Misson Community Group

 

MISSON: A BRIEF HISTORY

616 A.D – 1892 A.D.

 

 

Misson Parish was formerly in two counties, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. The ancient spelling of the parish name was either Mysen or Misne, both of which have Danish origins. Misson now lies at the northern most point of the county of Nottinghamshire.

 

Hagg Hill Newington is where it is most likely the first settlement was made in the Parish of Misson. It is said to have been a Roman encampment which was later developed by the Danes who came up the Trent valley to Gainsborough and then up the River Idle and used the old Roman encampment at the Hagg to establish their own settlement. There is an ancient earthwork within the parish which is thought by some to be a burial place of some importance and possibly Roman, although it has never been disturbed.

616 AD

 

The River Idle was the lifeblood of the village and has played its part in the history of England. In 616AD a battle took place on the banks of the river, down what is now Slaynes Lane. The legend seems to run that at the time of Raedwald of East Anglia, England’s regional “kings” could be counted in dozens with their various kingdoms.

Raedwald is known to have taken an army through Mercia to Bernicia (Northumberland). The Northumbrians aware of his intentions raised an equally large force and marched south. The two armies are said to have met in the Trent Valley. There is a line quoted in a publication of the village history, said to come from a song of the time that records the lyric

 

“Foul ran the Idle with the blood of English Men"

 

As a result of Raedwald defeating the Northumbrians by the time he had battled through Mercia to their frontier Edwin was elevated to the throne of Northumbria. (616-632)

1035-1066 A.D.

 

The name Hagg is derived from a Danish word denoting a hedge or enclosure, This settlement, also passed to Earl Tostig following the death of King Canute (Cnut) in the year 1035. Tostig was the brother to King Harold who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066

1086-7 A.D.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday book, where it is said that Canute (Cnut) the Dane held three Bovates of land in Misne and a Manor there which paid to the Geld for one Bovate and one half. Earl Tostig was said to be the landowner.

There were six Vills with three caracutes in Kirketon which part was in the County of Lincolnshire. Kirketon is now known as Kirton in Lindsay’

1150-1185 A.D.

After the conquest of England by William of Normandy all the land possessed by the pre conquest owners was taken from them and distributed to William’s relations and supporters, De Busli taking most of this area. For many years the area known as Misson lay undeveloped owing to the waterlogged state of the land, most of the lowland being no more than marshland. On the slightly higher ground the church was built circa 1150AD, it was attached to the Gilbertine Priory at Mattersey founded in the year 1185, previously the church had belonged to Welbeck Abbey who at some time decided to surrender their rights to it to Mattersey.

1292 A.D.

The Church is reasonably large and of limestone construction the raw materials would have had to be transported from the limestone regions by river. The earliest account of a Vicar of Misson was that of John Clarell. who was a Chaplain to the Pope, Chaplain to the King and the incumbent of the Parishes of Babworth ( One of the later Pilgrim Fathers Villages of North Nottinghamshire), East Bridgford, Lowdham and Harworth circa 1292.

The main occupations in the village at that time revolved around agriculture and large numbers of sheep were grazed on the commons. Up to the time of the Enclosure Act the agriculture had carried on under the strip farming method in the parish.

There had been three very large fields on the high ground and these were known as Eastfield, Buttsfield and Milnfield. All the inhabitants of the village whether freeholders or cottagers had a share in these open fields, to grow crops and pasture their livestock. These shares were known as Stints. The villagers practised crop rotation so one field of the three was left fallow in turn each year.

The out lying meadows, near the river Idle were used to cultivate hay, although it was often said to be difficult to gather due to the river flooding it’s banks in the wet season.

1620 A.D.

The river although prone to flooding still remained an important provider of transportation, indeed it was down the Idle to the River Trent that the Pilgrim Fathers set sail in their attempt to reach the East Coast where they could get a ship to take them to Holland. After many disappointments along the way they eventually arrived in Leydon in Holland from whence they sailed in the Mayflower to settle New England. 

1626 A.D.

The problem of flooding was somewhat remedied when in 1626 King Charles I granted permission to the Dutchman Cornelius Vermyden to drain the marsh known as Hatfield Chase, which was one of the King’s Royal Hunting Grounds.

Part of the land drained included Misson in Vemyden’s attempt to halt the flooding of thousands of acres of land.

As you follow the track of the current River Idle there is a point known as Idle Stop. This is where Vemyden stopped the course of the then River Idle and cut a new channel, which took the river to join the River Trent at the village of Stockwith.

Another Dutchman called John Lyone to on the task of building Lyon’s Bank, a further feat of waterway engineering which prevented the flooding of even more of the low lying land within the parish.

One of the old Misson families was the Styrings, none of whom now live in the village, although K M Warden’s grandmother was a Styring. It was said that this family was also of Dutch descent but research into the family history has shown the name to be of Scandinavian origin. However the name is one of the first to be entered into the records of Misson, which date from 1600.

1652 A.D.

On August 3^rd 1652 while the people of the village were attending church services a fire broke out in the village which totally destroyed 48 dwellings with barns and other farm buildings numbering some 364 bays of buildings which were filled with corn and hay which the villagers had only recently gathered in.

1693 A.D.

The first school built in Misson was one of the first to be founded in Nottinghamshire.

Thomas Mowbray and John Pinder erected the first classroom in the churchyard in 1693.

The first schoolmaster received £5 per year, coal and turf and use of the schoolroom rent-free. He taught six poor children to read.

1742 A.D.

In this year in the reign of George II distemper was rife throughout England and Misson was not overlooked. The villagers lost 700 head of cattle to the disease.

1760-1762 A.D.

Jonathan Acklam Esq. Was owner of a large amount of land in the district and applied to the House of Parliament for their permission to enclose the common land

This was the period when the enclosures took place. The common fields were then divided into smaller acreage and fences were erected and hedging planted around the fields.

At this time the school was awarded an allotment of 32 acres in the Ruffum Carr which was let for £64 per year and in addition to this the schoolmaster had a rent charge of 20 shillings from deep Hole close, left by a Mr. W. Wood and a further 10 shillings left by an unknown benefactor and for the sum of this income he taught nine scholars free of charge. The vicar of that time also paid a schoolmistress to teach six poor girls. All other pupils at this time were fee paying.

Hagg Hill was awarded to the village for the purpose of obtaining gravel for the repairs of the public roads which were in poor state although the then Trustees could rent out the grazing to raise money to pay for repairs to the school, bridges an drains.

1832 A.D.

Records for this year show that at that time the village consisted of:

184 Houses 841 Inhabitants, of whom

3 were Blacksmiths 4 were Shopkeepers, Grocers and Drapers. 2 were Shoemakers. 4 were Bricklayers. 2 were Wheelwrights. And 1 was a Corn Miller.

Public Houses known as

The Green Dragon. Ferry Boat Inn. The White Horse. The Red Lion. The Globe. The Golden Ball. The Oddfellows Arms. Bull Hill.

 

1867-1892 A.D.

65 children were attending the school at Misson and a further small classroom was added in 1874 and in 1892 the Bell tower was struck by lightening. The vicar at that time, the Reverend F. W. Keene, was taking a Sunday School Class, unfortunately the lightening strike charred his clothes and melted his gold watch chain and he had to be taken for treatment in the hospital. However, on his recovery and return to his duties on September 23^rd 1892, the church was struck by lightening and caught fire. The tower was gutted by the fire and two of the pinnacles collapsed. The clock was destroyed and the church bells partly melted before crashing to the ground. The roof of the nave was set alight and over £1000 was required to be raised to complete the repairs needed.

Misson Community Group, 25th April 2000

Best viewed at 800 x 600 with MS Internet Explorer & 16bit colour. Disclaimer: Webhound Ltd. cannot be held responsible for any problems or losses encountered as a result of your use of its sites. Please read our Full Disclaimer and Privacy Statement for more details. Your use of our sites is bound by their terms.

Copyright © 1999-2000 Webhound Ltd. & Contributor. Please read our FAQs and send mail to webmaster@any-web.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.