Description
Ilkeston, a municipal borough and a parish in Derbyshire,-and partly also in Notts. The town stands on a hill at the terminus of a short branch of the Erewash Valley railway, near the Erewash Canal, the Erewash river, and the boundary with Notts, 9 miles NE by E of Derby. In Domesday book (1084) it is mentioned as Tilchestune, i.e., the town of Tilch, a Saxon thane; it obtained a grant for a market and a fair in 1251; and it has risen into note as a watering-place in connection with the discovery of a mineral spring. The water of this spring is said to differ from that of every other spa in England, and to resemble that of Seltzer in Germany; and it is used for bathing as well as for drinking. Baths were erected in 1830, and enlarged in 1832, and they stand contiguous to a well-appointed hotel. The town has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.), two railway stations, gasworks, waterworks, two churches, Baptist, Congregational, Primitive, and United Free Methodist, Unitarian, and Wesleyan chapels, a Roman Catholic church, two banks, a cemetery under the control of a burial board, a cottage hospital opened in 1885, and several public schools, and publishes two weekly newspapers. The-parish church of St Mary comprises nave, aisles, chancely and chantry chapel, with lofty pinnacled tower erected in 1855, and contains a remarkable stone screen in the Decorated style, and an interesting ancient monument. The-interior was renovated in 1889. Holy Trinity Church was completed in 1890, and consists of chancel, nave, and aisles, but on account of the underworkings of the coal mines no. tower has been erected. It has a carved oak pulpit and several stained glass windows. There is a large provision market on Saturday, and a hiring and statute fair for servants is held on the first Thursday after 11 Oct., and the manufacture of hosiery and lace is extensively carried on. From 1864 to 1887 the town was governed by a local board, but on 14 January, 1887, a royal charter of incorporation was-granted. The borough is divided into three wards, and governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors.
The parish contains also the hamlets of Cotmanhay, Hallam Fields, and Little Hallam. Acreage, 2526; population of borough and parish, 19, 744. An increase of population is due-chiefly to the extension of mining. The manor belongs to the-Dnke of Rutland. Coal and iron-stone abound, and are extensively worked, and lime is calcined. The Erewash Canal goes across the parish, and has on its banks manufactories of various kinds of bricks, stoneware, and common earthenware, The Nutbrook Canal also passes on the W, and the Ilkeston Junction railway station is on the E. Population of the ecclesiastical parish, 9179. The living of St Mary the Virgin is a vicarage in the diocese of Southwell; net value,, £400. Patron, the Duke of Rutland. The ecclesiastical parish of Holy Trinity was constituted in 1888. Population, 6867. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Sonthwell; gross value, c£160 with residence. Patron, the Bishop. The vicarage of Cotmanhay is a separate benefice.
Ilkeston Parliamentary Division of Derbyshire was. formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population,-69, 192. The division includes the following;-Smalley- Codnor and Loseoe, Codnor Park, Dale Abbey, Denby,. Heanor, Horsley, Horsley Woodhouse, Ilkeston, Kirk Hallam, Mapperley, Morley, Pentrich, Ripley, Sandiacre, Shipley, Smalley, Stanley, Stanton-by-Dale, West Hallam; Derby (part of)-Breaston, Draycott and Wilne, Hopwell, Long Eaton, Ockbrook, Bisley, Sawley and Wilsthorpe.
