Visiting Scrooby

The best way to see the village of Scrooby is on foot. Park your car on Low Road, and make sure to: 

• Print the guide sheets listed below

• View the buildings described below 

• Read the information boards in the Village Hall

• Walk up Mill Lane, see the rivers and the Winz common ground. 

• Visit the Pilgrim Fathers pub for lunch. 

Village Hall keys are held by Izzi Marshall, Churnside, Low Road, Scrooby, tel 01302 719 811.

There are several buildings worth seeing. These buildings are historically important and contribute to Scrooby's 'sense of place'. 

1.THE SCROOBY MURDER AND THE GIBBET

In the early hours of 3rd July 1779, John Spencer, a shepherd of North Leverton, murdered William Yeadon the Scrooby toll bar keeper and his mother Mary Yeadon in the tollbar house. Spencer had spent the evening playing cards with the tollbar keeper, and returned to the house later under the pretext that a drove of cattle wanted to pass. Having committed his brutal crime with a hedge stake and taken what money he could find, he was apprehended while dragging the bodies across the road towards the river nearby. He escaped, but was arrested a few days later, tried at Nottingham Assizes, and after conviction executed there. After his body had hung for the prescribed time, it was removed to Scrooby to hang in chains from a newly constructed gibbet adjacent to the scene of the crime, with the hedge stake placed in his right hand. A few weeks later an escort of soldiers in charge of a deserter passed the gibbet and the sergeant in command fired at and hit the corpse, causing a stench which was almost unbearable for days afterwards. The sergeant was court-marshalled and reduced to the rank of private. The gibbet post with its withered and weatherbeaten arm stood in testimony to the crime until April 1846, when it collapsed. A portion of the oak upright post survives in the collections of the Doncaster Museum.

THE RIVER RYTON

The old course of the river Ryton formerly ran through the race at Scrooby Mill and passed immediately north of the Manor House to join the river Idle in the meadows between Scrooby and Bawtry. The present course of the river is the old flood channel, and sluices were provided to re-direct the water as necessary. When the turnpike road was built in 1766, additional drains were provided to reduce the risk of flooding. In the 18th century, fish garths were recorded along the length of the flood channel, at Floodgate Hill. Today, fishermen try their hand along the same length, from the bank of the area of parish land called the Whinz. On Floodgate Hill itself, a small stand of ancient Scots pines keep silent watch over passersby, as they have done for above a century and a half.

10. THE PINFOLD

The gated stone-walled enclosure adjacent to the north gate of the churchyard os the pound or pinfold, in which stray animals were once impounded by the village officer called the pinder, to be released upon payment of a fine. Facing the pinfold gate were situated the village stocks, sold and parcelled off to America in the late 19th century.

2. MONK’S MILL

A former water mill on the old course of the river Ryton, the building was restored from a derelict shell in the early 1950’s. The earliest part of the complex is the stonework of a 17th century building, to which substantial additions were made in brick in the later 18th century. The two undershot wheels provided the motive power for grinding corn - the principal activity - until the beginning of the 1939-45 War. The tail-race dam covered the area now occupied by the road until the road level was raised in 1937. Although the mill’s origins almost certainly extend back to the middle ages, the name Monk’s Mill is modern, and there was never any connection with monks or a local monastery. In medieval times, the mill would have been the manorial mill attached to the Archbishop of York’s Scrooby estate.

8. THE PILGRIM FATHERS INN

The datestone on the gable facing the road, now covered by rendering, bears the date 1771, showing that the inn was built to cater for travellers on the 1766 turnpike road. The original name of the inn was The Saracen’s Head. In 1969, following alterations, the name was changed to the present one. The inn was enlarged to its present size in 1985. Until 1906, the main door faced the road. The publican once combined his duties with operating a small farm unit, the barn of which still remains.

LOCAL ROADS

Until the middle ages, travellers journeying between the Midlands and the Vale of York could use the Roman road from Doncaster to Lincoln (reaching Ermine Street or the Fosse Way), via Bawtry and the ford across the Trent at Littleborough. An alternative route to the Midlands was the forest road from Bawtry to Nottingham (the present A614). In early medieval times, a more direct route from London to the North was developed (the Great North Road) which brought onto the route a number of chartered market towns (e.g. Stamford, Grantham, Newark), and this road ran through the centre of Scrooby and along the line of Mill Lane before joining the old forest road near Hawk’s Nest south of Bawtry. In 1766, improvements were made to the road, Retford was brought onto the route, and the new road was put under the administration of a turnpike trust, with a toll-gate between Scrooby and Bawtry at the location later known as Gibbet Hill. The present main road through the village (the A638) is the turnpike road of 1766, and cuts across the earlier village pattern.

11. ST. WILFRID’S CHURCH

The parish church is dedicated to St. Wilfrid, an early Archbishop of York, who died in 709. The earliest reference to the church occurs in 1177-8 when, as a chapel of ease of Sutton (cum Lound) it was appropriated to the chapel of St. Mary and the Holy Angels at York. No trace of the early church can be discerned in the fabric of the church today. Architecturally, two phases of construction can be recognised. The tower with its Perpendicular style west window dates from the early 15th century, while the south aisle, with its Tudor style windows, is about a century later. The church was restored in 1864 following a long period of neglect, and the roof, pews, pulpit and Perpendicular style east window are of that date. In 1889, the east window was glazed with stained glass. Relics of the medieval church are few - four bench ends and fragments of a screen with carved vine motif.

5. SCROOBY MANOR HOUSE

This site, enclosing an area of about 6½ acres within a moat, was formerly occupied by the medieval manor house or palace of the Archbishops of York, who stayed and entertained here during tours of their extensive see.

The earliest reference to a building here occurs in 1207, when King John ordered French wine to be sent to Scrooby for the use of his half-brother, then the Archbishop. In 1212 King John himself stayed here. Throughout the middle ages, references are found to successive Archbishops visiting Scrooby and signing ecclesiastical documents here. In 1503, Margaret, the eldest daughter of Henry VII stayed at the manor house on her way to Scotland to become the second wife of King James IV. In the early 16th century considerable building took place, and it is likely that the earliest brick buildings, fragments of which can be seen incorporated into Manor Farm, date from that time. In 1530, Cardinal Wolsey, the great statesman of Henry VIII’s court, stayed at Scrooby throughout September while in disgrace. John Leland, King Henry VII’s historian, visited Scrooby in c. 1538 and described the manor house as follows:-…’the second was a great Manor Palace, standing withyn a Mote, and (be)longing to tharchbishop of York, buildid yn to (two) Courtes, where of the first is very ample, and al builded of Tymbre, saving the Front of the Haule, that is of  Bricke, to the wich ascenditur per gradus lapideos (one ascends by means of stone steps). The ynner Courte Building, as far as I markid, was of Tymber Buildings, and was not in cumpace past the four parts of the utter (outer) Courte’. In 1541, Henry VIII stayed at Scrooby overnight and held a Privy Council here. William Brewster Snr. was appointed Receiver and Bailiff of the Archbishop’s estate at Scrooby in 1575, and the terms of his appointment suggest that he should occupy all or part of the manor house which, by that time, was getting past its prime and no longer attracting regular visits from its owner. Some thirteen years later, Brewster was appointed to the additional position of ‘Master of the Queen’s Postes’, responsible for the safe accommodation of crown messengers journeying along the main road from London to Scotland. In 1590, Brewster Snr. died, and was succeeded by his son, William Junior. In 1606-7, Brewster held meetings of the Scrooby Separatist Church here. In 1636-7, most of the by then dilapidated manor house and its outbuildings were demolished following a demolition order granted by Charles I. (The gatehouse and some outbuildings had been pulled down in 1558). Part of one wing of the manor house survived, and in c. 1750 was renovated as a farmhouse for the Archbishop’s tenant. It is that building which can be seen today.

9. THE OLD VICARAGE

This two-bayed timber-framed house was built to accommodate a resident curate, probably in the 1590’s.Originally the house was timber-framed to within one foot of the ground, and rested on a low stone sill wall. The framing was infilled with wattle and daub while the exterior was covered with willow laths and plastered over. The whole building was then lime-washed. The roof was originally thatched. The building possessed a hall with fireplace, and parlour, with a chamber above, reached by ladder. The thatch needed repair in 1730-1. Substantial rebuilding took place in the 1750’s, when the ground floor was replaced by brick, a brick lean-to addition was built on the south side, with a cellar beneath, and the thatch was replaced by pantiles. From 1753, it ceased to be used as a curate’s house and a succession of parish clerks and sextons inhabited the property for more than a century. Late in the 19th century, the crippled daughter of the parish clerk held a dame school here. By 1912, the then owner, the 7th Viscountess Galway, had changed the name to Brewster’s Cottage, one ground floor room had been adapted as a small museum, and the completely unsubstantiated link with William Brewster had been established. The house by this time had been enlarged with single story additions to the western elevation. Tenants occupied the house until the early 1960’s, when its run down state attracted a closing order preventing further occupation. In 1970-1, the house was restored and enlarged, and became a private dwelling.

In the garden is a mulberry tree, the only example in the village.

4. MILL HOUSE

This brick-built house with its range of outbuildings was constructed as a residence for the miller in about 1750 by the agent to the Archbishop of York’s tenant of the manor, Sir Myles Stapylton. The miller since the mid 17th century had sometimes lived in the Manor House, and at other times in the inn premises known as the Cross Keys which once stood at the Low Road/Manor Road corner, adjacent to Low Farm.

Mill House has triangular patterns called tumbling to the brickwork of its gable ends. The bay windows are of 19th century date.

SCROOBY TOP HOUSE

Between Scrooby and Ranskill, exactly one mile south of Scrooby, stands Scrooby Top House, an important posting house in coaching days. In about 1780, Thomas Fisher, the proprietor of the Swan Inn, the principal posting-house in Bawtry, decided to transfer his business to Scrooby Top in order to be able to counter the competition from the Old Bell Inn at Barnby Moor. Scrooby Top House was known as Scrooby Inn, and remained a licenced house until 1821, when it became a private house. By 1871, Viscount Galway’s tenant was farming 360 acres. The imposing 3-storied ivy-covered house still retains the air of the coaching era, and some of the once commodious ancillary buildings still remain. In 1806, Thomas Fisher charged 15d (6p) per mile for a pair of horses, 2s 3d (11p) for a team of four, and 6d (2½p) for a saddle horse. In the early 19th century, the Rockingham coach, which ran between London and Leeds, changed horses here. When it was an inn, meetings of the Archbishop of York’s manorial court for Scrooby were held at Scrooby Top.

THE RAILWAY LINE

In September 1849, the Great Northern Railway opened the main line between Doncaster and Retford, and a passenger station came into operation at Scrooby. By 1852, the line had become the direct route between London Kings Cross and the north. The line was to see the successive development of Great Northern and London and North Eastern railway steam locomotives - the Stirling singles, the Ivatt Atlantics and the Gresley Pacifics, culminating in the A4 streamlined class, of which Mallard, the world steam traction speed record holder, was the most famous member. A set of water troughs was situated between Scrooby and Bawtry to replenish the water supply in the express locomotive tenders and facilitate non-stop running. The station, alas, closed in 1931. Subsequently the line went over to diesel traction, and expresses ran at speeds in excess of 110 mph. The first electric trains ran on the line in 1988.

3. HOLMEFIELD FARM

The farmhouse is a typical brick dwelling of c. 1740 with raised gables and a pantile roof. The datestone inscribed I. TORR 1741, now in the gable end of the barn, was probably originally in the southern gable end of the farmhouse and thus dates the house. The barn adjacent to the house was originally timber-framed and still contains some elements of the original roof. The Torr family were long established in Scrooby, and members of the family became early Quakers in the later 17th century.

6. LOW FARM

This imposing late 18th century three-bay brick farmhouse faces south overlooking the Croft. The house has an extensive range of cellars, and an attic storey lit from the gable end. The gable ends have tumbled decoration similar to Mill House. To the rear of the farmhouse lies a complex of brick barns and dovecote enclosing the former foldyard. The farm was once part of  the Scrooby Estate of the Viscounts Galway, and when the 8th Viscount attempted to sell the farm in 1931 it was advertised as being a good sheep and potato farm with an area in excess of 207 acres. The house is now a private residence.