Location

Tollerton is located just South of Nottingham in the UK.

Have a look at where we are using the brilliant interactive map from Map24. Just click on the button below.

If you do not have Java installed why not have a look at the Multimap Site

History

Tollerton Village has a long history. It is mentioned in the Doomsday Book as a manor called Roclaveston. Later this became Torlaston and later still Tollerton. Tollerton Hall was the manorial home and was rebuilt in about 1820 with the addition of gothic towers and a cloister that communicates with St. Peter's church. Tollerton Hall has had several changes of owner and use in recent years, most recently being a boarding school and then the base of a major insurance group.

"Tollerton is a small, picturesque village and parish, upon a pleasant declivity, 4½ miles wouth by east of Nottingham, containing 157 inhabitants and 1,240 acres of land. It was enclosed many years ago and no allotment was made in lieu of tithes. In Doomsday Book this manor is called Roclaveston, and afterwards Torlaston, and was of the fees of Roger de Busli and Roger Pietavensis. As early as the reign of Edward II, it was possessed by the Barry family whose heiress, about 1560, called it in marriage to Richard Pendock, from whom was descended the late lord and owner Pendock B. Barry Esq., at whose death it became the property of Mrs Susannah Davis, who resides at "The Hall", which was rebuilt about 30 years ago, in imitation of the gothic, with towers, turrets &c., and with a cloister that communicates with the church. The grounds are very extensive, and beautifully ornamented with shrubs, and contains a fine sheet of water with a woody island. The new gateway, and the lodge near it, together with the bridge, assimilate with the surrounding scenery." [White's Directory of Nottinghamshire 1853]

Manuscripts of interest are deposited in the University of Nottingham Library.

You can view a copy of the 1883 local map online at the OS Landmark website. This shows many of the landmarks and buildings still around today.

Tollerton Airport

Tollerton airfield is a distinctive landmark. You can read about the history and see pictures on the Old Airfields website.

Tollerton Ploughboys

The Tollerton Plough Play is traditionally performed on Plough Monday which is the first Monday after Twelfth Night. Plough Plays date way back in history and are a form of Mummers' play local to the East Midlands. The tradition had lapsed in recent years. However in 2002, the tradition was resurrected for the first time since 1952 with the Tollerton Plough Boys performing to packed houses.

The characters in the Tollerton play are:

• Tom Fool
• Recruiting Sergeant
• Farmer's Man
• Lady
• Dame Jane
• Threshing Blade
• Doctor

You can read more about the history of this type of play at the Foresters Morris Men website. The text of the Tollerton Plough Play is also online for budding actors.

• Pictures of the 2002 Plough Play online.
• Pictures of the 2003 Plough Play online.
• Pictures of the 2004 Plough Play online.
• Pictures of the 2005 Plough Play online.
• Pictures of the 2006 Plough Play online
• Pictures of the 2007 Plough Play from Jeff Redshaw

War Memorial

Tollerton Village War Memorial is situated on Tollerton Lane, opposite St. Peter's Church. The details below were compiled by Hilary Heason with the help of Mr. Blackburn (Snr). Information was also gained from the Commonwealth War Graves commission and other websites. They were published in the Tollerton Village Newsletter in July 2002.

The Great War 1914-18

The names of those who died in the Great War, carved on the monument are:

Gunner George Henry Sweet, Private John Edward Lane, and Sergeant George Brain.

Gunner Sweet of the Royal Field Artillery was born in 1897 and was the son of Charles and Emma Sweet who lived in the cottage which is at the back of Tollerton Hall, now Bankharts. His father was the coachman at Tollerton Hall (Bankharts). He was 19 years of age when he was wounded, from which he subsequently died, in one of the many battles fought around the Somme in 1916 and is buried in Tollerton churchyard.

John Edward Lane was a Private in the 16th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby regiment) and was the son of Thomas and Sarah Lane, Glebe Cottages, Tollerton. Both Thomas and John were recorded in the 1901 census as agricultural labourers. John later married Mary and lived in Plumtree. He was killed at Bulgar Wood in Belgium in an offensive agaisnt the German lines during the third battle of Ypres in 1917. his name appears on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing at Zonnebeke, West Vlannnderten, Belgium.

George Brain lived in what was Forge Cottage on Tollerton Lane and his name appears on the Arras Memorial in the Fauborg d'Amiens cemetery. He was a corporal in the 10th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby) regiment and tool part in the Arras offensives when the germans attacked in the spring of 1918. Both sides suffered great losses but the German offensive was halted.

The War 1939-45

The names of those who died in the second World War, carved on the monument are Lance.Cpl. Joseph Hackett, Lieut. Geoffrey Raynor, Cpl. William Randall Foster, Bdr. E. Geoffrey Chambers.

Lance Corporal Joseph Freitas Guimarães Hackett of the 105 Provost Coy., Corps of Military Police apparently was caught up in the German invasion of Boulogne in May 1940, which was being used as an allied hospital base, he died on 20 may 1940 and is remembered at the Boulogne Eastern cemetery, Pas de Calais.

Geoffrey Raynor was a Lieutenant (A) HMS Kestrel, Royal Naval Volunteer reserve was apparently a native of Barnsley and was married to Jean Raynor and they lived in Tollerton. He is buried in Barnsley cemetery, Yorkshire. HMS Kestrel was a Royal Naval Air Sation at Worthy Down between 1942 and 1944. It was the ship that Lord Haw Haw proudly reported has been sunk by the Germans.

Willan Alfred Randale Foster, aged 29 years, was an Aircraftsman 1st class with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was married and lived on Medina Drive Tollerton before joining up shortly after the war started. He was sent out to the Far East where he was later posted missing. The Kranji War cemetery (Singapore Memorial) where he is honoured was an area which was overrun by the Japanese in 1942 and where they established a prisoner of war camp.

Arthur Geoffrey Chambers was a lance bombadier of the 107 (The South Notts Hussars) regiment, Royal Horse Artillary. He was the first son of George and Agnes Chambers who were farmers of Tollerton. He was captured at Tobruck and was a prisoner of was held in Italy until the armistice agreement in 1943 when he escaped and lived with Italian partisans fighting the Germans for about a year in the North around Padua. Unfortunately the fleeing Germans surrounded the area and killed everybody including Geoffrey. He died on 27 September 1944 and is remembered in Padua war cemetery, Italy.

A new information plaque has been added to the Tollerton War memorial. You can view the image of the plaque - but better still, why not visit and read it yourself.