
Tuxford is a historic
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
and a
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
Bassetlaw district of
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
, England. It had a population of 2,809 in the
2021 census.
Geography
Its nearby towns are
Ollerton,
Retford
Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...
,
Worksop
Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...
,
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...
and
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 (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
. The nearest cities are
Lincoln,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
and
Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
. The town is located near the border with
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
in
The Dukeries
The Dukeries is an area of the county of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats. It is south of Worksop, which has been called its "gateway". The area was included within the ancient Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Fo ...
.
The A6075 passes through east–west and connects the
A57 to
Ollerton and
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...
. The
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
passes close to the east. The A611 previously went east–west through the town; this is now the A6075. The A611 now goes from Mansfield to
Hucknall
Hucknall () is a market town in the Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, north of Nottingham, southeast of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, from Mansfield and south of Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Hucknall is on the west ba ...
.
The
Great North Road runs through the town (now B1164), though the majority of traffic now uses the modern
A1 trunk road, which splits the town in two. The town was bypassed in 1967. The section of road, known as Carlton to Markham Moor, or the Sutton-on-Trent, Weston and Tuxford Bypass, was built by
Robert McGregor & Sons, with concreting aggregates supplied by
Hoveringham Gravels (later bought by Tarmac). The eight-mile section was authorised by
Tom Fraser with a contract for £2.7 million, but ended up costing £3.4 million. The section is notable for the first use in British construction of the
slip form paver using
pervious concrete. The bridge sections came from
Boulton & Paul Ltd
Boulton & Paul Ltd was a British general manufacturer from Norwich, England that became involved in aircraft manufacture.
Jeld Wen Inc. bought Boulton & Paul (along with another joinery company John Carr) from the Rugby Group plc in 1999 to ...
in Norwich.
Tuxford bypass
The proposed (and modest) Tuxford bypass in 1958 was priced at only £204,000, only slightly more than the nearby Cromwell bypass at £150,000. In August 1960, the Cromwell to Markham Moor proposed bypass route was completely changed. Previously, the 1950s plan was to merely dual the main road, with a small bypass at Tuxford, and diversions at
Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* W ...
and Scarthingmoor, but it was realised that all gaps should be closed, and that bridges should instead be built. The Tuxford bypass route was fixed on 16 April 1963, and the new route would leave the former 1950s route midway across the
Carlton-on-Trent bypass.
Tuxford Bypass started in early December 1965, and was to finish by late 1966 or in early 1967. Construction started near Markham Moor at Sibthorpe Hill at
East Markham. The former roundabout at Markham Moor was previously much more modest, so it was widened; the Markham Moor roundabout was designed for a possible bridge, but traffic flow was not big enough in 1965 for a bridge. The Cromwell bypass was largely finished by December 1965, so the Tuxford bypass started when the Cromwell bypass had finished. The contractor's depot was at Ashvale, to the south of Tuxford, next to the former
Tuxford Central railway station. When building the roundabout at Markham Moor, traffic was diverted through East Markham. Concrete was made at Cromwell, being made from a Newark quarry. Wet weather delayed construction in October 1966. Earth-moving equipment came from Shellabear Price of
Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames, known locally as Walton, is a market town on the bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, Thames in northwest Surrey, England. It is in the Borough of Elmbridge, about southwest of central London. Walton forms part ...
. The bridges were made by Conder (Midlands) Ltd, a
structural steel
Structural steel is steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a profile of a specific cross section (geometry), cross section. Structural steel sha ...
work company of
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...
. On Friday 30 September 1966, seventy five people from the
International Road Federation
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
, from a conference in London, travelled to Cromwell and Tuxford, to see the new slip form method.
The bypass opened on 14 July 1967, opened by
Stephen Swingler, costing £3,035,658. The Tuxford parish council were not invited to the opening, due to long term heated disagreements over a lack of footbridge provision. Stephen Swingler had lunch in the Newcastle Arms. Also at the opening was the chairman of
Nottinghamshire County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes the city of ...
, Albert Pounder, and the
Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham Gordon Savage. The main road was now a dual-carriageway from
Balderton to
Bradbury, County Durham. Stephen Swingler also said that a £225,000 bridge for the B6387 at Twyford Bridge, to the north, was being planned, as it was an accident spot, being built around 1972
History
Tuxford is listed 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 ...
as Tuxfarne, and was also historically known as 'Tuckers Ford'. In
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...
's eighteenth century work, ''
A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain'', Tuxford is referred to as 'Tuxford in the Clays'; Defoe writes: 'Passing Newark Bridge, we went through the lower side of Nottinghamshire, keeping within the River Idle. Here we saw Tuxford in the Clays, that is to say, Tuxford in the Dirt, and a little dirty market town it is, suitable to its name.'
St Nicholas' Church is the
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
dates from the 12th century. From 1824 to 1849 the incumbency at St Nicholas was held by Rev.
Edward Bishop Elliott, a distinguished theologian who, while in residence at Tuxford, authored an authoritative and widely read commentary on the biblical
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
, titled ''
Horae Apocalypticae''. Tuxford also has a
Methodist
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 ...
church, whose current building was erected for another
Free church
A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...
in 1841.
Tuxford's local library is housed in a 17th-century building that was originally the Read
Grammar School
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
. The school was founded in 1669 by the bequest of Charles Read (1604–1669), who was born at
Darlton
Darlton is a small village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the A57 road about north-east of Tuxford.
The population of the civil parish was 102 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 110 at the 2011 ...
about from Tuxford, and became a wealthy shipper in
Hull. Students at the Free Grammar School were drawn from the local parish, and their education was free. Read also founded grammar schools at
Corby Glen
Corby Glen, formerly just Corby, is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately south-east of Grantham and north west of Bourne. In 2011 it had a population of 1,017.
History
The ...
in Lincolnshire and
Drax in Yorkshire. Read Grammar School in Tuxford closed in either 1912 or 1915. The building served for a time as a child welfare centre before becoming the local library.

Tuxford has a
town lock-up, one of only three in Nottinghamshire. Built in 1823 it stands in Newcastle Street. It has two separate cells, one each for men and women, each with its own
earth closet. Ventilation to each cell is via two circular holes, with iron bars on the front and back walls. In 1884 an extension was added to the back of the lock-up to house Tuxford's
fire engine
A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...
. Early maps show that also behind the lock-up was the town
pinfold
An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding.
Etymology
The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...
, which remained in use until the 1920s.
Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (Dosco) made mining equipment in the town.
Tuxford Windmill is a
tower windmill, built in 1820 and restored to working order between 1982 and 1993. It is open to visitors daily except Tuesdays throughout the year. The mill with its large white sails dominates Tuxford's skyline. The mill produces flour which is sold from the mill shop. The mill bakery produces cakes, soups & rolls. A wooden
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 central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...
once stood close by. It was moved from
Grassthorpe in 1874, continued working until about 1926 and was demolished in 1950.
Stone Road End Mill was a brick-built four-storey tower windmill, built before 1840. The mill was out of use by 1906 and now only the 38-foot high tower remains.
In January 1454, Tuxford was the site of a meeting between the Duke of Exeter and Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, in order to make a sworn confederation in furtherance of their common aims against the Neville family and Lord Cromwell. This was a critical alliance and event in ramping up the violence and tensions of the period, which would help lead to the outbreak of the Cousins War (Wars of the Roses) in 1455.
Railway stations
Despite its size, Tuxford had three railway stations but all are now closed. The
Great Northern Railway opened the East Coast Main Line through Tuxford in 1852. The GNR's station at Tuxford was served by local trains between
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 (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
and
Retford
Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...
. In 1897 The
Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway opened its line through Tuxford, linking
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
and
Chesterfield with
Lincoln. The LDECR called its station Tuxford Town, and the GNR renamed its station
Tuxford North. In 1907 the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its Great Central Main Line, London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company ...
took over the LDECR and renamed Tuxford Town
Tuxford Central.
Dukeries Junction station was built where the two railways cross, and was a split-level affair with platforms on both lines, existing solely as an interchange point surrounded by open fields with no proper road access. Its name was taken from
The Dukeries
The Dukeries is an area of the county of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats. It is south of Worksop, which has been called its "gateway". The area was included within the ancient Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Fo ...
district of Nottinghamshire.
In March 1950
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...
closed Dukeries Junction station. It had had minimal use throughout its life. In July 1955 BR closed Tuxford North and withdrew passenger services from the former LDECR line in September of the same year, resulting in the closure of Tuxford Central. The former LD&ECR railway line has since been reopened by Network Rail in 2009 as the
High Marnham Test Track
The High Marnham Test Track is a linear railway test track created in 2009 and centred on Lodge Lane, Tuxford, in Nottinghamshire in the United Kingdom. It houses Network Rail's Rail Innovation & Development Centre (RIDC), originally known a ...
for testing trains between Thoresby Jn and High Marnham at speeds of up to 75 mph, with extensive sidings and mock OHL electrification being built at Tuxford approximately 5 miles away from the former Tuxford Central Station.
Amenities

The town contains small shops, three pubs, as well as a local church.
Education
Tuxford Academy
Tuxford Academy (formerly Tuxford School) is a Mixed-sex education, mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Tuxford in the English county of Nottinghamshire.
It first opened as a County Secondary School (secondary modern school) in 1958 ...
opened as a County Secondary School (
secondary modern school
A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...
) in 1958 and became a
comprehensive in 1976. It performs very well compared with most of Nottinghamshire, and especially with most of Bassetlaw. Tuxford School recently underwent a full re-build, completed in March 2007. A company called Transform Schools (mainly represented by building company Balfour Beatty) spent millions of pounds re-building six secondary schools within the Bassetlaw area as part of a PFI funded project. The new Tuxford School is located on what used to be the old school field along with a field next to it which has been bought over. The site where the old school stood has now been converted into the new school playing field and nature areas.
Tuxford Academy has, surprisingly, only had four head teachers during its lifetime to date: Bernard Woodward, Keith Atkinson, Geoff Lloyd, and Chris Pickering and current principal, David Cotton. The school has steadily increased in size (now 1450 students) and reputation, and is one of the highest performing state secondary schools in Nottinghamshire, having gained an OfSTED grade of 'outstanding' in May 2009 and in May 2012. It has been designated as a National Support School, is a specialist Technology College and Training School, and leads loose federations of secondary and primary schools in Nottinghamshire. It is well known for its welcoming atmosphere and innovative practices in education. Tuxford also has a community
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
.
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC East Midlands
BBC East Midlands is the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire (except High Peak, Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and the northern areas of the Derbyshire Dales), Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire (except Bassetlaw), Rutland, South Kest ...
and
ITV Central
ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...
. Television signals are received from the
Waltham TV transmitter.
BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, sometimes abbreviated to BBC Yorks & Lincs, is the name for the BBC's twelfth English Region, based in Kingston upon Hull and created from the division of the former BBC North region, based in Leeds (now known ...
and
ITV Yorkshire
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
can also be received from the
Belmont TV transmitter.
Local radio stations are
BBC Radio Nottingham,
Capital East Midlands and
Smooth East Midlands.
The town is served by the local newspaper,
Newark Advertiser.
Sport
The
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
Craig Disley comes from Tuxford. He played for
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system.
The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...
1999–2004 and now plays for
Alfreton Town
Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street.
History
The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...
.
On 7 November 2011, the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee announced that the Olympic Torch would travel through Tuxford on 28 June 2012 on its way from Lincoln to Nottingham.
Tuxford Clarion Cycling Club was formed in the town on 2 May 2013, and runs time trial races around Tuxford and also regular club runs on a Sunday morning at 9am from outside the Sun Inn. They run three groups of riders ranging from 15 mph to 19 mph average, with rides from 35 miles to 60 miles each week.
The Tuxford Clarion Cycling Club is a section of the famous National Clarion Cycling Club founded in 1894 one of the oldest most historic cycling clubs in the world. The club is also affiliated with national racing governing bodies of British Cycling and Cycling Time Trials.
New riders are welcomed to join the club for three trial rides before joining.
Conservation
The parish contains 27
listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
that are recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, one is at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.
References
External links
Tuxford Mine of Information*
ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/3887687.stm PC abducted girls in 2003Windmill starts again in 2005YouTube video - parish visit journal
{{authority control
Towns in Nottinghamshire
Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire
Bassetlaw District