Wroot (pronounced ) is a

linear village Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Bar ...

, England, south of the

River Torne The River Torne is a river in the north of England, which flows through the counties of South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. It rises at the Upper Lake at Sandbeck Hall, in Maltby in South Yorkshire, and empties into the River Trent at ...

on the

Isle of Axholme The Isle of Axholme is a geographical area in England: a part of North Lincolnshire that adjoins South Yorkshire. It is located between the towns of Scunthorpe and Gainsborough, both of which are in the traditional West Riding of Lindsey, an ...

, close to the boundary with

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

. The population at the 2011 census was 455.

History

The name Wroot is derived from ''wrot'',

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

for

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is ...

, probably in reference to a spur of land. ''Mills'' confirms the view, also stating that in 1157 Wroot was "Wroth". In 1726

Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some "the English Mozart".Kassler, Michael & Olleson, Ph ...

, father of

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Meth ...

and

Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "Christ the Lord Is Risen T ...

, became rector at Wroot, occasionally living there. The

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * H ...

obtained from the small

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

was unsupportive for Wesley, with his

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

being thatched and the area "little better than a swamp". His son John Wesley officiated as curate at Wroot until July 1728, after which he became Moderator of

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, th ...

. Samuel Wesley's daughter, Mehetabel, wrote of the inhabitants of Wroot to her sister Emilia:

Fortune has fixed thee in a place Debarred of wisdom, wit, and grace – High births and virtue equally they scorn, As asses dull, on dunghills born ; Impervious as the stones their heads are found ; Their rage and hatred steadfast as the ground. With these unpolished wights, thy youthful days Glide slow and dull, and Nature's lamp decays : Oh what a lamp is hid 'midst such a sordid race !'Tyerman, Luke (1866)
''Life and Times of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, M.A., Rector of Epworth, and Father of the Revs. John and Charles Wesley, the Founders of TheMethodists''
pp. 388–405, reprinted HardPress Publishing (2012).

By 1826 houses in the parish numbered no more than 54 with a population of 285. In 1885 ''

Kelly's Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in England that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses ...

'' recorded an 1881 population of 356 in a parish area of , in which the chief crops grown were wheat and potatoes. One of the principal landowners was the Hatfield Chase Corporation. There were eighteen farmers, a wheelwright, shopkeeper, blacksmith, shoemaker, grocer, and a collector of rates. The grocer was also a provision and tea dealer and confectioner. An omnibus linked the village to

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

market weekly. There was a

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teaching ...

and a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

chapel, a post office, and a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, the Cross Keys. The parish church of St Pancras, rebuilt in 1879 on the site of an earlier church, held 100 people. The village school, which held about 100 children, was also built in 1879 on the site of a former Free School, founded and endowed in 1706 by Henry Travis.''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, p. 719, 720 Henry Travis of London provided in his will endowments for the establishment of three schools, one each in Hatfield, Thorne and Wroot parishes, to provide instruction in English, Church

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adul ...

and Christian religious principles. Children were to be selected for the schools by parish parsons and churchwardens. The endowment was administered by nine trustees, and a schoolmaster was to be employed for between eighty and ninety pounds per year.

School

Today's village school is the Wroot Travis Charity

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

Primary School. The school's 2011

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

inspection judgement gave it an overall rating of Grade 2 'Good'."Village school is praised by Ofsted"
''The Epworth Bells'', 21 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012

References

External links

*
"Wroot Local History Pack"
North Lincolnshire Council. Retrieved 21 July 2012
"Wroot"

Genuki GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emph ...

.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2012
"Wroot"
Isleofaxholme.net. Retrieved 21 July 2012 {{Lincolnshire, state=collapsed Villages in the Borough of North Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire