Allestree

Allestree is a suburb and ward of the city of Derby, a unitary authority area, in Derbyshire, England. It is the northernmost ward and is situated on the A6 road, about north of Derby city centre. It is bordered by the district of Amber Valley along its western and northern edges and Erewash in its north-east corner. To the south it borders the ward of Mackworth and to the east the ward of Darley Abbey.
Allestree village was previously part of the Earl of Northumbria's estate before the Norman Conquest and was mentioned in the Domesday Book as part of the Markeaton estate. The Allestree estate was acquired by the Mundy family in 1516 and stayed in the family until it was bought by Derby City Council in the early 20th century. The ward now contains the remaining parts of the village of Markeaton and became a parish in its own right in 1864 and was incorporated into the Borough of Derby in 1968.
The ward is largely residential and has two parks, Allestree Park to the north and Markeaton Park to the south. Markeaton Park is the most used leisure facility in Derby with over 1 million visitors a year. The shopping needs of the area are met with the Park Farm shopping centre which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013 and at its inception was one of the largest of its kind in Europe.
History.
Middle Ages
Before the Norman conquest Allestree was a hamlet consisting of a few scattered dwellings that was part of the holding of the Earl of Northumbria. Later it was recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as Adelardestreu, an outlier of the Manor of Markeaton held by Hugh, Earl of Chester. It was given by William the Conqueror to Henry de Ferrers as a reward for his work in the Norman Conquest and later it passed to the Touchet family of Markeaton.
During the 12th century most of the land changed hands and was sold to the Abbey of St Mary, in Darley, and then rented back to the Touchet family.
It was purchased by Sir John Mundy along with the estates of Markeaton and Mackworth from Lord Audley in 1516 and stayed in the family's possession until it was sold to the Evans family in 1781. Between 1660 and 1690, Derby was represented in Parliament by Roger Allestry and his son William Allestry. They took their name from the village, rather than vice versa.
Allestree Village
Allestree was formally a distinct rural settlement centred around St Edmund's Church, the old village centre was designated a Conservation Area by the City Council in September 1991. The designated area starts on Cornhill encompassing part of the golf course on Allestree Park. All houses on St Edmund Close, Siddals Lane, The Poplars and the area to the north of Church Walk are included, as well as St Edmund's Church and the adjacent "Red Cow" inn. The area surrounding the old village centre contains seven listed buildings, the church being the oldest, dating back to the 12th century. The church dates from the 12th century, but all that remains of the original building is the ornately carved Romanesque doorway.
The village became a parish in its own right in 1864 and was incorporated into the Borough of Derby in 1968.
 Parts of the civil parish of Markeaton were incorporated into Allestree in 1934. Markeaton was originally a large estate that spread out through the northwest of Derby. It contained three outlying settlements that would later become Manors in their own right: Allestree, Knivedon, and Mackworth. It was owned at the time, as was Allestree, by Earl Hugh of Chester and controlled by a member of the Touchet family. The area now within Allestree contains what is left of the old village centre, which is Markeaton manor, its grounds and Markeaton park.
Substantial development in the 1960s and 1970s led to the incorporation of Allestree into the borough of Derby in 1968.
Geography.
Allestree is the northernmost ward of the district of Derby and as such its northern and western borders are mainly countryside as the ward gives way to the district of Amber Valley. The border with Darley to the east follows the A38 from Ashbourne Road roundabout up until it crosses the River Derwent. The border then follows the river then crosses the A6 and follows the border of Allestree Park. To the south the border runs along Ashbourne Road from the A38 to Markeaton Lane until it meets Markeaton brook, which it follows. It then runs along Kedleston Road which it leaves and goes behind Woodlands Community School and Laburnum Crescent and finishes at Allestree Park.
The geology of the area consists of thick sandstones and marls formed in desert conditions in the Triassic period, some 250 million years ago, and thin-bedded sandstones and shales formed 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period. Most of Britain at this time was a huge delta carrying vast amounts of sediment. These belong to the Millstone Grit formation which makes up much of the Peak District.
Allestree's highest point is in the northern part of Allestree Park next to the water tower. This is also the highest part of the city of Derby.
Climate.
Due to its location in southern Derbyshire, Allestree has a temperate climate ( "Cfb") with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range of 11.4 °C to 21.3 °C, and the coolest month is January, with a range of 1.2 °C to 6.9 °C. Maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the year are around the England average, and as with most of England, Allestree is in AHS Heat zone 2.
South Derbyshire's average annual rainfall is about , with October to January being the wettest period but October being the wettest month, compared with the national average of .
Landmarks.
Allestree Park and Hall.
The area known as Allestree Park was enclosed in about 1818 and lies in the northern part of Allestree just inside the city boundaries. It has over of parkland, an 18-hole golf course, a permanent orienteering course and an angling lake. The park area not including the golf course has been designated a nature reserve due to the diversity of habitats and species present on the site. The main habitats present within the Nature Reserve include a large area of woodland to the north, a number of fields which have a mixture of quality of grassland and a stream which flows through the site and a number of associated marshes.
Allestree Hall is a 19th-century former country house situated in Allestree Park. It is a Grade II* listed building made of millstone grit from Derwent bank. The house begun by Bache Thornhill was completed by John Giradot (High Sheriff of Derbyshire) with three storeys and five bays, the central three bowed with an ionic columned porch. Since the 1980s the hall has been unoccupied, and was included in the English Heritage at Risk Register 2010, which states that the internal condition of the building is poor but fair overall. The city and English Heritage are looking to find a suitable scheme to enable its redevelopment.
Markeaton Park.
Markeaton Park is the second park situated in Allestree and lies in the south of the suburb, bordering Mackworth Estate below and Darley Abbey to the east. The park has a long history, with it being used to raise deer and boar as far back as the 1500s
A hall was built on the estate in the 16th century though the exact dates are unknown, this was demolished in 1755 and a new hall erected in the same location designed by James Denstone of Derby. In 1964 Markeaton Hall was demolished due to neglect and structural damage caused during the army's stay there. The only remnants of the original hall are the late 18th-century Grade II listed orangery that is used as a café, a number of walled gardens and ornamental gardens such as the formal terrace, the Rose Garden and herbaceous borders.
In September 1975 the park and its surroundings were designated a Conservation Area and Markeaton Park today is a public park covering approximately and is the most-used leisure facility in Derby with over 1 million visitors per year. It has a wide variety of activities that are spread throughout the park. These include a boating lake, pitch and putt course, children's playground, mini golf course and a light railway. The park attracts people from around Derby but also from smaller surrounding towns such as Belper, Ilkeston and Ashbourne and even from as far as Nottingham and Sheffield. Markeaton Park can, therefore, be considered to be of regional significance.
Public houses.
There are 4 Public houses in Allestree: The Markeaton (a former hotel on Allestree Lane), The Woodlands (an 'Estate' pub on Blenheim Drive), The Red Cow (the old village pub located next to St Edmund's Church), as well as Allestree British Legion (on Cornhill). During the 1960s the Park Farm Hotel was opened at Park Farm Shopping Centre, but this closed and was boarded up in October 2003 and has since been transformed into a fitness gym.
A new Micro Pub in the Park Farm Centre opened in 2017 named "The Pothole" as a nod to the affectionate nickname given to the basement bar of the nearby Park Farm Hotel.
Another Micro Pub, No. 189 recently opened at Blenheim Parade.
The Joiners Arms, The Jonty Farmer and The Broadway are all just outside outskirts of Allestree but are frequented by residents.
Old village centre.
The historical village centre is located on the junction of St Edmund's Close, Cornhill and Park Lane. This area has the majority of listed buildings within the ward with the 13th-century St Edmund's Church, Red Cow inn and Old School house along St Edmund's Close and 3 properties along Cornhill. Yew tree cottage is further along Cornhill away from the village centre but is the only timber-framed and thatched cottage left in the area.
Demography.
At the 2011 census Allestree had a population of 13,622 spread out over its hectares. The population is predominantly white and born in England, with 95.6% declaring themselves white at the 2011 census. Only 8.24% of Allestree residents were born outside England with that figure dropping to 4.54% for outside the UK. The under 16s account for 17% of the population while the over 75s account for 11.35% which is higher than the national average 7.54%: this is reflected by a high mean age.
The area is largely Christian with 68.8% identifying themselves as such, according to the 2011 census. The oldest church in the ward is St Edmund's church (Anglican) which has parts that date back to the 13th century. There are six churches in total in the suburb. After Christianity the largest group is "No religion" then followed in descending order by Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Other and Judaism.
The ward had a large amount of expansion in the 1930s when the area surrounding the historic village centre was developed, this is reflected in the increase in population between the 1931 and 1951 Census. A second wave of development occurred during the 1960s and 1970s around the Park Farm and Blenheim Drive areas which resulted in the ward being incorporated into the Borough of Derby
Economy.
Measured against the Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2010, Allestree falls within the top 5% least deprived with Derby as a whole being in the top 25%. Allestree is a largely residential ward and does not have large-scale business in the area. At the 2001 census the unemployment rate was lower at 3.6% than the English average of 5.8%, with 25.67% of those being long-term unemployed compared with the national average of 30.26%. Allestree residents are less likely to work within the city centre than other areas of the city and tend to travel further for work than other wards. The main employers within the ward are the University of Derby, which employs around 3000 people, and the shops and businesses within Park Farm.
Park Farm Shopping Centre is a shopping centre located on Birchover way. It was opened in October 1963 and at the time was one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre was designed by Burton architects William Blair and Partners and was built on farm land. At the time of its 50th anniversary in 2013 it had a vacancy rate 4% lower than the national average. The centre contains a variety of shops and services, including a doctors surgery, a library and small businesses.
Education.
There are two Primary Schools in Allestree; Portway Junior School on Robincroft Road, and Lawn Primary School on Norbury Close behind Park Farm. At the 2007 Ofsted inspection, Portway had 298 students from age 7–11. The report gave the school an overall score of Good, saying however that personal development and well-being were outstanding.
Lawn is a larger school than Portway (owing to Portway being split into separate infant and junior schools) and at the 2016 Ofsted report had 395 children from age 4–11 on roll. The school was said to be outstanding.
Allestree Woodlands School is the local secondary school with a sixth form, catering for around 1150 pupils aged 11–18. In the 2014 Ofsted inspection report it was rated Good. It was a former secondary modern school, becoming comprehensive in September 1975.
The University of Derby has its main campus within the ward. It is situated on Kedleston Road and has been since the buildings were opened in 1960 for the College of Technology.
Sport.
Allestree F.C. is the main adult football team in the area, they play their home games at Eye's Meadow.
Allestree Juniors F.C. are a youth football club within the Derby City Youth Football League and the largest youth club in terms of teams in Derby. The club was founded in 1977 with a single team, at their 25th anniversary in 2012 this had grown to 29 covering ages from under 7 to under 18. Their most famous alumnus is Nigel Clough who played at the club while his father, Brian Clough, was manager at Derby County F.C.. Brian Clough also acted as the club President at this time, although this would seem to be impossible as the club was only founded 4 years after Clough resigned as Derby County manager, and was at that time at Nottingham Forest.
Woodlands FC are a girls football club based at Woodlands School. The club has teams across 7 age groups from under 9s to Ladies. 
Allestree Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club and was founded in 1860. Allestree currently play at the Allestree Recreation Grounds not far from the old village centre where they have been located since May 1895. The club play in the Derbyshire County League and in 1999 they won the Derby Evening Telegraph Bailey Cup.