Allenton
| Allenton | |
| Derbyshire | |
|---|---|
 Allenton war memorial | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK371319 |
| Location: | 52°53’1"N, 1°26’59"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 5,000 (2011) |
| Post town: | Derby |
| Postcode: | DE24 |
| Dialling code: | 01332 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Derby |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Derby South |
Allenton is a Derbyshire village which has become a southern suburb of the city of Derby, situated about three miles south of the city centre. It is located between the suburbs of Osmaston, Boulton, Alvaston and Shelton Lock.
The village has a variety of modern shops, stores and other facilities, including free parking. The suburb has its own busy market every Friday and Saturday located on Osmaston Road.
Allenton (formerly Allentown) was named after Isaac Allen who built the first houses there in 1878.
Ice Age bones
One hundred and twenty thousand years ago, during a warmer part of the Ice Age, the whole area was a riverside swamp, and skeletons of a hippopotamus, elephant, brown bear, hyena and bison have been found there. The Allenton hippopotamus was found in 1895 underneath the Crown Hotel (established in 1891) and its well-preserved skeleton is displayed at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
About the village
Allenton gives its name to a geological feature known as the Allenton Terrace, which is the fluvial terrace of sand and gravel in the lower valley of the River Derwent that it and the surrounding settlements are built on.
There is a cosmopolitan outdoor market here. The suburban shopping centre is among the largest in Derby.
An easily recognisable feature of the local streetscape is a pedestrian footbridge over the Mitre Island roundabout, erected in July 1971. This footbridge is popularly known as "the Spider Bridge" and gains that popular appellation because it has eight 'legs' in four directions. Each direction has a set of steep steps and a stepped ramp (for easier wheelchair access). The footbridge has been painted various colours over the years and is currently painted white.
The old Derby Canal has long been transformed into a bicycle track with tarmac surface; this track, which runs through the recreational ground, offers access by bicycle from Allenton into Derby city centre. It is part of the National Cycle Network.
Adjacent to the shopping area is a public house: The Crown Inn (see Crown Hotel above), a Victorian roadside inn dating to 1891 and built by Issac Allen, the original developer of Allenton. Another public house, in a Stockbroker's Tudor design, by the name of The Mitre, was opened in 1930 for Zachary Smith's brewery when Harvey Road was built, and was demolished in 2020.