Perlethorpe Village part 1.

 

Above: Map of 1774.

The early history of Perlethorpe, situated within Thoresby Estate where the A614 (Blythe Road) crosses the River Meden, is made slightly more complicated by the fact it was once governed and owned as a region in its own right, entirely separate from Thoresby.

In Saxon times this area belonged to two Saxon chiefs, Thurston and Ulmer. After the Norman Conquest, as was the fate of other lands in the region, Torp (Perlethorpe), became the joint property of the King and Roger de Busli, who also gained lands such as nearby Clumber, whilst Thuresbi (Thoresby), became the property of the King.

The origin of Perlethorpe’s name is subject to debate. “Thorpe”, an Old Norse name meaning ‘dependant settlement’, clearly suggests it started life as a Viking settlement, but Perle is more troublesome. In Old and Middle English that means “rush of water”, particularly apt considering both the River Meden and the River Maun converge close by. However, before the printing press established common spellings, and information relied on the spoken word as much as the written, the village was recorded variously through the centuries as Peureltorp, Peuerelestorp and even Peuerellingethorp. During the reign of Henry III, William de Peverel the younger had some interest in Torp and it was once assumed the “Peverelthorp” prefix was due to him. Many researchers discount that notion today. By the 18th century the common name for the village was Palethorpe. (“Pale” can mean “an area enclosed by a boundary”, adding even more to the debate).

In 1831 Palethorpe (Perlethorpe) had a population of 89 people living in 14 houses. That's an average of 6 to a house. The oldest buildings in the village today date from the mid-19th century, and were often originally in pairs. A typical example of this is Rose Cottage.

Above: The original Rose Cottage, not the nearby restaurant which took its name, stands a little further up the A614 from White Lodge. 19th century Thoresby Estate records refer to the property as Rosedale Cottages. In 1851 it was the home of Perlethorpe Village miller, J. Chamberlain. In 1862 the estate's milkman Thos Day lived in one cottage, whilst Henry Dodd occupied the other. By 1864, Dodd had moved on and been replaced by miller Robert Budd. In 1947, Rose Cottage was still divided into two properties, one being occupied by carpenter / joiner William Craig and family, later to become foreman at Thoresby Estate’s Woodyard.

Above: White Cottages at the end of Radley's Lane, were occupied in 1862 by John Radley and Joseph Sills Batten. In the 1960's the two properties merged to become the Chaplain's House.

Above: Home Farm Lodge.

Above: The Almshouses stand opposite Home Farm, and were built in 1894 by the 3rd Earl "for the benefit of the old labourers on Thoresby Estate". This implies such elegant properties were perhaps intended for those retiring from their labour? Certainly by the 1950s they were occupied by still active workers from the farm and the Woodyard, such as Jack Kenyon.

Each house in Perlethorpe had its own brick built soft water tank to contain the rain which was then drawn up from underground via a hand pump. Starting in 1860 the 3rd Earl Manvers ensured all the houses in Perlethorpe underwent any necessary repairs, and had all the thatched roofs replaced with slate. At the turn of that century a water mains was laid through the village from Boughton water works, and in the 1920s / 30s a steam roller kept the pre-tarmac roads in order. In 1947 Perlethorpe Village was supplied with electricity, and the building of the red brick houses around a new village green soon followed.