Welcome to
Fiskerton-cum-Morton
Picture by Diana Powell
Early History of Fiskerton
Back in 1086, the Domesday entry indicated that Fiskerton was relatively prosperous. In addition to enough arable land for 7 ploughs, there were 2 mills, a fishery and a ferry and 42 acres of meadow, pasture and woodland.
About 1140, Walter’s son, Ralph d’Aincourt, founded Thurgarton Priory, giving Fiskerton as part of its endowment. Southwell Minster (representing the Archbishop of York) then released all its rights over Fiskerton to the Priory and Fiskerton remained under the control of the Priory until the time of the Dissolution in 1538.
During this time there was a chapel dedicated to St. Mary, the site of which appeared on various maps until the early 20th century.
When this chapel was founded and who by is uncertain, but it was in the possession of Thurgarton Priory by the first half of the 12th century and served by canons from there.
The Register or Cartulary of Thurgarton, which was written in the early 1300s, describes the chapel as set in a court, which suggests it was part of a complex of buildings, and notes that the field in which it stood was the Grange Field, a name still in use today. There was also a graveyard attached. The chapel is no longer marked on current OS maps and after years of farming activity, plus the flood defence works in the mid 20th century, there is now nothing left to show where it had been.
At the Dissolution, Thurgarton Priory was seized by the Crown. Fiskerton’s tithes (a form of tax for the support of the local rector or church) were granted to Rolleston, so the village became part of the ecclesiastical parish of Rolleston as is still the case today. Ownership of the land, along with the rest of the Priory estates, was eventually granted by Elizabeth 1st to Thomas Cooper.
The Coopers held land in Fiskerton and Morton as Lords of the Manor for nearly a century until the civil war when Sir Roger Cooper supported the king and had his lands confiscated by the Roundheads when the king was defeated. He had to pay a crushing fine to recover them and so sold his farms in Fiskerton and Morton in 1649 to Dr. Huntingdon Plumptre, a member of a famous Nottingham family. By the 19th century, the Plumptre's had settled in Kent and had been selling off their Nottinghamshire property. What remained of their lands in Fiskerton and Morton was eventually sold in 1857 to William Wright of Fiskerton and the title “Lord of the Manor” ceased with the death of his great nephew, Richard Wright, in 1968.
Fishing and agriculture remained important, with several farms being located close to the heart of the village, but thanks to proximity to the River Trent, Fiskerton was also able to develop other industries, so that by 1842 there were wharfs, coal yards and warehouses all along the river front. Malting had also become a local industry and the Newark brewer, James Hole, had a large malthouse here. There was a watermill to be found on the Greet and a windmill on what is now Station Road. In total there were 75 houses in Fiskerton and a population of 404.
The 19th century saw a great deal of change. One of the most important developments was the opening of the Nottingham-Lincoln railway in August 1846 with a station barely half a mile from the village centre.
By the end of the century, many wharves and warehouses had disappeared and in their place substantial houses, like Fiskerton House and Fiskerton Manor, were to be found along the riverside.
The large malthouse, on what is today referred to as The Wharf, closed in 1904 when James Hole decided to concentrate all its business in Newark, and some employees moved from Fiskerton as a consequence. The premises were eventually bought as a grain store around 1919, by Southwell miller, C.G. Caudwell, and the wharf was used for loading and unloading materials destined for the Southwell corn mill. The Caudwells owned it until c.1974 when it was then used for a boat building business and eventually in the 1980s became a private residence.
The Fire at Fiskerton mill
The Mill today
There is still a mill on the Greet today and its location is most likely to have been the Domesday mill site. This mill, however, was built in 1790 as a cotton mill, though by 1837 it was being used as a corn mill, owned by Mr. John Chambers of Tibshelf. Joseph Marriott ran the mill from the mid 1840s and eventually purchased it in 1881, leaving it to his son, William Birch Marriott, who continued to run the mill until 1921. After this time it was used to produce animal feedstuffs and ceased production in the 1980s.
Disaster Struck
Fire was an ever-present threat in a corn mill and Fiskerton Mill suffered three major fires. The date and severity of the first is unknown, but the second was well documented. It occurred on 8 December 1851 and resulted in the death of five men. The mill was largely destroyed, but re-built very much as it had been. It then suffered another fire in 1856, though reports suggest it was far less damaging than the earlier one in 1851.
The Bromley
The building dates from the 18th century and was then known as the “Wagon & Horses”, though early deeds mention that it had also been known as “The Ferry House”. It was sold in 1877 to Sir Henry Bromley of East Stoke, reputedly so he could hunt on both sides of the river, and its name was consequently changed to the “Bromley Arms”. At this time the pub was one of the many stations used for changing the horses which drew the barges and there was stabling for 27 horses. It also had its own brewhouse. The Bromley Arms was bought by Hardy & Hanson Brewery around 1933.
The building immediately to the right of the pub in the above photograph was another pub, “The Spread Eagle”, but this closed in 1912.
The pub is now called 'The Bromley at Fiskerton' details of menu and opening times can be found http://www.bromleyatfiskerton.com reports suggest it was far less damaging than the earlier one in 1851.
Early History of Morton
Archaeological evidence, both actual finds and crop marks from aerial photographs, shows evidence of occupation of the Trent Valley since at least the Iron Age, including settlement around Fiskerton and Morton. The early history of both villages was dominated by proximity to the River Trent, with various settlers and invaders arriving along the river. The area was occupied by the Celtic Coritani tribe when the Romans came in the 1st century AD. The Angles and Saxons followed in the 5th & 6th centuries, the Danes in the 8th & 9th centuries and eventually the Normans.
Fiskerton’s name shows it was a Saxon settlement, deriving from the old English words “fiscere” and “tun” meaning “the farm of the fishermen” and reflecting the abundance of fish in the nearby rivers Greet and Trent. Morton’s name also derives from old English, meaning the settlement on the moor or “wild land”.
The earliest documentary reference to both villages is in the Southwell Charter. Fiskerton and Morton were amongst the villages given in 956AD to Oskytel, the Archbishop of York by the Saxon king of Mercia, Edwig, as part of his attempt to strengthen his northern boundary. The area covered by the Charter later became known (in Church history terms) as the Southwell Peculiar, an area shown as prosperous, well-organised and well farmed.
After the Norman invasion, William 1 had all his lands surveyed, basically for the purposes of taxation, and the results were listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. Both Fiskerton and Morton are mentioned. The major landowner at this time was Walter d’Aincourt, although the villages still came under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York, who was effectively Lord of the Manor.
St. Denis
From the time of the Southwell Charter 956 AD, Morton was closely associated with Southwell Minster and references to the village in early records were often in connection with its church.
The Church of St. Denis
The present brick-built church dates from 1758, though there has been a church on the site since medieval times. The earliest reference is to a Chapel of Ease dedicated to St. Denis being established in Morton in the reign of King Stephen (1096-1154). This Chapel of Ease was founded by the inhabitants so they could have divine service in Morton, their parish church of Southwell being “farre from them”.
The old church building was demolished around the middle of the eighteenth century, though there are no records as to exactly why nor at whose expense the new church was built. All that is known about it is that a later vicar, the Rev. John Marsh, who died in 1878, used to speak about an “aged parishioner who worshiped in the old timber-framed and thatched Church at Morton, which was taken down in 1758”.
for more info on church http://southwellchurches.history.nottingham.ac.uk/morton/hintro.php
At the time of the Domesday Book, Walter D’Aincourt was the main landowner in Morton. Several landowners followed, including the Cressovers , but one family in particular that should be mentioned was the de Annesly family because the de Annesly estate passed through marriage to John Ashwell, who built, it is believed, Ashwell Hall. This was the manor house of its day and was described by Thoroton in his History of Nottinghamshire published in 1677 as a “capital messuage”. Its exact location remains unknown, though there is some speculation that it might have been on the site of the present Manor Farm.
Like Fiskerton, the manorial lands of Morton were eventually granted by Elizabeth 1st to Thomas Cooper and so passed into the hands of the Plumptres from 1649 and then to the Wrights from 1857. The remnants of the Manor Estate were sold in 1968 and most now form part of Morton Manor Farm.
Dovecote
Morton Manor Farm has one of the oldest buildings in the village, a dovecote, or more properly a pigeoncote, which dates from the 17th century. The dovecote features in Mediaeval Dovecotes in Nottinghamshire written in 1927 by J. Whitaker. He complained in the book that this dovecote had lately been turned into a place to hold the machine for the electric lighting of the house and buildings. When the dovecote was in use it had nesting places for around 600 birds.
Agriculture was, until well into the 20th century, the main occupation of people living in the village and Morton Manor Farm is one of two farms still operating today.
The village in 1950 was very much as it had been 100 years earlier with development contained in general between the Church and Back Lane. It has, however, almost doubled in size over the last fifty years to about 62 houses, and, like Fiskerton, now largely serves as a commuter village for Nottingham and elsewhere.
How the SGA came to be...
The first meeting of the SGA was, on 9th July, 1969, to organise a Sports Day. A group of local residents wanted to promote sport and leisure in the villages. Races, games, stalls and other activities were to be included, and tickets were to be 2/6p (half a crown in old money). This led to the decision that the two villages would benefit from a permanent location for sport and social events.
The SGA began fundraising and started to look for a suitable site for cricket, football, and a Hall with car parking space.
It is thanks to the generosity of Arthur Radford and his purchase of the land which now bears his name that we are able to benefit from this magnificent sporting facility.
A 99 year lease was negotiated. A charity was then registered in the name Fiskerton cum Morton Sports Village Hall Playing Field and Pavilion of the Arthur Radford Sports Ground.
The SGA became the voluntary management committee with responsibility for financial viability, upkeep and maintenance, to encourage and support sport and leisure and to organise community social events.
Many hours of hard work by volunteers turned the field into a cricket and football ground. With funds already raised, a second hand pavilion was bought, which provided changing rooms, a hall and kitchen. And further fundraising by local parents later added the children’s playground.
Fiskerton History
Fiskerton’s name shows it was a Saxon settlement, deriving from the old English words “fiscere” and “tun” meaning “the farm of the fishermen” and reflecting the abundance of fish in the nearby rivers Greet and Trent.
Fiskerton Ferry
References to a ferry at Fiskerton, first mentioned in the Domesday Book, appear throughout the centuries. In addition, horses and carts could ford the river at low tide, so Fiskerton was the main river crossing point on a principal route between Newark and Nottingham.
By 1900, the ferry crossing and the landing rights on both sides of the Trent were attached to the Bromley Arms and for foot passengers the ferry consisted of a rowing boat. There was also a wide, shallow sided, light barge.
Mission Chapel
The Mission Chapel located on Main Street Fiskerton, was opened in 1874, built at a cost of £300, funds being raised by public subscription. It was built primarily to cater for the families of the boats and barges travelling up and down the Trent, but was used for services for only a short time.
Methodist Chapel
By the 19th century there was a strong Methodist presence in Fiskerton.
The Methodist Chapel, which is located on the corner of Gravelly Lane and Main Street Fiskerton, dates from 1809 and an extension at the rear was added in 1888. In the mid 1800s two services were held every Sunday with a congregation of around 75 at each and there was also a thriving Sunday school. The last Methodist service was held in July 2004, but the chapel had already been sold to “Henri’s Revivals” 15 years earlier.
Morton History
Morton’s name also derives from old English, meaning the settlement on the moor or “wild land”.
The Full Moon
At the heart of the village is the Full Moon pub. The building was originally three cottages and the pub started as a single-room bar in one. Records show there was a beerhouse here in 1841 and the pub may have existed even earlier. The cottages were only knocked into one after 1975 and the porch added at a later date.
for more information visit; https://www.thefullmoonmorton.co.uk