Nottinghamshire

Contents

Nearby Places

Finningley

"Finningley Parish forms the northern portion of the county. It stretches northward from the Idle, betwixt Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, within which latter county a large portion of this parish is comprised. It is divided into the three townships of Finningley, Auckley and Blaxton, which contain 6,056 acres of rich sandy soil. The waste lands were enclosed by an act passed in 1771, and in 1778 an allotment of 1,156 acres was awarded to the rector, in lieu of all the tithes, except those paid for 300 acres which had no common right, and which still remain titheable.
William Hall, in 1668, left 10s yearly out of two acres in Blaxton fields, to the poor of Finningley parish. In 1672, Richard Metcalf gave to the poor of Finningley township two acres, which at the enclosure in 1774 were exchanged for 1a 3r 18p in the Mill Field. In the 28th year of Charles II, John Tuke gave to the poor of Auckley two acres, which at the enclosure were exchanged for 1a 2r 4p. Auckley has also 6s 8d yearly, out of land which formerly belonged to William Ramsay, the Poor's Close and the Town Close, containing 7a 3r 34p, which was awarded at the enclosure, and is placed to the poor rate account. Sarah Wood left 2s 6d yearly to Finningley, and the parish received 10s yearly from the overseers of Auckley, as interest of £10, left by an unknown donor. About half an acre of land in Blaxton belongs to the poor.
[White's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

Census

• The parish was in the Bawtry sub-district of the Doncaster Registration District.
  
  

Return to top of page

Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Oswald.
  
  
• The date of construction is unreported, but pre-dates 1550.
  
  
• The church was repaired around 1833.
  
  

Return to top of page

Church Records

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1557.
  
  
• The church was in the rural deanery of Retford.
  
  
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1838.
  
  

Return to top of page

Civil Registration

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

Return to top of page

Description and Travel

Finningley is a village and a parish with three townships; Finningley, Awkley and Blaxton. Blaxton is wholly in the West Riding of Yorkshire, And Awkley is mostly in the same West Riding of Yorkshire. The rest is in Nottingham. The parish lies 151 miles north of London and 7 miles south-east of Doncaster and 4 miles north of Bawtry. The parish covers 5,970 acres.

The Idle River runs past the southern end of the village. If you are planning a visit:

• By automobile, take the A614 arterial road north-east out of Bawtry. Just before Austerfield, bear right, east, and follow the county road to Misson.
  
  
• There is a railway running through the parish, but the web page author does not know if passenger service is available.
  
  

Return to top of page

Directories

• We have an extract from White's 1853 Directory relating to this parish.
  
  

Return to top of page

Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 6799.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordinance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

Return to top of page

Politics and Government

• This place was an ancient parish in Nottingham and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  
  
• Finningley township is within the parliamentary borough of East Retford.
  
  
• The parish was in the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake (Hundred) in the northern division of the county.
  
  
• Blaxton, being in Yorkshire, was in the ancient Starfforth and Tickhill Wapentake and partly in the Soke of Doncaster.
  
  
• The Civil Parish of Finningley was abolished in 1974.
  
  

Return to top of page

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1774.
  
  
• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became part of the Doncaster Poor Law Union.
  
  

Return to top of page

Population

Year	Finningley	Auckley
1801	292	137
1851	404	100
1861	434	-
1871	415	-
1881	376	-
1891	328	-
1901	352	95
1911	337	-
1921	400	-

Return to top of page

Schools

• A National School was built here before 1869.
  
  

Return to top of page

Find help, report problems, or contribute information