91-570: Markham Moor is a village which lies five miles south of the town of Retford in Nottinghamshire . The village is in the civil parish of West Drayton . Markham Moor lies on the junction between the A1 , A638 and A57 roads . The village was on the route of the old Great North Road and was also traditionally part of the East Markham parish. Markham Moor has a junction in the middle of
182-457: A Norman baron who was granted large amounts of land in what had been Anglo-Saxon Mercia. The Domesday Book does not distinguish between East Retford and West Retford, and it is thought that the Retford referred to in the book was West Retford. The Retford described was a relatively small settlement, with no mention of urban trades or burgesses . East Retford was established as a new town on
273-673: A "Street" to the Roman Station of Lindum, or Lincoln, which crossed the River Trent at Agelocum, now Littleborough, and the River Idle by a Ford, still used as a watering place for horses, near West Retford Bridge; hence the place would be known as the Street-Ford, or Streteford." The historical importance of the town as a river crossing is underlined by the fact that one of the main streets is named 'Bridgegate'. The town
364-591: A Little Chef in 1989 but disused from 2012 to 2019. Due to its unusual hyperbolic paraboloid shell roof, constructed in 1960–61 to designs by architect Hugh Segar (Sam) Scorer and structural engineer Hajnal-Kónyi, there was a preservation campaign in 2004 to get the building listed to prevent it from being demolished as part of the Markham Moor junction improvement plans published by the Highways Agency. The plans were revised to save and improve access to
455-470: A century and a half. Culturally, in England and Wales , discrimination against Nonconformists endured even longer. Presbyterians , Congregationalists , Baptists , Calvinists , other "reformed" groups and less organised sects were identified as Nonconformists at the time of the 1662 Act of Uniformity. Following the act, other groups, including Methodists , Unitarians , Quakers , Plymouth Brethren , and
546-559: A great part of the more active members of society, who have the most intercourse with the people have the most influence over them, are Protestant Dissenters. These are manufacturers, merchants and substantial tradesman, or persons who are in the enjoyment of a competency realised by trade, commerce and manufacturers, gentlemen of the professions of law and physic, and agriculturalists, of that class particularly who live upon their own freehold. The virtues of temperance, frugality, prudence and integrity promoted by religious Nonconformity...assist
637-454: A history of Nottinghamshire in 1667 entitled The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire . In 1796 a new edition was published by John Throsby (1740–1803), who added an additional volume. Retford is mentioned in Volume 3. pp. 274–280. There are two tiers of local government covering Retford, at district and county level: Bassetlaw District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council . There
728-564: A major role in English politics. In a political context, historians distinguish between two categories of Dissenters, in addition to the evangelical element in the Church of England. "Old Dissenters", dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, included Baptists , Congregationalists , Quakers , Unitarians , and Presbyterians outside Scotland. "New Dissenters" emerged in the 18th century and were mainly Methodists. The " Nonconformist conscience "
819-463: A non- Anglican church or a non-Christian religion. More broadly, any person who advocated religious liberty was typically called out as Nonconformist. The strict religious tests embodied in the laws of the Clarendon Code and other penal laws excluded a substantial section of English society from public affairs and benefits, including certification of university degrees, for well more than
910-489: A registrar was present. Also in 1836, civil registration of births, deaths and marriages was taken from the hands of local parish officials and given to local government registrars. Burial of the dead was a more troubling problem, for urban chapels rarely had graveyards, and sought to use the traditional graveyards controlled by the established church. The Burial Laws Amendment Act 1880 finally allowed this. Oxford University required students seeking admission to submit to
1001-632: A series of disabilities on Nonconformists that prevented them from holding most public offices, that required them to pay local taxes to the Anglican church, be married by Anglican ministers, and be denied attendance at Oxford or degrees at Cambridge. Dissenters demanded removal of political and civil disabilities that applied to them (especially those in the Test and Corporation Acts). The Anglican establishment strongly resisted until 1828. The Test Act 1673 made it illegal for anyone not receiving communion in
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#17327879416201092-453: A site on Carolgate in 1922. The remains of a group of 1st–3rd century buildings were found at Babworth in 1981. A coin hoard was found at Little Morton that was dated to the 3rd century, and Roman artefacts and pottery fragments have been found at Tiln (Stroud, 2001). Evidence of Roman field patterns were identified by Derrick Riley of Sheffield University in the 1970s and 80s. Nottingham University archaeological researchers have said that during
1183-524: A very lucky escape as the shrapnel also hit their house. John Hook records that the Zeppelin left Retford at 1.05am, dropping a further bomb just south of Lea. One of the replacement gasometers later exploded on 16 March 1955, injuring 7 men and killing the manager. According to reports in The Retford Times, flames shot 200 feet into the air. The gasometers were finally dismantled when the town
1274-464: Is generally known as Retford, although the borough was officially called "East Retford" right up until its abolition in 1974, despite West Retford having been absorbed into the borough in 1878. The town's charter trustees still use the name East Retford, but the Ordnance Survey now labels the town Retford on its maps, and the post town is likewise just Retford . The first land settled
1365-538: Is no civil parish covering the town, which has been an unparished area since 1974, but all the Bassetlaw councillors who represent the town's wards act as charter trustees . The trustees meet four times a year, usually at Retford Town Hall , and are responsible for looking after the town's civic traditions, including appointing one of their number as mayor each year. East Retford was an ancient borough . When commissioners examined boroughs across England in 1835 it
1456-603: Is no existing historical evidence to support this, making the 1259 charter the earliest known to have been granted. The earliest surviving charter dates from 1313 and is now held in the Bassetlaw Museum . Retford was granted a total of 17 Royal Charters (including the Letters Patent of 1225 that granted it the right to levy tolls on travellers in North Nottinghamshire) up to 1607. East Retford
1547-462: Is now thought to have been "substantially British". It practised, for example, partible inheritance, had British placenames and there is relatively little Anglo-Saxon material. West and East Markham seem to have been on the boundaries of this territory (maerc means boundary). It is not known if Bernet-seatte extended across the whole of North Nottinghamshire, or whether the Kingdom of Lindsey controlled
1638-607: Is situated in was on the border of the territories of the Brigantes and the Corieltauvi during the Iron Age period. It is likely that the existence of Retford is partly owed to its water resources, in the form of both the river Idle (and its crossing) and the wells that are dotted around the area that are either still in existence or can be identified from placename evidence. These include Spa Common, Cobwell Road (named after
1729-580: Is used in a broader sense to refer to Christians who are not communicants of a majority national church , such as the Lutheran Church of Sweden . The Act of Uniformity 1662 required churchmen to use all rites and ceremonies as prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer . It also required episcopal ordination of all ministers of the Church of England—a pronouncement most odious to the Puritans ,
1820-694: The Act of Uniformity 1662 renewed opposition to reforms within the established church. By the late 19th century the term specifically included other Reformed Christians ( Presbyterians and Congregationalists ), plus the Baptists , Brethren , Methodists , and Quakers . In Ireland, the comparable term until the Church of Ireland 's disestablishment in 1869 was "Dissenter" (the term earlier used in England), commonly referring to Irish Presbyterians who dissented from
1911-610: The Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire , England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal . Retford is located 26 miles (42 km) east of Sheffield , 23 miles (37 km) west of Lincoln and 31 miles (50 km) north-east of Nottingham . The population at the 2021 census was 23,740. It is near North Wheatley . The town is bypassed by the A1 road . The borough of East Retford
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#17327879416202002-494: The English Moravians were officially labelled as Nonconformists as they became organised. The term dissenter later came into particular use after the Act of Toleration 1689 , which exempted those Nonconformists who had taken oaths of allegiance from being penalised for certain acts, such as for non-attendance at Church of England services. A census of religion in 1851 revealed Nonconformists made up about half
2093-737: The Irish Catholics in an otherwise unlikely alliance. The Nonconformist conscience was also repeatedly called upon by Gladstone for support for his moralistic foreign policy. In election after election, Protestant ministers rallied their congregations to the Liberal ticket. (In Scotland, the Presbyterians played a similar role to the Nonconformist Methodists, Baptists and other groups in England and Wales.) Many of
2184-626: The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. Cambridge University required that for a diploma. The two ancient universities opposed giving a charter to the new London University in the 1830s, because it had no such restriction. London University, nevertheless, was established in 1836, and by the 1850s Oxford dropped its restrictions. In 1871 Gladstone sponsored legislation that provided full access to degrees and fellowships. The Scottish universities never had restrictions. Since 1660, Dissenters, later Nonconformists, have played
2275-552: The 20th century, until only pockets of nonconformist religiosity remained in England. Nonconformity in Wales can be traced to the Welsh Methodist revival ; Wales effectively had become a Nonconformist country by the mid-19th century; nonconformist chapel attendance significantly outnumbered Anglican church attendance. They were based in the fast-growing upwardly mobile urban middle class. The influence of Nonconformism in
2366-748: The 5th century and even into the 6th century, North Nottinghamshire was likely populated by "British communities with a sub-Romano-British culture". Retford has traditionally been placed within the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia because it is situated within Nottinghamshire. More recent historical research suggests that the South of Nottinghamshire and North Nottinghamshire may have had very different cultures. North Nottinghamshire, including Retford, belonged to an area called Bernet-seatte, which later became Bernesedelaue and then Bassetlaw. This territory
2457-467: The Angles). Various battlesites have been suggested including at Retford, Eaton and Bawtry. No evidence of a battlefield has been found in any of these sites, although according to Hunt this led to a saying: "The River Idle was foul with the blood of Englishmen". A variant local tradition says this was the origin of the name "Redforde". Placename evidence in Retford does suggest Viking settlement. Many of
2548-516: The Bassetlaw parliamentary constituency. Nonconformist (Protestantism) Nonconformists were Protestant Christians who did not "conform" to the governance and usages of the established church in England, and in Wales until 1914, the Church of England . Use of the term Nonconformist in England and Wales was precipitated after the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660, when
2639-523: The Borough. The crest is based on the design on a Mace presented to the Borough in 1679 by Sir Edward Neville , with few changes. A small shield replaces the original rose, upon which the lion rests its paw. The shield features a deed which references the Boroughs ancient Royal Charters. The unicorns are from the heraldry of Lord Galway, whose ancestors were High Stewards of the Borough. The shells are from
2730-475: The Church of England to hold office under the crown. The Corporation Act 1661 did likewise for offices in municipal government . Although the Test and Corporation Acts remained on the statute-book, in practice they were not enforced against Protestant nonconformists due to the passage of various Indemnity Acts , in particular the Indemnity Act 1727 , which relieved Nonconformists from the requirements in
2821-676: The Cob Well) and the ancient well at Welham (called 'Wellun' in the Domesday Book). Between Retford and Grove there are a range of earthworks of unknown date. They may be pre-historic and/or Roman. There is evidence of a medieval moated site or possible motte & bailey construction. This site was later reinforced during the English Civil War . The wood here is known as Castle Hill Wood. Roman-era artefacts are rare in Retford, although 1st–2nd century items were found at
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2912-492: The East of this area (Retford and Retford rural district). What is known is that this corridor of land was seen as strategic, which is why several notable battles were fought in the area between the kings of Northumbria and Mercia. The strategic Battle of the River Idle (617) was fought in or near Retford. The Battle of the River Idle was significant in establishing Rædwald 's power, such that Bede called him "Rex Anglorum" (King of
3003-646: The House of Lords debates on the Disfranchisement Bill, the town had an active committee, led by a couple of attorneys and meeting at the Turk's Head Inn, who were trying to make the borough seem even more corrupt than it was to ensure its extinction. One of the committee members was later seen wearing a gold watch, apparently presented in gratitude by well-wishers in Birmingham. Viscount Howick objected to
3094-583: The Mesolithic period, with archaeological evidence of human activity in the area including a Mesolithic flint tool found in Ordsall, an axe from the Neolithic era (New Stone Age) from Little Morton, and a Neolithic polished flint axe discovered near the River Idle at Tiln. A Bronze Age spearhead was found near Whinney Moor Lane, and Romano-British crop marks are visible around Babworth . The area Retford
3185-623: The National School (a school that traditionally had strong links with St Swithun's church) on Grove Street. While living in Retford, Piercy wrote The History of Retford in the County of Nottingham (1828). This is an important work because it contains references to material that has subsequently been lost. Jones & Co Solicitors hold the Piercy Manuscript. Robert Thoroton was a physician and country gentleman who published
3276-672: The Nonconformists elected to Parliament were Liberals. Relatively few MPs were Dissenters. However the Dissenters were major voting bloc in many areas, such as the East Midlands. They were very well organised and highly motivated and largely won over the Whigs and Liberals to their cause. Gladstone brought the majority of Dissenters around to support for Home Rule for Ireland , putting the dissenting Protestants in league with
3367-629: The Old group supported mostly Whigs and Liberals in politics, while the New, like most Anglicans, generally supported Conservatives . By the late 19th century, the New Dissenters had mostly switched to the Liberal Party. The result was a merging of the two groups, strengthening their great weight as a political pressure group. After the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed in 1828 , all
3458-399: The River Idle. There is considerable variation in how its name has been spelt historically, although in early usage it is usually styled as Redeforde or Redforde . A common explanation of the name is that the river water was tinged red due to the frequent crossing of people and livestock disturbing the clay river bed. Other traditions include that it refers to the reeds that are plentiful in
3549-707: The Test Act 1673 and the Corporation Act 1661 that public office holders must have taken the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in an Anglican church. In 1732, Nonconformists in the City of London created an association, the Dissenting Deputies to secure repeal of the Test and Corporation acts. The Deputies became a sophisticated pressure group, and worked with liberal Whigs to achieve repeal in 1828. It
3640-788: The aegis of the Duke of Devonshire, but which retreated 50 miles to Retford when reports reached Derby that the Jacobites had a 9,000 strong army. On 23 August 1750, an earthquake struck Retford. In 1757 the Town Clerk successfully petitioned for the Great North Road to be diverted to run through the town, which led to an Act of Parliament (1760) authorising the re-routing of the Great North Road between Barnby Moor and Markham Moor to pass through Retford. The new turnpike
3731-509: The approved Anglican communion. English Dissenters such as the Puritans who violated the Act of Uniformity 1558 – typically by practising radical, sometimes separatist , dissent – were retrospectively labelled as Nonconformists. By law and social custom, Nonconformists were restricted from many spheres of public life – not least, from access to public office, civil service careers, or degrees at university – and were referred to as suffering from civil disabilities . In England and Wales in
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3822-454: The arms of Rt Hon FJ Savile Foljambe, appointed High Steward 1880. From 1316 Retford was a parliamentary borough (a constituency), entitled to two Members of Parliament , although by 1330 it was begging to be excused the privilege on the grounds of poverty, inability to afford the cost of paying the heavy expenses of the MPs' long journeys to and from the capital. The petition was granted and it
3913-465: The besiegers compelled to retreat as a party of Cavalier troops from Newark approached rapidly". Charles I was also said to have stayed in the house of Mr Lane, a lawyer, on 20 August 1645. He was on his way from Doncaster and set off the following day to Lord Danecourt's in Newark .(Wilmshurst 1908) In 1657 there was a Great Storm, which destroyed the steeple and Chantries of St Swithun's Church. This
4004-514: The bridge was "widened for carts" and was replanked, suggesting that at least part of the construction was still wooden. In 1794 it was rebuilt on stone arches, according to Wilmshurst, with Moss adding that it was thirty-one feet wide at this time. Moss notes that before 1776 a toll was charged to cross the river and that to the north side were the corn mills mentioned in the Domesday Book that were once owned by Hubert de Burgh. The 1794 bridge
4095-480: The collection of 'river tolls' from Blyth Priory. The first town hall or 'moot hall' was built in 1388 and demolished in 1754. It is believed that this may have been situated in what is now known as Cannon Square. The hall was built of timber and faced east. On the ground floor of this building was the Shambles. At that time, the present Market Square was possibly used for cattle/horses, with Marcombe suggesting this
4186-577: The direct London to York railway being routed via the borough in 1849. In 1831, the Gas Works was built by James Malam and gaslights were lit in the town for the first time on 22 December 1831. The Square was lit by a cast iron light bearing five gas lamps at that time. The Gas Works became a target on 2 September 1916 when a German Zeppelin dropped 14 bombs on Retford. The Retford Times (8 September 1916) noted that bombs were dropped from Zeppelin L-13 into
4277-416: The disenfranchisement of Retford not on the basis that the accusations of corruption were not true, but that it punished the innocent as well as the guilty and ignored the fact that many boroughs were equally corrupt. They thought that East Retford ought to be partially sacrificed, in order to prevent the whole system of corruption from being overturned. Just as in a bullfight a cloak is dropped to turn aside
4368-613: The early part of the 20th century, boosted by the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival , led to the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Wales in 1920 and the formation of the Church in Wales . In other countries, the term Nonconformist is used in a broader sense to refer to Christians who are not communicants of a majority national church , such as the Lutheran Church of Sweden . The largest Nonconformist church in Sweden,
4459-566: The east side of the Idle in the early twelfth century; the town's charter trustees and Bassetlaw District Council say it was founded as a borough in 1105, although the earliest charter referring to it as a borough dates from the thirteenth century. There is some debate over when exactly it was granted its first charter, with Piercy (1828) suggesting it was granted in 1246 by Henry III , which allowed an eight-day annual fair to be held. However, Ballard & Tait (1923) and Dolby (1997) say that there
4550-491: The extended boundaries meant Retford could retain its seats until in 1885 the Municipal Borough of East Retford was reformed and the constituency replaced by an identically delineated single-member county constituency - Bassetlaw . Retford and its rural district was removed from Bassetlaw in 1983 and transferred to the redrawn Newark constituency . The boundaries were redrawn again in 2010, with Retford returning to
4641-555: The faction of the church which had come to dominance during the English Civil War and the Interregnum . Consequently, nearly 2,000 clergymen were "ejected" from the established church for refusing to comply with the provisions of the act, an event referred to as the Great Ejection . The Great Ejection created an abiding public consciousness of nonconformity. Thereafter, a Nonconformist was any English subject belonging to
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#17327879416204732-407: The first MPs elected for the Labour Party in the 1900s were also nonconformists. Nonconformists were angered by the Education Act 1902 , which provided for the support of denominational schools from taxes. The elected local school boards that they largely controlled were abolished and replaced by county-level local education authorities that were usually controlled by Anglicans. Worst of all
4823-406: The hated Anglican schools would now receive funding from local taxes that everyone had to pay. One tactic was to refuse to pay local taxes. John Clifford formed the National Passive Resistance Committee . By 1904 over 37,000 summonses for unpaid school taxes were issued, with thousands having their property seized and 80 protesters going to prison. It operated for another decade but had no impact on
4914-433: The historic cores of both West and East Retford, which sit either side of the River Idle. The Conservation Area also extends southwards up to and including the 18th century Chesterfield Canal . The town also includes the small villages and hamlets that are adjacent to it, which have effectively become suburbs of the town. These include Ordsall and Babworth . Evidence of early human activity around Retford stretches back to
5005-423: The household, religion, and moral behaviour. Religiosity was in the female sphere, and the Nonconformist churches offered new roles that women eagerly entered. They taught Sunday school , visited the poor and sick, distributed tracts, engaged in fundraising, supported missionaries, led Methodist class meetings , prayed with other women, and a few were allowed to preach to mixed audiences. Parliament had imposed
5096-466: The late 19th century the new terms " free church " and "Free churchman" (or "Free church person") started to replace "Nonconformist" or "Dissenter". One influential Nonconformist minister was Matthew Henry , who beginning in 1710 published his multi-volume biblical commentary that is still used and available in the 21st century. Isaac Watts is an equally recognised Nonconformist minister whose hymns are still sung by Christians worldwide. The term
5187-408: The late burned town of Retford'. Yet another fire struck in 1631 and caused £1,300 worth of damage. 17th century The Civil War seems to have largely bypassed Retford, although W.E. Doubleday wrote in the Nottinghamshire Guardian (1947) that "During the Civil War a Roundhead force from Retford attempted to capture the mansion occupied by the Royalist Gervase Lee, but the attack was beaten off and
5278-477: The linkage between the Nonconformists and Liberal Party was weakening, as secularisation reduced the strength of Dissent in English political life. Today, Protestant churches independent of the Anglican Church of England or the Presbyterian Church of Scotland are often called " free churches ", meaning they are free from state control. This term is used interchangeably with "Nonconformist". The steady pace of secularisation picked up faster and faster during
5369-439: The number of people who attended church services on Sundays. In the larger manufacturing areas, Nonconformists clearly outnumbered members of the Church of England. Nonconformists in the 18th and 19th century claimed a devotion to hard work, temperance, frugality, and upward mobility, with which historians today largely agree. A major Unitarian magazine, the Christian Monthly Repository asserted in 1827: Throughout England
5460-464: The official name of the borough remained East Retford until its abolition in 1974. The borough was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 to become part of the wider district of Bassetlaw, named after the historic Anglo-Saxon Bassetlaw Wapentake . Charter trustees were established on the abolition of the borough to maintain Retford's civic traditions. The town's coat of arms consists of two rampant choughs , which were taken from an old seal of
5551-470: The orchard that surrounded the Gas Works, and although there wasn't a direct hit, shrapnel hit the sides of the gasometers setting them on fire. This fire was said to be so intense that according to the Retford Times "apples [were] baked on the trees, and roosting wild birds roasted alive". The Nottingham Daily Express (8 September 1916) reported that the Zeppelin then departed "at great altitude and terrific speed". The manager and his family were said to have had
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#17327879416205642-422: The parliamentary borough's boundaries (which had previously matched the borough's municipal boundaries) to encompass the Wapentake of Bassetlaw, which included the whole of the northern end of Nottinghamshire, including the town of Worksop. All those within this area who were qualified to vote in the county elections were given votes for East Retford. Within a year, Parliament was debating the Great Reform Bill , but
5733-483: The part of Clarborough within the borough was made a new parish of North Retford. The four parishes in the borough were then East Retford, North Retford, Ordsall and West Retford; as urban parishes they did not have parish councils but were directly administered by the borough council. The four parishes within the borough were merged into a single parish called East Retford covering the whole borough in 1921. Despite including both East Retford and West Retford from 1878,
5824-480: The rage of the mad animal, while his assailant prepares more securely to destroy him. If the public were ignorant of the undue means by which a large majority of the Members of that House obtained their seats in it, they might declaim against the venality of the voters of East Retford; but, notorious as these circumstances were, he thought it better to pass over the present case in silence till they were prepared to deal with others equally flagitious. The 1830 Act extended
5915-417: The restaurant. The shell canopy was designated Grade II listed on 27 March 2012. It was purchased and redeveloped by Stockton-on-Tees based company, Cliff Court Developments Ltd, then re-opened as a Starbucks in December 2019. [REDACTED] Media related to Markham Moor at Wikimedia Commons Retford Retford ( / ˈ r ɛ t f ər d / ), also known as East Retford , is a market town in
6006-434: The river had a bridge from a very early date. Moorgate contains both Anglo-Saxon (AS) and Old Norse (ON) elements, deriving from AS mor and ON gate . Its literal meaning is 'miry street'. This is a reference to the beck that used to cross it. (This beck was progressively contained within a culvert and is no longer visible for most of its course into the Idle.) Carolgate is derived from the ON karla (karl) + ON gate . A karl
6097-429: The river, or that the name references the Battle of the River Idle which was said to tinge the Idle red with blood. Wilmshurst proposes another theory as to the origin of the name: "In the days of the Roman occupation of Britain, a great Roman Road, or "Strada"— Street— ran from Southampton to Derby, Little Chester, Chesterfield, Castleford, Pontefract, to Eboracum, or York: and from it, at Chesterfield, branched out
6188-459: The school system. The education issue played a major role in the Liberal victory in the 1906 general election , as Dissenter Conservatives punished their old party and voted Liberal. After 1906, a Liberal attempt to modify the law was blocked by the Conservative -dominated House of Lords ; after 1911 when the Lords had been stripped of its veto over legislation, the issue was no longer of high enough priority to produce Liberal action. By 1914
6279-399: The south side for the B1164 Great North Road to Tuxford . Both roundabouts are connected by a flyover . A public inquiry was launched into the improvements in 2006 after a number of objections, the majority from the nearby village of Elkesley . The objectors were concerned with the timing of the improvements and increased traffic flow on the A1 which bypasses Elkesley. The upgraded junction
6370-414: The streets in the centre of town are -gates, deriving from the Old Norse gata , which means street. In Retford there are streets named Moorgate , Bridgegate , Chapelgate , Churchgate and Carolgate . Grove Street was previously known as Newgate and Lidgett Lane was originally Hildgeat or Hildgate. The Reverend WP McFarren (1947) wrote that Bridgegate was previously spelt Briggate (1340) suggesting
6461-412: The temporal prosperity of these descriptions of persons, as they tend also to lift others to the same rank in society. The emerging middle-class norm was for women to be excluded from the public sphere—the domain of politics, paid work, commerce and public speaking. Instead, it was considered that women should dominate in the realm of domestic life, focused on care of the family, the husband, the children,
6552-468: The urban area was growing beyond the historic borough and parish boundary of East Retford, but they were not implemented. Instead, both the parishes of Ordsall and West Retford were made local board districts in 1850. The borough was finally enlarged in 1878 to take in all of the parishes of Ordsall and West Retford and parts of the parish of Clarborough. The Local Government Act 1894 said that parishes could no longer straddle borough boundaries, and so
6643-629: The village which links the A1 between London and Edinburgh , the A638 to Retford and the A57 to Lincoln . Previously, this junction was a simple roundabout, but as part of junction improvements by the Highways Agency between Blyth in Nottinghamshire and Peterborough , the junction changed to the current two level junction, with one roundabout at the north end for the A57 and A638, and another roundabout on
6734-539: The war virtually unscathed. The Great North Road was diverted around the town in 1961 and part of the old route through the town is now pedestrianised. The 1971 census showed the population to be 18,407. By 2001 the population had grown to 22,000 (Nicholson, 2008), with a large proportion living on housing estates in Ordsall, Hallcroft and Spital Hill. John Shadrach Piercy was born in Rillington, near Malton, North Yorkshire , and moved to Retford in 1822 to teach at
6825-555: Was a freeman. WP McFarren (1947) also mentions a 'Kynegesgate' (Kingsgate), which is now lost. Piercy mentions Carhillgate (p. 146). Timber piles were found in Retford in 1995 on the western bank of the Idle at Bridgegate, which were dated to 947-1030 AD. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Retford was recorded as Redforde, and joined to Odesthorpe (now unknown). It was held by the Archbishop of York and Roger de Busli ,
6916-439: Was a major achievement for an outside group, but the Dissenters were not finished. Next on the agenda was the matter of church rates , which were local taxes at the parish level for the support of the parish church building in England and Wales. Only buildings of the established church received the tax money. Civil disobedience was attempted but was met with seizure of personal property and even imprisonment. The compulsory factor
7007-468: Was bombed six times during the Second World War – on 26 September 1940, 30 October 1940, 16 December 1940, 15 March 1941 (2 injuries), 15 August 1941 and 25 August 1941. Although it was on the bombing route to larger targets such as Sheffield and Rotherham , was surrounded by airforce bases, and had the intersection between two railway lines, no-one was killed in the raids and the town escaped
7098-458: Was completed in 1765–66 and after this the town prospered. (Piercy 1828) Then in 1777 the Chesterfield Canal was built by James Brindley through the town. During the 18th century improvements were made to West Retford Bridge - the main bridge over the Idle which is where the original ford was situated. Moss says that the first stone bridge was erected in 1659 and that it was thirteen feet wide and had five arches. Wilmshurst records that in 1752
7189-484: Was completed in October 2008. Markham Moor junction has a number of companies providing services for travellers travelling along the major trunk roads which meet at the Markham Moor junction, including McDonald's , a Travelodge , a historic hotel on the route of the old Great North Road and a truck stop . The services also held a Little Chef café, which was originally constructed as a petrol station and converted to
7280-434: Was connected to North Sea gas in the 1970s. 20th century One of the main changes in Retford during the 20th century was the opening of King's Park in 1938. The park commemorated the reign of George V and the coronation of George VI . The site was presented to the Borough by Mrs M J Huntsman of West Retford Hall, with £2000 towards the cost of the park layout raised by public subscription. According to war records, Retford
7371-585: Was enlarged in 1878 to include Ordsall , West Retford and part of the parish of Clarborough . The East Retford constituency was a noted example of a rotten borough , being effectively controlled by local landowners the Dukes of Newcastle until reformed in the early nineteenth century. Retford and the surrounding area was also a centre of Nonconformism . The origins of the town's name are unknown and have been subject to much debate, but consensus seems to conclude that it gets its name from an ancient ford crossing
7462-484: Was finally abolished in 1868 by William Ewart Gladstone , and payment was made voluntary. While Gladstone was a moralistic evangelical inside the Church of England, he had strong support in the Nonconformist community. The marriage question was settled by Marriage Act 1836 which allowed local government registrars to handle marriages. Nonconformist ministers in their own chapels were allowed to marry couples if
7553-539: Was later to be replaced in 1886 with the current bridge, which Wilmshurst says was because of floods: "In consequence of these continuous Floods the Corporation demolished the great Mill, and the narrow 5-arched Bridge, and erected present wide girder Bridge in West Retford". Moss (1908) says this bridge (which he dates as 1868) cost £1,500 to construct. Moss (1908) tells us that in 1760 Retford's ducking stool
7644-444: Was on the western side of the ford, this area being less liable to flooding. However, as the community grew it spread to occupy land on the other bank of the river, and it was this eastern part of the town that eventually became more important; hence Retford's alternative name of East Retford . The centre of Retford is characterised by a large Market Square surrounded by Georgian period architecture. The Retford Conservation Area contains
7735-405: Was only the second place to become a borough in the county after Nottingham itself; the next borough to be created in the county was Newark in 1549. According to Marcombe (1993), the intention was for East Retford "to compete with the trading privileges of Blyth Priory and to exploit the market opportunities of north Nottinghamshire". In 1225, the burgesses of Retford are said to have taken over
7826-458: Was reported that the town was a "borough by prescription", indicating that an exact date of it being made a borough was not known. The borough corresponded to the parish of East Retford. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836, giving it the right to appoint a mayor. In 1837 proposals were considered to enlarge the municipal borough to take in parts of the neighbouring parishes of Clarborough, Ordsall and West Retford, where
7917-462: Was restored in 1658 at a cost of £3,648. 18th century Retford was more troubled during the Jacobite rising of 1745 . Cornelius Brown records that in 1745 an army of 6,000 English and Hessian troops camped on Wheatley Hills and the soldiers marched through Retford and used East Retford (St Swithun's) church as a stable. This was The Derbyshire Blues , which had been formed to protect Derby under
8008-539: Was the site of the ‘beast market’ in the Tudor period. 16th century In 1528 a fire destroyed more than three-quarters of the buildings in East Retford. By 1552 Retford's population had dropped to 700. In 1558 there was an outbreak of plague , which caused 300 deaths in East Retford and killed half the people of West Retford. A fire in 1585 was so profound that the people of Worksop raised money for 'the poor men of
8099-518: Was their moral sensibility which they tried to implement in British politics. The "Nonconformist conscience" of the Old group emphasised religious freedom and equality, pursuit of justice, and opposition to discrimination, compulsion, and coercion. The New Dissenters (and also the Anglican evangelicals) stressed personal morality issues, including sexuality, family values, and temperance . Both factions were politically active, but until mid-19th century
8190-536: Was to be several generations (1571) before Retford was represented again. The East Retford constituency gained a reputation as one of the most corrupt rotten boroughs , being effectively controlled by the Duke of Newcastle . There were vigorous debates in Parliament over whether to transfer Retford's franchise to one of the larger unrepresented towns such as Manchester or Birmingham . Hansard records that during
8281-605: Was used for the last time. He says it was situated at the end of a narrow street opposite the Post Office that led down the River Idle. The use of the ducking stool was granted in 1279 by Edward I and was used for the last time to punish a "Scotswoman of violent temperament" called "Dame Barr", who was ducked for offending John White by "throwing the contents of her snuff-box in his face, and uttering opprobrious terms". 19th century In 1801 there were 5,999 people, which rose to 12,340 by 1901. Many improvements were made including
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