England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Littleborough St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Littleborough lies in the extreme northeast of Nottinghamshire forming a stretch, here formed by the River Trent, of the border with neighbouring Lincolnshire. Littleborough is located roughly 5 miles south of the Lincolnshire market town and inland port of Gainsborough, albeit on the opposite side of the un-bridged Trent. Similarly the closest numbered road also sits across the Trent in Lincolnshire about a mile, the A156 linking Gainsborough with Saxilby. Today's Littleborough barely registers on modern Ordnance Survey maps, a tiny riverside hamlet at the end of a dead-end lane, the straightness of that lane, however, gives the clue to Littleborough's former importance as the Roman fort of Segulocum sitting at the former ford in the Trent where the ancient road linking Lincoln with Doncaster crossed the mighty river. Sitting northwest of the present cluster of properties and covering 400 by 300 metres this was an important Roman site protecting the vulnerable river crossing. Todays' Littleborough is a small farming community exploiting the grazing marshes lying alongside the river, the ford and indeed the ferry having long since disappeared. The Trent drains northwards to meet with all of Yorkshire's Dales rivers for passage to the North Sea though the Humber Estuary. Littleborough is sited at just 4 metres above the sea with land below 10 metres until beyond Sturton le Steeple northwestwards gradually rising to 90 metres before reaching East Retford. Littleborough parish was a tiny enclave of just 916 acres which supported barely 50 parishioners. In Domesday times it was equally small, held by King William its only assets were 5 ploughs and a small meadow.

The Church

St Nicholas' church sits on the northern edges of the small community, it has been deconsecrated and is now managed by a charitable trust. Like many isolated small churches St Nicholas is ancient in origin and preserves some of the oldest fabric in its county. Norman, 12th century, in origin yet incorporating both Saxon herring-bone work and Roman tile from the neighbouring Segulocum fort it is tiny and aisleless with nave, lower chancel and western bellcote. Restoration here occurred early with a thorough piece of work in Georgian times between 1831 & 1832 which replaced most of the windows, refurbished the main body and added a small vestry which Pevsner terms of "ugly yellow brick". The lanes approaching the church are narrow but enough space and little traffic permits a car or two to park outside the gates to ta churchyard which has no significant obstacles for the photographer.