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Villages by Andrew Nicholson

Cottages in Clifton (photograph: A Nicholson, 2004).

Cottages in Clifton (photograph: A Nicholson, 2004).

Structural

Standing buildings

An excellent introduction to village buildings in Nottinghamshire:

The essential reference book for buildings in Nottinghamshire villages:

A good selection of surviving timber-framed village houses and barns is discussed and illustrated in

Researchers should also consult the Historic Buildings Record based with the Heritage Team of Nottinghamshire County Council for detailed information on individual buildings:

Cottages and houses

Maurice Barley’s books on the development of English houses include examples from Nottinghamshire:

Farm houses and farm outbuildings

Semi-derelict 17th/18th/19th century outbuildings at Town End Farm, Nuthall (photograph: A Nicholson, 2004).

Semi-derelict 17th/18th/19th century outbuildings at Town End Farm, Nuthall (photograph: A Nicholson, 2004).

The red brick and orange pantiled farm house with its outbuildings is a distinctive feature of the Nottinghamshire rural landscape. The earliest surviving farm complex is at Kneesall and dates from c.1700 and there are also many fine 18th and 19th century examples around the county.

Useful general introductions to the development of farm buildings:

See the following articles for information on dating farm buildings:

A detailed study of an early farm complex:

Dovecotes, windmills and pinfolds:

Churches

East Markham parish church (photograph: A Nicholson, 1982).

East Markham parish church (photograph: A Nicholson, 1982).

Nottinghamshire has a good examples of all periods of church building: the severe early Norman interior of Blyth; the magnificent late medieval perpendicular architecture of East Markham; the classical simplicity of Ossington; the impressive Victorian churches attached to Thoresby Hall and (the now demolished) Clumber House. The architecture of the county’s village churches is summarised in

There is also a useful overview with selected examples from the main periods of church architecture:

An informative and well illustrated booklet describing the most significant churches around Nottingham:

Histories of many parish churches have been published over the years: copies of these are often held by the Local Studies section of public libraries. Regular excursions by the Thoroton Society were made in the early 20th century to churches around the county. The papers read during the visits were subsequently published in the Transactions of the Thoroton Society. See the index to the transactions for details:

Many of these generously illustrated papers (enhanced with modern photographs) are available on the Nottinghamshire History website:

Excellent photographs of individual Nottinghamshire village churches by Heather Faulkes and others can be seen at:

An important and developing online resource is the Southwell Diocesan Churches Project which aims to provide comprehensive profiles of all parish churches in Nottinghamshire:

Manor houses and halls

The remains of the late medieval Wansley Hall, near Selston (photo: A Nicholson, 2006).

The remains of the late medieval Wansley Hall, near Selston (photo: A Nicholson, 2006).

The surviving Medieval manor houses in the county (e.g. Strelley Hall, Old Hall Farm, Linby, Skegby manor house, Wansley Hall, Manor Farm at Little Carlton) are discussed in:

Post-medieval manor houses and halls are discussed in “The smaller houses: manor, farmhouse and cottage” chapter of

Public houses

The only comprehensive survey of Nottinghamshire village public houses is:

Archaeology

The best preserved deserted village earthworks are at West Burton (south of Gainsborough), Whimpton Moor (adjoining the A57 between Darlton and Dunham-on-Trent), Thorpe in the Glebe (south-east of Wysall), Willoughby (near Norwell) and Langford (north of Newark). The history of Thorpe in the Glebe is outlined and its earthworks described in:

Earthworks of house platforms, toft boundaries and hollow ways are visible in many villages in the county: in Winkburn a hollow way with adjoining house platforms lies south-west of the church and earthworks of a similar nature exist in a field in the centre of West Markham. The Nottinghamshire Village Earthwork Survey undertaken by the Trent & Peak Archaeology Unit in the mid-1990s recorded earthwork features within and around villages; these were subsequently sketch plotted onto extracts from the 1:10,000 Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) basemap. The records can be viewed at the SMR based with the Heritage Team of Nottinghamshire County Council. A summary of the project has been published:

Regrettably, there have been no large scale village excavations in the county. Smaller scale archaeological work (usually in response to planning proposals) is summarised annually in the ‘Archaeology in Nottinghamshire’ section of the Transactions of the Thoroton Society.

Landscape

A useful guide to the evolution of the English countryside is

The enclosure movement of the 18th and 19th centuries had a profound effect on rural Nottinghamshire. Enclosure and its impact on villages and the rural landscape is discussed in

Detailed studies of the effect of enclosure on Keyworth and Southwell:

Village landscapes have also changed dramatically since the mid-20th century. European Union-funded ‘prairie farming’ has drastically transformed the rural landscapes in the east of the county and has resulted in the destruction of miles of hedgerows and the clearance of woodland to make way for industrial-scale farm machinery. For an example of the drastic effect this change in agricultural practice has had on the parishes of Eakring and Maplebeck in central Nottinghamshire see:

Splendid aerial views of villages in north Nottinghamshire with their associated landscapes have been published in: