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Egmanton

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"EGMANTON, a parish in Southwell district, Notts; 2½ miles SW of Tuxford r. station, and 5 ENE of Ollerton. It has a post office under Newark. Acres, 2, 220. Real property, £2,283. Pop., 386. Houses, 84. The property is divided among a few. The manor was given by Henry I to Nigel d'Albini. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £148. Patron, the Duke of Norfolk. The church is tolerable; and there are a Wesleyan chapel, a Primitive Methodist chapel, and charities £14."
John Marius WILSON's "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales," 1870-72]

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Archives & Libraries

The Library at Newark-on-Trent will prove useful in your research.

You may also use the Community Library at Tuxford.

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Cemeteries

Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Churchyard extension across from the church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2014.

Trevor RICKARD also has a photograph of the Churchyard extension on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2012.

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Census

  • 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.
1861R.G. 9 / 2475
1871R.G. 10 / 3537
1881R.G. 11 / 3372
1891R.G. 12 / 2710
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary (as"Our Lady").
     
  • There is no mention of a church or priest in the 1086 Domesday Book.
     
  • The church was originally built in Norman times (12th Century).
     
  • In a writ of 1342, the church of Egmanton was still being referred to as a ‘chapel’.
     
  • The church tower was a 15th Century addition.
     
  • The Reformation of 1539 resulted in the closure and destruction of the Marian ("Our Lady" = Saint Mary) shrine at Egmanton in 1547. For the next four hundred years there were no pilgrims travelling to visit the church, which now became just an ordinary parish church.
     
  • In 1589 the churchwardens presented that the church walls were in decay.
     
  • In 1881 the church was in a very dilapidated state.
     
  • In 1893 the church, particularly the tower, was restored.
     
  • In 1897 John Ninian COMPER, a Scottish architect, added a new organ above the south entrance, its casing modelled on that at Freiburg Cathedral, a pulpit based on the medieval one at Ghent, and a very colourful, new rood screen. He also built a new shrine to St Mary, finally replacing the one destroyed in the Reformation. In the wake of Comper’s work, the Duke spent over £2,000 more rebuilding and reroofing the chancel and in decorative work inside the church.
  • The church seats 100.
     
  • In the churchyard stands a very ancient sundial.
     
  • John SALMON has a photograph of St Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2003.
     
  • And Richard CROFT has a photograph of the Church tower on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2006.
     
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Church Records

  • The Anglican parish register dates from 1653.
     
  • The International Genealogical Index (IGI) includes records from this parish for the period 1813-1838.
     
  • The names of each married couple from about 1734 are inscribed in the church belfry. Alas, many were removed when the church was restored.
     
  • The church was in the rural deanery of Tuxford.
     
  • The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1836 which was rebuilt in 1894.
     
  • Jonathan THACKER has a photograph of the new Methodist Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2011.
     
  • The Primitive Methodists also built a chapel here in 1841.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Kneesall sub-district of the Southwell Registration District.
     
  • Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

This village and parish are 137 miles north of London and 1 mile south of Tuxford. The parish covers 2,220 acres.

If you are planning a visit:

  • By automobile, take the A6075 arterial road northeast out of Mansfield and drive thrugh Ollerton. At Kirton turn right at the signs for Egmanton.
     
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of Egmanton Hill on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2015.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Village Hall on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2014. You should drop in when they are open and ask for a schedule of forth-coming events.
     
You can see pictures of Egmanton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Genealogy

On 29-Jul-1759 John GRAY, son of James and Eliz. was baptised in Egmanton.

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History

  • The village held an annual feast on the Sunday closest to Old Michaelmas day (29 September).
     
  • There is a stone churchyard cross consisting of shaft and base standing on a plinth of two steps, with date 1692 inscribed on the base and with the shaft capped by a sundial base. This is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
     
  • Egmanton Castle consists of the remains of a Motte and Bailey style castle. It is commonly known as Gaddick Hill.
     
  • There are some working oilfields in the parish. Oil shale fracking has been introduced to the parish.
     
  • Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Old Plough Inn just off Main Street on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2014. It's an 18th century building but only recently re-opened as a restaurant.
     
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Manors

  • Egmanton Hall stood about a half mile west of the church.
     
  • The Manor House was occupied by a farmer, Francis GALE, in 1881.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK736688 (Lat/Lon: 53.211177, -0.899385), Egmanton which are provided by:

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Military History

  • The War Memorial is a white stone cross, erected in the churchyard in March, 1920 and unveiled by Colonel Markham ROSE.
     
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of the churchyard War Memorial and some snowdrops on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2011.
     
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Military Records

The Great War Bulletin for February 15th, 1915 tells us that a Memorial service was held for 18-year-old Private Frederick ROBINSON, who had served at the altar of the village church on the very day he went off in August 1914 to enlist in the Coldstream Guards. He died in France on 25 January, 1915.

For another War Memorial photograph and the list of names, see the Nottingham County Council site.

These are the four men listed on the War MemoriaI:

  1. private Jonathan Henry BARTLE, 9th Btln. Sherwood Foresters, son of Bryan and Jemima BARTLE, died 4 Oct 1917
  2. private Walter James PEACHEY, 1st Btln. Sherwood Foresters, son of Walter James and Eliza PEACHEY, died 5 July 1916
  3. private Robert PRICE, 8th Btln. Leicestershire Regt., died 11 June 1918
  4. private Frederick ROBINSON, 1st Btln. Coldstream Guards, son of William and Elizabeth ROBINSON, died 25 Jan 1915
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Monumental Inscriptions

In the Church Chancel Sanctuary, on the south side of the altar, there is a slate floor slab in memory of the Rev Benjamin CLAY (died 1748) and his wife, Elizabeth (died 1759):

"Here lieth intered the Body of the
Rev Mr Benjamin Clay many years
Vicar of this Parish who departed this
Life the 28th Day of Dec An Dom 1748
Aged 62 years
Also Elizabeth his Wife Daughter of
Digby Dakeyne Esq she died Jan 13 1759
Aged 60 Years"

Also in the Sanctuary, on the north side of the altar, is a worn and defaced alabaster floor slab in memory of Nicholas POWTRELL, who died in 1579, and his two wives. POWTRELL held several public offices and was Member of Parliament for Nottingham in the mid-16th century.

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Names, Geographical

According to Wikipedia, the name derives from the Old English words for Ecgmund's farm/settlement.

The name also appears as "Eggemonton" in early records.

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Politics & Government

  • 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 Hundred (Wapentake) in the northern division of the county.
     
  • The citizens of this parish hold periodic Parish Meetings to discuss civic and political matters rather than have a formal Parish Council.
     
  • District governance is provided by the Newark and Sherwood District Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard at the Retford petty session hearings held in West Retford.
     
  • The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1821.
     
  • As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, this parish became part of the Southwell Poor Law Union.
     
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Population

In 1676 a religious census was taken, showing Egmanton had 140 people living there, but only one of whom was recorded as a dissenter.

 YearInhabitants
1676140
1801267
1831341
1851429
1861386
1871281
1881235
1891231
1901241
1911227
1921244
1931244
1951198
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Schools

  • For several centuries the only school for poor children was the Sunday School held in the church.
     
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Social Life & Customs

From the Southwell and Nottingham Church History site:

"At some point before the 12th century an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to a local woman in nearby Ladywood, which led to the creation of a shrine to the saint at the church in Egmanton. This shrine attracted many pilgrims from far and wide who visited the church, which thus became more than just a parish church. Many of the pilgrims scratched crosses into the stone of the south door and north aisle to mark their pilgrimage and many of these cuttings can still be seen today."

"It became the custom in Egmanton for couples who had been married in the church to give a cake to the church bell ringers, who in turn would inscribe their names in the belfry. The earliest recorded names date to 1734 and continued through the 18th and 19th centuries. Sadly, the list was removed as part of the restoration work done at the end of the 19th century."

"A tradition of the church recorded from the 19th century is the storing of a large ham at the church. This was kept ready for one of the local families, who were accustomed to bury their dead ‘in ham’ – the ham was eaten at a feast after the funeral."