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Tuxford is a historic market town and a civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. It had a population of 2,809 in the 2021 census.
The A6075 passes through east–west and connects the A57 to Ollerton and Mansfield. The East Coast Main Line passes close to the east. The A611 previously went east–west through the town; this is now the A6075. The A611 now goes from Mansfield to Hucknall.
The Great North Road runs through the town (now B1164), though the majority of traffic now uses the modern A1 trunk road, which splits the town in two. The town was bypassed in 1967. The section of road, known as Carlton to Markham Moor, or the Sutton-on-Trent, Weston and Tuxford Bypass, was built by Robert McGregor & Sons, with concreting aggregates supplied by Hoveringham Gravels (later bought by Tarmac). The eight-mile section was authorised by Tom Fraser with a contract for £2.7 million, but ended up costing £3.4 million. The section is notable for the first use in British construction of the Slip forming paver using pervious concrete. The bridge sections came from Boulton & Paul Ltd in Norwich.
Tuxford Bypass started in early December 1965, and was to finish by late 1966 or in early 1967. Construction started near Markham Moor at Sibthorpe Hill at East Markham. The former roundabout at Markham Moor was previously much more modest, so it was widened; the Markham Moor roundabout was designed for a possible bridge, but traffic flow was not big enough in 1965 for a bridge. The Cromwell bypass was largely finished by December 1965, so the Tuxford bypass started when the Cromwell bypass had finished. Retford Times Friday 14 January 1966, page 6 Retford Times Friday 21 January 1966, page 8 The contractor's depot was at Ashvale, to the south of Tuxford, next to the former Tuxford Central railway station. Retford Times Friday 17 June 1966, page 8 When building the roundabout at Markham Moor, traffic was diverted through East Markham. Retford Times Friday 1 July 1966, page 4 Concrete was made at Cromwell, being made from a Newark quarry, at 3,000 tons per day. Retford Times Friday 5 August 1966, page 14
Wet weather delayed construction in October 1966. Retford Times Friday 21 October 1966, page 1 Earth-moving equipment came from Shellabear Price of Walton-on-Thames. Retford Times Friday 9 December 1966, page 10 The bridges were made by Conder (Midlands) Ltd, a company of Burton upon Trent. Derby Evening Telegraph Wednesday 22 February 1967, page 19 On Friday 30 September 1966, seventy five people from the International Road Federation, from a conference in London, travelled to Cromwell and Tuxford, to see the new slip form method. Newark Advertiser Saturday 1 October 1966, page 6
The bypass opened on 14 July 1967, opened by Stephen Swingler, costing £3,035,658. Retford Times Friday 9 June 1967, page 11 Newark Advertiser Saturday 1 July 1967, page 1 The Tuxford parish council were not invited to the opening, due to long term heated disagreements over a lack of footbridge provision. Stephen Swingler had lunch in the Newcastle Arms. Also at the opening was the chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, Albert Pounder, and the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham Gordon Savage. The main road was now a dual-carriageway from Balderton to Bradbury, County Durham. Newark Advertiser Saturday 15 July 1967, page 18 Stephen Swingler also said that a £225,000 bridge for the B6387 at Twyford Bridge, to the north, was being planned, as it was an accident spot, being built around 1972 Nottingham Guardian Saturday 15 July 1967, page 10
St Nicholas' Church is the Church of England parish church dates from the 12th century. From 1824 to 1849 the incumbency at St Nicholas was held by Rev. Edward Bishop Elliott, a distinguished theologian who, while in residence at Tuxford, authored an authoritative and widely read commentary on the biblical Book of Revelation, titled Horae Apocalypticae. Tuxford also has a Methodist church, whose current building was erected for another Free church in 1841.
Tuxford's local library is housed in a 17th-century building that was originally the Read Grammar School. The school was founded in 1669 by the bequest of Charles Read (1604–1669), who was born at Darlton about from Tuxford, and became a wealthy shipper in Hull. Students at the Free Grammar School were drawn from the local parish, and their education was free. Read also founded grammar schools at Corby Glen in Lincolnshire and Drax in Yorkshire. Read Grammar School in Tuxford closed in either 1912 or 1915. The building served for a time as a child welfare centre before becoming the local library. Tuxford has a village lock-up, one of only three in Nottinghamshire. Built in 1823 it stands in Newcastle Street. It has two separate cells, one each for men and women, each with its own Pit toilet. Ventilation to each cell is via two circular holes, with iron bars on the front and back walls. In 1884 an extension was added to the back of the lock-up to house Tuxford's Fire apparatus. Early maps show that also behind the lock-up was the town pinfold, which remained in use until the 1920s.
Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (Dosco) made mining equipment in the town.
Tuxford Windmill is a Tower mill, built in 1820 and restored to working order between 1982 and 1993. It is open to visitors daily except Tuesdays throughout the year. The mill with its large white sails dominates Tuxford's skyline. The mill produces flour which is sold from the mill shop. The mill bakery produces cakes, soups & rolls. A wooden post mill once stood close by. It was moved from Grassthorpe in 1874, continued working until about 1926 and was demolished in 1950.
Stone Road End Mill was a brick-built four-storey tower windmill, built before 1840. The mill was out of use by 1906 and now only the 38-foot high tower remains.Shaw, T. (1995). Windmills of Nottinghamshire. Page 39. Nottingham: Nottinghamshire County Council.
In January 1454, Tuxford was the site of a meeting between the Duke of Exeter and Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, in order to make a sworn confederation in furtherance of their common aims against the Neville family and Lord Cromwell. This was a critical alliance and event in ramping up the violence and tensions of the period, which would help lead to the outbreak of the Cousins War (Wars of the Roses) in 1455.
In March 1950 British Railways closed Dukeries Junction station. It had had minimal use throughout its life. In July 1955 BR closed Tuxford North and withdrew passenger services from the former LDECR line in September of the same year, resulting in the closure of Tuxford Central. The former LD&ECR railway line has since been reopened by Network Rail in 2009 as the High Marnham Test Track for testing trains between Thoresby Jn and High Marnham at speeds of up to 75 mph, with extensive sidings and mock OHL electrification being built at Tuxford approximately 5 miles away from the former Tuxford Central Station.
Tuxford Academy has had only five head teachers during its lifetime to date: Bernard Woodward, Keith Atkinson, Geoff Lloyd, Chris Pickering and current principal, David Cotton. The school has steadily increased in size (now 1450 students) and reputation, and is one of the highest performing state secondary schools in Nottinghamshire, having gained an OfSTED grade of 'outstanding' in May 2009 and in May 2012. It has been designated as a National Support School, is a specialist Technology College and Training School, and leads loose federations of secondary and primary schools in Nottinghamshire. It is well known for its welcoming atmosphere and innovative practices in education. Tuxford also has a community primary school.
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Nottingham, Capital East Midlands and Smooth East Midlands.
The town is served by the local newspaper, Newark Advertiser.
On 7 November 2011, the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee announced that the Olympic Torch would travel through Tuxford on 28 June 2012 on its way from Lincoln to Nottingham.
Tuxford Clarion Cycling Club was formed in the town on 2 May 2013, and runs time trial races around Tuxford and also regular club runs on a Sunday morning at 9am from outside the Sun Inn. They run three groups of riders ranging from 15 mph to 19 mph average, with rides from 35 miles to 60 miles each week. The Tuxford Clarion Cycling Club is a section of the famous National Clarion Cycling Club founded in 1894 one of the oldest most historic cycling clubs in the world. The club is also affiliated with national racing governing bodies of British Cycling and Cycling Time Trials. New riders are welcomed to join the club for three trial rides before joining.
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