• Photos of Newton Solney, Derbyshire, England.
This
small south Derbyshire village is located about two miles from the Staffordshire
border near Burton upon Trent. The nearest Derbyshire village is Repton
which is two miles north/east of Newton Solney.
When the Anglian invaders came up the Trent in the sixth century, they would
have found Newton Solney an attractive place, sitting at the confluence
of two rivers, the Trent, which could be forded here and the Dove.
They called it Niwantune meaning the new farm and from this tiny nucleus
the village slowly grew when the Vikings, in their turn raided Mercia and
destroyed the Saxon monastery at Repton (873-4) they may also have sacked
and occupied Newton Solney.
After the conquest (1066) the King owned the village which Solennaia, a
Norman knight, inherited Newton. By about 1300 it became known as Newton
Solney. Norman knights were passionately fond of hunting and the de Solneys
carved Hunting Park out of the extensive woodland.
The first church was built in the 12th century. There would have also been
a manor house, probably somewhere near the present Newton Park Hotel.
The lord of the manor would have a mill and fishing rights on the river
and the tithe barn is recorded in 1528. With the death of John, the last
male de Solney in 1390, the manor passed through several important families
and was finally bought by a local attorney, Abraham Hoskins who built the
house, now the hotel.
The village hall was originally a riffle range for the volunteers
of the first world war. Colonel Ratcliffe gave a new building and the architect
was Arthur Eaton.
The Unicorn Inn started as a farmhouse in the early nineteenth century.
When owned by the Ratcliffe family it was an inn, later it was sold to Bass
Brewery. Today it is a pub and has accommodation in the form of four twin
bedrooms and four double bedrooms.
The old Forge stands at the corner of Blacksmiths Lane, there was
a smith here in 1899 but gone by 1908.
Trent Lane is an ancient tradewasy which leads down to the ford.
There are some Victorian cottages, behind which is the old wheelwrights
house. In 1895 there were two wheelwrights in the village. One house 'the
Vine' may be seventeenth century and is certainly one of the oldest houses
in the village. Across the river there is a World War Two pillbox, put there
to prevent German tanks crossing the river, which it is just possible for
a tank to cross.
The Newton Solney C of E Infants school was built in 1860, now with
modern additions. This was the school built by the Lord of the Manor, Sir
Henry Every.
Waterside Farm is an attractive Georgian farmhouse which is now a
guesthouse.
Newton Solney won the best kept village award in 1989, 1990, 1994, 2000,
2001 and it was also the winner of East Midlands in bloom 1996 and 1998.
It easy to see why it has won these awards as even though it was late summer
when I visited this village, I was very impressed by the overall look of
the village.
For
a map of the Newton Solney area click HERE.
|
