White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, 1853

Colston Bassett

This village and parish lies on the River Smite, bordering upon Leicestershire, 5 miles south of Bingham, and contains 337 inhabitants and about 2,400 acres of land, of which 1,800 acres belong to the lord of the manor and impropriator, Henry D. Martin Esq., to whose father it was bequeathed by the Honourable Mrs Kaye, sister to Viscount Wentworth, whose ancestors bought it in 1714 of Sir Edward Godling. The other part belongs to Mrs Pigon of Reading, and several other freeholders.

The manor anciently belonged to the family of Basset, and from then descended to the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham, from whom it descended to various families.

The church, dedicated to St Mary, stands half a mile from the village. It is an ancient edifice with south aisle, chancel, and low tower, in which is an excellent peal of five musical bells. It is a vicarage, valued in the King's books at £8 7s 6d, now £300. It has 42 acres of glebe. The patronage is in the gift of the Crown, and the Rev. Joshua Brooke is the incumbent. The vicarage, which formerly stood in front of the hall, was taken down about 17 years ago, and a neat mansion built a little more to the north. Here is a neat Catholic chapel, erected in 1840, and the priest is the Rev. Joseph Bick. A Primitive methodist chapel was also built in the same year. The parish feast is on Whit Sunday.

Colston Hall is a handsome mansion, seated on a gentle eminence on the north side of the Smite rivulet. It is beautifully diversified with large and full grown timber, and is the seat of Henry B. Martin Esq. The ancient cross in the village was rebuilt in 1831, in commemoration of the coronation of William IV. The villagers have a tradition that when the plague raged here in 1604, the inhabitants of Nottingham and Bingham not only refused to permit any article to be brought from hence to their markets, but cut off all communication with them whatever. From July to September, the pestilence swept away 83 of the parishioners.

[Transcribed by Clive Henly]