Nottinghamshire Contents

Eaton

Eaton or Idleton, is a small village and parish, on both sides of the Idle, connected by a brick bridge, 2 miles south of Retford. It was formerly a place of some consequence, for before the Norman Conquest, we find "here were ten manors and ten thanes, each thane having a hall". At the survey, however, they were reduced to one manor, and given to Roger de Busli. Henry bridgeman Simpson Esq. is lord of the manor, and owner of the parish, which was purchased about 1785 of Earl Fitzwilliam. It comprises 158 inhabitants and about 1407 acres of land, part of which was not enclosed till 1810.

The church is a small fabric, with turret and bell, and the living is a vicarage, valued in the King;s books at £4 13s 4d, now at £63. The Rev. john Twells is the incumbent, and the Prebendary of Eaton, in Southwell Collegiate Church, is the patron and appropriator. A small school was built about 18 years ago. Mrs Simpson pays for 8 children, and the rest pay one penny weekly till they are 5 years old, then threepence per week after. Eton Hall is a pleasant mansion, which was thoroughly repaired and greatly enlarged in 1831, and is now the seat of William Frederick Baring Esq.

 White's Directory of Nottinghamshire 1853

[Last updated: Friday 25th September 1998 - Clive Henly]

© Copyright C.R.G. Henly 1998