St Ann's, Nottingham

St Ann's
St Ann's  St Ann's shown within Nottinghamshire
District	City of Nottingham
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NOTTINGHAM
Postcode district	NG
Dialling code	0115
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Nottingham East
List of places UK England Nottinghamshire

St Ann's is an area of Nottingham, England, with a population of around 15,000 people (2005 figures).

History

The area was originally common land. The Enclosure Act of 1845 allowed the city to take 1,068 acres (4.3 km²) of the Clay fields. The idea was to ease the overcrowding in the St Mary's ward, brought about by the boom in lace making. There was some industry and occupation before this time — brown earthenware such as Toby jugs, christening bowls, and punch bowls were made as early as the 1750s by Charles Morley, but it was almost another century before St. Ann's proper was created.

The area was not just given over to slums to rehouse the lower classes. Although 10,000 standard back to back terraced houses were created, these were a great improvement on dwellings common elsewhere in the city at the time. A psychiatric hospital, parks, and a water reservoir were also built, the latter affording a panoramic view of Nottingham. There were even plans for an astronomical observatory. For the well off — doctors, solicitors, and factory owners — there was a grand tree lined recreation walk lined with larger houses. Twenty-five public houses, plus the later addition of a London and North-eastern urban railway link, horse drawn and then electric trams, and three cinemas, helps complete the picture of a thriving area.

In 1969, the area was looking impoverished, with many of the shops and houses 100 years old or more. A local Housing Act raised legal standards for houses being 'fit for human habitation'. Clearance of some of the land began in December of that year, although building of new houses did not start until 1973 and continued into the 1980s. However, the open plan layout with interlocking footpaths, coupled with poor street lighting, actually brought about an increase in crime. This renovation included the relocation of many residents to The Meadows area of the city.

The 1970s and 1980s layout of St Ann's was a relatively rare layout of that era, with Kates Hill some 60 miles away in Dudley being a comparable example. The preponderance of alleyways has also made it harder for police to catch criminals, particularly those on motorcycles. Nottingham film-maker Shane Meadows caught some of this in scenes from This Is England filmed in St Ann's.

St Ann's today is dominated by council housing, a legacy of the slum clearance at the end of the 1960s. The damp, crumbling Victorian terraces were replaced with better quality housing but despite this the Radburn style footways have contributed to anti-social behaviour. There have been a series of measures, such as gating, to reduce problems caused by the network of footpaths as well as improving the appearance of the housing stock. There are longer term plans to introduce more significant changes. As of early 2012, the Stonebridge Park Estate is undergoing a long term transformation that is selectively removing problem pockets but refreshing most of the estate and building some modern homes.

Government

St Ann's lies within the unitary authority of Nottingham, and so is governed by Nottingham City Council.

Geography

St Ann's lies east of Nottingham city centre, with Thorneywood to the north east and Carlton Road forming the unofficial boundary with Sneinton to the south.

Demography

In common with other parts of the city, the largely working class population is still affected by the collapse of manufacturing industry and much of the area scores badly on government measures of deprivation. Taking those factors into consideration there is much to commend the area: it is ethnically mixed with a strong sense of community. The population in 2005 was around 15,000.

St Ann's is home to people from all over the world such as Pakistan, the West Indies, Iran, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Somalia, Sudan, Guinea and Thailand.

The area has a Pakistani Community Centre and the African Caribbean National Artistic Center (ACNA)

Economy

In the 19th century the local industries were lace and textile manufacturing, like most of Nottingham.

There is the St Ann's market, which has won EU backing of 200 million pounds to regenerate the market back into its former glory days

There are several ethnic run supermarkets from Jamaican to Pakistani and from Somali to Portuguese. The two main ethnic supermarkets are Murat, which is Iranian and Asiana, which is the largest oriental retail outlet in the East Midlands.

Culture and community

The area takes its name from St Ann's Well, a spring once thought to have magical healing powers, at the junction of The Wells Road and Kildare Road. It was also known as The Brodewell, the Owswell, Robin Hood's Well, in records dating back to 1301. The people of Nottingham used to walk to St Ann's Well on Easter ('Black') Monday and celebrate with a party. It was covered by a spired structure from 1856 to 1887, which was demolished to make way for the railway and later built over by what became The Gardeners pub.

There is a free urban farm which is active in the community. The last pub in the area was the Sycamore Inn, which closed in April 2014.

Landmarks

The terraces north of Victoria Park have been listed as representing a style of domestic architecture that was once widespread but has been largely lost to bomb damage and slum clearance.

The St Ann's Allotments is the oldest and largest allotment site in England, created in the 1830s and now Grade 2* listed as being of "Special Historic Interest". The allotments have received National Lottery funding for restoration, and were featured on the BBC's The One Show and Radio 4.

Transport

The Nottingham Suburban Railway ran through the area, connecting Trent Lane junction in Sneinton with Daybrook, but bomb damage closed the Sneinton end in 1941 and the line ceased operations completely in 1954.

Buses

Nottingham City Transport

• 39: Nottingham – St Anns (Beacon Hill Rise) – Thorneywood – Carlton Valley.
• 40: Nottingham – St Anns – Sherwood – City Hospital.
• 41: Nottingham – St Anns (Direct).
• 42: Nottingham – Abbotsford Drive – St Anns.

Premiere Travel

• S11: St Anns – Thorneywood – Carlton – Netherfield – Victoria Park.

Education

Blue Bell Hill Primary School is on Gordon Road. The Ransom Road site of Nottingham Academy provides secondary education, along with the new St Ann's Well Academy on Hungerhill Rd. There is also Sycamore Academy and Huntingdon Academy.

Religion

The parish church is St. Ann with Emmanuel; the RCCG Covenant Restoration Assembly St Anns meet in Blue Bell Hill Community Centre.

There are also two Mosques in the area with one in the Pakistani Centre and the Islamic Center

Sport

There are few sports facilities actually in St Ann's, but across the ring road is the National Ice Centre, an Olympic-sized ice rink that is both home to the Nottingham Panthers, and also acts a major music venue of Nottingham. Nottingham Racecourse, the local horse racing track, and the Nottingham Greyhound Stadium are also nearby.

Notable people

• Ray Gosling, broadcaster and writer, lived in St Ann's and wrote about it. He also introduced a film about poverty in the area by Thames Television.

See also

• St Ann's - other places with the same name

References

Notes

Further reading

Further reading

• Gosling, Ray (1962), Sum Total. London: Faber. (Republished by Pomona in 2004. ISBN 1-904590-05-5.)
• Gosling, Ray (1967), Saint Ann's. Nottingham Civic Society.
• Gosling, Ray (1980), Personal Copy: a memoir of the sixties. London: Faber. ISBN 0-571-11574-8.
• Ken Coates and Richard Silburn (1967 1968 2007), St Anne's - Poverty, deprivation and morale in a Nottingham community. Nottingham University dept of adult education. Includes photographs by Cordley Coit and Donald Cooper.
• Mckenzie, Lisa (2014) Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain. Policy Press. ISBN 9781447309956

External links

• STAA — St. Ann's Allotments
• Stonebridge City Farm
• Ecoworks — community organisation based on St Ann's Allotments
• The Renewal Trust manage St Ann's Allotments and provide community regeneration
• Report, St Annes, Thames TV 1969, Nottingham Slums