White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, 1853

North and South Collingham Parishes

Collingham, seated on a gentle eminence above the Trent marsh, six miles north by east of Newark, is one of the largest villages in the county, and is all comprised in the two parishes of North and South Collingham, which contain together 1,769 inhabitants, and 5,040 acres of land. A feast is held on the last Sunday in October, and hirings for servants twice a year.

North Collingham parish includes more than half of the village, and Potter Hill, a lofty tumulus on the borders of Lincolnshire, where many Roman relics have been found, and is very likely to have been a military station. It contains 935 inhabitants and 1,820 acres of land. The church, dedicated to All Saints, stands near the centre of the village. It is a very ancient structure in the Norman style of architecture, and underwent considerable repairs in 1832, when a new pulpit and reading desk were put up. There is a good Sunday School attached. The vicarage is valued in the King's books at £8 14s 2d, now at £92, and has been augmented by Queen Anne's Bounty. The Rev. Charles Lesiter A.B. is the incumbent, and the Dean and Chapter of peterborough are the patrons and appropriators, but they received land at the inclosure in lieu of tithes.

The land belongs to several small owners, but the Earl of Stamford is lord of the manor. The Baptist church here has had several additions, and about eight years ago was enlarged with the addition of the vestry. near it is a school, endowed for the education of the poor children of both parishes, by William and Mary Hart, in 1699, and in 1718 with land now let for £30 per annum. The benefactions of the poor in North Collingham are two yearly, left by William Storr, and the interest of £30 left by Thomas Fisher and William Lonsdale. They have also £6 6s 0d yearly from the Poor's Close, the rest of which, £2 14s, is paid to the surveyors of the highways. The poor of South Collingham have £2 yearly left by William Storr, £12 10s 0d yearly from land bequeathed by William Hart, and the interest of £70 left by Thomas Fisher and Elizabeth Bradford. The Midland Company's railway passes through this parish, and has a neat station near the centre of the village. The Royal Oak, and Railway Hotel, with excellent stables and roomy coach house, is within five minutes walk of the station. Mr James Hoe is the proprietor.

South Collingham parish includes the southern part of the village of Collingham, and hamlets of Brough and Danethorpe, distant two and a half miles to the south-east. It has 834 inhabitants and 3,230 acres of land, valued at £3,440. The Earl of Stamford is principal owner, and lord of the manor, which he holds on a lease under the Dean and Chapter of Peterborough, whose bishop has the advowson of the rectory, which is valued in the King's books at £14 1s 10½d, now at £418, and is enjoyed by the Rev. Joseph Mayor.

The church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, is a large ancient structure, and consists of a nave and two side aisles, with a tower in which are five bells, put up in 1841. The arches on the south side of the name are all pure Saxon, and are supposed to have formed part of the priory church, which is traditionally reported to have stood at Collingham. In the parish are two Wesleyan chapels, one at Collingham and the other at Brough. A National School was built in 1839 by subscription, which will accommodate 150 children, the average number being 130. On the Fosse Road is the site of the Crocolana of Antonius, now occupied by the village of Brough, where pots, urns, bricks and coins, termed Brough pennies, have been dug up at various periods. Danethorpe, which occupies an eminence a little to the south of Brough, had anciently a chapel annexed to Hawton. Human bones, with remains of coffins, have been turned up in a place called the Chapel Close, which was thr burying ground. £2 a year is still paid to the rector of Hawton, out of Chapel Close. At Collingham, was born the late John Blow, the celebrated organist of Westminster Abbey, who died in 1708.

[Transcribed by Clive Henly]