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Castle Donington

Coordinates:52°50′40″N1°20′16″W/ 52.8444°N 1.3377°W/52.8444; -1.3377
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused withDonington Castle;Donnington Castle;Castle Donington Line;orCastle Donnington, Victoria.

Castle Donington
Parish church of St Edward, King and Martyr
Castle Donington is located in Leicestershire
Castle Donington
Castle Donington
Location withinLeicestershire
Population7,346 (2021 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSK446272
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDerby
Postcode districtDE74
Dialling code01332
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Leicestershire
52°50′40″N1°20′16″W/ 52.8444°N 1.3377°W/52.8444; -1.3377

Castle Doningtonis a market town andcivil parishinLeicestershire,England, on the edge of theNational Forestand close toEast Midlands Airport.

History

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The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another suggestion is that it could means 'farm/settlement at the hill place'.[2]

King's Mill,the nearby crossing on theRiver Trent,is mentioned in a charter issued byÆthelred the Unreadyin 1009 regarding the boundaries ofWeston-on-Trent.[3]DunintuneorDunitoneis mentioned twice in theDomesday Bookof 1086 as having land belonging toCountess Ælfgifuand land assigned toEarl Hugh.[4]It is calledCastoldonyngtoinin aduchy of Lancasterwarrant of 1484.

In 1278,King Edward Igranted a charter for a weekly market and an annual Wakes Fair. The Fair continues in Borough Street for three days each October.

Lace-makingwas an important industry up until the 1850s, when a sharp decline in the population is recorded. The population did not recover to the same level until a century later when in 1950 over 3,000 people are recorded as living in the village.

Bondgate, Borough Street, and Clapgun Street formed the nucleus of the historic village, with the Castle formerly standing at the eastern end of Borough Street on Castle Hill. It was abandoned and its stone used to buildDonington Hallwithin Donington Park.

In the early 1960s local councils fromDerby,Nottingham,andLeicesterwere seeking a suitable site to build an airport for the region. The formerRAF Castle Donington,to the south of the village, was chosen and land purchased in the parishes ofKegworth,HemingtonandLockingtonto form an enclosed site now formingEast Midlands Airport.The airport opened in 1965 and is now the tenth largest airport in the UK, the second-largest in terms of freight and cargo. The airport site is now an important economic center and a major employer in the area.

Power station, demolished in 1996

Castle Donington Power Stationwas built in 1958 as one of the largestcoal-fired power stationsin Europe. It was closed in September 1994 and demolished in 1996.

Education

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Castle Donington has three primary schools, St Edwards, Foxbridge, and Orchard, the latter serving the majority of the children of the town. Castle Donington College, which welcomed KS4 for the first time in 2017, takes students from ages 11–16 and is the village's only secondary school.

Media

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Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC East MidlandsandITV Central.Television signals are received from theWalthamTV transmitter.[5]The town is served by bothBBC Radio Leicesteron 104.9 FM andBBC Radio Derbyon 104.5 FM. Other radio stations includingCapital East Midlandson 102.8 FM,Smooth East Midlandson 101.4 FM,Greatest Hits Radio Midlandson 106.0 FM, and Hermitage FM, a community based station which broadcast on 99.2 FM.[6]The town is served by the local newspapers,Leicester MercuryandDerby Telegraph(formerlyCastle Donington Messenger).[7]Castle Donington Lifeis an independently owned local community magazine serving Castle Donington and surrounding areas.[8]

Transport and housing

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Castle Donington stands on the formerNottinghamtoBirminghamtrunk road. The town is a mix of the old and new, with modern shops mixed with dignifiedGeorgianandRegencyhouses. Several timber-framed houses dating from the 17th century and earlier survive along the main road.

The town has no rail station, butEast Midlands Parkwayopened early in 2008 atRatcliffe-on-Soarproviding links on theMidland Main Line.

In 1868 theMidland Railwayopened theCastle Donington Line,which included Castle Donington and Shardlow railway station, on the northern edge of the town. The station was closed to regular passenger traffic in 1930, and closed completely and demolished in 1968. The access driveway still exists but for pedestrians only, and is the start of a footpath to Hemington, running past the site of the old goods yard, now a scrap yard. The railway remains open for substantial flows of freight traffic as an alternative to the route via Derby.

Economy

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The Lamb Inn

East Midlands Airportis served by several airlines includingRyanair,Jet2.Com,Thomson AirwaysandThomas Cook Airlines.The express parcels companyDHLhas a base at the airport.[citation needed]The now-defunct airlineflybmiformerly had its head office at Pegasus Business Park on the airport grounds.[9]

Donington Park motor racing circuitis located to the south west of the village.

The site of the former power station has been redeveloped in to a major retail distribution hub and warehousing area. The principal tenant isMarks and Spencer.

Since 2013Norton Motorcycleshas its head office inDonington Hall.[10]BMI(British Midland), an airline, was headquartered in Donington Hall.[11]The airline moved its headquarters to Donington Hall in 1982.[12]The subsidiarybmibabyalso had its head office in Donington Hall.[13]

Events

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The annual May Bank Holiday Medieval Market takes place in Borough Street and includes local stalls selling various kinds of produce and goods accompanied by dancing and music.

Donington Parkwas the original venue for theMonsters of Rockfestivals through the 1980s and 1990s, and is now the home of the annualDownload Festival.It also hosted aFormula OneGrand Prix – TheEuropean Grand Prix– in April 1993, which was won byAyrton Senna.It was also set to be the home of theBritish Grand Prixfrom 2010 for at least 10 years,[14]but the agreement was cancelled due to financial problems.[15] The circuit also hosts theDonington Grand Prix Collection,the world's largest collection of Formula One andGrand Prixvehicles.Brian Henton,an F1 driver, was born in Castle Donington.

Sport clubs

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Castle Donington Town Football Club,who won the Leicestershire County Cup in the 2005–06 season.

Castle Donington Cobras Football Clubwere winners of the Derbyshire FA Sunday Junior Cup in the 2014–15 season, and 2015–16 season.

Castle Donington Football Club(Charter Standard) Runners up in the North Leicestershire League, Division 1 2014–15 season. Currently playing in The Mel Williams Premier Division.

Castle Donington Town Cricket ClubanEnglishamateurcricketclub, situated on the Moira Dale Recreation Ground, east of the town. The history of the club dates back to the late 1800s. They have a 1st XI senior side that compete on Saturdays in theDerbyshire County Cricket League,and a Sunday XI team 'The Dons' that play friendly matches in and around the region.[16]

Castle Donington Rugby Union Football Club

Professional Kickboxing Association– Castle DoningtonaKickboxingclub throughKickboxUK.There are several classes broken down into various age groups that take place at Castle Donington Village Hall every week on Wednesday, there are 4 different classes which run, Reception 4-5 years, Cadets 6-9 years, Juniors 10-13 years, and finally an Adults Class for ages 14+.

Donington Park

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Donington Hall,former headquarters ofBMI
Main article:Donington Park

Donington Parkis a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England. Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it is leased by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd from ownerTom Wheatcroft.Used as a motor racing track, it is also the venue for theDownload Festival.Donington Parkhad a contract to stage the Formula OneBritish Grand Prixfor a period of 10 years from 2010 but this was later cancelled due to Donington Park's failing to secure the finances required to upgrade the track.[15]

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toCastle Donington.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide forCastle Donington.
  1. ^"Population Data Castle Donington (Parish)".City Population.Office for National Statistics.Retrieved18 October2023.
  2. ^"Key to English Place-names".kepn.nottingham.ac.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 17 August 2021.Retrieved17 August2021.
  3. ^Weston - Charter of Æthelred, The Great Council, 1009, accessible at Derby records
  4. ^Domesday Book: A Complete Translation.London:Penguin Books.2003. pp. 632, 648.ISBN0-14-143994-7.
  5. ^"Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter".UK Free TV.1 May 2004.Retrieved29 November2023.
  6. ^"Hermitage FM".Retrieved29 November2023.
  7. ^"Castle Donington/Melbourne Messenger (defunct)".British Papers.11 April 2012.Retrieved29 November2023.
  8. ^"Castle Donington Life".Retrieved29 November2023.
  9. ^"Contact Us."Flybmi.12 July 2017. retrieved on 18 February 2019. "Head Office bmi regional Pegasus Business Park Herald Way East Midlands Airport Castle Donington DE74 2TU"
  10. ^The Wire (16 March 2013)."Historic Donington Hall to serve as Norton Motorcycles New World Headquarters and Manufacturing Facilities".Cycle World.Bonnier Corp.Archivedfrom the original on 11 April 2013.Retrieved17 April2013.Where else in the world can one tour an 18th century Gothic Revival mansion, view a Norton Motorcycle being built, watch a World Superbike race and attend an Iron Maiden concert all in the same place?
  11. ^"Contact usArchived2 November 2008 at theWayback Machine."BMI.Accessed September 23, 2008.
  12. ^"the eightiesArchived10 June 2012 at theWayback Machine."British Midland International.Retrieved on 28 December 2011.
  13. ^"Company InformationArchived14 July 2012 at theWayback Machine."bmibaby.Retrieved on 31 December 2011. "Registered office - Donington Hall Castle Donington Derby East Midlands DE74 2SB UK"
  14. ^Gorman, Edward (20 June 2008)."Donington on track to take race from Silverstone in a 10 year deal".The Times.London.Archivedfrom the original on 2 December 2008.Retrieved23 June2008.
  15. ^ab"No Donington GP, says Ecclestone".BBCNews.29 October 2009.Retrieved1 November2009.
  16. ^"Castle Donington Cricket Club".castledonington.play-cricket.com.Castle Donington Cricket Club.Retrieved25 May2022.
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