Budby
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
A model hamlet built in the 19th century for estate workers and staff of Thoresby. Nearby on high ground in Thoresby Park is Budby Castle, formerly Castle William, a small nineteenth century part house, part folly - an amusing eye catcher.The River Meden runs through the village
Carburton
A hamlet famous for its tiny church, one of the smallest in England. The Parish Registers are one of the three oldest in the country. Carburton lies at one of the gates to Clumber Park. There was a forge here
Cresswell Craggs
Described as a miniature Cheddar Gorge with impressive limestone cliffs much covered with greenery and containing numerous caves in which have been discovered the remains of mammoth, rhinoceros, hyena, reindeer and other wild beasts which roamed England in prehistoric times. Here also were discovered the earliest known remains of Man in Britain. Read More »
Eakring
A small village near Rufford where the Rev. William Mompesson was once rector for thirty eight years. Mompesson had been the Rector of Eyam in Derbyshire during the plague. After his induction at Eakring, the locals were terrified that he was still likely to pass on the deadly sickness and he was not allowed to preach in the church. His parishioners forced him to live in a hut in Rufford Park for a while and to preach his sermons in the open at a place still known as 'Pulpit Ash'. He died at Eakring in 1708.
Haughton
The principal house of the Holles family, Earls of Clare, was Haughton, of which nothing now remains. In the 18th century it was an imposing country seat with formal and landscaped grounds. The house had a large deer park and pleasure grounds with the River Idle running close by. Some outlying parts were contained in Clumber Park when it was enclosed in 1707 by Royal Warrant from Queen Anne. At the death of Thomas Pelham-Holles of the two dukedoms, someone described Clumber as 'A black heath full of rabbits, having a narrow river running through it, with a small boggy close or two'. It was his nephew, the second Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, who decided to build Clumber and abandon the old Holles seat at Haughton which fell into ruins.
Holbeck
A small hamlet on the Welbeck estate. Nearby the tiny private church of the Portland family where several members of the family were buried.
Laxton
Formerly part of the Thoresby estate, Laxton is famous for its open field system of farming, unchanged since Norman times. A court still meets to resolve disputes. There also is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle - the largest in Nottinghamshire. The church contains many monuments to the de Everinghams, lords of the manor in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Milton
Near to Markham Clinton is the mausoleum of the 4th Duke of Newcastle and his Duchess designed by Robert Smirke, architect of the British Museum.
Perlethorpe
A hamlet on the Thoresby estate and occupied by people connected with the great house. The 3rd Earl Manvers commissioned Salvin to design a charming little church at the same time as he was building the Hall. Inside is a tablet to the 3rd Earl Manvers (1825-1900) - 'The kindest of friends and most just of masters'. In the churchyard is a monument to Charles Alphonse Pierrepont who 'was interred where he fought and fell' - at Burgos in 1812.
The Dukeries and Sherwood Forest
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