St Wilfrids Church, The Wilford Parish Church,  Photographed October 1996

Early Settlements  The Nottingham village of Wilford is believed to have been named after an amalgamation of the church name, St. Wilfrids and an ancient ford at the site which crossed the River Trent (i.e.'Wil' - 'Ford'). William The Conquerors doomsday book contains a 1086 entry referring to the settlement as 'Wilesforde'.   At that time the lands were owned by William Pevrel who also owned the lands of nearby Clifton.  He must have been very important as he lived in Nottingham Castle.  'Wilesforde' had a fishery, a priest and 23 sokemen ( general land administrators ).   The land passed to the Clifton Family in the 13th Century.

Wilford is also located within what was once the Southern tip of Sherwood Forest,  the stomping ground of the legendary Nottingham hero, Robin Hood. 

The Development Of Wilford 

The chiefly agricultural village was unaffected by the growth of Nottingham until the middle of the 19th century.  Prior to this, the dense woodlands and picturesque river views made Wilford a popular retreat for many Nottingham people.  The Wilford Ferry Inn was a particular favorite and was renowned for its cherries.  Wilford was a beautiful place and attracted writers, poets and authors from all over the county.  In 1846 the poet Spencer Hall wrote 'Who ever saw Wilford without wishing to become an inmate of one of its peaceful woodbined homes.'  

In verse he wrote of Wilford, Wilford! Whichever way to thee We come from thy surrounding plains; Wether by Clifton's wood-walks dim Or Bridgefords gipsy-haunted lanes, Or From yon spired and castled town Over Meadows where flowers in matraids blow, Thy scenes so beatify the rest, That all, although thee, most lovely grow

A Postcard Of 'Old Wilford'

 The communities of Wilford and Clifton were remarkable in that they managed to detach themselves from the effects of the nearby town. One early 19th century traveller to Wilford commented,  'the rural manners of the inhabitants have been preserved to a great degree from the leaven of the town; and nothing can be more striking than the contrast of life in so short a transition.  There is nothing, absolutely nothing - in the village itself to denote its proximity to the town.' 

St.Wilfrids When The Colliery Was Across The River

In 1870 the Wilford of Henry Kirke-White changed forever when the meadows and woodlands on the opposite river bank were industrialized by the Clifton Colliery.   Coal dust can still be seen today on the partially blackened stone work of St. Wilfrids Church.  In 1880 Thomas Miller ( a popular author of over fifty books ) wrote of Wilford 'Where are the famous cherry eatings of Wilford now? The poetry around the neighbourhood is fast fading.'.

John T. Godfrey described Wilfords decline twenty-eight years later:- 'Wilford has lost much of its pristine beauty.  Fire and Tempest, devastating floods and the decay of nature, have ... wrought sad havoc ... old thatched cottages have given place to modern brick buildings which do not fail to offend the artistic eye; the majestic elms have all been decimated ... a colliery which works its way beneath the meadows on the opposite side of the river rears its hideous Hydra-like head'.