What to See in Erewash - Top Sights and Attractions

Abbey. Dale Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Stanley Park, was a religious house, close to Ilkeston in Derbyshire. Its ruins are located at the village of Dale Abbey, which is named after it. Its foundation legend portrays it as developing from a hermitage, probably in the early 12th century. After several false starts, it was finally constituted as an abbey in 1204. It was affiliated to the Premonstratensians, an order of canons regular in which it played, at times, a leading part among English Houses. It acquired a large number of small properties, concentrated in areas of the East Midlands, developed a network of granges and appropriated a number of lucrative parish churches. Its discipline and reputation varied considerably, particularly in the 15th century, and it seems to have fallen away from the originally austerity. By 1536 its income was well below the threshold set for the Dissolution of Lesser Monasteries. Although there were accusations of grave immorality, the abbey was allowed to pay a fine to continue its existence until 1538.^[1]

Historical landmark in Ilkeston, England. The Bennerley Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct spanning the Erewash Valley between Awsworth and Ilkeston in central England. It was built in 1877 but closed to rail traffic in 1968, as part of the Beeching cuts. It was sold to conservation group Railway Paths Ltd in 2001.

The viaduct is a Grade II* listed structure, and is on the Heritage at risk register published by Historic England. It was also included into the 2020 World Monuments Watch. Small stages of restoration started in mid-2014. Planned improvements included new decking to join into a network of existing public paths, subject to planning consents for the required works and access construction. Restoration work to create a public walkway started in 2020, and the viaduct opened to the public on 13 January 2022.^[7]