Caunton
"Caunton is a large but indifferently built village and parish, upon a small
rivulet, 5 miles north-east by north of Southwell, and 6 miles north-west of
Newark. Its parish has 539 inhabitants and 2,961 acres of land, of which 1,600
acres are in Caunton, 800 acres in Beesthorpe, and 500 in Knapthorpe. These
form three separate manors, containing about 176 acres of woods. Lord Middleton
and Samuel Hole Esq. are the principal owners of Caunton, and the latter is
lord of the manor, and resides in the Manor House, a handsome modern mansion.
The church, dedicated to St Andrew, is a vicarage, valued in the King's books
at £4 2s 1d, now £140, with Beesthorpe annexed. The Bishops of Ripon and
Manchester are joint patrons of the living, the latter of which has the next
presentation. The Rev. Samuel Reynolds Hole B.A. is the incumbent. The church
is an ancient structure with nave, chancel, aisles and tower, in which are
three bells. A stone coffin, dug up in the church-yard a few years ago, stands
in the vestry. At the enclosure in 1793, 171 acres of land was awarded to the
appropriator, and 124 to the vicar, in lieu of tithes."
[White's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]
- The parish was in the Kneesal sub-district of the Southwell Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2474 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2709 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew.
- This church was restored in 1869.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Andrew's Church on Geo-graph, taken in 2006.
- J. HANNAH-BRIGGS has a photograph of the church interior on Geo-graph, taken in 2013.
- There is a history of the church at the Southwell Church History Project website.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1709 for all entries.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Southwell.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel built here before 1858.
- The Primitive Methodists had a chapel here before 1858.
- The parish was in the Kneesal sub-district of the Southwell Registration District.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
Caunton is both a village and a parish about 129 miles north of London, 5 miles north-west of Newark and 7 miles south-west of Ollerton. The parish covers just over 3,100 acres. Beesthorpe and Knapthorpe are hamlets in the parish.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A616 arterial road north out of Newark. Caunton will be on your right.
- Roger GEACH shows us the Caunton beck on Geo-graph, taken in 2010.
- Beesthorpe Hall was the residence of Captin POLLARD, RN, in 1881, but the property of Samuel Boteler BRISTOWE,
- The national grid reference is SK 7460.
- You'll want an Ordinance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The parish has a War Memorial mounted on a wall near the main gate to the churchyard. It contains the names of seven men who died in World War I.
- Peter TURNER has a photograph of the churchgate War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in 2012.
- Inside the church are three memorials. On the south wall is a Roll of Honour for all who served iin World War I.
- Also on the south wall is the second church memorial, added in 1995, and dedicated to those who fell in World War II.
- The third church memorial is on the north wall to a sailor lost in the Boer War.
For the list of names on the Roll of Honour and the War Memorials, see the Southwell Church History Project site.
- The parish name appears in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Calnestune".
- This place was an ancient parish in Nottingham county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the northern division of the ancient Thurgaton Wapentake (Hundred) in the southern division of the county.
- In October, 1877, this parish gained the Middlethorpe section of Northwell Civil Parish, a gain of just over 200 acres.
- The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1793.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became part of the Southwell Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Population |
| 1801 |
366 |
| 1841 |
539 |
| 1851 |
611 |
| 1861 |
596 |
| 1881 |
401 |
| 1891 |
396 |
| 1901 |
345 |
- A Parocial School was built here in 1840.
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[Last updated: 8-March-2013 - Louis R. Mills]
