70 Facts About Retford

1.

Retford, known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105.

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2.

Retford is 26 miles east of Sheffield, 23 miles west of Lincoln and 31 miles north-east of Nottingham.

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3.

In 1878 an Act of Parliament extended the borough of East Retford to include the village of Ordsall, West Retford and part of the parish of Clarborough.

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4.

The centre of Retford is characterised by a large Market Square surrounded by Georgian period architecture.

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5.

Retford has traditionally been placed within the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia because it is situated within Nottinghamshire.

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6.

North Nottinghamshire, including Retford, belonged to an area called Bernet-seatte, which later became Bernesedelaue and then Bassetlaw.

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7.

In Retford there are streets named Moorgate, Bridgegate, Chapelgate, Churchgate and Carolgate.

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8.

In 1105, East Retford was established as a royal borough by Henry I This would have made it the second most important settlement after Nottingham itself in the county.

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9.

In 1225, the burgesses of Retford are said to have taken over the collection of 'river tolls' from Blyth Priory.

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10.

Retford was granted a total of 17 Royal Charters up to 1607.

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11.

Retford was on his way from Doncaster and set off the following day to Lord Danecourt's in Newark.

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12.

Retford was more troubled during the Jacobite rising of 1745.

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13.

Retford says it was situated at the end of a narrow street opposite the Post Office that led down the River Idle.

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14.

The Retford Times noted that bombs were dropped from Zeppelin L-13 into the orchard that surrounded the Gas Works, and although there wasn't a direct hit, shrapnel hit the sides of the gasometers setting them on fire.

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15.

Weeks before the outbreak of World War I, the Retford Times reported that "the town really turned on the charm" when King George V visited Retford in 1914.

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16.

Retford is one of the oldest boroughs in England and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Redeforde'.

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17.

The boundaries were redrawn again in 2010, with Retford returning to the Bassetlaw parliamentary constituency .

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18.

Administrative purposes Retford is regarded as being within the East Midlands region, though it has strong cultural and economic links to South Yorkshire.

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19.

Trinity Hospital Retford is a Grade II listed alms house, set in gardens off Hospital Road.

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20.

Retford sits on Artesian aquifer - with rain water filtering through the Bunter sandstone.

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21.

Retford says that the red colour of the water was probably the result of iron oxide, and that it developed a white scum on the surface when left standing, due to the presence of gypsum.

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22.

Circle 30 miles in diameter drawn around Retford encompasses an area that has had an enormous global impact on Christianity.

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23.

Limestone built, Grade II* listed St Michael the Archangel church, West Retford was dedicated in 1227 and sits on an elevation on Rectory Road.

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24.

At that time, Lincoln Cathedral was served by Norman priests from Rouen, and as the Manor of West Retford was among the Manors granted to Roger-de-Buesli, it is almost certain that this and other churches in Nottinghamshire were designed and built by Norman architects from Rouen.

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25.

St Swithun's Church, East Retford is a Grade II* listed church in East Retford that is dedicated to St Swithun and founded in 1258.

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26.

Retford says the figure was brought from a dissolved monastery in Portugal and was given to the Church, and placed in its present position, in about 1895.

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27.

Retford played a role in the early history of the Society of Friends .

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28.

Retford became a well known preacher, writer and advocate of Quakerism before dying in Colchester in 1656 at the age of 19.

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29.

Retford was regarded as being a martyr and became known as 'The Boy Martyr'.

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30.

Retford was involved in the early history of Methodism, with John Wesley preaching in the town square in 1779.

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31.

Retford's was said to have retaliated with a torrent of abuse that made the crowd laugh.

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32.

Retford died in 1824 and was buried in the Methodist cemetery on Grove Street.

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33.

Retford is an important commercial centre for the local area, with large supermarkets, many independent shops and a market every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

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34.

Retford has a strong economy mainly consisting of services with some light industry.

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35.

Strong transport links mean that many Retford workers commute to neighbouring towns and cities such as Sheffield, Doncaster, Mansfield and Lincoln; some commute to London.

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36.

Langley Holdings is based in Retford and owns more than 80 subsidiaries including Piller, Druck Chemie, Oakdale Homes, Protran and Claudius Peters.

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37.

Retford did not experience the large-scale industrial growth of nearby towns and remained primarily a rural market town.

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38.

Retford eventually became known for its dry cleaning and laundry services, and had 138 shops before it ceased trading in the 1980s.

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39.

Agricultural land surrounding Retford was an important area for hop growing from the seventeenth century onwards.

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40.

In Retford women were always economically active and some businesses relied heavily on female labour .

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41.

The East Retford bypass was built in three stages mostly along what was previously the A57.

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42.

Retford is served by two railway lines, the East Coast Main Line which runs between London and Scotland, with trains taking from 1hr 20 minutes to London Kings Cross, and the Sheffield to Lincoln Line which has links to Sheffield, Lincoln, Gainsborough, Worksop, Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

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43.

Retford station was Grade II listed by Historic England in July 2020.

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44.

Retford is connected to the UK Inland Waterways network by the Chesterfield Canal.

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45.

An early Twentieth Century crane situated at Retford Wharf was Grade II listed by Historic England in 1996.

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46.

Retford Airport is a private airport located a few miles south of Retford in the village of Gamston, operated by Gamston Aviation Ltd.

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47.

Retford is home to the Bassetlaw Museum, which was created in 1983 and has a number of collections donated by people in the local area.

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48.

Retford had a cinema built around 1917 called The Picture House, later The Roxy, which stood on Carolgate and was owned by Cyril Getliffe.

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49.

Retford area had a thriving hops industry and traditionally a large number of pubs, because it was situated on the Great North Road.

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50.

Retford's pubs have played an important part in its social, cultural and political history.

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51.

In 2020 the landlord of the historic Black Boy Inn in Retford removed the pub's signage after it was highlighted on a crowdsourced map entitled 'topple the racists - statues and monuments that celebrate slavery and racism' during the Black Lives Matter protests.

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52.

Retford is served by many youth groups including The Scout Association, Girlguiding UK, St John Ambulance and Young Farmers, meeting within the town.

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53.

Since 2007 Retford has held an annual Heritage Day organised by the Civic Society.

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54.

Retford is home to the Rattlejag Morris Dancers who are based at the Church Hall next to Grove Street Methodist Church.

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55.

Retford has facilities for flat green bowling at Goosemoor Lane and in King's Park, provided by Bassetlaw Council, and at Hallcroft.

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56.

Retford has developed players who have played at County and International level, including Derek Randall.

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57.

Retford has a small skate park within the grounds of Kings Park.

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58.

Retford launched a men's walk and talk group in 2021, which supports male mental health in Retford and is co-ordinated by Bassetlaw Action Centre.

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59.

Retford has an established football team called Retford United F C who play in the Central Midlands League North Division and whose ground is Cannon Park on the outskirts of the town.

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60.

The Retford Handicap was transferred to the course at Southwall and ran until the early 2000s.

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61.

Retford has a long running snooker league consisting of two divisions.

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62.

Today Retford is served by Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

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63.

East Retford Cottage Hospital was a former hospital in the town of Retford situated on Thrumpton Lane.

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64.

Co-located on the site of Retford Hospital is Retford Primary Care Centre which was built in 2007 and incorporates three GP practices, rehabilitation and physiotherapy departments, community nursing services and an on-site Boots pharmacy.

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65.

Retford's officially designated BBC Local Radio station in terms of radio coverage is BBC Radio Sheffield.

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66.

However, editorially, local news coverage is covered on BBC Radio Nottingham's radio and Internet outlets, despite Retford being outside the official coverage area of both BBC Radio Nottingham's FM and DAB signals.

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67.

Retford has one newspaper serving the town, the Retford Times which is published on Thursdays.

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68.

Retford cemetery is a Victorian era cemetery, with the site's first burial dating back to 1854 .

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69.

Retford cemetery contains 14 Commonwealth war graves from the First World War, and 16 from the Second World War.

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70.

Retford is home to a Post-16 centre the aim of which was to unite all Sixth Form students in one site and provide other courses available through North Nottinghamshire College .

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