Local Attractions - full list

There are a wide variety of local attractions in Erewash. Below are places of interest in the towns and villages in the Borough.

Breadsall

Breadsall Priory
Built in the 16th Century on the site of a 13th Century Augustinian Priory, the house was much altered in the 19th Century. The poet, physician and scientist Doctor Erasmus Darwin lived at the Priory for a short time until his death in 1802

Breaston

St Michaels Parish Church
St. Michaels’ chapel dates from the early 13th Century. Originally only mass was said in the chapel and all weddings and funerals had to take place at St. Chad’s, Wilne

Cotmanhay

Bennerley Viaduct
Stretches over from Amber Valley to Cotmanhay - on the edge of Erewash. Impressive wrought iron lattice work viaduct c. 1879. Almost 500 yards / 460M metres long, which carried the former GNR Derbys extension over the Erewash Valley. Built by Richard Johnson, it closed in 1968

Draycott

St Chad’s Church (Church Wilne)
Medieval Church consisting of nave, south aisle, chancel and 13th Century West Tower. Interesting fittings particularly the font, formed out of part of a cross of the 8th or 9th Century, and believed to be the second oldest font in the country. Also of note are the glass, monuments, and floor tiles of the Willoughby Chapel. The Church was much damaged by a fire in 1917

Kirk Hallam

Cat & Fiddle Windmill
The Cat and Fiddle post mill, with the date of 1788 on the timbering, stands on the site of an earlier mill. This is the only surviving post mill in Derbyshire. On a clear day there are excellent views of the surrounding countryside. At the bottom of the hill is Moat Wood, the firner site of the original moated manor house

All Saints Parish Church
Norman in origin, All Saints Church has a few surviving original features, notably the font.

Little Eaton

Peckwash Mill
Late 18th Century watermill building on the site of a former 13th Century corn mill. During 17th and 18th centuries it was one of the biggest paper mills in the world, finally being used in the textile industry in 1800s and 1900s. The mill, along with other industrial sites, now form part of a World Heritage Site.

Long Eaton

Long Eaton Market Place
Contains many buildings of historic interest and architectural merit. The artist Dame Laura Knight was born close to the market place. The house is now marked by a blue plaque

St Laurences Parish Church
The church of St. Laurence has a fine Norman south doorway. This and the medieval nave and chancel were rebuilt into the present building when the church was enlarged in 1868. The 14th Century tower and squat spire are largely unaltered. The church is located on the Market Place in the centre of Long Eaton.

The Hall
The Hall, built in 1778 is a fine example of Georgian architecture, built for gentleman farmer Henry Howitt and his family by Derby architect Joseph Pickford. It has been used for civic purposes since 1921 and the modern extension dating from the mid-1990s contains the Civic Centre. The Hall and Civic Centre house the Howitt Bequest, a collection of 18th and 19th Century paintings left to the people of Long Eaton by the Howitt family in the early 20th century

Forbes Hole
Open willow carr, woodland, grassland, scrub and wetland. Plants include water violet and water dropwort. Good for butterflies and moths.

West Park
West Park is situated on Wilsthorpe Road in Long Eaton. The park is very popular with local people, offering the opportunity to play a variety of sports, including cricket, football, bowls, rugby, and tennis. The park also has a skate board park, tree trail, floral gardens, band stand, children's play area and orienteering course.

Morely

St Matthew’s Church & Mausoleum
St Matthews Church shows both Saxon and Norman features. It is best known for its magnificent stained glass windows from the Abbey at Dale, acquired by Sir Henry Sacheverall in 1539. In the churchyard is the unusual mausoleum to the Sacheveral-Bateman family

Ockbrook

Locko Hall & Park
A large stone mansion 9 bays wide and 3 storeys high with rusticated giant pilasters at the angels. At either end, one storey projecting wings, the west wing is older than the main house and contains a chapel built in 1669. The present house was built by Francis Smith of Warwick in the late 1720s and has been the ancestral home of the Drury-Lowe family since 1747. In medieval times a leper hospital stood on the site. The garden and landscaped park was created c1792 by William Emes. The Hall and Park are still privately owned bust can be seen from the public footpath which runs to the south side of the estate.

Ockbrook Moravian Settlement
The Moravian Church was formed in Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic) in the 15th Century. A Moravian community settled in Ockbrook in the 1740s, and built their Church in 1752. The settlement continued to grow and includes many fine 18th and 19th Century buildings some of which now form Ockbrook School. There is still a Moravian congregation at the church.

All Saints Parish Church
All Saints’ became the parish church c.1550, before which it had been the chapelry of Elvaston. Of the chapel only two main features remain, the early 12th Century tower (to which the spire was added slightly later), and the Norman font.

Sandiacre

St Giles Church
The Church has examples in Norman, decorated and perpendicular styles, notably in the nave walls and chancel archaeology featuring the Sandiacre Imp. The broach spire is 13th Century and the fire chancel dates from the mid 14th Century.

Springfield Mills
A large, four storey tenement lace factory on the east bank of the Erewash Canal. Built in 1888 by Terah Hooley Ltd lace manufacturers. The most prominent feature of the factory is a tall octagonal chimney on a square base, with an intricately decorated head.

Sawley
Trent Lock
At the southern end of the Erewash Canal, Trent Lock was opened in 1779 to provide a navigable route down the river Soar to Loughborough and later Leicester. Associated buildings include the Toll House, Warehouse, boat building yard, dry dock and the public houses which served the boatman and their families.