Scrooby

St Wilfrid's, Scrooby

Scrooby
Scrooby  Scrooby shown within Nottinghamshire
Population	315 (2011)
District	Bassetlaw
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DONCASTER
Postcode district	DN10
Dialling code	01302
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Bassetlaw
List of places UK England Nottinghamshire

Coordinates: 53°24′36″N 1°01′15″W / 53.4101°N 1.0207°W / 53.4101; -1.0207

Scrooby is a small village on the River Ryton and near Bawtry in the northern part of the English county of Nottinghamshire. At the time of the 2001 census, it had a population of 329,^[1] falling to 315 at the 2011 census.^[2] Until 1766, it was on the Great North Road and so became a stopping-off point for numerous important figures, including Queen Elizabeth I and Cardinal Wolsey on their journeys. The latter stayed at the Manor House briefly after his fall from favour.

The Manor House belonged to the Archbishops of York and, at the end of the sixteenth century, was occupied by William Brewster, the Archbishop's bailiff, who was also postmaster. His son, also named William, took that post in the 1590s after a job as an assistant to the Secretary of State under Queen Elizabeth I. The junior William became dissatisfied with the Anglican Church as it was developing at the time, acquired Brownist (Congregationalist) beliefs, and attempted to leave for the Netherlands in 1607.

After an unsuccessful first attempt, Brewster succeeded in 1608. He eventually went to New England in 1620 on the Mayflower as one of the people later called the Pilgrim Fathers. The Manor House was demolished early in the 19th century. All that remain are a cottage (perhaps intended for a resident official and not open to the public), a substantial brick dovecote, and the fishponds.

Scrooby village circa 1911

The parish church of St Wilfrid has an octagonal spire.^[3] Other buildings of interest are the remaining buildings on the site of the former manor house, the mill, the old vicarage, the village's historic farmhouses, and the pinfold. The village stocks were sold to America more than a hundred years ago.

Just north of Scrooby, the road that links the A638 and the A614 is called Gibbet Hill Lane. This lane is so named after a brutal crime that took place early in the morning of 3 July 1779. John Spencer had been playing cards with Scrooby's toll-bar keeper William Yeadon and his mother (then on a visit). Spencer returned to the toll house and killed both of them. The crime was enacted for the purposes of robbery, and Spencer gained re-admittance under a pretence that a drove of cattle wished to pass that way. Spencer was interrupted by travellers in the act of dragging one body across the road towards the River Ryton, and arrested shortly thereafter by a search party.^[4] He was executed following a trial at Nottingham Assizes, and his body afterwards hung in a gibbet cage on a slope south of the Ryton now denominated Gibbet Hill. The reputed upright of the gibbet is preserved in Doncaster Museum^[5]

Gibbet Hill Lane refers to the grim events of 1779

See also

Scrooby Congregation

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scrooby.

• Scrooby village history and information

Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire
Unitary authorities	Nottingham
Boroughs or districts	Ashfield Bassetlaw Broxtowe Gedling Mansfield Newark and Sherwood Rushcliffe
Major settlements	Arnold Beeston Bingham Calverton Carlton Cotgrave Eastwood Harworth Hucknall Kimberley Kirkby-in-Ashfield Mansfield Newark Nottingham Ollerton Rainworth Retford Ruddington Stapleford Southwell Sutton-in-Ashfield West Bridgford Worksop See also: List of civil parishes in Nottinghamshire
Topics	Flag Parliamentary constituencies Places Population of major settlements SSSIs Places of interest Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings History Schools Museums Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs