Sitting in the south of Derby, between Chellaston and Allenton, Shelton Lock takes its name from a lock on the Derby Canal that once ran through the area. The canal was closed in the 1960s, and today only a few traces survive: a road bridge, the original lock stones, and a cycle path that now follows the old waterway. The site of Fullen’s Lock lies just a few hundred yards along this cycle path from Shelton Lock bridge, and a children’s playground near the site still carries the name. There are plans to re-excavate the canal at some point in the future.
Housing and Local Character
Chellaston Road is the main road through Shelton Lock and is lined with inter-war private housing. To the west of Jubilee Road lies the George V Jubilee Estate, built in 1935 to mark King George V’s silver jubilee. The Sinfin Avenue estate came later, built during the 1970s, and contains a mix of council and private houses. Behind the Sinfin Avenue estate, fields and woodland form part of Sinfin Moor, alongside a disused railway line running towards Chellaston. A portion of these fields and woodland has since been developed into the Bonnie Prince housing estate. St Edmund’s Church on Sinfin Avenue, designed by Derby architect Arthur Eaton, was opened in 1939. A scout hut on Sinfin Avenue is home to 1st Shelton Lock Scouts and Guides.
Schools and Transport Links
Shelton Lock has both an infant and junior school. Merrill College, the local secondary school, was originally on Jubilee Road but was demolished; the replacement Merrill College now occupies the former Thomas Moore school site in Allenton. For road connections, Shelton Lock links to the A50 via the A514. The A50 itself follows a route that was once earmarked for a spur of the M64 motorway, which would have passed through the area towards the Rolls-Royce works – that motorway spur was never built.