St John the Baptist's Church is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Clarborough Clarborough is a village in the civil parish of Clarborough and Welham, in the district of Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, England. Clarborough is located north-east from the centre of Retford. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1305. His ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England.

History

The church dates from the 13th century. It was restored in 1874 by James Fowler of Louth. The 1086 ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' does not mention a church at Clarborough. There is evidence that a church was established by 1103, as half of its income was donated by

William de Lovetot William de Lovetot, Lord of Hallamshire, possibly descended from the Norman Baron Ricardus Surdus,* (wikisource) was an Anglo-Norman Baron from Huntingdonshire, often credited as the founder of Sheffield, England. It is unknown when de Lovetot a ...

. The original building began construction in 1258 when Sewal de Bovil, the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, stipulated that the vicar of Clarborough should have the

altarage Altarage is a term once commonly used in an ecclesiastical context to signify the revenue reserved for the chaplain (altarist or altar-thane) in contradistinction to the income of the parish priest — it came to indicate the funds received by a p ...

, with the

toft and croft Toft may refer to: People * Albert Toft (1862–1949), English sculptor * Alfonso Toft (1866–1964), English pottery artist * Christian Toft (born 1968), Danish Olympic swimmer * Claude Toft (1922–1981), Irish politician and Mayor of Galway ...

lying next to the churchyard, and the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

s of the inclosed crofts of the town. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

St John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

was founded in 1260 which, with Manor Farm near the church, became the focus of the village. A churchyard

yew tree Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus b ...

is possibly over 1,000 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarborough, Saint John the Baptist Church of England church buildings in Nottinghamshire Grade I listed churches in Nottinghamshire 13th-century church buildings in England Bassetlaw District

History

See also

References