Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for SOUTHWELL

SOUTHWELL, a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a division, in Notts. The town stands on Ermine-street, and on the river Greet, at the terminus of a short branch of the Midland railway, 6½ miles W of Newark; was known to the Saxons as Fingaceaster; grew around a church founded in 627 by Paulinus; had a palace of the Archbishops of York, which was frequently occupied by Wolsey, and is now represented by ruins of its chapel and hall; was the placewhere Charles I. surrendered himself to the Scottish army; contains a house, now the residence of the Hon. E. G. Monckton, where the poet Byron's mother lived, and where Byron himself spent many of his early days; is a seat of petty-sessions, and a polling place; gives the title of Viscount to the South-wells of Hinlip; consists of five parts, called High Town, East Thorpe, West Thorpe, Burgage, and Westgate; presents a widespread and straggling appearance; and has a head post-office,‡ a r. station, a banking office, two chief inns, a modern town hall, a police station, a county house of correction, two churches, Baptist and Methodist chapels, a literary society, a free grammar-school with two scholarships at Cambridge, an endowed school with £25 a year, two national schools, several charities, a weekly market on Saturday, and a fair on Whit-Monday. The house of correction was rebuilt in 1808; was enlarged and improved at several different times; occupies a plot of about 2 acres; and has capacity for 159 male and 22 female prisoners. The parish church occupies the site of the ancient church of Paulinus; dates, in its present state, from 1109; was restored in 1804; is a grand cruciform structure, 306½ feet from E to W, and 122¼ feet along the transepts; exhibits richly artistic features of Norman, early English, and decorated; contains sedilia, stalls, and several interesting monuments; includes an octagonal chapter-house; was collegiate before the Norman conquest; and still has a prebendary. Trinity church was built in 1844, at a cost of about £4,000; and has a tower with lofty spire. Pop. of the town, in 1861, 3,095. Houses, 695.

The parish contains also the hamlets of Normanton and Hexgreave, and comprises 4,550 acres. Real property, £19,515; of which £124 are in gasworks. Pop., 3,469. Houses, 752. Norwood Park belongs to Sir J. Sutton, Bart. Roman bricks and coins have been found. The head living is a rectory, and that of Trinity is a p. curacy, in the diocese of Lincoln. Value of the former, £450;* of the latter, £300.* Patron of the former, the Bishop of Lincoln; of the latter, Trustees.—The sub-district contains 25 parishes, a chapelry, and an extra-parochial tract. Acres, 51,511. Pop., 13,055. Houses, 2,861.—The district includes also Kneesal sub-district, and comprises 117,134 acres. Poor rates in 1863, £10,400. Pop. in 1851, 25,614; in 1861, 24,425. Houses, 5,359. Marriages in 1863, 145; births, 709,- of which 72 were illegitimate; deaths, 514,-of which 161 were at ages under 5 years, and 24 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,523; births, 7,431; deaths, 4,634. The places of worship, in 1851, were 50 of the Church of England, with 10,218 sittings; 1 of Independents, with 105 s.; 3 of Baptists, with 688 s.; 32 of Wesleyans, with 4,106 s.; and 21 of Primitive Methodists, with 1,579 s. The schools were 34 public day-schools, with 2,240 scholars; 50 private day-schools, with 1,032 s.; 64 Sunday schools, with 4,126 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 10 s. The workhouse is in Upton; was built in 1824, at a cost of £6,596; and has accommodation for 191 inmates.-The division contains 14 parishes, and a part; and is part of Thurgarton wapentake. Acres, 33,820. Pop., 7,869. Houses, 1,727.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a division"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Southwell AP/CP       Southwell SubD       Southwell RegD/PLU       Nottinghamshire AncC
Place names: FINGACEASTER     |     SOUTHWELL
Place: Southwell

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