Image ID: 15096

Ordsall Church and Village

Ordsall
England

JS Piercy in his History of Retford (1828) gives the following information on Ordsall parish Church: 'This edifice, in its exterior appearance, is neat and somewhat antiquated; the tower is considerably more modern than the body, but there are no records to my knowledge, at present in existence, to show the positive date of either. It is quite certain, however, that it was founded about the middle of the thirteenth century. At that period, the principal part of Ordsall was the property of the Hercys, of Grove, to whom the advowson of this church belonged; in this family the patronage continued until the death of Sir John Hercy in 1570, when his immense property was divided amongst his eight surviving sisters, the Ordsall estate was given to Francis Mackworth, Esq. of Empingham, in Rutlandshire, who had married Ellen, the seventh sister, but the advowson became the property of George Neville, Esq., who, at the same time came to the estate at Grove, by marrying Barbara, the fifth sister; afterwards the living came to Thomas Cornwallis, Esq., who sold it to Lady Wortley; who finally settled it along with the, ancient estate, on her eldest son; it was disposed of some years afterwards, but the patronage of the living is still vested in the descendants of that family. The interior of the church is in a very poor state of repair, more especially the pewing. It is greatly to be regretted that this should be the case, as the village is improving, and the living of a superior kind. The tower, which is lofty and pinnacled, contains three bells, and previous to the year 1823, was in an excellent state of repair, at that time, however, it was struck by lightning, and towards the top sustained considerable damage; the south-east pinnacle was completely shattered to pieces; since then the damage has been repaired. In the ecclesiastical history of this place, two very remarkable instances of persecution occur, which are particularly deserving of notice; - the first is the case of the Rev. William Denman, who, in the popish times of Queen Mary, appears to have sacrificed this living to his strong attachment to the protestant cause; afterwards, in the more tolerant reign of her successor, Queen Elizabeth, he was fully restored to his benefice, and died at a good old age, bequeathing to posterity an example of firmness and perseverance in the religion which he had embraced, well worthy of imitation. The other is the case of the Rev. Marmaduke Moore, also rector of this parish, whose paternal estate, on the 18th of November, 1652, was forfeited 'for treason,' and himself sequestrated from his living, 'for the heinous and damnable offence of playing at cards, three several times, with his own wife!!!' a genuine specimen this of the principles (!) which actuated the Rump Parliament, during the fanatical and puritanical times of the commonwealth! The monuments and monumental inscriptions are not numerous, nor, with one or two exceptions, are they particularly interesting. (extracted from the nottshistory.org.uk website)

Date: 1920

Organisation Reference: NCCN001511

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