Bingham, Nottinghamshire

Bingham lies near the junction of the A46 (the old Roman road, the Fosse Way) between Leicester and Newark-on-Trent and the A52 between Nottingham and Grantham. The neighbouring communities are Radcliffe-on-Trent, East Bridgford, Car Colston, Scarrington, Aslockton, Whatton-in-the-Vale, Tithby and Cropwell Butler.

The place-name Bingham seems to contain an Old English personal name, Bynna + ingahām (Old English).[1]

The Romans built a fortress at Margidunum (Bingham) and a settlement at the river crossing at Ad Pontem (East Stoke) on the Fosse Way, which ran between Isca (Exeter) and Lindum (Lincoln).[2] The south-east of Nottinghamshire later formed the wapentake of Bingham. Bingham acquired a market charter in 1341.

Eastern end of A52 bypass, which opened in December 1986

Bingham has expanded vastly since the 1950s, and much of the housing is relatively new. Most of the older buildings (including the Church of St. Mary and All Saints, Bingham, the oldest) are in the centre.

The A46, to the west of the town, was upgraded and completed in 2013 as a grade-separated dual carriageway. The Widmerpool-Newark Improvement has been diverted to the west of the former Roman town to preserve archaeological remains. The A52 bypass to the south of the town opened in December 1986.

There are four schools in Bingham: Robert Miles Infant school, Robert Miles Junior School,[3] Carnarvon Primary School[4] and the comprehensive Toot Hill School.[5]

The Anglican parish Church of St. Mary and All Saints, Bingham, occupies a Grade I listed medieval building restored in 1845–1846 and again in 1912. It has a peal of eight bells and a 19th-century organ. It belongs to the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.

A new Bingham Methodist Church and social centre, built by public subscription, opened on 1 April 2016 at Eaton Place, on the site of the earlier church.[6] It belongs to the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Circuit.[7] Archive documents for Bingham Methodist Circuit date back to 1843.[8]

Although Bingham is to a large extent a dormitory town for Nottingham, it has a number of businesses and a busy centre. The town has a shop vacancy rate of 2 per cent, as against an East Midlands average of 16 per cent.[9]* There are 20 takeaways and places to eat, 11 hairdressers/salons, 5 estate agents and 39 other retail outlets.

There is an open-air food market in the central Market Place every Thursday, and a farmers' market there on the third Saturday of the month. Bingham provides shopping, medical and other services to its surrounding villages. Planning permission has been obtained to build a large supermarket near the town centre, but construction has yet to begin. In March 2015 planning permission was given for two other chain supermarkets.[10]

To the north of the town is an industrial estate with about 40 businesses. The largest include GWIBS 24/7, Focus Label Machinery, Trent Designs, XACT Document Solutions, The Workplace Depot and Water at Work, and a business club.[11]

Bingham was a location in Midlands film director Shane Meadows' film Twenty Four Seven, which contained scenes shot at Toot Hill top field, the Linear Walk, and Bingham Boxing Club. Bingham has also been in two episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet,[12] as well as some episodes of Crossroads, Woof! and Boon.

Robot Wars series 3, Jungle Run and scenes from Shane Meadows' 2006 film This is England were filmed nearby on the former RAF Newton site.

Dickinson's Real Deal was filmed at the Bingham Leisure Centre in 2015 and broadcast on TV on ITV1 in March 2016.

Four in a Bed, Series 11 Episode 18, was filmed at Bingham Townhouse Hotel in May 2016 and first aired in the late autumn of 2016.

In birth order:

• Thomas Foster (fl. 1820s), first-class cricketer with Nottingham Cricket Club (1827–28), was reportedly born in Bingham.
• Robert Lowe, first Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–1892), was a statesman born in Bingham into the family of the Rector of the parish.
• Thomas Brown (1848–1919), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire), was born in Bingham.
• Philip Miles (1848–1933), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire), was born in Bingham.
• John Brown (born 1862), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire) was born in Bingham.
• Albert Widdowson (1864–1938), first-class cricketer (Derbyshire), was born in Bingham.
• Harry Churchill Beet (1873–1946), awarded a Victoria Cross for valour at Wakkerstroom, South Africa, in the Second Boer War on 22 April 1900, was born at Brackendale Farm near Bingham.[13]
• Stafford Castledine (1912–1986), first-class cricketer (Nottinghamshire), was born in Bingham.[14]
• Mary Joynson (1924–2013), director of Barnardo's from 1973 to 1984, was born in Bingham.[15]
• Spencer Cozens (born 1965) is a Bingham-born musician, writer and producer.
• Jonathan Stenner (born 1966), cricketer and gastroenterologist, was born in Bingham.
• Joe Heyes (born 1999), from Bingham, is a professional rugby union player for Leicester Tigers.

The Crown Inn

There used to be six pubs in the town, of which four remain as such: the White Lion, the Butter Cross (Wetherspoons, formerly The Crown) and the Horse and Plough (Castle Rock Brewery). The Moot House has been redeveloped, and the former Bingham has reopened as a pub-restaurant named the Wheatsheaf.

Bingham Leisure Centre has sports facilities and a swimming pool. The facilities are attached to Toot Hill School.

Bingham has Scout troops totalling around 140 young people: 1st Bingham Scouts includes Beavers and Cubs.[16]

The town's sports clubs are:

• British Canoe Union
• Bingham Town Youth Football Club[17]
• Bingham Cricket Club[18]
• Bingham Rugby Club
• Bingham Badminton Club
• Bingham Lawn Tennis Club
• Bingham Leisure Centre Archery Club[19]
• Bingham Sub-Aqua Club[20]
• Bingham Penguins – Swimming Club[21]
• Vale of Belvoir Cycling Club
• Vale Judo Club[22]

Wallenfels in Bavaria, Germany. Music groups have visited to and from the twin towns, and a beer festival is held in Bingham every year.

Bingham railway station

Trentbarton provides a frequent public bus service into Nottingham.[23] Bingham's railway station provides a less frequent hourly service to and beyond Nottingham and Grantham and to Skegness along the Poacher Line.

• Detailed history of Bingham
• Bingham Town Council
• This is Bingham
• Bingham at the Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway