Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield District of Nottinghamshire, England. It is a part of the wider Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield District Council are located on Urban Road in the town centre.

Overview Kirkby-in-Ashfield lies on the eastern edge of the Erewash Valley which separates Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Kirkby, as it is locally known, was originally a Danish settlement (Kirk-by translates as 'Church Town' in Danish) and is a collection of small villages including Old Kirkby, The Folly (East Kirkby), Nuncargate and Kirkby Woodhouse. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book and has two main churches: St Wilfrid's, a Norman church, which was gutted by fire on 6 January 1907 but quickly re-built; and St Thomas', built in the early 1910s in neo-gothic style.

History: Kirkby Manor Kirkby Manor dated back to the 13th Century. Its owner in 1284 Robert de Stuteville was fined by King Edward I for not attending the Royal summons. However, in 1292 Robert clearly forgiven, hosted the king at the manor to a nights stay.

Tudor times Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1530, travelled through Sutton in Ashfield having been recalled to London by King Henry VIII, before he stayed at nearby Kirkby Hardwick.

Charles Cavendish (landowner, born 1553) son of Bess of Hardwick had built a house in 1598 in Kirkby.

Coal and transport Kirkby-in-Ashfield was once an important centre of coal mining and railways in west Nottinghamshire, with three active coal mines and several railway junctions. The former Mansfield and Pinxton Railway from the Erewash Valley Line was joined here by the later Midland Railway line from Nottingham. The Great Central Railway main line passed to the south-west side of the town and had a double junction with the Great Northern Railway Leen Valley Extension line to Langwith Junction and the Mansfield Railway to Clipstone.

Rail stations The town was served by four stations. Only one is now open: • Kirkby-in-Ashfield East was the main station for the town on the Robin Hood Line. It closed in the 1960s • Kirkby on the Robin Hood Line was opened 1990s and replaced the former station at Kirkby East. • Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central was opened on the now-defunct Mansfield Railway. It closed in the 1950s to passengers and the site is now an industrial estate. Although the old station masters house can be seen. • Kirkby Bentinck was opened on the Great Central Main Line from Nottingham Victoria to Sheffield Victoria. The station closed in the 1960s and the site has been cleared. Although the old station masters house is still in situ. This was the only mainline station in the entire Ashfield and Mansfield District area. With the other being at Annesley and Hollinwell.

The town rapidly expanded during the Victorian era. However the closure of the coal mines in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a major slump in the local economy, and the area then suffered a high level of socio-economic depression.

Regeneration In 2013, plans were introduced to create a new civic square from what was a car park. Nearby permanent market stalls were removed in October 2014.

The town centre underwent further upgrading, starting in late 2014 and 2015 to include the demolition of the old Co-Operative foodstore and county library with surrounding pedestrian plaza, to be rebuilt with a Morrisons store.

A new indoor market – named Moor Market – was created in 2021 by internally joining adjacent small retail shops into a larger space.

In 2021, a new leisure centre was developed including a swimming pool for the first time in Kirkby, partially on land originally purchased in 1935 by Kirkby Urban District Council, to replace the old Festival Hall.