Whatton-in-the-Vale

Etymology

The place name seems to contain the Old English word hwǣte for wheat, + tūn (Old English) meaning an enclosure, a farmstead, a village, an estate, etc., so "Farm where wheat is grown." "In the Vale," i. e. the Vale of Belvoir. The place appears as Watone in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Heritage

Whatton Mill was a five-storey brick tower windmill built in 1820. It had four patent sails (sails with shutters instead of cloth), two of which were double. Milling ceased in about 1916. The capless tower is now a listed building.

The Anglican Church of St. John of Beverley is a Grade II* listed building dating from the 14th century, but extensively restored and rebuilt in the 19th century. It belongs to the Cranmer Group of parishes, with the churches at Aslockton, Hawksworth, Orston, Scarrington and Thoroton. A service is held in Whatton once a month.

The population of Whatton was 306 in 1801, 399 in 1821, and 388 in 1831.

Whatton Manor estate, to the south of the village, was inherited in 1840 by Thomas Dickinson Hall (1808–1879), who built a substantial manor house there in "Elizabethan style". The family financed charitable and church-building work in the district. The manor house and its grounds were sold in 1919 to Samuel Ernest Chesterman, who in turn sold them to William Goodacre Player, son of John Player of the cigarette manufacturers John Player & Sons). The manor building, by then in poor condition, was demolished in the mid-1960s, but the original stables can still be seen from Manor Lane. They now house a stud farm.

The village pub, the Griffin's Head, was closed and demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced by housing.

Whatton was once a named telephone exchange for many of the surrounding villages, but the name gave way to a dialling code (01949).

Governance

Whatton has its own parish council. The village falls under the governance of Rushcliffe Borough Council. The member of Parliament is Robert Jenrick (Conservative), MP for Newark.

Transport

Whatton is served by Aslockton railway station, less than a mile to the north of the village, with services to Grantham, Skegness and Nottingham. Limited bus services run to Bingham and to Grantham via Bottesford.

Prison

HM Prison Whatton opened at the west end of the village in 1960 as a detention centre. Since 1990 it has been a Category C closed male prison for sex offenders.

References

References

1. [http://nottsvillages.blogspot.com/2015/07/whatton.html Notts Villages. Retrieved 28 January 2019.]
2. "Civil parish population 2011". Office for National Statistics.
3. "Whatton-in-the-Vale parish".
4. J. Gover, A. Mawer & F. M. Stenton (eds.), ''Place Names of Nottinghamshire'' (Cambridge, 1940), p. 219.; A. D. Mills, ''Dictionary of English Place-Names'' (Oxford, 2002), p. 375.; E. Ekwall, ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'' (Oxford, 1960), p. 16.; V. Watts, ''Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names'' (Cambridge, 2002), p. 511.
5. J. Morris, (ed.) ''Domesday Book: Nottinghamshire'' (Chichester, 1977), 17:16.
6. Shaw, T. (1995). ''Windmills of Nottinghamshire''. Page 42. Nottingham: Nottinghamshire County Council. {{ISBN. 0-900986-12-3
7. William White: ''History, Gazetteer and Directory of Nottinghamshire...'' (Sheffield, 1832), p. 479. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3cHAAAAQAAJ Retrieved 3 April 2016.]
8. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YdIKAAAAYAAJ&dq=Hall+family+Whatton&pg=PA526 p. 526. Retrieved 5 January 2020.]
9. Whatton timeline [http://www.cranmerlhg.org.uk/articles/article.php?id=10 Retrieved 3 June 2016.]
10. [http://www.hallfamilywhatton.co.za/ Family site. Retrieved 5 January 2020.]
11. Cranmer Local History Group [http://www.cranmerlhg.org.uk/downloads/LHD0104.pdf Retrieved 3 June 2016.]
12. [http://wikimapia.org/33394635/Whatton-Manor-Stud]; [www.whattonmanorstud.com].
13. Cranmer History Group [http://www.cranmerlhg.org.uk/downloads/Local_History_Digest_April_2008.pdf Retrieved 3 June 2016.]
14. [https://bustimes.org/localities/whatton Retrieved 28 January 2019.]
15. BBC report, 30 March 2015 [https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32085076 Retrieved 3 June 2016.]