Holme Pierrepont
Holme Pierrepont Parish comprises the hamlets of Adbolton, Bassingfield, Holme, Pierrepont and Lamcote, with part of Gamston township, which is mostly in West Bridgford parish. It contains 174 inhabitants and 2,135 acres of land, stretching southward from the Trent to the Nottingham and Grantham Canal. The low grounds near river have a rich alluvial soil, and the higher parts have a good sandy clay. The whole has long been possessed by the Pierrepont family, from which it has the latter part of its name, and is now the property of Earl Manvers, who inherits the estates of the late Duke of Kingston, whose ancestor Henry Pierrepont obtained this parish in the reign of Edward I, by marrying the heiress of the Manvers family (hence the title of Earl Manvers).
Holme Pierrepont Village occupies a picturesque situation on the south side of the River Trent, 5 miles east by south of Nottingham. Most of the farm houses here, and in other parts of the parish, are handsomely built, and the cottages have small gardens attached to them.
Holme Pierrepont House, now the residence of Lord Newark, is still a large and ancient mansion, though considerable portions of it have, at different periods, been taken down, It stands close to the church, and was thoroughly repaired about 30 years ago, and cased in imitation of stone, forming a very handsome specimen of the gothic of the latter ages.
The church, dedicated to St Edmund, contains numerous monuments of the Pierrepont family. Its form is gothic, but in the style of the time of Henry VII, with large and numerous windows, and consisting of a nave, side aisles, and a square tower surmounted by a handsome lofty spire. The family vault of the late Dukes of Kingston, and of Earl Manvers, is on the north side of the choir, with a lofty monument over it, supported by Corinthian pillars and ornamented by deaths heads in wreaths, intermixed with fruit and foliage. The inscription informs us that:
"Here lyeth the Illustrious Princess Gertrude, Countess of Kingston, daughter of Henry Talbot Esq., son to George, late Earl of Shrewsbury. She was married to the most noble and excellent Earl of Kingston &c."
A very fine altar tomb to the memory of Sir Henry Pierrepont, Knt, in 1615, is on the south side. He is in armour, and in the attitude of prayer. On the sides of the tomb are a son, four daughters, and an infant in swaddling clothes, and over it an highly ornamented tablet. Here' too, is buried "Young Oldham", considered to be a poet of great merit, and patronised by William, Earl of Kingston, who also wrote the very elegant Latin inscription on his monument. The benefice is a rectory, valued in the King's books at £15 7s 6d, and has 36 acres of glebe. The tithes were commuted for £542, and is enjoyed by the Rev. James Jarvis Peach M.A. Earl Manvers is the patron of the living.
Adbolton, 2 miles west of Holme Pierrepont, and 3 miles south-east by east of Nottingham, was once a separate parish. It now consists of a few dwellings, near the site of its church, which was taken down in 1746, when its materials were sold for £12 7s 6d, and its communion plate removed to Holme Pierrepont, to which its rectory, valued in the King's books at £2 13s 9d, is now annexed. In 1834, the site of the church was levelled, and the foundation of the tower dug up, when several ancient coins were found - one of James II, of Ireland, dated 1693, and a shilling of Queen Elizabeth, dated 1598. Numerous skeletons were also found, many of them in a very perfect state of preservation. A fine pear tree marks the site of the church, and some of its gravestones form part of the pavement of the adjoining farmstead. The manor of Adbolton was long held of the honour of the Peveril, by the Strelley family, but in 1598 it was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Henry Pierrepont, and now belongs to his descendent, Earl Manvers.
Bassingfield is a small village, partly in Gamston township, 4 miles south-east by east of Nottingham.
Gamston village lies on the canal, nearly one mile west of Bassingfield, and its township extends into the the hundred of Rushcliffe, and is partly in the parish of West Bridgford. It was anciently called Gameleston, and was long held by the family of Lutterell, but was granted by Henry II to Robert Pierrepont, to whose descendent, Earl Manvers, it now belongs.
Holme Lane is a hamlet, consisting of a good inn and a few dwellings, on the Bingham road, 4 miles east-south-east of Nottingham.
Lamcote is another manor, belonging to Earl Manvers, and contains a small part of the village of Radcliffe on Trent, one mile east of Holme Pierrepont. A close at Lambly, now let for £3 a year, belongs to the poor of Holme Pierrepont parish, as also does £30, left in 1718 by the Rev. Humphrey Perkins, and £10, left in 1730 by John Clayton, to the poor of Bassingfield and Gamston.
[Transcribed by Clive HENLY]
