Gresele is recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086. Its first element is of uncertain origin, possibly the
Old English grēosn meaning gravel and
lēah meaning a woodland clearing.
Churchegreseleye was first recorded in 1363 and distinguishes it from
Castle Gresley. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 7771. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and became part of the
unparished area of Swadlincote.
Priory and church See also Gresley Priory A
priory of
Augustinian canons was founded at Gresley in the reign of
Henry I, by William de Gresley, son of Nigel de Stafford. It was suppressed in 1536 in the
Dissolution of the Monasteries. In about 1820 the church and the upper part of the tower were rebuilt. The tower has a
ring of six bells. The fourth bell was cast by Henry Oldfield of
Nottingham. Its date is unknown, but is known that Oldfield was casting bells between 1590 and 1620. George Oldfield of
Nottingham cast the fifth and tenor bells in 1639.
John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast or recast the second and third bells in 1958 and cast the present treble bell in 1991.
Economic and social history In about 1800 the Mason pottery was founded at Church Gresley. It was renamed
Mason Cash in 1901. Mason Cash became a well-known English pottery, producing many kinds of ceramic mixing and baking ware. TG (Thomas Goodwin) Green & Co Ltd was founded in 1864 and went on to produce the world-famous
Cornishware. Both companies became part of
The Tabletop Group in 2004. TG Green went into administration in 2007. From 1882 the local football club was
Gresley Rovers, which competed in the
Northern Premier League First Division and played at
The Moat Ground, one of Church Gresley's landmarks. The club was relegated in 2009 to the
East Midlands Counties League and is now named Gresley FC. Its training pitch is the main
football pitch of Church Gresley's Maurice Lea Memorial Park, which is named after Maurice Lea, who died in France, the age of 19, during
World War I. The most notable homegrown talent was goalkeeper
Ted Clamp who played for the team before moving to teams such as
Buxton,
Bolton and
Derby County. There are also football pitches near the Swadlincote Ski Centre. Church Gresley was one of only a handful of villages in South Derbyshire that had a Round House or
village lock-up. Used for the temporary detention of people, they were often used for the confinement of drunks who were usually released the next day or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate. Opposite the park is Gresley Common, the venue for annual
bonfire nights until 2003 and the local
Scouts. There are many newly planted woods nearby as part of the
National Forest. Early in the 2010s the extensive Highgrove housing development effectively created an entirely new district contiguously north of the village. ==Transport==