- Gonalston
Gonalston is a small village in
Nottinghamshire lying just to the north-east ofLowdham and almost upon the A612 trunk road that runs fromNottingham to Southwell. Gonalston comprises convert|1250|acre|km2 of arable and pasture land in about equal portions, interspersed with convert|106|acre|km2 of wood and plantations. It lies on a small river called the Dover Beck which separates the village fromLowdham and which flows south-east into theRiver Trent convert|2|mi|km away.Historical
Gonalston "is a small rural village and parish, near the Dover Beck, convert|4|mi|km south-south-west of Southwell, containing 100 inhabitants and convert|862|acre|km2 of land, enclosed in 1768, when convert|155|acre|km2 were allotted for the tithes. John Francklin Esq. owns the whole lordship, and is patron of the rectory, which is valued in the King's books at £7 19s 2d, now £324, and is enjoyed by the Rev. Edward Walker Foottit B.A. The church, dedicated to
St Lawrence , is a small structure, with a tower and two bells, and was rebuilt in 1852. In Thoroton's time it contained some ancient figures of crusaders, but they were either destroyed or removed at the diminution of the church. They have since been taken up by the present proprietor, under the superintendance of Rd. West Macott Esq. R.A., and are about to be placed in the name of the new edifice." [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/NTT/Gonalston/index.html White's Directory of Nottinghamshire 1853]Gonalston Spital
The village is famed in ancient times for its hospital or spital now lost, and its effigies of
Crusaders . "William de Heris, in the reign of Henry III, founded an hospital here called the Spital, "to the honour ofSt. Mary Magdalene ;" the successive rectors of the parish were masters, and formerly preached their induction sermon upon its ruins." [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50984. From: 'Godwick - Goodmanham', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 312-15]Archaeology
Some recent and important archaeological discoveries have been made in the East Midlands and especially in the silts of the
Trent Valley area. This includes finds inGonalston . At Holme Dyke, Gonalston,Neolithic pottery has been excavated from a ring ditch, and a LateBronze Age domestic site (as a burnt mound) was uncovered by quarry workings [http://www.le.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/eastmidsfw/pdfs/15nottneba.pdf.] .Notes
External links
* [http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1903/summer/gonalston.htm 1903 article concerning Gonalston church and Spital]
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