Wellow (Wellhagh or Welhawe)
"WELLOW, a parish, with a village, in Southwell district, Notts; 6¼ miles SW of Tuxford r. station. It has a post-office under Newark. Acres, 991. Real property, £1,615. Pop. in 1851, 597; in 1861, 468. Houses, 114. The decrease of pop. was caused by depression in the chair manufacture. The manor belongs to the Earl of Scarborough. W. Hall is the seat of W. S. Ward, Esq. Jordan Castle was a fortified seat of Jordan Foliot. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £100. Patron, the Earl of Scarborough. The church is chiefly of brick, and recently was bad. There are two Methodist chapels, an hospital and dispensary, and charities £9."
[John Marius Wilson's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]
Caution: There is another parish called Wellow in Somerset county. Make sure you are researching the correct one!
- The parish was in the Kneesall sub-district of the Southwell Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2474 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2710 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Swithin (Swithen).
- The church was built in the late-12th century Norman period (probably 1190).
- The church nave was built in the 14th century.
- The church was partly rebuilt and thoroughly repaired circa 1815.
- The church was restored in 1878.
- The church was restored again in 1968.
- The church is Grade II listed with British Heritage.
- Geoff DUNN has a photograph of St. Swithin's Church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2006.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1546. (One source cites 1703.)
- The International Genealogical Index (IGI) includes records from this parish for the period 1622-1839.
- Goodle has digitized The parish registers of Wellow, dated 1896. It is unclear about the date range covered.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Southwell (or Worksop, depending on source).
- The Primitive Methodists had a chapel built here in 1847.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel built here by 1869.
- The parish was in the Kneesall sub-district of the Southwell Registration District.
- Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
This parish, township and village lie only 1 mile ESE of Ollerton. The parish covers 1,001 acres.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the A616 north-west out of Newark toward Ollerton. Just past Ompton, the road takes you through the center of Wellow.
- About a mile west of the village is Lake Rufford and the surrounding park.
- Grimston Hill is a mile south-east of the village at was a village at one time.
- Wellow did not show up in the 1086 Domesday Book. Some say that it didn't exist yet.
- Many people in the parish were wood turners and chair makers. Others cultivated hops.
- There is a local legend of the hamlet of Grymston, which was swallowed up by an earthquake. The "Grymston Ghost" is used to frighten children.
- There has been a maypole on the green since at least 1856. After trying a number of different wooden poles, a metal pole was installed in 1977. That pole had to be taken down in 2010 and the next year saw a steel pole installed. And, yes, ribbon dancing around the maypole still takes place here.
- Steve FAREHAM has a photograph of The Maypole on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2008.
- Andy STEVENSON has a photograph of The May Queen on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2010.
- Geoff DUNN has a photograph of the Durham Ox Public House on the Newark Road on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2006.
- These are the names associated with the Durham Ox in various directories:
| Year |
Person |
| 1853 |
Sam BENTON, vict. |
| 1869 |
John BENNETT, grocer |
| 1881 |
George COLE |
| 1891 |
George COLE |
- The other pub in the village is the Olde Red Lion on Eakling Road.
- Wellow Hall was a large mansion situate at the entrance to the village from Ollerton. In 1853, William Squire WARD, a surgeon, was the owner and resident. Dr. WARD operated a District Hospital and Dispensary in the west side of the hall. It is unknown if any records have survived. Thomas Middleton WILLIAMS was the assistant surgeon.
- Jordon Castle is the embattled manor house of Grymston, formerly the property of one Jordon FOLIOT.
- The national grid reference is SK 6766.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
For a photograph of the Wellow War Memorial plaques in the church, see the Southwell Churches History Project site.
- This place was an ancient parish in Nottinghamshire and it became a Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the South Clay division of the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake in the northern division of the county.
- The parish covered 991 acres in 1881, but this increased to 1,001 acres by 1891.
- The parish was within the parliamentary borough of East Retford.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Worksop petty session hearings.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became part of the Southwell Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1851 |
597 |
| 1861 |
468 |
| 1871 |
406 |
| 1881 |
368 |
| 1891 |
323 |
| 1901 |
290 |
| 1911 |
251 |
| 1951 |
324 |
| 1961 |
347 |
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[Last updated: 19-December-2013 - Louis R. Mills]
