Sneinton (pronounced "Snenton") is a suburb of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England. The area is bounded by Nottingham city centre to the west,

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley (California), Central Valley r ...

to the north, Colwick to the east, and the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

to the south. Sneinton lies within the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

of Nottingham City, having been part of the borough of Nottingham since 1877. Sneinton existed as a village since at least 1086, but remained relatively unchanged until the industrial era, when the population dramatically expanded. Further

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or socio ...

in the post-war period left Sneinton with a

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

character. Sneinton residents of note include

William Booth William Booth (10 April 182920 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first "General" (1878–1912). His 1890 book In Darkest England and The Way Out outl ...

, founder of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

, and mathematician George Green, who worked Green's Mill at the top of Belvoir Hill. In modern times, regeneration has seen most of the old telephone exchange converted into student accommodation, the market place replaced by a pedestrian plaza and the wholesale fruit and fish market units in the traditional avenue layout re-used for artisan small businesses.Controversial student accommodation extension approved, despite multiple objections
'

Nottinghamshire Live The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Satu ...

'', 24 September 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2022 Our history
Sneinton Market Avenues. Retrieved 10 November 2022

History

Nottingham Map 1831 by Staveley and Wood

The history of Sneinton is inextricably tied to that of its near neighbour, the City of

. When the area that is now Nottingham was settled by the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

chieftain "Snot", he named the settlement "Snottingham" (the homestead of Snot's people, where ''inga'' = the people of; ''ham'' = homestead), and the area east of the city, also settled by Saxons, was called "Snottington" (the suffix ''ton'' = farmstead settlement). Sneinton is 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, where is referred to as "Notintone", which represents the Norman pronunciation of an Anglo-Saxon placename, with the "Sn" dropped in favour of "N", which was easier to say in the

Norman language Norman or Norman French (, french: Normand, Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a Romance language which can be classified as one of the Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon. The name "Norman French" is sometimes used to describe ...

. The Norman pronunciation of "Nottingham" stuck, whereas their pronunciation of "Notintone" did not. In the years between 1086 and 1599, "Sneinton" became the agreed way of spelling the village name.

Industrial era

Until the 19th century Sneinton was no more than a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, standing on a high

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

about a mile east of Nottingham town centre overlooking the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

of the

. The village was to change dramatically when the principal landowner of the time, the First Earl Manvers, sold off the land between Nottingham and Sneinton to developers. Housing was built on the land in which Nottingham's factory workers lived. Building regulations at that time were somewhat lax, and so the new landscape was to become a

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

Poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse < ...

and poor

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...

were facts of life for those living in these cramped

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

s. Green's Mill, a red brick

tower mill A tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower, on which sits a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the sails into the wind.Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia (2005), 520 T ...

, was built around 1807 on the site of a previous smaller

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

. When the founder of the mill died, his son, renowned mathematician George Green, inherited and operated it until his death in 1841. Near Green's Mill stood the imposing Nottingham Lunatic Asylum, the first County Asylum to open in England, which existed from 1812 to 1902. It was later converted into a boarding school named King Edward's, governed by the infamous head master Alfred Tanner and his wife Mary. Children were killed in

industrial accident A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more th ...

s at the school. It has since been demolished and is now the location of King Edward Park. At the end of the Nineteenth century, the Third Earl Manvers sold off the remainder of the Pierrepont family land to developers, who subsequently build all of the Victorian housing on the slopes of Sneinton Dale. This housing was of a higher standard than the previous development, and still stands to this day. The population then grew to a peak of 23,093 in 1901, as

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

and

textile manufacturing Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful go ...

expanded along with heavy industry.

Modern period

In the 1930s, Nottingham began to address the problem of

overcrowding Overcrowding or crowding is the condition where more people are located within a given space than is considered tolerable from a safety and health perspective. Safety and health perspectives depend on current environments and on local cultural n ...

. Many people in Sneinton at the time were living in the older, cramped, unfit-for-purpose damp Victorian housing. These homes were generally rented, so it was a trivial process use clearance orders to evict tenants. Unfit houses were demolished, and the land redeveloped under the "Carter Gate" redevelopment. Further development was put on hold due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, during which Sneinton was heavily bombed. A map produced by the local Civil Defence Departments showed that many of the industrial units on Meadow Lane received direct hits. Later in the 1950s came the "Chedworth Estate" redevelopment. A large amount of modern housing was built during this period, as well as five multi-story

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...

s, all of which stand to the present day. Around this time,

economic migrant An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...

s began to settle in Sneinton, drawn by affordable housing near to places of work. In the 21st century, Sneinton has retained a sense of community, giving it a

-like feel, which has so far resisted

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

. As of 2014, Sneinton has the 11th lowest crime rate out of the 25 Nottingham districts, beating all other comparable

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists somet ...

areas (such as St Ann's, the Meadows, and Radford). House prices have risen over the past few decades but housing remains cheaper in Sneinton than in other Nottingham suburbs. This may change when the planned "Eastside"

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of bligh ...

projects beside Sneinton are completed.

Regeneration

In the 1930s, the wholesale fruit and vegetable market moved from

Slab Square The Old Market Square (Slab Square) is an open, pedestrianised city square in Nottingham, England, forming the heart of the city, and covering an area of approximately , or about 3 acres. It is one of the largest paved squares in the United ...

in the city centre to a new location on the edge of Sneinton. This was soon expanded by demolition of decaying dwellings to establish individual brick units arranged in rows for the traders, together with a new market place for stallholders. The area fell into dis-use during the 1980s, and after investment secured from Europe and Nottingham City Council, the area was rejuvenated by conversion of the units into start-up locations for artisan retailers and hospitality. Conversion of the old Brook Street multi-storey

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

into student accommodation brought a greater population with longer trading days, and the area gained a nickname of 'Creative Quarter'. Further nearby student accommodation projects are planned. The old market place was converted into a pedestrian plaza, with the Victoria Baths being extended in 2012 into a larger multi-function leisure facility. Nearby areas under regeneration include Broadmarsh, Hockley and the Lace Market.

Governance

Sneinton was officially incorporated into the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various 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 In the Middle ...

of Nottingham in 1877. It now lies within the

of Nottingham, and so is governed by Nottingham City Council.

has been sending MPs to Westminster since 1295; the constituency was split up in 1885 and Sneinton has been part of

Nottingham East Nottingham East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Nadia Whittome of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Constituency profile On average earners' incomes are slightly lower than the n ...

ever since. Within the Nottingham East constituency, Sneinton mostly lies within the Dales electoral ward, though the Sneinton Elements estate is included in the St. Anns ward instead.

Geography

Sneinton is the area around Sneinton Dale road, which runs for about two miles east of Nottingham city centre until it turns into Oakdale at a roundabout marking the boundary with the 1930s suburb of

to the east. Otherwise the boundaries are blurred - Carlton Road and the A612 Newark road are generally regarded as the northern and southern boundaries of the residential area, but the Dales electoral ward, which includes Sneinton and Bakersfield, extends south of the Newark road down to the river. Thus the ward includes riverside industrial areas, the racecourse, Colwick Woods and Colwick Country Park as they are within the city boundary and Colwick is outside it in Gedling borough. The ward boundary mostly runs south of Carlton Road but some estate agents may describe property north of it around Victoria Park as being in Sneinton rather than the troubled area of St Ann's. The western boundary of the ward comes up from Lady Bay Bridge along the A6011 Meadow Lane which turns into the A612 Manvers Road. Sneinton sits on soft

Bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...

(of the Sherwood Sandstone Group type), overlaid on top of

Keuper marl Keuper marl is a former and now deprecated term for multiple layers of mudstone and siltstone of Triassic age which occur beneath parts of the English Midlands and neighbouring areas e.g. Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic co ...

s (of the Mercia Mudstone Group). Nottinghamshire's sandstone ridges can easily be dug with simple hand tools to create artificial cave dwellings. The general area around what is now Nottingham was once known in the Brythonic language as "Tigguo Cobauc" meaning "The Place of Caves" and was referred to as such by the Bishop of Sherborne

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for hi ...

in 893 AD in ''The Life of King Alfred''. Cave dwellings extended out into Sneinton, wherein they were referred to as the "Hermitage", being as they were occupied by members of a reclusive religious order. When Manvers Road was first constructed, brick buildings were built facing into the sandstone, using the caves as back rooms. In 1829 a rock collapse destroyed these buildings, and in 1897 a railway expansion forced Manvers Road to divert, cutting away much of the rockface, erasing most of Sneinton's remaining caves. What little remains can still be seen along the edge of Sneinton Hermitage.

Demography

In 1801 the population of Sneinton stood at just 558. By 1851, Sneinton's population had grown to 8,440. The population peaked at 23,093 in 1901. People from the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

Southern Asia Southern Asia may refer to: * South Asia, a geopolitical macroregion of SAARC countries * Southern Asia, a geographical subregion in Asia spanning the Iranian Plateau and the Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the phy ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, The Middle East,

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

and North America are all represented in Sneinton, but the greatest single population comes from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. As result of this mixed migrant population, the area has a

character, and has a diverse range of restaurants and stores. In 2011, the population stood at 12,689 people, of which 60% was white, 20% Asian, 8% black, 9% mixed, 2% other.

Economy

In the 19th century the local industries were

and

, like most of Nottingham. In Sneinton, heavier industries were also represented, such as the iron foundry, engineering works, and

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 S ...

, sited at the eastern end of Sneinton Dale. Most of the existing red brick

terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United Sta ...

s were built in the nineteenth century, and many of the factories and warehouses of that era have long since been demolished to make way for additional housing. Sneinton had a traditional open-air

public market A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

situated at the north-western end of Sneinton, where the district meets the city centre. The Market struggled in recent years. Sneinton Market Place and Victoria Leisure Centre

Sneinton Market Place and Victoria Leisure Centre

Sneinton Market was substantially altered into a pedestrian plaza for the student quarter.10 Years of Skateboarding at Sneinton Market
creativequarter.com, 20 April 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022 This

urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

project has been called "Nottingham Eastside" by developers, and the start date was pushed back numerous times due to a lack of funding during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

. The Eastside development ties in with Nottingham City Council's ambitions to develop the south eastern part of the city centre into a "Creative Quarter". The area includes the Lace Market, Hockley, Broadmarsh East, the Eastside Island site and BioCity, the project aims at creating growth and jobs. In July 2012, the government contributed £25 million towards a £45 million

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

fund, mainly targeted at the Creative Quarter. Sneinton Dale and Sneinton Boulevard, the two main high streets through the village, have weathered the recession. The Sneinton Business Forum represents over 160 local businesses.

Culture

The art gallery

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exch ...

is one of a number of projects at One Thoresby St, listed as one of "the world's best secret art galleries" by Alexander Farquharson of Nottingham Contemporary. Sneinton Dale was previously the site of an

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

film house called Dale Cinema, which operated from 1932 to 1957. There are around a dozen

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and w ...

in Sneinton, the oldest of which is The Lord Nelson, sited in a 500-year-old building which was originally a coaching inn called The Hornbuckles. The studios of regional

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

Gem 106 are nearby on the City Link.

Festival

Every July, Sneinton holds a festival organised around a different theme. The first festival was held in 1995, and is run by a volunteer group made up of local residents, representatives of local organisations, community groups, schools, church, youth and play groups, artists, musicians, performers and local project workers. Since 2002, the group has been supported and coordinated by the Sneinton Community Project. The Sneinton Festival has three elements: initial

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the on ...

s, a week-long

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

, and the final

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ...

. Workshops organised by The Festival Group take place in the run-up to the festival, and bring young people together to be creative around the year's theme, building the artwork, decorations and costumes, as well as holding dance and performance workshops. The Festival Week begins on a Saturday, and involves seven days of

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

-based free and open events held in and around Sneinton. Festival Week culminates in a

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

held on Carnival Day, on the next Saturday. The Carnival Parade includes floats, fancy dress, costumes, samba bands, jazz bands, youth bands, dancers, and a variety of other event performers. The festival then continues in the Hermitage Square when the parade arrives, and features an afternoon of free and diverse entertainment.

Sites of interest

There are several parks and

allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed s ...

s within Sneinton, such as Belvoir Park and the Dale Allotments, but by far the largest green space is Colwick Woods. Colwick Woods lies to the east of Sneinton, and, at 50 hectares or 123 acres, is almost as large as Sneinton itself. It is a mixture of

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

and

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

, and forms a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The ancient woodland is a habitat for

indicator species A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

such as dogs mercury and

ramsons ''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amary ...

. The site is rich in mammal species including both species of pipistrelle and

noctule bat ''Nyctalus'' is a genus of vespertilionid bats commonly known as the noctule bats. They are distributed in the temperate and subtropical areas of Europe, Asia and North Africa. There are eight species within this genus: * Birdlike noctule, ''Ny ...

Public rights of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

are marked out across the site, along with desire paths that run throughout the woods. The woods and meadows, unusually close to a city centre, are very popular with local people for

outdoor activities Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

including walking, mountain biking, and other activities. Steep hills are a characteristic feature of most of the site, and wheelchair access is only from Greenwood Road into the open grassland. Greenwood Dale High School shares a boundary with the reserve and educational events have been held in partnership with the school including photographic scavenger hunts and sapling collection. Open days are held in the summer allowing the public to be actively involved with the reserve. Colwick Woods has an active Friends Group who meet regularly to discuss the condition of the site and carry out

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often ...

activities in the woods. Green's Mill is a restored and working 19th century tower windmill, located at the top of Belvoir Hill, overlooking the city of Nottingham. Built in the early 1800s for the

milling Milling may refer to: * Milling (minting), forming narrow ridges around the edge of a coin * Milling (grinding), breaking solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting in a mill * Milling (machining), a process of using rota ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...

into

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many c ...

, it remained in use until the 1860s. It was renovated in the 1980s and is now part of a science centre, which together have become a local

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural ...

. The Sneinton Dragon is a large

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

that stands at the junction of Colwick Loop Road and Sneinton Hermitage. Made from stainless steel, it was created by local craftsman Robert Stubley after residents of Sneinton were asked by the Renewal Trust what they would like to see as a piece of public art to represent their area. It was commissioned by Nottingham City Council and was unveiled on 21 November 2006. The dragon stands 7 feet tall, has a wingspan of 15 feet and took 3 months to finish. During the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

period the dragon receives a Santa hat, which often disappears within days. There are also three other sculptures in Sneinton.

Transport

The main

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym ...

through the village is Sneinton Dale. Many of the residential streets in Sneinton are named after battles and generals of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. Sneinton is bounded to the north by the B686 (Carlton Road), and to the west and south by the

A612 road The A612 road is an A-class road in the United Kingdom running between Nottingham and Averham, on the A617 near Newark. It starts in central Nottingham at a junction with the A60. Initially running east, as Pennyfoot Street, before a right tu ...

(Manvers Street and Colwick Loop Road) which runs from Nottingham to

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road bypasses the town on the line of t ...

. The railway to Netherfield and

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

runs through Sneinton but it has not had a station since the Racecourse station shut in 1959. The

Nottingham Suburban Railway The Nottingham Suburban Railway was a British railway company that constructed a line in length serving the north-eastern suburbs of Nottingham. It was built to shorten the distance by train to Ilkeston and towns on the Leen Valley railway ...

connected Trent Lane junction in Sneinton with

Daybrook Daybrook is a suburb of Arnold, Nottinghamshire. The area is located just outside the city of Nottingham but inside the conurbation of Greater Nottingham. It lies next to the areas of Arnold town centre, Sherwood, Woodthorpe, Redhill and B ...

, but bomb damage closed the Sneinton end in 1941 and the line ceased operations completely in 1954.

Tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

lines once ran down Carlton Road. Buses * 43: Nottingham - Sneinton Dale - Bakersfield * 44: Nottingham - Sneinton - Colwick - Netherfield - Gedling

Education

Sneinton has six

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

providers, William Booth Primary School, Edale Rise Primary and Nursery School, Sneinton St Stephen's CofE Primary School, Windmill L.E.A.D. Academy, the Iona School, and The Nottingham Academy (operating from the former Jesse Boot Primary School). Nottingham Academy also runs the only secondary school in the area, on the sites of the former Greenwood Dale and Elliot Durham Schools. Sneinton has a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

, which can be found on Sneinton Dale (at the former Sneinton Police Station site).

Religion

The religious life of Sneinton reflects the diversity of its inhabitants. The main

religious denomination A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition among other activities. The term refers to the various Christian denominations (for example, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and the many var ...

has traditionally been the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, which is represented by four churches: St. Christopher's, St. Cyprian's, St. Matthias' and St. Stephen's. St. Stephen's is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activitie ...

at the centre of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of "St Stephen with St Matthias". Two former Church of England sites have been taken over by other denominations, namely St Alban's, which is now Catholic, and St. Luke's which is now the Congregation of Yahweh. The

Albion Congregational Church Albion Congregational Church was built on Stamford Street East in Ashton-Under-Lyne by John Brooke between 1890 and 95. It is a Grade II listed building. Organ An organ was installed by Charles Lloyd (presumably in 1904/5). It was rebuilt by R ...

also lies within Sneinton. St Mary's and St. George's is the local Coptic Christian place of worship, and Bethesda represents the Pentacostal faith. Beyond Christianity, there is also a

Hindu Temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hi ...

& Community Centre on Carlton Road, and the Jamia Masjid Sultania

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

was recently built on Sneinton Dale, giving the Muslim community a place to worship.

Sport

Gyms in the village include the award-winning Victoria Leisure Centre.

Carlton Town F.C. Carlton Town Football Club is a Semi-professional sports#United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, semi-professional association football, football club based in Gedling, Nottinghamshire, Gedling, Nottinghamshire, England. Founded i ...

is a local football team, that was founded as Sneinton F.C. in 1904. There are two local

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams; the men's team is the Beeston Tropics, and the women's is the Nottingham Wildcats.

Notable people

William_booth_statue.JPG, Statue of

, on Notintone Place Statue_of_Bendigo_in_Sneinton.jpg, Statue of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, mak ...

on the former Hermitage pub

References

External links

Sneinton.com community outreach website
* * * * * {{Nottinghamshire Areas of Nottingham