4,000 and lands and property in Litchurch. By the beginning of the 19th century, Litchurch's population was still only 35. The coming of the railway industry to Derby from 1839 onwards, however, was the catalyst for a huge expansion of the local population, including areas outside the historic borough boundaries. Over the next few decades, an ever-increasing number of Derby's amenities came to be located in Litchurch: much of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

's properties, including the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, as well as Derby Arboretum and parts of the Derby Canal. The Osmaston Road area contained the Derby workhouse, but was also home to many prominent middle class residents living in large houses such as The Field, at one time occupied by Midland Railway engineer William Henry Barlow. In 1866 Litchurch became a separate

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 ...

, on 26 March 1898 the parish was abolished and merged with Derby and became part of the county borough of Derby. In 1891 the parish had a population of 23,003. It is now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of Derby, in the Derby district. Since being abolished it has had no officially defined administrative function. Indeed the use of the name itself has fallen into decline in recent decades, many of the residential streets at the heart of 19th century Litchurch having been obliterated in the 1970s to facilitate the expansion of the neighbouring Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. An early map of Derby dated 1819 shows ''The Liberty Of Litchurch''. A street name-plate located on Normanton Road, next to Grove Street, identifies the area as "Normanton Road- Litchurch". The area also had a gallows located in what is now Derby Arboretum. Litchurch lent its name to the

Derby Litchurch Lane Works Derby Litchurch Lane Works, formerly Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, is a railway rolling stock factory in Derby, England. It is presently owned by the multinational transportation manufacturer Alstom. Derby works originally commenced productio ...

References

External links

* {{Suburbs of Derby Areas of Derby Former civil parishes in Derbyshire