Nottinghamshire Contents

Ordsall

Ordsall Parish comprises the lordship of Ordsall, on the west side of the Idle, and the lordship of Thrumpton, on the east side of that river. These lordships form one township, and contain 1,342 inhabitants, and 1,925 acres of rich, sandy land, part of which was not enclosed till 1804. The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire, and the Great Northern railways, pass through, and both of the stations are in this parish, the particulars of which will be found in the Directory of East Retford.

Hops. Mr Young says, some years ago, two spirited agriculturists of this parish (Mr Mason and George Brown Esq.) drained, at a small expense, by open cuts, a deep black bog, which has been let for 3s per acre, and planted it with hops, in squares of six feet, and succeeded so well as actuallt to clear £62 per acre in one year.

Charities. Elizabeth Johnson, in 1717, bequeathed to this parish the Poor's Close, the rent of which is distributed on Good Friday and St Thomas's Day. In 1727, Jeremiah Halfhide left 40s yearly out of an estate, now belonging to the Executors of the late J. and G. Kippax, who distribute the money amongst the poor. The sum of £60, left in 1727, 1764 and 1798 by Ann Turnell, Robert Palmer and William Ellis, was lost in 1816 by the bankruptcy of John Stoakes, a large farmer, whose creditors only received 1½d in the pound. But in consideration of this loss, the overseers distribute £3 yearly out of the poor rates, viz. 40s on Candlemas Day, 10s on St Thomas's Day, and 10s on Good Friday.

Ordsall is an ancient, irregularly-built village, on the west side of the Idle, one mile south by west of Retford, and contains an extensive paper mill. It was formerly of the fee of Roger de Busli, but early in the 13th century the greatest portion of it became the property of the Hereys, of grove, from whom it passed to the Mackworths, the Beavercotes, and the Cornwallis's, the latter of whom sold their portion to the Countess of Devonshire, who settled it upon her son, Sir Edward Wortley. Ordsall is now in the soke of Elksley, and the Duke of Newcastle is lord of the manor, but the land belongs mostly to the Hon. J.P. Simpson, of Babworth Hall, who has erected a neat school in the village, fronm whom and the rector, the mistress receives £25 per annum. Upwards of 100 children are now taught in the school, who each pay twopence per week.

Thrumpton lordship is mostly the property of John Parker, John and William Walker Esqs., and Mrs John Kippax, but Granville Harcourt Vernon Esq. of Grove Hall is lord of the manor. The lordship also includes the neat hamlet called Whitehouses, on the Great north Road, Whinney Moor Row, Storcroft Terrace, and several handsome modern dwellings which form the southern suburbs of East Retford.

The church is an ancient Gothic edifice, with a lofty tower, which was greatly injured by lightning in 1823. The interior contained several old monuments, and was in a very decayed state till 1831, when it was repewed and throughly repaired. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of Lord Wahrnecliffe, and is valued in the King's gooks at £19 10s 7½d, now at £470, and has 30 acres of glebe. The Rev. Thomas King B.A. is the incumbent, and resides at the rectory house, a neat modern mansion. Biggins House is the seat and property of John Walker Esq. The Rev. William Denman, in the reign of Queen mary, was ejected from this rectory, but was restored again after Elizabeth ascended the throne. An instance occured here in 1652, which shows the stringent principles of puritanic times. The Runp parliament not only ejected Dr Marmaduke Moor from the rectory, but also sequestrated his paternal estates "for treason, and of the heinous and damnable offence of playing at cards, three several times, with his own wife" !!!

White's Directory of Nottinghamshire 1853

© Copyright C.R.G. Henly 1998