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North Wheatley

"North Wheatley is a considerable village and parish on a steep declivity on the Gainsborough Road, five miles north-east from Retford, and five miles south-west from Gainsborough. The parish contains 427 inhabitants and 2,538 acres of land. Lord Middleton is principal owner. John Mee Esq. (Retford), John Nettleship Esq. (Tickhill) and several others have estates, besides several resident owners. Lord Wenlock is lord of the manor, which is mostly on copyhold tenure, paying a fine on the death or change of tenant, equal to one and a half years rent. William Heaton Esq. of Gainsborough is steward of the manor, and courts are held annually in May and November. At The Domesday Survey, part of Wateley was a berne of the Archbishop of York's soke of Laneham, and the rest belonged to the King's soke of Mansfield, and was of the fee of Roger de Busli.
The church, dedicated to St Peter, appears to have been erected in the 16th century. It has a tower with five bells, but the chancel was rebuilt in 1824. Lord Middleton is patron, and has also the impropriation of two-thirds of the great tithes, but the other third belongs to the vicarage, which was valued in the King's books at £3 18s 10½d, now £246, and is enjoyed by the Rev. Charles Walter Hudson. The open fields were enclosed under an act passed in 1837, and the tithe was commuted in 1838 for £620, of which £370 was apportioned to Lord Middleton as impropriator, and £250 to the vicar. The Rector of Clayworth received the tithe from 59 acres of land in the parish. The Methodists have a neat chapel, erected in 1836, and a National School was erected in 1826 by the Rev. F. Hewgill, at that time vicar. A feast and a hiring for servants is held on the second Thursday in November, when the green is crowded with visitors." [WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire." 1853]

Cemeteries

Census

  • The parish was in the Gringley sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
CensusYear Piece No.
1841 H.O. 107 / 852
1861 R.G. 9 / 2412
1891 R.G. 12 / 2638

Churches

You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the North Wheatley area that are recorded in the GENUKI church database. This will also help identify other churches in nearby townships and/or parishes. You also have the option to see the location of the churches marked on a map.

Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
  • The church was built in the 16th century.
  • The old Norman church chancel was taken down in 1824 and the present one built in 1825.
  • The churchyard was closed in May, 1879. Later burials were in South Wheatley.
  • The church was restored in 1896.
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Peter & St. Paul's Church on Geo-graph, taken in November 2005.

Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1649.
  • The church was in the rural deanery #1 of Retford.
  • The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel built here in 1836.
  • The Primitive Methodists had a chapel here before 1881.

Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Gringley sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.

Description and Travel

North Wheatley is both a village and a parish about 5 miles north-east of East Retford, 5 miles south-west of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire and 146 miles north of London. The parish covers almost 2,200 acres.

If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, take the A1 motorway north to West Drayton, take the A634 north to Retford, then take the A620 trunk road to the north-east. You'll find North Weatley after only five miles travel on the A620.
  • There is no rail service to North Weatley.
  • Check the North and South Wheatley webiste before you visit.
You can see pictures of North Wheatley which are provided by:

Directories

Historical Geography

You can see the administrative areas in which North Wheatley has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.

Manors

  • The Old Hall on Low Street id dated 1673 and bears the arms of the CARTWRIGHT family.

Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK761858 (Lat/Lon: 53.363590, -0.857875), North Wheatley which are provided by:

Military History

  • In 1920 a war memorial was unveiled in the parish churchyard for the men who fell in World War One.

Military Records

For a list of the names on the War Memorial, see the Southwell Churches History Project site.

Peter BOOTH has a photograph of the War Memorial Plaque, but it's a bit hard to read.

Politics and 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 North Clay division of the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake (Hundred) in the northern division of the county.

Poor Houses, Poor Law etc.

  • Bastardy cases would be heard at the Retford petty session hearings held in West Retford.
  • The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1837.
  • As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the East Retford Poorlaw Union.

Population

Year Population
1801 371
1831 435
1851 427
1861 461
1871 406
1901 385

Schools

  • A National School was built here in 1826. This is now the North Wheatley C of E Primary School.