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Cropwell Bishop

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"Cropwell Bishop is situated upon a gentle declivity on the east side of the Grantham Canal, one mile south of Cropwell Butler, and 4 miles south-east of Bingham. Its parish contains 640 inhabitants and 1,551 acres of strong clay land, the rateable value of which is £1,658 6s 5d. The principal part of the land belongs to the two prebendaries of Oxton, in Southwell Collegiate Church, who let it on renewable lease for the term of three lives. William Marshall Esq. is lord of the manor, and principal owner and impropriator. A court is held annually about Easter.
It was anciently called Crophill Bishop, from the round hill on the north side of the village, and from its being included in Doomsday Book, amongst the manors of the Archbishop of York, though it was afterwards given to Southwell Church and Lenton priory. Part of the wastes were enclosed in 1788, together with Cropwell Butler, each having a right in Persefield, and the remainder in 1803, when allotments were awarded in lieu of all the tithes."
[WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

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Archives & Libraries

The Library at Nottingham will prove useful in your research.

The Community Library at Bingham is also an excellent resource.

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Census

  • The parish was in the Ratcliffe-on-Trent sub-district of the Bingham Registration District.
     
  • In a November, 1883, re-organization, the parish was re-assigned to the Bingham sub-district of the Bingham Registration District.
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 853
1851H.O. 107 / 3139
1861R.G. 9 / 2485
1881R.G. 11 / 3382
1891R.G. 12 / 2718
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Giles.
     
  • The church was built circa 1215.
     
  • The tower, built in the early 15th century, is 20 feet square and 60 feet high.
     
  • The church chancel was restored in 1854.
     
  • The clock in the church tower was installed in 1907.
     
  • There is a good photograph of St. Giles Church on Panoramio.
     
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of the church interior on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2012.
     
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Church Records

  • Anglican parish registers exist from 1539 and are in good condition.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Bingham.
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1842 in Flemish Bond brickwork. The chapel still stands, but it is Grade II listed with British Heritage.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Methodist Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2011.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Ratcliffe-on-Trent sub-district of the Bingham Registration District.
     
  • In a November, 1883, re-organization, the parish was re-assigned to the Bingham sub-district of the Bingham Registration District.
     
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

The village and parish lies 1.2 miles east of the A46 trunk road in the Vale of Belvoir. The parish covers 1,380 acres.

The village is known for its Stilton Cheese. The Grantham Canal runs along the western edge of the village. If you are planning a visit:

  • Check for bus service from Nottingham as well as Grantham.
     
You can see pictures of Cropwell Bishop which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72" described Cropwell Bishop thusly:

"CROPWELL-BISHOP, a parish in Bingham district, Notts; on the Fosse way, the Grantham canal, and the river Smite, 3 miles SW of Bingham r. station, and 8 ESE of Nottingham. Post town, Cropwell-Butler, under Nottingham. Acres, 1,380. Real property, £2,552. Pop., 638. Houses, 143. The property is much sub-divided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £300. Patron, alternately the Bishop of Ripon and the Prebendary of Oxton. The church was recently repaired and enlarged. There are a Wesleyan chapel and a national school."
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History

  • Composed of 12 households, Crophille was in Bingham Wapentake in the 1086 Domesday Book, but there was no mention of a church.
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK685355 (Lat/Lon: 52.912569, -0.982811), Cropwell Bishop which are provided by:

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Military History

  • The War Memorial window is the only coloured glass in the church apart from a fragment of medieval glass. A three light stained glass window with an angel in the centre light holding a crown ('A crown of life') flanked in the left and right hand lights by St Nicholas, holding a ship, and St George. Below the angel is a soldier in contemporary uniform tending a comrade.
     
  • The War Memorial Hall (Village Hall) was opened in 1932 by the then Prince of Wales as a tribute to the men who fought in World War I.
     
  • We have a photograph taken inside the Memorial Hall that clearly shows a Roll of Honour on the wall. Alas, the names are not legible.
     
  • We know that there is a brass War Memorial Plaque in the parish because the Parish Council minutes mention paying to referbish it. Alas, they do not mention the location.
     
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Military Records

Sergeant Frank STEEL born of this parish died on 27 October 1917 while a member of the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

Private John Albert HALL born of this parish died on 2 September 1918 while a member of the Manitoba Regiment.

There is a brass plaque in the Cropwell Bishop Primary School.

The names on the St. Giles War Memorial Plaque are:

  1. Thomas Richard Barlow, bombardier, Royal Field Artillery
  2. George Burrows, pte. 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters
  3. John Robinson Cook, pte. 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters
  4. Thomas Fogg, driver Royal Field Artillery
  5. John Albert Hall, pte. 78th Bn Canadian Infantry
  6. John Hampson, pte. 9th Bn Royal Sussex Regt.
  7. Richard Marriott Hardy, pte. 20th Sqdn Machine Gun Corps
  8. Thomas Alfred Loach, pte. 2/6th Bn West Riding Regt.
  9. William Parnham, pte. 2/5th Bn Sherwood Foresters
  10. John Slater, pte. 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters
  11. Frank Wood, 2nd Lt. 8th Bn Sherwood Foresters
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in the county of Nottingham and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was in the southern division of the county.
     
  • In April, 1935, this parish gave up 36 acres transferred to Cropwell Butler Civil Parish.
     
  • You may contact the local Cropwell Bishop Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to help with family history lookups.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Rushcliffe Borough Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Bingham petty session hearings held every other Thursday.
     
  • In 1779 William FILLINGHAM left a small charity to distribute bread to the poor on the first day of January each year.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, this parish became part of the Bingham Poor Law Union.
     
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Population

 YearPopulation
1801307
1831473
1851640
1871616
1881636
1901517
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Schools

Cropwell Bishop Primary School is on Stockwell Lane. Their website has no school history or student records.