Ticknall
Ticknall is a small village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England. It covers about 7 square miles and had a population of 642 at the 2011 census. It sits on the A514 road near Melbourne.
Historically, Ticknall was larger and busier, with lime quarries, brickworks, and pottery industries, and it even had coal nearby. It was an estate village for Calke Abbey, reaching its peak in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1851 the population was 1,241.
St George's Church is a Grade II listed parish church, built in 1842 to replace a medieval building. In 1744 Dame Catherine Harpur founded a village school to provide free education; from 1903 to 1987 the school was a voluntary controlled Church of England primary school and is now an independent charity.
Calke Abbey is nearby and is now part of the National Trust. Since the estate was broken up in 1984, cottages and land were sold and the village changed.
Near the abbey is Tramway Bridge, a Grade II listed structure, and a tramway tunnel under the drive to Calke Abbey. Built in 1802 by Benjamin Outram, it carried the Ticknall Tramway to connect limeyards and brickworks with the Ashby canal. The tramway was abandoned in 1915, but parts of its route can still be seen.
In the early 1800s limeyards were run by freeholders and tenants; many freeholders went bankrupt and tenants left due to high rents and mismanagement.
Ticknall has three pubs: The Wheel, The Staff of Life and The Chequers Inn (the latter dating from the 17th century). Water pumps line the lanes; these sturdy casts-iron pumps were installed around 1914 to provide fresh water and some are still in use.
In 2023 rare hazel dormice were reintroduced to woodland near Calke Abbey.
Ticknall Cricket Club plays at The Grange on Repton Road, with three senior teams in the Derbyshire County Cricket League and a junior section.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:16 (CET).