Caunton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Newark and Sherwood Newark and Sherwood is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest district by area in the county. The council is based in Newark-on-Trent, the area's largest town. The district also incl ...

district of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

on the A616, north-west of

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

, in the NG23 postcode. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 483, and this increased to 508 at the 2021 census.

History

The village is notable for its association with Samuel Hole, who is buried in the churchyard of St. Andrew's Church. He was the village's vicar for a short while before becoming Dean of Rochester and lived in the manor. The manor house now has its own equestrian centre and a mini golf course. Caunton Mill, also known as Sharp's Mill, was a 43 ft brick tower windmill, with an ogee cap, built before 1825. It was out of use in the 1930s. The mill survives without its cap, machinery and gallery.

Second World War

As part of the East Midlands Oil Province, oil imports from the Abadan Refinery in Iran were hampered, until Sicily was invaded in July 1943. So the only alternative was oil from England. The

Anglo-Iranian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC; ) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling numbe ...

(BP) drilled at Eakring, and at Caunton. Oil was discovered in March 1943, and produced from May 1943. Another oil field later in 1943 was at Nocton, in North Kesteven. BP required 100,000 tons of crude oil from the Nottinghamshire fields, per year. In 1950 the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company would set up its Kirklington Hall Research Station, nearby to the west, to investigate geophysical exploration.

Filming

Caunton was used as a filming location for the majority of the second-series episodes of the popular British comedy drama ''

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site ...

'', about a group of seven British migrant construction workers, with Beesthorpe Hall being used as Thornely Manor which was being renovated as part of the storyline.

Geography

The hamlet of Knapthorpe is to the south of the village and A616 road, and within the parish boundary. The village pubs are The Plough and the country pub, Caunton Beck, both on Main Street. HMS ''Caunton'', named after the village, was a in service from 18 December 1952 to 1970.

References

External links