Orston

Saint Mary's Church Orston

Orston is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England, adjacent to Scarrington, Thoroton, Flawborough, Bottesford and Elton on the Hill, and 15 miles (24 km) east of Nottingham. It had a population of 454 at the time of the 2011 census.^[1]

History

The name Orston is thought to originate from the Old English Ordricestune, which means "the farmstead of Ordric". Ordric was the head of the small settlement, some early references to it being Oschintone 1086 (the Domesday Book), Orskinton 1242, Orston 1284 and Horston 1428. Historically it belonged to Bingham Wapentake.

The population of Orston was 351 in 1801, 391 in 1821, and 439 in 1831.^[2] More detail on the history of the village and its sources appear on the village website.^[3] There is a short description of the village in 1870–72 in John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales.^[4]

Orston farming was on an open-field system until an enclosure act was passed of 1793. It was unusual in having four fields instead of three. A detailed survey of Orston's present appearance and recent history as a conservation area was made in 2010.^[5]

Gypsum and bricks

There are still gypsum quarries in the area. Indeed, Orston was once primarily a mining village. In earlier centuries Orston was probably the most important source of gypsum in the East Midlands. According to the Nottinghamshire volume of the Victoria History of the Countries of England, the gypsum at Orston was the "...finest in the Kingdom". The remains of several brickworks have also been identified. Mining subsidence has been a problem in some parts of the village, affecting also the church. A full account of the quarrying and mining in the village has appeared.^[6] The village had a brief 18th-century career as a medicinal spring for “hydrochondriac melancholy, scurvy, want of appetite, indigestion, stoppage of urine, obstruction of the bowels, ulcers in the lungs, and for spitting of blood,” but there does not appear to have been appreciable commercial development of the spring.^[7]

Amenities

Churches: The village contains St Mary's Anglican Church^[8] and Orston Methodist Church.^[9] St Mary's, a Grade I Listed Building,^[10] is part of the Cranmer group of parishes.^[11] It hold services on the first and third Sunday of the month, usually at 6 p. m.^[12] (There are eight other Grade II listed buildings in the village.)^[13] The Methodist church is part of the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Circuit. Services are held every second Sunday morning.^[14]

School: Operating in premises built in 1939, Orston Primary School had 154 pupils aged between four and eleven years old in 2014, equally divided between boys and girls. Its excellent 2013 performance figures had eased slightly in most subjects.^[15] The 2010 Ofsted report on the school rated it outstanding in all important respects.^[16]

Catering: The village pub, the Durham Ox,^[17] doubles as a traditional restaurant from Tuesday to Sunday.^[18][19] There is also a delicatessen and café called The Limehaus, occupying the former post office.^[20]

Leisure: There are various sports teams, clubs and institutes active in the village.^[21] Many indoor events and meetings are held at the village hall.^[22] There is a clay shooting ground in Bottesford Lane.^[23]

Transport: Elton and Orston railway station on the outskirts of the village provides only a skeleton service of one train in each direction per day. The nearest stations with regular services to Nottingham, Grantham and beyond are Bottesford and Aslockton. There are various weekday, daytime bus services to Nottingham, Bingham and nearby villages.^[24] The A52 trunk road between Nottingham and Grantham passes two miles south of the village. Orston also lies on National Cycle Route 15.

River: The River Smite, which flows through Orston, is 20 miles long. It has its source at Holwell, Leicestershire, and joins the River Devon at Shelton, Nottinghamshire.

Famous people

• Charles John Fynes Clinton, classical scholar, was appointed vicar of Orston in the 1820s.
• William Morley, Methodist minister and historian, was born at Orston on 14 August 1842.
• Thomas Cecil Howitt, architect of the Nottingham Council House, died at his self-designed house at Orston in September 1968.

Coordinates: 52°57′N 0°52′W / 52.950°N 0.867°W

External sources

• Orston Parish Council website
• St Mary's Church, Orston
• A 1552 terrier (inventory) of vestments, books and other possessions of Orston Church^[25]

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
2. William White: History, Gazetteer and Directory of Nottinghamshire... (Sheffield, 1832), p. 479. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
3. Orston Village site. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
4. A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
5. Rushcliffe Borough Council. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
6. Bulletin of the Peak District Mines and Historical Society 11/4, Winter 1991: Retrieved 20 November 2014
7. Our Nottinghamshire. The mineral springs and spas of Nottinghamshire Retrieved 20 November 2014. This includes a photograph of the remains of the well head.
8. Orston Village site. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
9. Orston Village site. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
10. British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
11. With St Thomas's Church, Aslockton, Church of St. Mary and All Saints, Hawksworth, Church of St. John of Beverley, Scarrington, St. Helena's Church, Thoroton and Church of St. John of Beverley, Whatton. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
12. A Church Near You Retrieved 13 April 2016.
13. British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
14. Circuit website. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
15. Ofsted School Data Dashboard Retrieved 7 January 2016.
16. Ofsted. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
17. The Durham Ox is a relatively common pub name in the East Midlands, named after a famously large Shorthorn bullock of the early 19th century.
18. Durham Ox Retrieved 7 January 2016.
19. Orston Village site. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
20. The Limehaus. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
21. Orston Village site. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
22. Orston Village site. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
23. Orston Shooting Ground. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
24. Orston Village site. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
25. Old Nottinghamshire, ed. J. P. Briscoe (London: British Library Historical Print Editions, 2011 [1881], print on demand), pp. 41–42.