Carburton
St Giles

History

The earliest reference to the chapel is in a grant by Roger of Derby, canon of Lincoln, of the assart of Sloswick, which belonged to ‘the chapel of Carburton in the parish of Edwinstowe.’ Although the grant is undated it must be earlier than 1195 when Roger of Derby became Dean of Lincoln. However, an earlier indirect reference to a chapel here is to be found in the charters of Rufford Abbey. A grant made by William of Aubigny to Rufford of ten acres of land in Eakring sometime between 1146 and 1168 was witnessed, amongst others, by one Lambert, cleric of Carburton (Lamberto clerico de Carbertun).

In 1228 King Henry III donated two oaks from Carburton wood to the reparations of the leper hospital of St Leonard in Chesterfield. No reference is made to Carburton church at this time.

In 1301 the Abbot and convent of Welbeck paid the sum of £200 to the King's Exchequer for the arrentation (letting or renting, especially a licence to enclose land in a forest with a low hedge and ditch, under a yearly rent) of various land including 'Carburton Storth', with licence to impark, assart the soil, and sell the wood. Two years later the villagers petitioned the Chancellor saying they had been deprived of income worth 20s. by this action.

In the reign of Edward II the manor was partly owned by the Abbott of Welbeck who enclosed 24 acres of land known as ‘Carberton Storth’ which lay near the gate of his abbey. The enclosure of this land is especially significant as local villagers were equally adamant that they could claim the ‘Storth’ as part of their ancient demesne. On the command of Walter de Langeton, treasurer of England, the villagers petitioned the King’s Counsel at Northampton, claiming that the Abbott had stopped the course of the water which worked the mills by making dams and channelling it from the lakes to his abbey. In 1308, representatives from Carburton also complained that part of their land had been usurped by Worksop Priory. All that we know of the results is that the abbot ‘easily answered all the charges’.

There is no mention of the church in the 1291 Taxatio, 1341 Nonae Rolls, or the 1428 subsidy of Henry VI, most probably as it had too low a value to be taxed.

King Edward III in October 1375 granted a pardon, at the supplication of the king's esquire, Nicholas Dabrichecourt, to John de Walley, the younger, of East Markham, for the death of John de Repyngdon, chaplain, who was the son of John de Repyngdon, chaplain, of Carburton.

In 1406 an assessment was ordered on all of the unbeneficed clergy of the archdeaconry of Nottingham and the college of Southwell; Carburton is recorded in this document as a chaplaincy.

The Valor Ecclesiaticus of 1535 records that the vicar of Edwinstowe, Ralph Balguy, held tithes in Allerton, Perlethorpe, and Carburton to the yearly value of £5.

Although John Leland passed close by in around 1540 he made no mention of the church: 'From Wirkesop to Newhagge by very wooddi grownd about a mile. Newhagge is a park hard on the right hond as I went longging to the King. A mile beyond Newhagstil by wood I rode over Gerburton brooke.'

Although Carburton was a subsidiary chapel of Edwinstowe there was a close connection with nearby Norton Cuckney church. The office of Augmentations in 1549, accounting for payments by Michael Stanhope and John Bellowe, listed payment from a plot of land in Carburton held in tenure by Christopher Chambers given to a light in the parish church of Cuckney.

In 1598 it was reported by churchwardens and swornmen that ‘we have had about 10 sermons this year made by Richard Barton, vicar of Edwinstowe’. It was also noted that the register book was well kept and copies had been delivered every year. Two years previously in 1596 however, churchwardens had presented Barton for not wearing his surplice during divine service.

In 1607, churchwardens presented that their chancel was in want of reparations. They sought clarification for responsibility noting that ‘the parson thinks it is due for the town to do it, and they think it is his right to repair it, [so] we crave your counsel and advice’. The issue remained unresolved. Three years later in 1610 it was noted that ‘our chancel is in default, and we know not whether Mr Richard Barton our vicar or Mr Storop the proctor should mend it’.

In July 1612 a sequestration of the fruits growing within ‘the town of Carberton’ in the parish of Edwinstowe was taken towards ‘the repair of the chancel of the church or chapel of Carburton’ and granted to William Moseley, gentleman, John Sharpe, yeoman, and John Mitchell, yeoman, all of Carburton.

In 1615 the patron was almost certainly Sir Charles Cavendish as he is recorded as holding the 'village or town of Carburton' in November that year.

In 1635, vicar George Rigges and Mr Stirrope of Lincoln, ‘owner or farmer of the Rectory of Carburton’, were presented for failing to repair to chancel. It was also noted that ‘the stalls in the body of the church are in part unpaved and unboarded under foot’.

In 1685, churchwardens presented that their church was in need of whiting. In 1718, the walls and windows were once more in want of repair alongside the pavement and porch seats. The church needed Book of Homilies and a Register Book in addition to a napkin to cover the communion bread and wine, a carpet for the communion table, and a lock for the poor man’s box.

According to Archbishop Herring’s visitation in 1743 there were sixteen families in the parish. The vicar, John Meynick, lived in the vicarage house in Edwinstowe, and performed the public service ‘once a fortnight in ye afternoon in the same Manner as at ye other Chapels of Ollerton and Palethorpe [Peverelthorpe].’ He also stated that catechizing took place once a fortnight in Lent and the sacrament was administered at Carburton three times a year. The number of communicants was recorded as 33, of which 11 received the previous Easter.

Archbishop Drummond's visitation in 1764 simply lists Anthony Reynolds, as the curate, and Thomas Benson (who appeared); the old churchwarden was George West and the new one Daniel Cowley.

A map showing
Carburton chapelry in
Edwinstowe parish
(pre-1851)

The Religious Census of 1851 reported that Carburton chapelry, in Edwinstowe parish, had a population of 161.The church could accommodate 77 people but, on average, only 25 attended the morning service and 40 the afternoon one.

The chapel has suffered badly from subsidence on account of coal mining in the area.

In 1912 the church could accommodate 90 worshippers. There were 30 children on the books for the day school and 15 for the Sunday school.

In 1938, the Diocesan Magazine reported that the church had a particularly noteworthy distinction in that it was, ‘for some years’, cared for by a ‘lady warden’, Miss Stenton,

In 2017 the church was closed for worship.