Editing Toton (section)

==History==
Although the village of Toton has existed since at least [[Norman Conquest of England|Norman]] times, little is known of its history. It is known that Toton parish at one time encompassed a much larger area than is now apparent, including much of what is now [[Attenborough, Nottinghamshire|Attenborough]] village; it shared a church (probably on the site of St. Mary's, Attenborough) with the neighbouring [[Chilwell]] parish, an arrangement that was unusual for the times.<ref>[http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/mellorsarticles.htm – Robert Mellors, Then and now series: Attenborough, Chilwell and Toton, 1920]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:Coal for the power stations - geograph.org.uk - 1659203.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A train leaving Toton Sidings to deliver coal to nearby [[Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station]]]]

The village itself was, for most of its history, small and dominated by agriculture. It then grew principally because of Toton Sidings (see [[Toton TMD|Toton Traction Maintenance Depot]]), a huge [[marshalling yard]] of the [[Midland Railway]], where coal mined from Nottinghamshire coal fields would be sorted and distributed across Great Britain. The area's population grew substantially during [[World War I]] when most of the area of level ground between Chilwell and Toton was occupied by the [[National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell|National Shell Filling Factory No. 6]] and the original direct route between Chilwell and Toton became a gated military road, now known as [[Godfrey Chetwynd, 8th Viscount Chetwynd|Chetwynd]] Road; this site is now known as [[Chetwynd Barracks]].

As a result, the nature of the village changed drastically in the twentieth century. Almost all the agricultural land (mostly orchards) to the north of the A6005 was developed with housing.  A few of the old orchard trees were retained in some gardens.  Most of the old farmhouses were demolished and perhaps twelve buildings remain that are pre-1900. Almost no visible traces remain of Toton's agricultural past.