Hickling Notts Local History Group

29/05/2026

Plots, love letters and remedies: The medieval secrets being revealed by AI - not an AI fan, but this is a fascinating use of it :)

A 400-year-old coded text found at the Vatican Library is among the historic documents and messages that are being cracked with the help of artificial intelligence.

26/05/2026

Disappearing down rabbit holes (and entire warrens) is an occupational hazard in local history... Always time-consuming, always rewarding, but sometimes with the bonus of a wonderful turn of phrase:
"Tea was served (after a delay of an hour and a half, caused by the negligence of a perverse baker who supplied the buns) at 6 o'clock."

https://trove.nla.gov.au/
Trove is an extraordinary archive for Australian searches; this is from the Albury Banner in 1879 and records a school picnic and prizegiving. I've been looking in to the Mann/Manns family; William Mann was deported from Hickling and the family subsequently added an 's' to their surname - a story soon to be added to our 'From Hickling to the Other Side of the World' webpage.

04/05/2026

Belvoir Angels Society - AB KETTLEBY - this coming Saturday at 2pm
A little reminder that our next churchyard visit is to Ab Kettleby on Saturday - this is a beautiful church and churchyard in a lovely location. It also has a Belvoir Angel inside the Church which is only available to view when the church is open, so this is a great opportunity to have a look. There are 11 BA headstones here, all good examples (see the map, below).
The team at Ab Kettleby are very much looking forward to seeing everyone but they have a couple of notes, for your information:
They will be providing tea and coffee (and perhaps a bit of cake).
However, there is no water supply to the Church; so no toilet facilities either.
Similarly, there is no designated parking, so please park on the village street and walk up to the church.
We are really looking forward to seeing you all!!
Best wishes,
David, Ann, Janey and Jane.

10/04/2026

Can you help?
We are looking for pictures of Hickling that we could use to create Christmas Cards - do you have any pictures that you would like to share with us? Please send them to [email protected] or message, below.
Thank you!!

07/04/2026

Plans have started for this year's Scarecrow Festival in Hickling.
Save the dates 12th-13th September 2026

04/04/2026

A mysterious 5,000-year-old decision led directly to how we still count time today.

02/04/2026

Bridegate Lane, Hickling - an intriguing window into our past.
How beautiful is the array of daffodils on the site of the old wash pit on Bridegate Lane? The wide verges along Bridegate Lane are a leftover from the Enclosures in the late 1700s which changed the lives of rural communities and the rural economy for ever - in fact, many of the social problems created by the Enclosures are still to be resolved ...
Now these verges are a reminder of the days when a washpit was needed for the carts travelling in and out of the village, when lane lettings each year allowed villagers the right to graze sections of the verges and the creation of allotments (now lost) for villagers who had lost access to common areas to grow their own fruit and vegetables.
Generations of Hickling farmers and residents have secured a future for these wonderful green spaces; carefully managed they could now provide much-needed, meadow-rich habitat for birds, small mammals and insects.

Explore further on this link: https://www.hicklingnottslocalhistory.com/farming/

07/03/2026

The Plough has been at the heart of our community for over 200 years - many congratulations to the team and thank you for everything you do for our village!

01/03/2026

Every time that I think I have this fixed in my mind, it just disappears again …
This article & chart explains ‘cousins’ and ‘removeds’ - good luck!

When you’re tracing your family tree, it can be confusing keeping track of your relatives and their relationship to you. Find out what it means to be someone's second cousin and how to work out who yours are.

27/02/2026

A promise kept for 241 years and counting!
We are currently working through scans of the Hickling Parish Registers, labelling them to make them more useful for our research. But it is easy to get distracted!
A note at the bottom of a burials page from 1785 reads:

*1785 Jan 8. Stephen Daft. Gent. From Nether Broughton. Buried. Aged 69.
[..]
*NB. By consent & permission of Robt Barker Rector, a Tomb was erected October 6th 1785 in the Church yard over the above Stephen Daft Gent for which the sum of one pound one shilling as an acknowledgement was paid by Sam Hopkin the administrator in order that the said tomb might never be removed by any succeeding Rector for ever.

https://www.hicklingnottslocalhistory.com/daft-family/