Eakring

Coordinates: 53°09′12″N 0°59′32″W / 53.1534°N 0.9923°W / 53.1534; -0.9923

Eakring
Eakring Eakring shown within Nottinghamshire
Population	395  (2001)[1]
OS grid reference	SK673623
District	Newark and Sherwood
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWARK
Postcode district	NG22
Dialling code	01623
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Sherwood
List of places: UK • England • Nottinghamshire

Eakring is a village in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire.

Geography

It situated between the A617 and A616, between Ollerton and Southwell. Dukes Wood to the south is situated on the top of an escarpment, giving good views over the Trent valley to the east and towards Southwell to the south. Clouds formed by the Cottam Power Station are often seen on clear days to the north-east. A steep hill descends into the village from the south, on which the road passes a large residential training centre for National Grid plc.

History

The village pub is the Savile Arms on Bilsthorpe Road. The Robin Hood Way passes through the village.

Eakring Mill was a five-storey brick tower windmill, built some time after 1840 (grid reference SK673628). The sails were removed in 1912 and the mill was derelict by 1936. It was converted to a house c. 1995 ^[2]. A windmill was shown on a map of 1832, located in Mill Hill Field, where two footpaths cross (grid reference SK668616) and another windmill shown north of Eakring Brail Wood (grid reference SK662614).

The Reverend William Mompesson, the vicar of Eyam during the Plague in 1666, moved to the village in 1670, living there for 39 years, and is buried in the churchyard. The parish church is dedicated to At Andrew.

Drilling of oil during the Second World War

Geological survey

In the late 1930's oil exploration was undertaken by the D'Arcy Exploration Co Ltd, part of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Ltd. Using geological data from colliery workings, geologists calculated that an anticline was situated under Eakring. A nearby borehole at Kelham had produced oil. Drilling to levels between 7463ft and 7468ft had found significant quantities of oil - which turned to be particularly significant when the Second World War and the U-Boat campaign started.

Drilling

Wells also produced oil at Caunton and Kelham Hills. The oil had a specific gravity of 0.86 - which is high grade oil. The UK typically had oil reserves of five million barrels, which were under strength. In March 1943, production began at around 100 wells, being coordinated by Philip Southwell, a petroleum engineer from the D'Arcy Oil Company who had liaised with Lloyd Noble, president of Noble Drilling Corporation in Oklahoma. Throughout the operation, the location of the oil field was kept secret. American oil workers lived in the Anglican monastery at Kelham Hall. ^[3] In total, the oil field produced around 3.5 million barrels of oil throughout the war. In contrast, the Germans had to rely on synthetic oil, manufacture of which largely ceased during 1944 as a result of Allied bombing raids leading to the rapid capitulation of the Luftwaffe. By 1964, the wells had produced 47 million barrels.

References

Publication

• Guy H Woodward & Grace Steele Woodward, The Secret of Sherwood Forest Oil production in England during World War II, ISBN 0-8061-3433-X

External links

• Village website
• St Andrews church
• Notts history

Dukes Wood and the oilfield

• History of the Eakring Oilfield
• Site with history and photos
• Sherwood Forest's Secret Oil
• The 'best kept secret' of the War
• Brief history with map of Eakring oilfield
• Map of Dukes Wood

News items

• Villagers oppose drilling in November 2003