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Littleborough
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"Littleborough is but a small village and parish, on the west bank of the Trent, five miles south of Gainsborough and 8¾ miles east by north of Retford. It contains only 84 inhabitants, and 916 acres of land, belonging chiefly to G.S. Foljambe Esq., the lord of the manor and patron of the benefice, which is a perpetual curacy, certified at £4 3s 4d, now £58, and in the incumbency of the Rev. St George Kirke.
The church, which is a Norman structure, underwent such a thorough repair in 1831-2, that it now has a modern appearance. Mr Foljambe was at the expense of renovating the chancel, and the other repairs were at the cost of the parishioners, except the new vestry and Sunday School room, which were built by the late incumbent. In the old walls are many Roman bricks, and the stones are laid in that angular manner which is distinguished by antiquities as the herring-bone style of masonry. The manor was of the King's soke of Mansfield, and the church was given by King John to the monks of Welbeck Abbey. The parish has generally a rich soil, and was enclosed in 1825, when the act was obtained for making a new turnpike from Retford to Littleborough ferry, which crosses the River Trent close to the village, near the site of a Roman Ford, which consisted of a stone pavement, protected by piles of oak, but the latter were removed some years ago by the Trent Navigation Company, so that the stones were nearly all displaced."
[WHITE's "Directory of Nottinghamshire," 1853]
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The Library at East Retford will prove useful in your research.
Alan MURRAY-RUST has a photograph of the Church graveyard on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2014.
Richard CROFT has a photograph of the churchyard Lychgate on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2006.
- The parish was in the Clarborough sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
| Census Year | Piece No. |
|---|---|
| 1841 | H.O. 107 / 849 |
| 1861 | R.G. 9 / 2414 |
| 1871 | R.G. 10 / 3452 |
| 1881 | R.G. 11 / 3301 |
| 1891 | R.G. 12 / 2639 |
- There is no mention of a church here in the 1086 Domesday Book.
- The church dedication was unknown for a number of centuries.
- The church was dedicated to Saint Nicholas.
- The church was constructed in Norman times, but an exact date is not reported. The earliest mention of a church here was in 1191.
- Major repairs were made to the church during 1831-32.
- Major restoration took place in 1900. Further restoration work was completed in 1973.
- The church seats 60.
- The church is no longer in regular use and in 1993 it was vested into the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
- B. HILTON has a photograph of Littleborough Church on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2004.
- Julian P. GUFFOGG also has a photograph of St Nicholas' Church on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2015.
- The Anglican parish register dates from 1539 for marriages and burials, and from 1614 for baptisms.
- The church was in the rural deanery of Tuxford (later the Retford rural deanery).
- John MELLORS has started a Parish Register extract for this parish.
- The parish was in the Clarborough sub-district of the East Retford Registration District.
- Civil Registration started in July, 1837.
This village and small parish are about 6 miles south of Gainsborough on the western bank of the River Trent, across from Lincolnshire. The parish covers only 329 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.
- Ask for a calculation of the distance from Littleborough to another place.
- It is believed that this was once a Roman station. based on the number of antiquitites found here. A Roman altar, coins, and pottery are in the Lincoln Museum
- A Roman causeway across the Trent, usable at low tide, was dismantled in 1868
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of the Site of Littleborough Ferry on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2014.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK824825 (Lat/Lon: 53.333005, -0.764102), Littleborough which are provided by:
- OpenStreetMap
- Google Maps
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- Bing (was Multimap)
- Old Maps Online
- National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.
There is no War Memorial in the parish church. There are, however, two framed Rolls of Honour.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of the gravestone of Private James CLEGHORN on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2014. He died in March 1917.
A hand-written Roll of Honour showing the names of the men who served and died during the Great War:
- James Cleghorn
- George Fenton
- Basil Walker Griffin
- Randle Newcome Griffin
- Frank Howard
- William Howard
- Percy Thomas Kitchen
- Fred Smith
Several sources tell us that the Roman name for this place was "Segelocum" or possibly "Agelocum".
- The parish was in the North Clay division of the ancient Bassetlaw Wapentake (Hundred) in the northern division of the county.
- In April, 1935, this parish was abolished and the land amalgamated into Sturton-le-Steeple Civil Parish.
- Bastardy cases would be heard at the Retford petty session hearings held in West Retford.
- The Common Land was enclosed here in 1823.
- After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a part of the East Retford Poor Law Union.