Nottinghamshire

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Nearby Places

Babworth

"Babworth Parish comprises the hamlets of Babworth, Morton and Ranby, and several scattered dwellings. It lies betwixt the Ryton rivulet and the Great North Road, and extends northwards from Ordsall to Barnby Moor, and contains 608 inhabitants and 6,030a 3r 20p of excellent forest land, all enclosed and tithable, and belonging to several freeholders, who each have the manorial rights of their own property. Babworth lordship contains 1,184 acres, and is all in the occupancy of the owner, Henry B. Simpson Esq. Morton has 3,614 acres, belonging to the Duke of Newcastle, the Hon. and Rev. J.L. Saville, William Mason, and John and William Walker Esqrs., and Ranby has 1,222 acres, of which the Ladies Clinton and Henry Champion Esq. are the principal proprietors.

Babworth is a pleasant village, on the Worksop Road, 1½ miles west of Retford. Its vicinity contains some of the finest scenery in this part of the county, and its beauty has been greatly enhanced by its present proprietor, Henry Bridgman Simpson Esq. of Babworth Hall, a very handsome mansion, situated on a gentle declivity, in the midst of beautiful pleasure grounds and thriving plantations. The grounds are ornamented with a fine sheet of water, a Swiss cottage, and other picturesque objects. The church, dedicated to All Saints, stands on an eminence near the Hall. It is a neat, Gothic edifice, with a tower and three bells, and contains several marble monuments of a modern date."
[White's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

Census

• The parish was in the East Retford sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church was dedicated to All Saints.
  
  
• The church was built in the early Norman era, circa 1100. It has a low stone tower with a clock and three bells. Much of the structure was built or rebuilt in the 15th century.
  
  
• The church was partially restored in 1859.
  
  
• The church was completely restored in 1877.
  
  
• There is a good history of this church at the Southwell Church History Project website.
  
  
• Richard CROFT has a photograph of All Saints' Church on Geo-graph, taken in 2008.
  
  
• The church is famous for the Snowdrops (flowers) growing around it. You can see some at Flickr.com.
  
  

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Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1622.
  
  
• We have a handful of Marriages provided by Sammy SNOW. This list in not a complete transcription.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Worksop.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
  
  
• The parish was in the East Retford sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
  
  

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Description and Travel

Babworth is a township and a large parish that sits in the north of Nottinghamshire, about 1.5 miles west of Retford and 7 miles east of Worksop. The parish covers over 6,300 acres and includes the hamlets of Ranby, Great Morton, Little Morton and Morton Grange.

If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the B6079 arterial road off of the A1 motorway at Ranby and turn east toward Retford. The vilage of Babworth will be just before entering Retford.
  
  
• The Babworth Rovers are the local football (soccer) club. Many players come from surrounding villages, but you;ll be expected to cheer them on in the local pubs.
  
  

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Directories

• We have an extract from White's 1853 Directory relating to this parish.
  
  
• We also have an extract from James M. Wilson's 1870 Directory relating to this parish.
  
  

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History

• Babworth has a connection with the American Pilgim founders. Richard CLYFTON was parson here between 1586 and 1605. Two of his friends were William BREWSTER and William BRADFORD, both passengers aboard The Mayflower.
  
  
• Babworth also has a connection with America through the vicar Frank WILBERFORCE. He was the great grandson of WIlliam WILBERFORCE who was one of the leaders of the campaign to abolish slavery.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 6880.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordinance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• You can find some Babworth area maps at the Francis Firth site.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Politics and Government

• This place was an ancient parish of Nottinghamshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  
  
• The parish was in the Hatfield division of the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake in the northern division of the county.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the East Retford Poor Law Union.
  
  

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Population

Year	Population
1801	297
1851	608
1871	726
1881	731
1891	753
1901	760
1911	752
1921	678
1931	670
2001	1,329

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