HUCKNALL TORKARD  , a

town in the Rushcliffe parliamentary division of Nottinghamshire, England; 132 M . N.N.W. from London by the Great Central railway, served also by the Great Northern and Midland railways . Pop . (1901) 15,250 . The church of St Mary Magdalene contains the tomb of Lord Byron . There are extensive collieries in the vicinity, and the town has tobacco and hosiery works . Small traces are found of Beauvale Abbey, a Carthusian foundation of the 14th century, in the hilly, wooded district W. of Hucknall; and 3 M . N. is Newstead Abbey, in a beautiful situation on the border of Sherwood Forest . This Augustinian foundation owed its origin to Henry II . It came into the hands of the Byron family in 1540, and the poet Byron resided in it at various times until 1818 . There remain the Early English west front of the church, a Perpendicular cloister and the chapter-house; while in the mansion, wholly restored since Byron's time, and in the demesne, many relics of the poet are preserved . To the S. of Hucknall are traces of Gresley Castle, of the 14th century .