South Leverton Historical Information

Opposite the pub and in the centre of the village is the Memorial Institute, which was built as a memorial to the fallen of the First World War and has been rebuilt and modernised recently.

To the east and south of the village is an oil well, which has been pumping high quality oil used in the production of chemicals and plastics for over 50 years.

The Parish Church of All Saints which dates back to the twelfth century is a fine example of an early Norman church with a square tower at its west end. There is also a twelfth century building on Retford Road known as the Priory though little is known of it's early days—it now houses one of the care homes.

All Saints Parish Church:

South Leverton Parish Church dedicated to All Saints

For a full history of the Parish Church please visit the Southwell and Nottingham Church History Project: All Saints Church

Quaker Cottage:

Quaker Cottage, painting by Percy Laws' © the copyright holder photo credit: Bassetlaw District Council

The Quaker Meeting House in Meeting House Lane was established in 1730 when it was sold to a David Jackson "…Doth bargain and sell unto the said David Jackson all that upper part of the close called 'West Close' in South Leverton"

At one time the yard surrounding the property contained the headstones of some of those who had worshipped there.

The Priory

Located on Retford road it is made of locally quarried water stone and was built in 1166.

It is believed to be part of a monastic house, with walls four feet thick in places.

It has in the past been a private dwelling and was last used as a retirement home. It is currently partially residential

Some information is available on the British History Online website:

In 1086 the Great Domesday book states:

Further Reading

Local resident Adrian Gray has recently written a book on local history "People and Places of Bassetlaw, North Nottinghamshire"

https://bookwormretford.co.uk/product/people-places-of-bassetlaw-north-nottinghamshire/

Inclosure Award

The public general Inclosure acts normally specified where awards were to be deposited or enrolled, either by one of the courts of record or with the local clerk of the peace. The General Enclosure Acts appointed permanent enclosure commissioners who were authorised to issue Enclosure Awards without submitting them to Parliament for approval.

Inclosure awards are legal documents recording the ownership and distribution of land. They may detail land owned by churches, schools and charities, as well as roads, rights of way, drainage, land boundaries, different types of land tenure.

Prior to the Inclosures, and was categorized as "common" or "waste" or not in use "Common" land was under the control of the lord of the manor, but a number of rights on the land (such as pasture) were variously held by certain nearby properties, or (occasionally) held in gross by all manorial tenants. "Waste" was land without value as a farm strip – often very narrow areas (typically less than a yard wide) in awkward locations (like cliff edges, or inconveniently shaped manorial borders), but also bare rock, and so forth; "waste" was not officially used by anyone, and thus was often cultivated by landless peasants.

The remainder of the land was organised into a large number of narrow strips, with each tenant possessing a number of disparate strips throughout the manor, as would the manorial lord.

The South Leverton Inclosure Award is an amazing snapshot of history, featuring beautifully drawn map (a reproduction is in the small room in the Memorial Hall). It shows how the land of the parish was divided to the various owners in the 1770's. The original document is deposited at the Nottinghamshire County Archives, the other version was entrusted to the Parish Council in 1894, sadly this has been lost but a 20th centuary copy of the award is in the parish council's possession.

The Vestry

Vestries: Prior to 1894 the Vestry generally held property on behalf of other persons for a parish but had no legal personality. Parish property and land + local charity land before the passing of the 1894 act was held by the vestry as trustees. The most important of these trustees were the Churchwardens, the Overseers and the Guardians. There were also other public employees such as the Surveyor of Highways, Roads and Drains and the Pinder.

The passing of the 1894 Act resulted in the creation of parish councils, consisting of a Chairman, Councillors and Overseers (who were now part of the Parish Council as Overseers of the Precept), this Act transferred all the properties of the parish from the Vestry to the Parish Council. For example, in Laneham this meant the legal ownership by the Council of the land which had been administered in the parish by the Surveyor of Highways, Roads & Drains.

Prior to the creation of Parish Council's in 1894 the Vestry held the power to appoint trustees (the Churchwardens and Overseers) to a non-ecclesiastical charity. This power transferred to Parish Councils in 1894 under the Passing of the Local Government Act 1894.