Throapham
History
|
|
|
This hamlet is situated half a mile from Laughton-en-le-Morthen. It was recorded in Domesday Book as Trapun.
St. John the Baptist - this ancient Norman church was formerly the parish church for Throapham, Letwell and Gildingwells. Its Norman story is told by the doorway, with a shaft on each side. The nave arcades are 13th century and the tower and the clerestory 15th. The font dates from about 1400. A brass portrait of a knight in armour is of John Mauleverer , who died three centuries ago. An interesting stone coffin with a coped lid of mediaeval times is carved in relief with a mass of trailing foliage about a cross. Fragments of stones built into the ancient porch show a cross and shears and a battered head in a quatrefoil. It was partly rebult in 1709 and restored in 1861.
Roger Dodsworth, the antiquary, visited the site in 1631, and noted that there had once been a Midsummer Fair here, which would have attracted a large number of pilgrims to the church. Midsummer was the occasion of the pagan festivals which were replaced by the feast of St. John the Baptist. Pilgrimages to holy places, notably to shrines and holy wells, were a common practice in the Middle ages. Dodsworth also notes that a well near the chancel door may have been a reverend site The fair was probably held in a Field, Chipping Croft; many market towns are still called Chipping.
Throapham, described in the 1820s as a township, in the parish of St. John's, upper-division of Strafforth and Tickhill; 6.5 miles from Tickhill, 7.5 miles from Worksop, and 8 miles from Rotherham. The population including St. John's, was 50, which being united, form a township.
Godfrey Pearson , was a grocer & carrier to Sheffield & Retford. John Pigot,Robert Watson,Robert Wood and Richard Wright were farmers.
Farming in Throapham in 1853: Thomas Harrison, John Hibberd, George Howson, Godfrey Pearson, Ann Piggott, Mary Piggott, William Rodgers and A. Billam.
In September, 1855, the Throapham Estate was for sale by auction. The newspaper advert read:
Valuable Estate For Sale by Auction
In the Parish of St. John's, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
To be sold by Auction.
At the Red Lion Hotel, in Worksop, in the County of Nottingham, on Wednesday, the 26th day of September, 1855, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, in one Lot, subject to such conditions of sale as will then and there be declared
All that excellent Freehold Farm, situate in the township of Throapham aforesaid, comprising a Messuage, Barn, and other Buildings adjoining, in a convenient and central situation, built of stone and in good repair; together with two Labourers' Cottages, recently and substantially erected, and 198 Acres of highly cultivated Land, of which 33 Acres are in permanent grass. 163 Acres are arable, and 1 Acre is plantation.
The Tithes are commuted.
The Estate is all (with the exception of the plantation) in the occupation of Mrs William Pigott, at a very low rental, fixed many years ago.
The Arable Land, comprising the greatest part of the Farm, is a red sandy loam on the limestone foundation; a soil naturally dry, easy, and inexpensive to cultivate, well adapted for turnips, and capable of producing root and grain crops of the best quality.
The situation of this desirable Estate is peculiarly advantageous: although in the county of York, it lies on the borders of Nottinghamshire, on a dry limestone soil, in a healthy neighbourhood, and within a convenient distance of the market town of Worksop and a Railway Station, encircled by woodland scenery of great beauty; it adjoins the Firbeck Estate, and is within a short distance of Sandbeck Park, the seat of the Earl of Scarborough, and the romantic ruins of Roche Abbey.
The property is surrounded by the Estates of the Duke of Leeds; A.B. St. Leger, Esq.; J. C. Althorpe, Esq.; Robert Wright, Esq.; and Mrs. Miles.
The Tenant will show the Estate, and further particulars with Lithographed Plans may be obtained of Mr. Huskinson, Land Agent, Epperstone, near Southwell; or at the Offices of Messrs. Falkner and Newbald, Solicitors, Newark.
Newark, 30th August, 1855.
In October 1858, John Taylor Whitworth was convicted of the murder of Sally Hare on Throapham Common.
In 1858 Saint John's was a parish, in the township of Throapham. Rotherham is its post town. It includes the hamlets of Gildingwells, Letwell, and Throapham. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the vicarage of Laughton-en-le-Morthen, in the diocese of York. The church, is dedicated to St. John
In 1861 Throapham contained 1080 acres of land, and the population was 75 of whom 30 were males. The principal owners were: A. F. B. St. Leger, Mrs. Miles, Chas Wright and Alex Rotherham, who lived at Throapham Manor. A Mrs. Howson lived at Wheat House
A Roman coin hoard consisting of from 1500 to 2000 small brass, billon and silver-washed, of the third century was found in 1864 while ploughing a field called The Leys adjoining the road from St. John's to Dinnington. The coins were in two vases of brownish-red earthenware and lay in a cavity which was roughly lined with stones. The field lay on the estate of Mrs. Miles of Firbeck Hall who received about a thousand of the coins, which unfortunately became mixed with a large general collection of coins she subsequently amassed. This collection later became the property of her heir, the Rev. Henry Gladwyn Jebb, who also kept them at Firbeck Hall. As far as could be determined, however, the earliest coins found were of Gallienus, and others represented were Victorinus, Tetricus, Claudius Gothicus, Quintillus and Aurelian. 18 coins from this hoard are now in Rotherham Museum
In 1869 Samuel Skinner was living at The Manor, he was a Colliery Owner and farmer. Others farming were Henry Salmon, Richard Nicholson, Joseph Child, William Bradbury, Joseph Barnard and John Baggaley. The population in 1871 was 67 people living in 13 houses.
The principal landowners in 1881 were Samuel Skinner, Col, St. Leger and Charles Wright, Esq. There was 1062 acres of land, rateable value, £1275 10s. 4d. The Parish Clerk was Thomas Crofts. Farming in the village were: Samuel Skinner, Joseph Barnard, Joseph Child at Lingodell, Richard Nicholson and William May Salmon.
In 1891 The Boundaries Act was reviewed and Throapham along with Dinnington and surrounding areas became part of the Yorkshire section of the Worksop Union.
Samuel Carr Skinner of Throapham Manor, was married to Florence. He owned land in Clowne, Bolsover in 1898. He was Chairman of Skinner and Holford, Sheffield who owned Waleswood Colliery and Coking Plant and Beighton Collieries; his partner was James Holford of Aston, also a farmer. He was a member of the Rother Valley Conservative Association.
He owned a racehorse ' Star of Throapham'.
Samuel Carr Skinner died on February, 20th 1941 aged 65 years.
In 1949, Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Ellis were living at Throapham House.
In 1985 the Church Commissioners declared the Church of St. John the Baptist redundant under the Pastoral Act of 1983. Sheffield Archives hold Throapham St John Parish Records from 1547-1985, Reference:PR 115/1-12.
Google Earth map of Throapham
See also Throapham Marriages 1711-1811 »
Ward Family of Throapham, Letwell and Firbeck» »
