North Clifton
"North Clifton parish comprises the four villages and townships of North Clifton, South Clifton, Harby and Spalford, which maintain their poor separately, and contain together 1,107 inhabitants and 5.040 acres of land, now valued at £6,230, which was all exonerated from tithes at the enclosure, and anciently formed four manors of the Bishop of Lincoln's fee, and one of Roger de Bisli's, which in after times passed to the Lovelots, Pigotts and Willoughbys.
North Clifton is a small village on the east bank of the Trent, 12½ miles north by east of Newark, near a long cliff, in which numerous fragments of urns, bones and scalps have been found, near the spot which is supposed to have been anciently occupied by a castle. The church, dedicated to St George, stands on an eminence between North and South Clifton, and was re-pewed in 1831. The vicarage, valued in the King's books at £7 6s, and now at £176, is enjoyed by the Rev. Frederick Parry Hodges D.D.. The Rev. G.C. Gordon M.A. is the curate, and resides at the Vicarage House, South Clifton. The prebendary of North Clifton, in Lincoln Cathedral, is the patron and appropriator."
[White's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]
- The parish was in the North Collingham sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2476 |
- North Clifton once had a Collegiate Chantry for secular priests, now completely destroyed.
- The Anglican parish church was dedicated to Saint George.
- A small Chapel-of-ease was erected in harby in 1820.
- The Anglican parish starts with burials in 1539, baptisms in 1614 and marriages in 1662. The earliest records are in bad condition.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Newark.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel in North Clifton by 1869.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel in South Clifton by 1853.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel in Harby built in 1849.
- The parish was in the North Collingham sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
- Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
North Clifton is a parish that includes the villages and townships of North Clifton, South Clifton, Harby and Spalford The parish is 13 miles north-east of Newark, 12 miles south of Gainsborough, 7 miles east of Tuxford and 151 miles north of London. The parish sits on the eastern bank of the River Trent on the norder of Lincolnshire and covers 5,050 acres.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, the village is just north off of the A52 trunk road, heading east out of Nottingham.
- Check the Carlberry site for Bus 56 service.
- Spalford was a Roman settlement.
- In the 1800s most of the parish residents were farmers.
- The parish feast was traditionally held on September 12th.
- South Clifton was heavily damaged by floods from the Trent River in 1736, 1776, 1795, 1824 and 1828.
- North Clifton Hall stands just east of the village in a park and in 1881 was the seat of George FREETH.
- The national grid reference is SK 8272.
- You'll want an Ordinance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- This place was an ancient parish in Nottingham county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the north division of the ancient Newark Wapentake (Hundred) in the eastern (or southern) division of the county.
- In 1669, Simon NICHOLSON left £100 to the poor. This was used to purchase 16 acres and 3 rods of land which was let, in the mid-1800s, for £17 a year.
- In 1737, Susannah HALL left the rent from a house in South Clifton for the poor.
- The Common Land was enclosed in Spalford in 1814.
- After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Newark Poor Law Union.
| Year |
North Clifton |
South Clifton |
Harby |
Spalford |
| 1801 |
167 |
214 |
180 |
79 |
| 1851 |
265 |
367 |
415 |
101 |
| 1861 |
269 |
319 |
428 |
94 |
| 1881 |
181 |
270 |
352 |
89 |
| 1891 |
144 |
275 |
297 |
73 |
| 1901 |
179 |
247 |
308 |
63 |
- A Free School was built in North Clifton in 1799.
- A small National School was built in Harby in 1844.
Find help, report problems, or contribute information.
[Last updated: 5-September-2011 - Louis R. Mills]
