Long Eaton is a Derbyshire town in the South Eastern corner of the county between Derby and Nottingham and located near the river Trent.
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| A boat on the Erewash Canal |
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| County: | Derbyshire |
| District: | Erewash |
| Population: | 37,760 (2011 census) |
The town has Saxon origins, it was known as Aitone (which may mean Farm between the streams) in the Domesday Book. It was a farming settlement and was at a crossing of the river Erewash. Long Eaton gained a market charter and grew slowly, a major setback being a great fire in 1694 which destroyed many houses in the town and buildings around the market place. A building which did survive is the parish church dedicated to St Laurence which dates back to the 12th century.
The town began to grow much faster after the arrival of new transport links and new industries. Firstly the Erewash Canal which opened in the 1779 and linked Long Eaton with the river Trent. The first Long Eaton railway station opened in 1839, the current station dates from 1888. The large Toton marshalling yards were near the town.
The town developed lace making and railway wagon construction as industries employing many people. By the early 20th century a quarter of the population of the town (then over 10,000) was employed in the lace-making industry.
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| Down the road |
