Friday, July 07, 2006

Perlethorpe Village near Ollerton, Newark.



Above: 2 White Cottages at the end of Radley's Lane, Perlethorpe, were occupied in 1862 by John Radley and Joseph Sills Batten. In the 1960's the properties merged to become the Chaplain's House.

The early history of Perlethorpe, situated within Thoresby Estate where the A614 (Blythe Road) crosses the River Meden, is made slightly more complicated by the fact it was once governed and owned as a region entirely separate from Thoresby.

In Saxon times this area belonged to two Saxon chiefs, Thurston and Ulmer. After the Norman Conquest, as was the fate of other lands in the region, Torp (Perlethorpe), became the joint property of the King and Roger de Busli (who also gained lands such as nearby Clumber), whilst Thuresbi (Thoresby), became the property of the King.

The origin of Perlethorpe’s name is subject to debate. “Thorpe”, an Old Norse name meaning ‘dependant settlement’, clearly suggests it started life as a Viking settlement, but Perle is more troublesome. In Old and Middle English that means “rush of water”, particularly apt considering the both the River Meden and the River Maun converge close by. However, before the printing press establish common spellings, and information relied on the spoken word as much as the written, the village was recorded variously through the centuries as Peureltorp, Peuerelestorp and even Peuerellingethorp. During the reign of Henry III, William de Peverel the younger had some interest in Torp and it has been assumed the “Peverelthorp” prefix was due to him. But many researchers discount that notion today. Decades passed and by the 18th century the common name for the village was Palethorpe. (Let’s not even begin going into speculation that “pale” can mean “an area enclosed by a boundary”).

In 1831 Perlethorpe (then called Palethorpe) had a population of 89 people living in 14 houses. That's an average of 6 to a house! The oldest buildings in the village today date from the mid 19th century, and were often originally in pairs. Typical examples of this are Rose Cottage on the A614 (see THIS LINK), which was originally divided into two dwellings down a line parallel to the road, and White Cottages on Radley’s Lane, which merged in the 1960s to become Chaplain’s House (above).

Each house had its own underground brick built soft water tank to contain the rain which was then drawn up via a hand pump. Starting in 1860 the 3rd Earl Manvers ensured all the houses in Perlethorpe underwent any necessary repairs, and had all the thatched roofs replaced with slate. At the turn of that century a water mains was laid through the village from Boughton water works, and in the 1920s / 30s a steam roller kept the pre-tarmac roads in order. In 1947 Perlethorpe Village was supplied with electricity, and the building of the red brick houses around the green soon followed.

Above: This schoolboy drawing from 1964 was made from the bedroom window of number 3 the Village Green, Perlethorpe, and shows some features such as the street lamp and railings around the smaller green which have long since disappeared. The arch of Home Farm is clearly visible, and the white building in the centre is White House, home to successive gamekeepers. In the late 1930's Head Keeper Frank Bebbington lived there; in 1940 the game keeper Mr Carey; and in the late 1950's / early 1960's Mr Carter. The small green on the bottom right of the drawing stands in front of the red brick bungalows built c.1950 (not shown), and this green was the location for the village flag pole. The road leaving the picture on the left is Jackson's Hill.

For more pictures information about Perlethorpe Village see:  Perlethorpe Village, Perlethorpe School, Perlethorpe Post Office, Perlethorpe Village Hall & Social Club, Perlethorpe Village floods, and Thoresby Estate Walks (video).

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7 Comments:

Blogger robin hood said...

Perlethorpe Village drawing dated 10th march, 1964.

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Blogger robin hood said...

Sherwood Forest, the Dukeries, Thoresby park, history.

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Blogger robin hood said...

Pierrepont, Manvers, Dukeries, Thoresby Hall, Thoresby Hotel, Thoresby Park, Perlethorpe, Perlethorpe Village, Ollerton, Budby, Sherwood Forest.

Woodyard, Perlethorpe School, Perlethope Church, Budby.

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Blogger rob said...

my name is robert havers and I lived in this village .

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Blogger robin hood said...

Hi Robert.

I lived here twice. Two different houses between c.1952 and 1963.

Don't remember your name at school, so I suppose you were there at a later time?

If you have any pics you'd like to share (not of people), I'd be most interested.

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Blogger vonensy said...

I don,t want to be Pernickety but do it anyway. I notice that The headteacht Ms Bruce is sometimes referred to as Mrs and sometimes as Miss. She was definitely a Mrs (these days unimportant but the most certainly) as she was marries to the staionmaster of the then Ollerton railway staion. Secondly, I know its layout space, but must the sign of Dogs must be on a leash, really need to be nest to our school photograph?

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Blogger Ian Gordon Craig said...

Thanks for the info Vonensky. As a child in her class I would obviously have grown up addressing her as "Miss", and had no subsequent incentive to think of her as otherwise. But it's useful to know.

As for the dog poster, that's just a bit of solidarity with the estate. It's not unusual to see visitors in the picnic area by the Meden, take their dogs off their leads, right next to the field of sheep and lambs.

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