Whatton-in-the-Vale is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in West Bridgford. The borough also includes the towns of Bingh ...

district, in the county 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 ...

, England. It lies in the Vale of Belvoir, with the River Smite to the west and a subsidiary, the River Whipling to the east, mainly north of the trunk

A52 road The A52 is a major road in the East Midlands, England. It runs east from a junction with the A53 road, A53 at Newcastle-under-Lyme near Stoke-on-Trent via Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne, Derby, Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, Stapleford, Notting ...

, east of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. The parish had a population of 843 at the 2011 census, increasing to 874 at the 2021 census.

Etymology

The place name seems to contain the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

word ''hwǣte'' for wheat, + ''tūn'' (Old English) meaning an enclosure, a farmstead, a village, an estate, ''etc''., so "Farm where wheat is grown." "In the Vale," ''i. e.'' the Vale of Belvoir. The place appears as ''Watone'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086.

Heritage

Whatton Mill was a five-storey brick tower windmill built in 1820. It had four patent sails (sails with shutters instead of cloth), two of which were double. Milling ceased in about 1916. The capless tower is now a listed building. The Anglican Church of St. John of Beverley is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building dating from the 14th century, but extensively restored and rebuilt in the 19th century. It belongs to the Cranmer Group of parishes, with the churches at Aslockton, Hawksworth, Orston, Scarrington and Thoroton. A service is held in Whatton once a month. The population of Whatton was 306 in 1801, 399 in 1821, and 388 in 1831. Whatton Manor estate, to the south of the village, was inherited in 1840 by Thomas Dickinson Hall (1808–1879), who built a substantial manor house there in "Elizabethan style". The family financed charitable and church-building work in the district. The manor house and its grounds were sold in 1919 to Samuel Ernest Chesterman, who in turn sold them to William Goodacre Player, son of John Player of the cigarette manufacturers John Player & Sons). The manor building, by then in poor condition, was demolished in the mid-1960s, but the original stables can still be seen from Manor Lane. They now house a stud farm. The village pub, the ''Griffin's Head'', was closed and demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced by housing. Whatton was once a named telephone exchange for many of the surrounding villages, but the name gave way to a dialling code (01949).

Governance

Whatton has its own parish council. The village falls under the governance of Rushcliffe Borough Council. The member of Parliament is

Robert Jenrick Robert Edward Jenrick (born 9 January 1982) is a British politician who has been Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor since November 2024. He served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Immigration from 2022 to ...

(Conservative), MP for Newark.

Transport

Whatton is served by

Aslockton railway station Aslockton railway station serves the English villages of Aslockton and Whatton-in-the-Vale in Nottinghamshire. It also draws passengers from other nearby villages. It is 10 miles (17 km) east of Nottingham on the Nottingham–Skegness Line. H ...

, less than a mile to the north of the village, with services to

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

and

. Limited bus services run to Bingham and to

via Bottesford.

Prison

HM Prison Whatton opened at the west end of the village in 1960 as a detention centre. Since 1990 it has been a Category C closed male prison for sex offenders.BBC report, 30 March 201
Retrieved 3 June 2016.
/ref>

References

External links

Details of the conservation areaGENUKI(tm) pageWhatton-in-the-Vale Parish CouncilWhatton-in-the-Vale Local History
{{authority control Villages in Nottinghamshire Civil parishes in Nottinghamshire Rushcliffe