Whatton Parish
WHATTON OR WATTON PARISH, comprises the townships of Whatton and Aslockton, which together embrace an area of 2,869a. 0r. 15p of land, and in 1861, contained 175 houses and a population of 763 inhabitants, 378 of whom were males, and 385 females, rateable value £3,756 9s. 6d.
Whatton History and description
WHATTON is a township and well-built village, pleasantly situated on the south side of the river Smite, and on the Grantham road, three miles East by South of Bingham. It was anciently called Watone, from its watery situation, the flood water lying longer here than in many other places.
The township contains 1,661a. 1r. 15p of land, and in 1861, had 75 houses and 353 inhabitants, of whom 175 were males, and 178 females, rateable value £1,377 15s. 0d.
At the inclosure in 1790, 36n. 1r.18p. were allotted to the vicar, and 120a. 3r. Sp, to the impropriator, G. S. Foljambe, Esq., in lieu of tithes.
Thomas Dickinson Hall, Esq., is lord of the manor, and owner of all the township except a few small allotments belonging to freeholders. This gentleman within the last few years, has rebuilt nearly the whole of the farm houses and cottages in the township, this gives an air of elegance and neatness to the village, rarely met with in an agricultural district. He erected in 1841 a largo and elegant mansion, near the southern point of the parish, occupying a gentle eminencee and commanding extensive and picturesque views over the vale of Belvoir; its majestic castle, with the Leicestershire hills, affording a fine prospect in the distance, the house is delightfully surrounded with pleasure grounds and thriving plantations. It built in the Elizabethan style.
After the Conquest, this manor was of the fee of Gilbert de Gand. It was long hold by the Whattons, Newmarches, and Gascoignes, the latter of whom sold it to the father of the first Earl of Chesterfield; but some of the lands were successively held by the Whalleys, Gelsthorps, and others. The Church, (which Adelina de Whatton gave to Welbeck Abbey,) is dedicated to St. John of Beverley, it has a handsome tower and spire with five bells, and contains many ancient monuments of the Whatton, Newmarch, Cramer, and other families, of the latter is a monumental tablet to Thomas Cranmer, father of the celebrated Archbishop Cranmer, who was born at Aslacton in 1489, on one of the monuments is an effigy of a Knight Templar in armour. The church was repaired and new pewed in 1807, at the cost of £1700,, and the chancel, which was in a very dilapidated state was rebuilt about I 6 years ago, by T. A. Hall, Esq., who owns the impropriate lands and is patron of the living a vicarage, valued in the King’s books at £5 6s. 8d. now at £212, and enjoyed by the Rev. Geo. William Langstaff, M.A. There are 92 acres of glebe including allotments at the enclosure of Whatton and Aslacton.
There is a school in connection with the church, for the use of the parish, to which T. D. Hall, Esq., is a liberal contributor. The charities consist of the Poor’s close, (one acre,) the tenant of which distributes three tons of coals yearly; and £12 left by John Clayter, in 1738.
Aslockton History and description
ASLACTON is a township and pleasant village on the north side of the Smite, 1 mile N. by W. of Whatton, and 2½ miles E. of Bingham. The township contains 1,206a 3r of land, and in 1861 had 100 houses, and 410 inhabitants, of whom 203 were males, and 207 females. Rateable value, £2,379 14s 6d. Thos. Dickinson Hall, Esq., is lord of the Manor, and he, with Messrs. S. W. and Thos. and John Chettle, Edward Marriott, Henry Porter, George Morley, Henry Sills, and Robert Grant, are the principal owners.
At the inclosure they were allotted 65 acres in lieu of the impropriated tithes, and 44 acres in lieu of the vicarial tithes.
Aslacton was formerly a chapelry, but its chapel was in ruins many years ago, and a writer in the 62nd vol. of the Gentlemen’s Magazine, says, “part of the walls still remain ; these are visible under a modern built house of brick and tile, and the chapel itself is now a common alehouse.” The site of the old chapel is now occupied by the residence of Mr. William Parnham, butcher, it belongs to T. D. Hall, Esq., and was formerly a public house. The inhabitants now use Whatton Church, and pay one-third of the church-rate.
After the Conquest, Aslacton was of the fees of Walter D’Agincourt, Ilbert de Lacey, and Gilbert de Gand, and a portion of it was long held by a family of its own name, and from them passed to the Cranmers, of whom was ARCHBISHOP CRANMER, the great church reformer and martyr, who was born here in 1489, and became in 1532, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury. The life of this eminent prelate is the subject of a volume, therefore a brief notice of his last sufferings, under the persecution of Queen Mary, must here suffice, ” After condemnation, he was induced to sign a recantation; but having nobly denied his error, and withdrawn that confession, he was condemned to the stake, at which he suffered on the 21st of March, 1556. To this he was brought without any official notice, though he had reason to expect it; and when tied to it he was obliged to listen to all the charges and aspersions of Dr. Cole; but Cranmer boldly replied, I believe every word and sentence taught by our Saviour Christ, his apostles and the prophets of the Old and New Testament; but as to the Pope, I refuse him as Christ’s, enemy, or Antichrist, with all his false doctrines.’ So great was his sorrow for his recantation, and so determined was his spirit at the last hour, that he calmly held his right hand in the flames till it dropped off, saying, ‘ this hand has offended ;’ and this he was enabled to do, as his executioners had taken care to keep up a slow fire in order that he should suffer the utmost pain of his punishment, as a proof of their regard for Christian mercies.—It has been stated that after his whole body had been reduced to ashes, his heart was found entire and untouched by the fire, which by some of the bystanders was considered as an argument in favour of his hearty love of the truth; whilst others looked upon it as a proof of the heretical obduracy of that vital part, which would not yield even to the warm argument of a blazing Catholic fire.”
The site of the Manor House, which was the seat of Archbishop Cranmer, and many of his ancestors, is now occupied by farm residence. Near it may still be distinctly traced several moats, islands, and other remains of the pleasure grounds, and at a short distance is a raised walk, which leads to Orston, and is yet called Cranmer’s walk. At the west end, on crossing a moat, the visitor may ascend a square mount of considerable elevation, and from thence have an extensive prospect. Here are also two other mounts, said to have been raised by the Archbishop, but they have been greatly reduced by some of the former owners of the estate. On one of them tradition says the Archbishop, was wont to sit and survey the surrounding country, and listen to the tunable bells of Whatton,”
The Ambergate and Nottingham branch of the Great Northern Railway intersects the parish, and has a neat station here, In 1816, John Marriot loft 20s yearly out of his farm at Aslacton, to be distributed in bread at Christmas.
WHATTON DIRECTORY.
Post Office at John Peers, Griffin’s Head. Letters arrive from Nottingham at 6.40 a.m., and are dispatched at 6.40 p.m.
Commercial and Residential
Bates John, bricklayer
Maier Samuel, bricklayer
Caunt Robert, shoemaker
Caunt William, saddler
Fisher Samuel, gentleman
Greasley John, gardener
Hall Thos. Dickinson, Esq., Manor House
Harris George & Sarah, Endowed School
Harrison Mr. William
Hooper William, jun., butcher
Langstaff Rev. Geo. Wm., M.A., Vicarage
Mason John, blacksmith.
Parnham John, gamekeeper
Pell Jph. via. Griffin’s Head
Reddish Samuel, shopkeeper
Slater Robert, shoemaker and shopkeeper
Talbot Francis, veterinary surgeon
Tutbury William, tailor
‘Walls William, corn miller Whatton Mill
White Samuel, joiner and cabinet maker
Wood Mrs. Sarah
FARMERS.
* are Cottagers.
Bower Wm., Field
*Caunt Mary
Clay John
Fisher Robert
Foster Francis
Gelsthorpe Thomas
*Greasley Henry
Hooper William
Hough Thomas
Innocent John (and steward to T.D. Hall Esq.)
Innocent William
*Mason William
Pell Joseph
Reddish John (and shopkeeper)
Reek Henry
Wadsworth Edward
CARRIERS
Samuel Reddish, to Newark, Wed., and Nottingham, Sat.
Geo. &tans, to Nottingham, Wed. &Sat.
ASLOCKTON DIRECTORY
Commercial and Residential
Bates James, bricklayer, shopkeeper, and cottager
Bransby John and Wm., hucksters
Buff Isaac, vict. Cramer Arms, and coal and lime merchant
Mettle Thomas, butcher
Franks John, shoemaker
Frost Edwin, station master
Hall Thos., maltster
Hand Thos. blacksmith
Heathcote Job, miller and baker
Hoyle Henry, baker
Keyworth Robert, jun., maltster
Mees Wm., coal merchant
Morley Henry, shopkeeper and tailor Plat Wm. butcher
Farnham Wm., butcher and cattle dealer, and collector of poor rates
Sills Thos., coal and corn merchant Smith George, shoemaker
Smith Thos., plumber
Stevens George, joiner
Tyler Wm., wheelwright
Varney Thos., chimney sweep
Wheatley Mr. Thomas
Whitehead Saml., shoemaker
Wilson Wm., vict. Greyhound
FARMERS.
Marked * are Cottagers.
Chettle Samuel W., Samuel W Abbey Farm
Chettle Thos. & John, Greenedge
Green Joseph
Hutchinson John
Keyworth Robt., sen
Marriott Edward
Morley George
Porter Henry
Reynolds Robt., Sen.
*Roadley Thomas
*Saunders John
Sills Hy. And Thos. Grange
Railway Station
Ambergate and Nottingham branch of the Great Northern Railway. There are 6 trains each way daily. Edwin Frost station master.
Carrier
John Saunders, to Nottingham, Sat., and Newark, Wed.
Transcribed by GR Redford 2013