Shelford, Nottinghamshire

Shelford is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire. The population of the former civil parish of Shelford and Newton at the 2011 census was 673.[1] It is near Radcliffe on Trent. It has an old manor house (built on the site of Shelford Priory), a church and a Caravan Park and Bar. It also has a pub restaurant, The Earl of Chesterfield Arms.

Shelford
View of Shelford, taken from Gibbet Hill
Shelford Location within Nottinghamshire
Population	673 (2011 Census)
District	Rushcliffe
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NOTTINGHAM
Postcode district	NG12
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Rushcliffe

Church Street, Shelford

Shelford attracts Type 3 (ACORN) residents, most of whom work outside the village. Several small farms operate in the village, engaging in arable and livestock farming, with much of the harvesting being contracted out to outside companies.

Toponomy

Shelford contains the Old English word scelde for shallowness; perhaps also a shallow place, + ford (Old English), a ford, so "Shallow ford".[2]

History

It was the location of Shelford Priory, a former Augustinian house. The priory was founded by Ralph Haunselyn around 1160–80 and dissolved in 1536.

The village was the scene of a battle in the English Civil War when the Royalist garrison of Shelford Manor was taken on 3 November 1645.[3] A re-enactment of this battle takes place periodically by the Sealed Knot, a civil war re-enactment society. Held over a weekend, the activities centre upon West and Church Streets, the church and finally the manor house.

Geography

On the floor of the Trent Valley, Shelford is protected from flooding by comprehensive flood protection. This renders the probability of flooding very low. Even in the floods of 2000 the rising waters did not impinge upon the housing in the village.

Events

Every second year the village hosts a feast weekend, which features a street market, events and other activities, centred on the church and village hall. This event is well attended by both villagers and many visitors from nearby towns and villages. Over the weekend some houses open their gardens for a small donation to charity, giving visitors the opportunity to stroll through impressive rural gardens in a pretty village setting.

The village promotes a strong sense of community, and there are several social events during the year, which are well attended by villagers. The tone of the village is distinctly rural, despite its location approximately five miles from Nottingham.

Transport

The village had a ferry which ran between Shelford and Stoke Bardolph, but this has long since disappeared. The wooden structure tethering the rope for pulling the ferry can still be seen today at the end of Stoke Ferry Lane.

Property seldom becomes available in the village (some of which is still Crown owned ), and a new property coming to market attracts a great deal of interest. The vernacular of the village is red brick and red pantile, with the "important" buildings under slate.

See also

• St Peter and St Paul's Church, Shelford

References

1. "Civil parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
2. J. Gover, A. Mawer & F. M. Stenton (eds.), Place Names of Nottinghamshire (Cambridge, 1940), p.241; A. D. Mills, Dictionary of English Place-Names (Oxford, 2002), p.308; E. Ekwall, Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names (Oxford, 1960), p.415
3. C. Brown, A History of Nottinghamshire (1896), pp.77-9