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Hucknall Torkard

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"Hucknall Torkard is a large village and parish, consisting principally of one long street, seven miles north by west of Nottingham, and eight miles south of Mansfield. It contains 3,270 acres of land, and 2,970 inhabitants, many of whom are framework knitters and occupy small farms. The Duke of Portland is the principal owner and lord of the manor.
The church is a neat structure with a tower and three bells. The vicarage is valued in the King's Books at £4 18s 1d, now at £135, and was anciently in the patronage of Newstead Priory, but the Duke of Portland is now the patron. The Rev. Curtis Jackson M.A. is the incumbent. In the chancel is a mural monument to the memory of Richard Lord Byron, dated 1679. John Curtis, gent, is remembered on a neat marble stone in the church, as the last survivor of the family who resided here upwards of 500 years; it is dated 1777. The Baptists, Wesleyan, New Connexion, the Original Methodists and the Primitive Methodists have each a chapel here, and in the parish is a Club Mill belonging to several Friendly Societies. Forge Mill, situated on the River Leen, now employed in grinding corn, is said to have been first an iron forge, and afterwards a cotton mill. Bulwell Wood Hall, an ancient farm house, was once an occasional seat of the Byron family of Newstead. In the village is a fine box tree, upwards of 400 years old, and said to be the largest in England. Here are several friendly societies and a lodge of foresters. Mr Richard White, framework knitter, and Mr Hy. Daws, farmer, natives, and still residents in this parish; the former in his 95th and the latter in his 93rd year of age, both of whom are still middling active; and Mrs Eliz. Featherstone, a native of Pentrich, Derbyshire, but resided here the last thirty years of her life, and died on the 12th January 1852, in her 98th year.
The Nottingham and Mansfield Railway passes through this parish, and has a neat station here."
[WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]

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Archives & Libraries

The free Library and Reading rooms were erected in 1888.

Today's Library can be found at Hucknall Library on South Street just north of West Street. It is normally open six days each week. It is wheelchair friendly and has a local history section and a newspaper archive.

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Cemeteries

  • A cemetery of 8 acres with one mortuary chapel was opened here in 1877. It was under the control of the Parish Council Burial Board.
     
  • David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of Hucknall Cemetery on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2012.
     
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Census

  • The parish was in the Hucknall Torkard sub-district of the Basford Registration District:
     
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 858
1851H.O. 107 / 2127
1861R.G. 9 / 2442
1871R.G. 10 / 3491
1891R.G. 12 / 2672 thru 2675
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene.
     
  • The church has its own website.
     
  • The church was originally built here by the Anglo-Saxons.
     
  • The tower was constructed in stages between the 12th and 14th centuries. The lower stages of the tower are the oldest part of the building and are Early English.
     
  • There are some records saying that the church was dedicated to St. James.
     
  • The church was restored in 1872.
     
  • St. Mary Magdalene's clock was presented by the Duke of Portland in 1884.
     
  • Phil EVANS has a photograph of St. Mary Magdalene Church on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2008.
     
  • The church of St. John, at the southern extremity of the town, was erected in 1877. This Chapel of Ease could seat 200 people.
     
  • David HALLAM-JONES has a photograph of St. John's Anglican Church on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2012.
     
  • The church of St. Peter in the Watnall Road was erected in 1892 to seat 250 people. Made of brick, it consisted of a chancel and nave.
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1558 and is in good condition.
     
  • The church was was in the rural deanery of Mansfield.
     
  • Lord BYRON was buried in the parish church on 16 July 1824.
     
  • Lord BYRON's grave is noted at the Poets' Graves website.
     
  • Countess Ada LOVELACE, Byron's daughter, was buried in the parish church in late 1852.
     
  • The Baptist church was founded in 1806 and opened on Gilbert Road in 1835 after several years of services held in various places. They moved to Watnall Road in 1876. to learn more, visit the Watnall Road Baptist Church site.
     
  • David BEVIS has a photograph of the Baptist Church on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2009.
     
  • David BEVIS also has a photograph of the Central Methodist Church on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2012.
     
  • The Catholic church of the Holy Cross in Carlingford Road was erected in 1866.
     
  • A large Congregational Chapel was built here in 1867.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Hucknall Torkard sub-district of the Basford Registration District:
     
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

Hucknall Torkard is both a village and a parish near the River Leen and lying about 7 miles north of the centre of Nottingham, 8 miles south of Mansfield, and 133 miles north of London. On most maps, the village is rendered as "Hucknall".

You can see pictures of Hucknall Torkard which are provided by:

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Directories

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Gazetteers

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Genealogy

  • Ben CAUNT the Genial Giant of Hucknall Torkard - an article by Doug CAUNT.
     
  • Eric Francis Harrison COATES was born here on 27 August 1886. He was the only son, and youngest of five children, of William Harrison COATES. Eric would become a music composer and violist. COATES was declared medically unfit for military service in the First World War, and continued his musical career playing the Viola for various orchestras. He concentrated on music composition after WWI. In 1953 he wrote the theme march for the movie "The Dam Busters."
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History

  • You must check out the History of Hucknall Torkard from Maureen NEWTON.
     
  • This parish has a long association with the BYRON family.
     
  • Phil EVANS has a photograph of Lord Byron's Epitaph on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2008.
     
  • A Public Hall was built here in 1875.
     
  • Starting in 1927, Rolls-Royce used the airfield to test fly a number of innovative aircraft. It was here that the first P-51 Mustang was fitted with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. It was also here that Rolls tested the world's first vertical-takeoff jet 'aircraft' – actually, a test rig, officially called the Thrust Measuring Rig, but soon nicknamed the "Flying Bedstead" because of its shape.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK532493 (Lat/Lon: 53.038337, -1.20804), Hucknall Torkard which are provided by:

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Military History

  • In 1916 the Royal Flying Corps opened a training station at Hucknall.
     
  • In 1918 the United States Army Air Service arrived.
     
  • In 1919 Hucknall aerodrome was closed and sold to a local farmer.
     
  • Near Titchfield Park is the Hucknall Cenotaph where the war dead of the town are remembered. The War Memorial was commemorated in 1922.
     
  • In 1927 the RAF decided it needed room for expansion and the aerodrome was reopened.
     
  • In 1942 the village adopted the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Vimy.
     
  • In 1953 the "Flying Bedstead" was tested here. It would later become the Harrier jump jet.
     
  • In 1957 the RAF closed their station at Hucknall.
     
  • In St. Peter's church the only monument still in the building is a plaque on the liturgical north wall in memory of brothers Ronald and Wilfred HUCKLE who were both killed during the Second World War.
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Military Records

There are two Commonwealth War Grave from World War I in St. Mary Magdalene churchyard:

  • Gunner William BONNINGTON, garrison Artillery, 12 July 1915
  • Private Arthur CLAYTON, Sherwood Foresters, 7 Aug. 1916

There were five civilians killed in Hucknall Torkard in World War II and buried on 23 September 1940:

  • John EVANS, age 2
  • Ronald EVANS, age 8
  • Alice EVANS, age 6
  • Albert EVANS, age 28
  • Alice EVANS, age 30

In St. Peter's Church is a brass memorial to the HUCKLE brothers. Ronald HUCKLE was a Lance-Corporal in the Coldstream Guards and was killed on 25 September 1943 aged 22. He is buried in the Salerno War Cemetery. Wilfred HUCKLE was a Trooper in the 12th Tank Regiment, R.A.C. and died on the 14 September 1944 aged 22. He is buried in the Gradara War Cemetery. Their parents lived on Mosley Street, a short distance from the church.

There is also an inscription on one of the windows to Lance-Corporal Frank W. JACKSON who was also killed in Italy in 1943.

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Names, Geographical

From 1295 until 1915, the town was known as "Hucknall Torkard," taken from Torcard, the name of a dominant land-owning family.

Today, the town is known simply as "Hucknall".

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Newspapers

Hucknall Torkard was served by two local newspapers:

  • The Hucknall Torkard Dispatch & Leen Valley Mercury, printed and published by Henry Morley (in 1912) of Yorks street on Thursdays. The Hucknall Dispatch is still published today, although the newspaper is encouraging online subscriptions.
     
  • Star & Rushcliffe Advertiser, publ. by the Hucknall Publishing Co. on the Market Place on Fridays.
     
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Nottingham county and it became a modern Civil parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was in the northern division of the county.
     
  • This parish was in the northern division of the Broxtowe Hundred or Wapentake.
     
  • In 1858 the Newstead extra-parochial area was split off and incorporated as a separate Civil Parish.
     
  • The town itself has no civil parish council.
     
  • From 1894 until 1974 Hucknall was the seat of the Hucknall Urban District Council. Upon the abolition of the UDC, local government of the town was transferred to Ashfield.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Ashfield District Council.
     
  • In 1974, Newstead Civil Parish joined the new Gedling Borough Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • The Common Land was enclosed here in 1771.
     
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Nottingham petty session hearings.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the Basford Poor Law Union.
     
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Population

 YearInhabitants
18111,793
18412,680
18512,970
18612,836
18714,257
188110,023
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Schools

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of Holgate School on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2010.

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Societies

You may find the Hucknall Tourism and Regeneration Group a valuable resource.