White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, 1853

Elksley

Elksley Parish lies on the east side of Clumber Park, and is intersected by the Wollen, but the village of Elksley is pleasantly situated on the north bank of that river, near its confluence with the Idle, 4 miles north-north-west of Tuxford. It contains about 450 inhabitants and 2,562 acres of land, including about 400 acres in wood and plantations, a large portion of which formed a wild tract of the forset, till 1780, when it was closed and exonerated from tithes, and an allotment of 66 acres awarded to the King, as Duke of Lancaster, under which Duchy the Duke of Newcastle olds this manor of Elksley, or Elchesleig. The trustees of the late John Sharpe Esq., and St John's College, Cambridge, also have estates here, the latter of which is held on a leasehold tenuity by His Grace. It was partly soc to Bothamsall and of the fee of Roger de Busli. A great portion of the land was given to the monasteries of Worksop, Blyth, Rufford, Newark, Mattersea and Welbeck, and to the latter belonged the rectory and church, which in the 4th year of Edward VI was granted to Richard Winlove and Richard Field, and afterwards passed to the Earl of Clare, who descendant, the Duke of Newcastle, is patronage of the vicarage, which is cvalued in the King's books at £6 16s, now at £120, and is enjoyed by the Rev. Cornelius Postlethwaite M.A., who resides at the vicarage, a commodious house at the south side of the village, overlooking the vale of the Wollen. The rector receives from the owners, as a commutation of the small tithes of the old enclosure, about £80 a year, and possesses an allotment of 83 acres of the new enclosures.

The church, dedicated to St Giles, is an ancient fabric, with a chancel and tower, in which are three bells. It was re-pewed, and the north aisle rebuilt about 9 years ago, at the cost of £300. One hundred was contributed by the parishioners, and the rest by the Duke of Newcastle. The old manor house was taken down in 1843, and a good brick mansion erected on its site in 1844. The feast is on the second Sunday after Old Michaelmas. The parish has a few acres of hop ground, and a benefaction of £14, left in 1694 by Mary Pitts, for which the overseers pay 14s yearly to poor widows.

Normanton is situated 2 miles west by south of Elksley, and has a large Inn, on the Blyth and Ollerton road, which was formerly much frequented by drovers from the north, to Leicestershire, Northampton and the south.

[Transcribed by Clive Henly]