The origin of the name is unclear. Several sites claim to be the original "well", notably at GR SK708535 where a plaque has been placed; in the Admiral Rodney pub; on the south side of the Minster, known as Lady Well in the 19th century; and one by the cloisters called Holy Well. Norwell, 8 miles (13km) north-west, may support the idea of a pair of "south" and "north" wells.[citation needed]
Early history
The remains of an opulent Romanvilla were excavated beneath the Minster and its churchyard in 1959.[3] Part of a mural from the excavation is displayed in the Minster. It is one of three of its type found in the territories of the Corieltauvi (or Coritani) tribes – along with Scampton in Lincolnshire and Norfolk Street in Leicestershire. A stretch of the Fosse Way runs on the far bank of the River Trent, with evidence of Roman settlement at Ad Pontem ("to the bridge" or "at the bridge"), north-west of the village of East Stoke. There is no clear evidence of a road between Ad Pontem and Southwell. Other evidence of Roman settlement includes the use of Roman bricks in prebendary buildings around the Minster, remains of a ditch or fosse discovered at Burgage Hill in the 19th century, and possibly Roman remains beneath the Church Street site of the recently vacated Minster School. [4]
The Venerable Bede records a multiple baptism in the "flood of the Trent" near "Tiovulginacester" by Paulinus in the presence of Edwin of Northumbria, whom he had converted to Christianity in 627. There is disagreement on the location of Tiovulginacester, but Paulinus certainly visited it and may have founded the first church in Southwell.[5]
Remains of Eadburh, Abbess of Repton and daughter of Ealdwulf of East Anglia were buried in Southwell's Saxon church.[6] Eadburh was appointed Abbess under the patronage of King Wulfhere of Mercia. She appears in the Life of Guthlac and is thought to have died about AD 700. Her remains were buried or translated to Southwell Minster, and revered there in the Middle Ages. The only reference is in a Pilgrims Guide to Shrines and Burial Places of the Saints of England supposedly written in 1000: "There resteth St. Eadburh in the Minster of Southwell near the water called the Trent."
Eadwy of England gave land in Southwell to Oskytel, Archbishop of York, in 956, this charter being the first dated reference to Southwell. In 1051 Archbishop Ælfric Puttoc died at Southwell, which indicates that the archiepiscopal residence and church might have been established by then.[7] A tessellated floor and the 11th-century tympanum over a doorway in the north transept are evidence of construction of the Minster after this time. The Domesday Book (1086) gives detail of an archiepiscopal manor in Southwell. [8]
A custom known as the "Gate to Southwell" originated after 1109, when the Archbishop of York, Thomas I, wrote to each Nottinghamshire parish for contributions to building of a new mother church. Annually at Whitsuntide, the resulting "Southwell Pence" were taken to the Minster in a procession from Nottingham, headed by the Mayor and followed by clergy and lay people bound for Southwell's Whitsun Fair. The Pence were paid at the Minster's north porch to the Chapter Clerk. The "gate" in the name of Southwell Gate means "street", as in many East Midland and North-Eastern street names. The custom in its original form persisted well into the 16th century. It was revived in 1981 by the Dolphin Morrismen, but imposition of traffic-management costs forced the organisers to abandon it in 2014.[9] It is survived by the Gate to Southwell Festival,[10] a broad musical event held every early June since 2007 on a site near Southwell and at various venues in the town. [11][12]
The Saracen's Head was built in 1463 on land gifted in 1396 by Archbishop Thomas Arundel of York to John and Margaret Fysher. When built, the first floor overhung the roadway in the style of the time.
The ruins of the Archbishop's Palace
In 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey stayed at the archbishop's palace in Southwell for a few months. The Cardinal had been arrested after failing to secure an annulment between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The Cardinal was ordered to London by Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland for treason. However, he became ill along the way. [14]
In the English Civil War, King Charles I spent his last night as a free man in May 1646 in the Saracen's Head (then the King's Head), before surrendering to the Scottish Army stationed at nearby Kelham. The town, the Minster and the Archbishop's Palace suffered under Oliver Cromwell's troops, as they sequestered the palace to stable their horses, broke monuments, and ransacked graves for lead and other valuables. In 1793, there were still iron rings in the walls to secure the horses. By end of the war the Archbishop's Palace was in ruins apart from its Great Hall. It is reputed that Cromwell also stayed at the King's Head.
A Bridewell built on the Burgage in 1656 was enlarged in 1787 to become a county prison. There is evidence that a house of correction was built in 1611, so that the Bridewell may itself have been an enlargement.
Mary Ann Brailsford of apple fame (see below) was baptised at Southwell in May 1791, and Matthew Bramley in 1796 in Balderton.
19th century and later
By 1801 the population was 2,305.
In 1803, Lord Byron stayed with his mother in Burgage Manor during holidays from Harrow and Cambridge. His mother rented the house. By that time he had become 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale, but the family home, Newstead Abbey, still required repairs, which they could not afford.
The town was late in getting a permanent theatre. This was in the yard of the former Cross Keys. In 1816 two large rooms on the first floor of premises of James Adams, a whitesmith, were converted for use as a theatre. The first company to use it was that of Joseph Smedley.[16]
Southwell today
The town has many historical buildings including the prebendal houses in Church Street and Westgate and the Methodist church, which has a right of way beneath it, so that the upper floor seats more than the lower. The workhouse (1824) was a prototype for many others. Owned by the National Trust, it shows its appearance in the 19th century.
Southwell Workhouse
Behind the Minster is a partly ruined palace, once a residence of the Archbishop of York. It includes the recently restored State Chamber, Cardinal Wolsey's former dining room, and gardens among the ruins.[17]
The town is something of an oddity in North Nottinghamshire, being visibly affluent compared with neighbouring Newark-on-Trent and Mansfield. Agriculture and coal have seen the fortunes of the other two fluctuate over the years, while Southwell has remained a place where wealthier Nottinghamians like to reside.[19][20] It appeared in the Sunday Times shortlist of Best Places to Live 2017 for the Midlands region.[21]
In most of Nottinghamshire, Southwell is pronounced SUH-thull, with a voiced "th" and a silent "w". Southwell's own residents tend to pronounce it as it is spelt. [22]
The town's two infant schools (aged 3–5) are Southwell Holy Trinity C of E and Lowes Wong .[23] The latter also teaches children aged 7–11. The local secondary school is Southwell Minster School,[24] which also educates the choristers of the Minster and gifted musicians in its Junior Department. It has particularly good GCSE and AS/A level results for Nottinghamshire.[25]
Normanton Prebend
The Bramley cooking apple was first seeded in Southwell, by Mary Ann Brailsford in 1809.[26] Henry Merryweather, a local nurseryman then 17 years old, saw potential and cultivated it from cuttings.[27][28] The apple is widely used and renowned for its acidic taste and for cooking into a smooth purée. One local football club, Southwell City, is nicknamed "The Bramleys" and the town's library is called the Bramley Centre. In March 2009, a stained-glass window was placed in Southwell Minister to mark the apple's bicentenary.[29]
The local community newspaper is The Bramley, of which some 11,200 copies a month are delivered free in and around Southwell.[30]
Oxton Prebendal House, now called Cranfield House
Sports clubs include Southwell Rugby Club[31] (known as the Redmen), formed in 1922–1923. In the 2011–2012 season, it won a historic treble as RFU Midlands 4 (East) North League Champions, Nottinghamshire Junior Cup winners and Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire/Derbyshire Plate winners. There is also a Southwell Cricket Club. Southwell City Football Club,[32] an FA Charter Standard Community Club, involves over 400 local players in 35 teams aged five years to veteran.
Southwell has a leisure centre run by a local trust,[33] with trustees from the community, although the district council also provides limited support.
The annual Southwell Music Festival is held every August in Southwell Minster and other nearby venues.[34] The Gate to Southwell Festival of roots and acoustic music is held each year in early June.[10]
Southwell Racecourse, owned by the Arena Racing Company, is situated on the outskirts of the town near Fiskerton and has an all-weather track. It hosts jump and flat racing.
Market Place/King Street, Southwell
The town is linked to Newark and Nottingham by the A612, although this has now been downgraded to a C road, and to north Nottingham and villages to the west by B6386. The A617 primary route passes 2 miles (3.2km) north of the town in Hockerton, and the A1 and A46 trunk routes are 7 miles (11km) away in Newark. The railway station at the nearby village of Fiskerton has gained a small car park in recent years to cater for Southwell commuters. Southwell is also served by Nottingham City Transport's rural Pathfinder 26 service to Nottingham and Stagecoach East Midlands (Mansfield) service to Mansfield and Newark.[35] There are other infrequent services to nearby villages.
Vicars' Court and the ResidenceLord Byron's house - Burgage Manor
The Town Council, since the 2019 elections, consists of eight Liberal Democrat councillors, four Conservatives and two Independents. The Council Chair was held in 2019–2021 by Mrs Lyn Harris (Lib. Dem.) and since then by Sally Reynolds (Independent). The Chair of the Town Environment Committee is Peter Harris, that of the Governance and Finance Committee Martin Stott and that of the Planning Committee Peter Scorer (all three Lib. Dem.)[41] The town and surrounding villages and hamlets are represented as District Councillors by Malcolm Brock (Lib. Dem.), Peter Harris (Lib. Dem.) and Penny Rainbow (Con.)[42]
Communities
Town districts
The historic town centre is based around the cathedral area, but nearby outlying communities grew and eventually were subsumed into the town.[43]
The Prebendage was the heart of Southwell centred on the Minster and the surrounding prebendary properties[44]
Burgage was north of the cathedral, around Burgage Green, traditionally hosting burgage properties[44]
Hightown was to the north-west along Westgate, along the main shopping street
East Thorpe and West Thorpe were hamlets on either side of these areas, St Catherine's Well, at the extremity of West Thorpe, was formerly noted for treating rheumatism.
Localities
Separated further afield from the core urban area, but within the parish are the following places:
Normanton, a hamlet on the east side of the River Greet positioned around Corkhill Lane, it hosts a sizeable garden centre business
Maythorne, an area based around a former silk mill north of the town, alongside the River Greet
Southwell was previously served by a branch line which ran from Rolleston Junction to Mansfield. There was a station on the line which served the town. It was opened in 1847, but closed to passengers in 1959 and to goods traffic in 1964. The station survives as a private residence. The trackbed towards Mansfield is now the Southwell Trail. The trackbed to Rolleston Junction is now covered by housing within the town and goes on to form a private access road from Southwell to Southwell Racecourse. Today, the nearest station to the town is over 2 miles (3.2km) away in Fiskerton, although Rolleston Junction is also near the racecourse. Both stations offer a service between Matlock, Lincoln, Leicester, Newark-on-Trent, Derby and Nottingham.
Education
Secondary education in the town is predominantly provided by The Minster School, which still educates choristers of Southwell Minster. The Minster School is a Specialist College for Humanities and Music and was rated outstanding by Ofsted in 2011/2012.[53] Pupils may also choose to attend school at Newark-on-Trent, which is about a 20-minute drive east. The School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences is part of Nottingham Trent University.[25] and offers further and higher education courses in agricultural-related subjects at its Brackenhurst campus just outside Southwell.
See also
Dumble – a local word used to refer to a small wooded area
Nottinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The most-populated settlement is the City of Nottingham, which is administered as a unitary authority area. Nottinghamshire County Council, which administers the rest of the county, is based at West Bridgford in Rushcliffe. In 2017, the population was estimated to be 785,800.
Newark-on-Trent (ˈnjuːəkɒnˈtrɛnt) or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road bypasses the town on the line of the ancient Great North Road. The town's origins are likely to be Roman, as it lies on a major Roman road, the Fosse Way. It grew up round Newark Castle, St Mary Magdalene church and later developed as a centre for the wool and cloth trades.
Newark and Sherwood is a local government district and is the largest district in Nottinghamshire, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, by a merger of the municipal borough of Newark with Newark Rural District and Southwell Rural District.
Malus domestica is a cultivar of apple that is usually eaten cooked due to its sourness. The variety comes from a pip planted by Mary Ann Brailsford. The Concise Household Encyclopedia states, "Some people eat this apple raw in order to cleanse the palate, but Bramley's seedling is essentially the fruit for tart, pie, or dumpling." Once cooked, however, it has a lighter flavour. A peculiarity of the variety is that when cooked it becomes golden and fluffy. Vitamin C 15mg/100g.
Nottinghamshire is a county that is situated in the East Midlands of England. The county has history within Palaeolithic period, dating anywhere between 500,000 and 10,000 b.c.e., as well as early Anglo-Saxon communities, dating to 600 c.e. Furthermore, the county has significance in the political aspects of English history, particularly within intercommunal fighting, and its economics is historically centred around coal and textiles.
Thurgarton was a wapentake of the historic county of Nottinghamshire, England. It extended north-eastwards from Nottingham. The River Trent formed most of the eastern boundary. It consisted of the parishes of Averham, Bathley, Bleasby, Blidworth, Bulcote, Burton Joyce, Calverton, Carlton, Carlton-on-Trent, Caunton, Caythorpe, Colwick, Cromwell, East Stoke, Edingley, Epperstone, Farnsfield, Fiskerton, Fiskerton cum Morton, Fledborough, Gedling, Gonalston, Grassthorpe, Gunthorpe, Halam, Halloughton, Haywood Oaks, Hockerton, Holme, Hoveringham, Kelham, Kersall, Kirklington, Kneesall, Lambley, Lindhurst, Lowdham, Maplebeck, Marnham, Meering, Morton, Normanton on Trent, North Muskham, Norwell, Norwell Woodhouse, Nottingham St Mary, Ossington, Oxton, Park Leys, Rolleston, Sneinton, South Muskham, Southwell, Staythorpe, Stoke Bardolph, Sutton on Trent, Thurgarton, Upton, Weston, Winkburn and Woodborough.
Rolleston station is around half a mile from the small village of Rolleston, one of the Trent side villages close to Southwell in Nottinghamshire, England. The station is convenient for Southwell Racecourse, to which it is adjacent.
Fiskerton railway station, is on the Nottingham to Lincoln Line, situated 3 mi (4.8 km) south-east of the small town of Southwell and serves the village of Fiskerton in Nottinghamshire, England.
Rainworth is a village in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England. It is split between the local government districts of Newark and Sherwood and Mansfield.
Fiskerton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Fiskerton cum Morton, in the Newark and Sherwood district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Trent about 3 miles southeast of Southwell. The waterfront is home to million-pound residential properties, previously residences of merchants and businessmen who commuted in the 1800s to nearby Nottingham by rail from Fiskerton Station. In 1881 the parish had a population of 283.
Rolleston is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire by the River Greet, a few miles from Southwell not far from the Trent and about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Newark. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 312. It has a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It lies close to the railway line between Nottingham and Lincoln with a station serving the village and Southwell as well as the nearby Southwell Racecourse.
Halloughton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, 9 miles west of Newark-on-Trent. It lies in the civil parish of Southwell and the district of Newark and Sherwood. Most of the property there was owned by the Church Commissioners until 1952.
St Mary Magdalene Church, Newark-on-Trent is the parish church of Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. It is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and is the tallest structure in the town.
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area. It gained the Royal Charter of a market town in 1227. The town lies in the Maun Valley, 12 miles (19 km) north of Nottingham. It had a population of 110,500 at the 2021 census, according to the Office for National Statistics. Mansfield is the one local authority in Nottinghamshire with a publicly elected mayor.
Southwell railway station was a railway station that served the minster town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, England from 1847 to 1959.
Fiskerton cum Morton is a civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district, within the county of Nottinghamshire, England. The overall area had a population of 902 at the 2011 census. The parish lies in the south east of the county. It is 112 miles north of London, 12 miles north east of the city of Nottingham, 5 miles west of the town of Newark-on-Trent and 21⁄2 miles south east of the town of Southwell. The parish lies along the bank of the River Trent and is primarily a commuter residential area to both Nottingham and Newark.
↑ McCartney, David (24 August 2005). "South Well or Suthell?". Voices 2005. BBC Nottingham. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
↑ Daniels, C. M., "Excavations on the site of the Roman Villa in Southwell, 1959", Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, Vol. 70, 1966, pp. 13–33.
↑ D. W. Rollason, "List of Saints' Resting Places in Anglo-Saxon England", Anglo-Saxon England 7, 1978, p. 89
↑ "Colleges: The collegiate church of Southwell." A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2. Ed. William Page. London: Victoria County History, 1910. 152-161. British History Online Retrieved 27 February 2021.
Betty M. Arundel, Southwell - A History Walk, The Southwell Civic Society, 2001
F. R. Barry, Period of my Life (Bishop of Southwell)", Hodder & Stoughton, 1970
R. M. Beaumont, A Flash of Lightning on Guy Fawkes Night, 1711: The Fire at Southwell Minster, The Thoroton Society, 1973
R. M. Beaumont, The Chapter of Southwell Minster, a Story of 1,000 years, 1956
M. Bishop, An Archaeological Resource Assessment of Roman Nottinghamshire, EMARF, n. d.
M. Boyes, Love without wings: The story of the unique relationship between Elizabeth Bridget Pigot of Southwell and the young poet, Lord Byron, J. M. Tatler & Son, 1988
J. Buckler, The Collegiate Church of Saint Mary, Southwell, Bermondsey, 1810
T. H. Clark, The History and Antiquities of Southwell Collegiate Church, J. Whittingham, 1838
Roger Dobson, Southwell Inns and Alehouses, Nottinghamshire County Council, 2008
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