Visit Kirkby-in-Ashfield – things to do & explore
When you visit Kirkby-in-Ashfield on a day-trip, weekend away or holiday, Walkfo is the digital tour guide to the hidden history & cultural facts that you can explore in Kirkby-in-Ashfield. Millions of audio content spots are available when you travel by foot, bike, bus or car around Kirkby-in-Ashfield through your mobile phone connected to headphones.
Overview of Kirkby-in-Ashfield history & facts by Walkfo
Planning a visit to Kirkby-in-Ashfield?
Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield District of Nottinghamshire, England. With a population of 25,265 (according to the 2001 National Census), it is a part of the wider Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield District Council are located on Urban Road in the town centre.
Kirkby-in-Ashfield history
Kirkby Castle
Kirkby Castle is said to have dated back to at least the 13th Century. Its owner in 1284 Robert de Stuteville was fined by King Edward I for not attending the Royal summons. However, in 1292 Robert clearly forgiven, hosted the king at the Castle to a nights stay.
Tudor times
It was said that Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1530 travelled through Sutton in Ashfield having been recalled to London by King Henry VIII, before he stayed at nearby Kirkby Hardwick.
Coal and transport
Kirkby-in-Ashfield was once an important centre of coal mining and railways in west Nottinghamshire, with three active coal mines and several railway junctions. The former Mansfield and Pinxton Railway from the Erewash Valley Line was joined here by the later Midland Railway line from Nottingham. The Great Central Railway main line passed to the south-west side of the town and had a double junction with the Great Northern Railway Leen Valley Extension line to Langwith Junction and the Mansfield Railway to Clipstone.
Rail stations
The town was served by four stations. Only one is now open: Kirkby-in-Ashfield East was the main station for the town on the Robin Hood Line. It closed in the 1960s Kirkby on the Robin Hood Line was opened 1990s and replaced the former station at Kirkby East. Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central was opened on the now-defunct Mansfield Railway. It closed in the 1950s to passengers and the site is now an industrial estate. Although the old station masters house can be seen. Kirkby Bentinck was opened on the Great Central Main Line from Nottingham Victoria to Sheffield Victoria. The station closed in the 1960s and the site has been cleared. Although the old station masters house is still in situ. This was the only mainline station in the entire Ashfield and Mansfield District area. With the other being at Annesley and Hollinwell. The town rapidly expanded during the Victorian era. However the closure of the coal mines in the 1980s and early 1990s led to a major slump in the local economy, and the area then suffered a high level of socio-economic depression.
You can visit Kirkby-in-Ashfield, COUNTY/BOROUGH & use Walkfo to discover the best walking places with our free digital tour guide app created especially for Kirkby-in-Ashfield. Walkfo Kirkby-in-Ashfield has 300 locations with history, culture & travel facts, that you can explore the same way you can a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Kirkby-in-Ashfield, being in the moment, without digital distraction and no limitations to a specific walking route – you choose where you want to go, when you want to go and Walkfo Kirkby-in-Ashfield will keep up.
When you visit Kirkby-in-Ashfield
When you visit Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Walkfo is your digital tour guide while exploring by foot, bike or bus. With numerous walks, hikes, tourist locations & travel destinations available in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, our travel AI guide helps you get the best from your visit to Kirkby-in-Ashfield & the surrounding areas. Our explore Kirkby-in-Ashfield app for iPhone & Android, allows you to experience the hidden history, culture and amazing facts throughout Kirkby-in-Ashfield whilst out walking. The digital tour guide creates interactive audio stories driven by where you walk, so you can exploration Kirkby-in-Ashfield’s National Heritage sites, tourist attractions, historic locations or city streets freely, without the restrictions of a predefined walk & walk map.
“The Walkfo AI has curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 0 audio facts in Kirkby-in-Ashfield alone that form an interactive Kirkby-in-Ashfield walking map for you to explore.”
Best Kirkby-in-Ashfield places to visit
Kirkby-in-Ashfield has hundreds of places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are five of Kirkby-in-Ashfield’s best destinations to visit when exploring the area. We have condensed the information with much more detail available within Walkfo when you visit the destinations.
bVisit Kirkby-in-Ashfield plaques
Kirkby-in-Ashfield has 0 plaques as part of nation or local tourist plaque schemes for you to explore when you visit. Plaque schemes such as National Heritage’s “Blue Plaques” provide a visual geo marker to highlight points of interest things, at the places where they happened. Walkfo has researched each plaque to provide additional content when you visit the Kirkby-in-Ashfield plaques whilst using the app. Experience the hidden history & stories behind each location as the Walkfo local tourist guide app uses GPS to trigger audio close to each Kirkby-in-Ashfield plaque. Walkfo also offers millions of additional ‘virtual geo plaques’ that are unique to Walkfo, created across the UK (and the world).
When using Walkfo to explore Kirkby-in-Ashfield, you will hear the full story of each of these plaques.
Experience Kirkby-in-Ashfield audio walks & tours
Walkfo is a free app that shows you things to do / visit in Kirkby-in-Ashfield on a map. You can explore the area as you wish, as you would do an art gallery or museum, and when you walk close to those locations, our digital tour guide will tell you history, culture & travel facts about the location in audio form. With headphone connected, you can explore Kirkby-in-Ashfield freely by foot, bike or bus – with your own personal tour guide in your pocket.
Visiting Kirkby-in-Ashfield with Walkfo’s things to do interactive map
The “Kirkby-in-Ashfield things to do map” below is a preview of the places you can visit in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and surrounding areas with our digital audio tour guide app. Each spot has content for a plaque, a building, a street or general area, providing history, culture or tourism information the you can explore.
| Interactive ‘Explore Kirkby-in-Ashfield Map’
This Kirkby-in-Ashfield tourism map shows points of interest within a 4km radius of Kirkby-in-Ashfield centre | Walkfo App
Walkfo   |
Walkfo is free to download & use (for a limited time period), so if you are looking to explore Kirkby-in-Ashfield, go to your App Store to search for “Walkfo” or follow a links below and install on your mobile phone. Walkfo is designed for use with headphones or AirPods, so you can walk & explore whilst learning about the things around you without digital distraction.
Apple App Store
Google Play Store
Things to do & visit in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and surrounding areas
Getting to / around Kirkby-in-Ashfield – transport links, stations, streets & traffic map
Getting around in Kirkby-in-Ashfield using public transportation may include roads, streets, trains, undergrounds, buses or trams. Walkfo has the following important Kirkby-in-Ashfield public transport locations with historic / cultural / factual content when you visit:
| Kirkby-in-Ashfield Notable Public Transport Stations | Kirkby-in-Ashfield Notable Streets & Roads | |
|---|---|---|
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[transportsummary]
Attention local Kirkby-in-Ashfield historians, tour guides & Kirkby-in-Ashfield tourism agents
Looking for a way to get more visitors to Kirkby-in-Ashfield?
Whilst Walkfo has millions audio spots already available, Walkfo Creator allows tourist destinations, attractions & landmarks to create their own unique outdoor audio museums & walks using the simple & easy to use Walkfo Creator. Creating an audio walk for you destination is free* and can be created in under 15 minutes if you have content ready, with Walkfo Creator doing all the hard work generating audio files for geo spot you simply click on a map.
The 100 Amazing Kirkby-in-Ashfield Places outdoor museum was created using Walkfo Creator (pictured to the left) as a way for people to safely explore the area during Covid-19 times whilst improving the experience of visiting a city when tourism boards use Walkfo to market their destination.
Walkfo is currently looking to partner with websites who offer things-to-do / what’s on events listings to add to our content on our webpages (for example: www.visitKirkby-in-Ashfield.com). If you are interested in being a content provider, please contact us to discuss options.
* Walkfo Creator is free to use for a limited number of audio spots within a map with a license fee applicable when more than 20 audio spots within location walk are created.