Everything about Southwell Nottinghamshire totally explained
Southwell is a small
town in
Nottinghamshire,
England. It is best known as the site of
Southwell Minster, the seat of the
Church of England diocese that covers Nottinghamshire. Its population is approx. 6,900.
The origins of its name are not clear, but there a number of locations around the town which stake claim to being the original "well", most notably at GR708535 where a plaque also exists; in the
Admiral Rodney public house; also on the south side of the Minster itself which in the
19th Century was called Lady Well; and the right of the
cloisters, hitherto called Holy Well.
Norwell (pronounced "Norrell") lies approximately 8 miles north west, which may support the notion of there being original "south" and "north" wells in the area. The town lies on the River Greet, approximately fourteen miles (22 km) northeast of
Nottingham. In addition to the
Minster (more correctly The Parish Church of St.Mary of Southwell), there are a number of other historic buildings in the town, notably the impressive prebendal houses along Church Street and Westgate, and the town's Methodist Church has the bizarre feature of an old right-of-way running underneath it, necessitating a considerably larger upstairs than downstairs seating capacity.
Early History
There is evidence of
Roman settlement in the area, with remains of a very large and opulent Roman
villa being excavated beneath the Minster and its
Churchyard in
1959, with part of a mural found at that time now on display in the Minster. This villa is one of only three examples of its type to be found in the territories of the
Coritani tribes - along with Scrampton in
Lincolnshire and Norfolk Street in
Leicestershire. A section of the
Fosse Way runs on the opposite bank of the
River Trent with evidence of a Roman settlement having been found at Ad Pontem ("to the bridge" or "at the bridge"), north west of the current village of
East Stoke. There is no specific evidence however of a road link between Ad Pontem and Southwell. Other contributions to the speculation that there was a Roman settlement in the town includes the use of several Roman bricks in the construction of some of the
prebendary buildings around the Minster, remains of a fosse or ditch having been found on
Burgage Hill in the
19th Century, and conjecture that there may be additional Roman remains beneath the Church Street site of the recently vacated Minster School.
The Venerable
Bede records the baptism by
Paulinus of numerous converts in the "flood of the Trent" near Tiovulginacester in the presence of
Edwin of Northumbria whom he'd converted to the faith in
627. There is no agreement on the exact location of Tiovulginacester, but Paulinus certainly visited the locale, and it's possible that he founded the first church in Southwell.
It is believed that this predecessor of the existing Minster existed in Saxon times, as it's thought the remains of
Eadburh of Repton,
Abbess of Repton, and daughter of
Ealdwulf of East Anglia are buried there. She became Abbess of Repton under the patronage of her King
Wulfhere of Mercia, who was the husband of her second cousin,
Eormenhild. She appears in the Life of
Guthlac and is believed to have died around
AD700, her remains being buried or later translated to Southwell Minster, where her relics were revered in the
Middle Ages - "There restesh St.Eadburh in the Minster of Southwell near the water called the Trent".
Eadwy of England gifted land in Southwell to the then Archbishop of York,
Oskytel in
956 and there's evidence today in the
tessellated floor and the
11th Century tympanum over a doorway in the North
transept of the construction of the Minster from this time. This charter made by Eadwy is the first firmly dated reference to Southwell. The
Domesday Book of
1086 has much detail of an Archbishop's Manor in Southwell.
From shortly after that period, a custom originated known as the Gate to Southwell. In
1109, the then
Archbishop of York,
Thomas I wrote to each of the parishes in Nottinghamshire asking them to contribute to the building of the new
mother church in Southwell. The proposal was agreed and each year at
Whitsuntide the
Mayor of Nottingham and representatives from every parish in the county would carry their contribution, known as the Southwell Pence to the Minster to help pay for its upkeep. The procession travelling on horseback or foot with much singing and dancing from the accompanying crowds would set off from the Old Market Square in Nottingham headed by the Mayor and Corporation in their best ceremonial robes. Following on behind were the
clergy, who used the occasion to catch up on church business, and
lay people combining a
pilgrimage with a holiday excursion to Southwell's grand Whitsun Fair. The Southwell Pence itself was paid in at the North Porch of the Minster being received by the
Chapter Clerk. The curious name of this custom - the Southwell Gate - derives from the Scandinavian word “gata” meaning street or way to and in its original form it persisted well into the 16th Century.
In
1189 Geoffrey
Plantagenet came to Southwell to take up priests orders; and on 4th April
1194,
King Richard along with the then
King of Scots,
WilliamI was in Southwell, having spent
Palm Sunday in nearby
Clipstone. The regal connections continued with multiple visits by
King John between
1207 and
1213, ostensibly for the hunting in nearby
Sherwood Forest, but also en-route with his troops on an expedition to
Wales in
1212.
From 1300 to 1800
The building that's now called the Saracen's Head was originally built in
1463, after the land on that site had been gifted in
1396 by the then Archbishop of York,
Thomas Arundel to John and Margaret Fysher. When built, the first floor overhung the roadway in the
vernacular of the time. The ground floor had subsequently been faced up to be flush with the floor above, but the original wall lines are still visible just inside the main arched entrance, along with the original half-timbered frontage.
In
1603,
James VI of Scotland travelled through Southwell on his way to
London to be crowned King James I.
The town featured on a number of occasions during the
English Civil War, perhaps most notably the fact that
King Charles I spent his last night as a free man in the public house now called the Saracen's Head, but then called The King's Head in May
1646, before surrendering to the Scottish Army stationed at nearby
Kelham. The fabric of the town and especially the Minster and Archbishop's Palace suffered at the hands of
Oliver Cromwell's troops, as they
sequestered the Palace as stabling for their horses, broke down the monuments, and ransacked the graves for lead and other valuables. As late as
1793, iron rings fastened to the walls to secure their horses to, were still in existence. The end of the Civil Wars left the original Archbishop's Palace in the ruinous state that can be still seen today, although the Great Hall remains. It is reputed that Cromwell also stayed in the King's Arms - in the very same rooms as Charles I!
In
1656, the original
Bridewell was built on the Burgage, and enlarged in
1787 as it became a prison for the county at large. There is also evidence however, that a
House of Correction was built in the same area in 1611, so the Bridewell may itself have been an enlargement. Towards the end of this period in Southwell's history, an as yet insignificant, but soon to be important person in its heritage was born in
1796 in
Balderton - Matthew Bramley
The 19th Century and later
By
1801, the population of Southwell was 2,305 and in
1803,
Byron began his brief flirtation with Southwell, staying with his mother in Burgage House during his holidays from
Harrow and then
Cambridge. His mother rented the house, as whilst by that time he'd become 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale, the family home of
Newstead Abbey required significant remedial work, which they couldn't afford.
Southwell once had a
railway station on a branch line of the
Midland Railway, running from
Mansfield to
Rolleston Junction, a station on the Nottingham-
Newark-
Lincoln line. The Mansfield to Southwell section, which passed through a mining area, was an early casualty, closing in August
1929. Southwell to Rolleston Junction hung on till June
1959 before closing. Rolleston Junction station remains open, now called simply
Rolleston, and is very close to
Southwell Racecourse, which in turn is about three miles south-east of Southwell itself. The village of Rolleston was once home to children's
illustrator Kate Greenaway.
Southwell Today
As the site of a Church of England cathedral, the town is sometimes considered to be a city, and was treated as such in the
1911 Encyclopedia. However, its
city status isn't recognised by the government.
The town is something of an oddity for north
Nottinghamshire, being visibly affluent, when compared with its near neighbours of
Newark-on-Trent and
Mansfield. Whereas agriculture and coal respectively have seen the fortunes of the other two towns fluctuate over the years, Southwell has remained an area of residence for many of
Nottingham's richest residents. The local
secondary school Southwell Minster School is often mistaken for a private institution, but is in fact state funded. It gets the best GCSE results in Nottinghamshire (including Nottingham)(. The school supplies the Minster choir, and until recently there was a boarding section for choirboys in the town.
Southwell Holy Trinity C of E Infants School, the smallest of the other three schools in Southwell, caters for children aged 4-7 who come from Southwell and the surrounding villages.
Southwell's other Infant School, Lowes Wong Infant School, was recently awarded the top rating in all 24 categories in its Ofsted report.
It was here that the well known
Bramley cooking apple was first seeded. The apple is now used across the cookery world, and is renowned for its sweet taste. The local football club, Southwell City, is nicknamed "The Bramleys", and the towns new Library and Youth Centre is known as 'The Bramley Centre' in honour of the town's contribution to British cuisine.
The town is accessed from Newark and Nottingham by the A612, and from north Nottingham and villages to the west by the B6386. The A617 primary route passes 2 miles to the north of the town in Hockerton, and the A1 and A46 trunk routes are both 7 miles away in Newark. The nearby village of Fiskerton's railway station has had a small car park built in recent years to cater for Southwell commuters not wishing to battle with traffic. Southwell is also served by
Nottingham City Transport's rural Pathfinder service to Nottingham and Newark, and Stagecoach Lincolnshire (Mansfield) service to Mansfield and Newark. There are other infrequent services to nearby villages.
Pronunciation controversy
The exact pronunciation of Southwell remains a subject of debate. One view, that used by the
BBC and other
broadcasters, is that it should be pronounced Suth-ell. This probably stems from the old spelling of the town name — for many centuries Southwell (as it's now spelled) was actually written (and thus probably spoken) as Sothwell.
Others believe that it should be pronounced South-well as the town appears in older records as Sudwell, sud being French for south. Both pronunciations are acceptable, and there are no real guidelines, however people living in the town usually use the pronunciation South-well.
Further Information
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