South Leverton

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South Leverton
Nottinghamshire
Town Street towards Church Street, South Leverton - geograph.org.uk - 1967125.jpg
South Leverton
Location
Grid reference: SK783809
Location: 53°19’12"N, 0°49’23"W
Data
Population: 480  (2011)
Post town: Retforrd
Postcode: DN22
Dialling code: 01427
Local Government
Council: Bassetlaw
Parliamentary
constituency:
Bassetlaw

South Leverton is a village in Nottinghamshire, four miles from Retford. To the north is the dual-named village of North Leverton with Habblethorpe, with Treswell to the south. Cottam Power Station is nearby, two miles to the south-east.

The 2011 census recoded a population of 480.

Geography

South Leverton has a village hall, public house and private school called Orchard School.

History

Leverton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cledretone. As landowners before and afte the Conquest it gives Aelfric; Countess Gytha; Leofwine; Men of Roger de Bully; Robert, man of William Peverel; Roger de Bully; Roger, man of Roger de Bully; Stapolwine; Thorbiorn; Ulfkil; Walan; William Peverel; Wulfsige Cild.

The parish church, All Saints' Church, has a square tower at the western end, north and south aisles to either side of the nave, a south porch, a chancel and a vestry. The fabric dates from the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It was restored in the nineteenth century: Ewan Christian worked on the chancel in 1868, and C. Scholefield worked on the rest of the building in 1897. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

On Retford Road there is a building which was formerly a priory, parts of which date from the twelfth century. It was restored in the nineteenth century, when a large extension was added, and is now used as a home for the elderly. It is a grade II listed structure.[2] There is also a grade II listed, single storey brick-built former Methodist chapel on Church Street, which was erected in 1847.[3]

Leverton railway station was on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway line that went from Retford over the River Trent to Lincoln. The line opened in 1850 but the section beyond Cottam power stations was closed to passengers in 1959. A contributory factor to the closure was the need for expensive repairs to the viaduct which carried the line over the river at Torksey,[4] and there was an alternative, if slightly longer, route available via Gainsborough Lea Road.

About the village

The village pub is The Plough and is the centre of much village activity. The Railway Inn, formerly next to the level crossing and in the parish, has been demolished.

A wind farm to be known as the Cottam Wind Farm, comprising up to twelve wind turbines up to 145m in height, is proposed to be built between the village and Cottam;[5] a development most unwelcome to many residents, who have made their opposition clear: 98% opposition in a local vote.

South Leverton gives its name to the oilfield which runs beneath it,[6] although the well heads are located in nearby Treswell.[7] The field produces high-grade crude oil, which is taken by road to a collection centre at Gainsborough, from where the oil is transferred by rail to be refined at Immingham. Because of its quality, it is used for the production of chemicals and plastics, rather than for fuel.[8] Oil was discovered at South Leverton in the late 1950s or early 1960s, after the Government of Iran nationalised its own oil industry and new sources had to be found, and work for displaced British oil engineers.[9]

Outside links

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References

  • Kingscott, Geoffrey (2004). Lost Railways of Nottinghamshire. Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-884-5.