Arnold, Nottinghamshire

Arnold is a market town, unparished area  and suburb of the city of Nottingham, in the English ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire. It is to the north-east of Nottingham’s city boundary, and is in the local government district of Gedling Borough. Since 1968 Arnold has had a market, and the town used to have numerous factories associated with the hosiery industry. At the time of the 2011 Census, Arnold had a population of 37,768.

Areas within Arnold include Daybrook, Woodthorpe, Redhill and Killisick.

Etymology
Arnold was referred to as ‘Ernehale’ in the Domesday Book; this former name meant ‘place frequented by eagles’ or ‘the valley of eagles’.

‘A History of Arnold’ (1913) by Rev. Rupert W. King and Rev. James Russell explains the etymology of Arnold’s name thus: " ‘Heron-hald’, meaning the corner of the forest where Herons (large birds) live. Which becomes over the centuries since 500 A.D. by ‘lazy’ pronunciation, Eron-ald, thence Ern-old and Arn-old."

Due to the local topography Arnold can never have been a haunt of eagles, because they inhabit areas of rocky outcrops, which have formed cliffs; the nearest such location being Creswell Crags, some 20 mi north-west as the eagle flies, although the fish-eating White-tailed Eagle (also known as the ‘Erne’) could have caught fish in the River Trent, which lies 4 mi south-east of Arnold, on the other side of the Mapperley Plains ridge. These eagles would then have flown north-west in the evenings to roost in the ancient woodland area now known as Arnold. The Anglo-Saxon migrant-invaders, when they arrived along the River Trent from the Humber Estuary c. 500 A.D., would certainly have seen these eagles—which measure 66 – in length with a 1.78 – wingspan—flying northwest in the evenings and appropriately named this roosting location ‘Erne-Halh’ or ‘Erne-Haugh’, meaning ‘Eagle’s nook’ or ‘Eagle’s corner’.

Arnold is surrounded by a circular ridge from the north-west around to the south-east and raised ground to the west. The town’s bowl-like topography may have given it the etymological feature ‘-Halh’ or ‘-Haugh’.

Framework knitting industry
Arnold was a centre of the framework knitting industry in the 19th century. It was the site of the first framebreaking incidents of the Luddite riots, in March 1811, when 63 frames were smashed. The Luddite riots were a workers’ response to decreasing pay, standard of living and conditions of employment in the industry as a result of changing fashions decreasing demand for their style of hosiery.

Market
1968 saw the opening of Arnold Market in the town centre. Market days are on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Churches


St. Mary’s Church, of the Church of England, is believed to date from 1176. It is located on Church Lane and is a Grade II* listed building.
 * Arnold

The Grade II* listed Church of the Good Shepherd’s current building on Thackerays Lane was built in 1964, its modern architecture – featuring a detached spire-cum-belfry – winning an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1966. It is a Roman Catholic church and 2014 marks its fiftieth anniversary – churchgoers are therefore celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year.

Arnold Methodist Church (‘amc’) is situated on Front Street.

Cross Street Baptist Church was opened in 1909, replacing a previous building on the same site.

The King’s Centre is located on Shirley Drive.

St. Paul’s Church in Daybrook was designed 1892–1896 by John Loughborough Pearson and its construction started in May 1893. In December 1895 the church was completed—except for the 150 ft-tall spire and tower, which were added in 1897. The church was consecrated in February 1896 in honour of Paul the Apostle and is now a Grade II* listed building.
 * Daybrook

Daybrook Baptist Church, whose current building was completed in 1912, is situated on Mansfield Road.

Railway
Arnold once had a railway station known as ‘Daybrook and Arnold’ or simply ‘Daybrook railway station’. It was closed along with the rest of the line on 4 April 1960. The station was located on Mansfield Road (A60) on what is now a retail park. There is still evidence of the line in the form of remnants of the embankments on Arnot Hill Park (just behind the B&Q). The Line was the Great Northern Main Line later nicknamed ‘the back route’, with trains to Gedling and Netherfield with the terminus being Nottingham Victoria. Just after those embankments a later built railway—the Nottingham Suburban Railway—joined it and ran over Thackerays Lane on a bridge on its way to Woodthorpe Park and beyond.

Town centre


Arnold town centre has a diverse range of restaurants and bars and a choice of shops including supermarkets such as Sainsbury's and Asda as well as small independent businesses. As a market town, Arnold hosts a market on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
 * Shopping

Arnold Leisure Centre, located at the heart of the town centre, contains a swimming pool and a theatre—called the Bonington Theatre—which was named after the landscape painter Richard Parkes Bonington. In November 2012 it was announced by Gedling Borough that the leisure centre would be refurbished at a cost of £1.1million; the refurbishments (whose actual cost was £1.2million) were completed in May 2014 and include the installation of a canopy outside the main entrance, improvements to the Bonington Theatre and bar area as well as major redesigns of the reception area and the changing rooms of the swimming pool.
 * Recreation

Healthcare
Highcroft Medical Centre is situated on High Street.
 * Arnold

Stenhouse Medical Centre is located on Furlong Street.

Daybrook Medical Practice can be found on Salop Street.
 * Daybrook

Education
Schools in the town include: Arnold Hill Academy; Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy; Coppice Farm Primary School; Good Shepherd Primary Catholic Academy; Redhill Academy; and Richard Bonington Primary School.

Home Brewery


The town’s most notable landmark is probably the Home Ales brewery building in Daybrook. Founded in 1875 by John Robinson, the brewery was famous for its trademark Robin Hood logo on beermats. The brewery remained independent until 1986, when the family owners sold it (along with 450 public houses owned by the brewery) to Scottish & Newcastle for £123million. Scottish & Newcastle gradually ran down production, for example by subcontracting Mild brewing to a rival brewery in Mansfield, resulting in the eventual closure of the Daybrook building in 1996. Home Bitter is still brewed under contract at Everards in Leicester, although many of the public houses that used to serve it now sell Theakston’s beers instead.

Dating from 1936, the current Home Ales building is now officially known as ‘Sir John Robinson House’ and houses more than 30,000 ft2 worth of county council offices. It is located at the junction between the A60 (Mansfield Road) and Sir John Robinson Way, and its architect was Thomas Cecil Howitt. The Grade II listed building's illuminated ‘Home of the Best Ales’ sign was altered to remove the word ‘Ales’ and to include the logo of Nottinghamshire County Council. The three-storey building has an unusual ‘putti frieze’ by sculptor Charles Doman along the front wall which depicts groups of putti involved in the brewing of beer. Three designs are repeated in an ABCABC / CBACBA pattern. The reliefs are in a 2:3 proportion and are white casts. ‘A’ depicts a drinking table; ‘B’ shows barrel-making; and ‘C’ illustrates the stirring of the brew—all allegories of the brewing process. The famed decorative ironwork gates and railings are contemporaneous and form part of the listed building.

In 1950 the Home Brewery Company Ltd gave the land for Arnold’s King George V Park, a permanent memorial to King George V and guaranteed for free public access in perpetuity for recreation. The Charity Commission held an enquiry that closed in December 2005 into restricted public access. Due to this ruling, Arnold Town F.C. have relocated away from the town centre to another ground in Arnold, known as Eagle Valley. In July 2014, a skatepark costing £110,000 was opened at the playing field.
 * King George V Park

Nottinghamshire County Council has been advertising the building for sale, in an effort to save money, since February 2012. This information is correct as of 11 October 2014.
 * Sale

Notable people

 * Richard Parkes Bonington (1802–1828), landscape painter after whom the town’s Bonington Theatre is named.
 * Thomas Hawksley (1807–1893), civil engineer responsible for major water and sanitary improvements in Nottingham and other parts of the United Kingdom.
 * Arthur Henry Knighton-Hammond (1875–1970), painter.
 * Andrea Lowe (born 1 January 1975), actress.
 * Alison Snowden (born 4 April 1958), voice actress, producer, and screenwriter.

Bus services

 * Nottingham City Transport
 * 25: Nottingham - Carlton - Westdale Lane - Mapperley - Arnold
 * 46: Nottingham - Mapperley - Arnold
 * 56: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - Plains Estate - Arnold
 * 56B: Somersby Road, Arnold - Plains Estate - Front Street, Arnold
 * 57: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - Darlton Drive, Plains Estate
 * 58: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - Arnold - Killsick
 * N58: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - Arnold - Killisick - Plains Estate
 * 59: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - Arnold - Killsick
 * 79/79A: Nottingham - Nuthall Road - Bulwell - Rise Park - Arnold
 * 87: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - City Hospital - Redhill - Arnold
 * L9: Nottingham - Mapperley - Sherwood - City Hospital - Arnold - Bestwood Park
 * L11: Arnold - Bulwell - Bilborough - Beeston
 * L53: Clifton - QMC - Arnold


 * Trent Barton
 * Calverton Connection: Nottingham - Mansfield Road - Arnold - Calverton.