Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England in the 1590s

Work

Road, estate, and fields

The most visible work is tied to road and manor: the postmaster must lodge Crown messengers travelling from London to Scotland⁴, while the receiver and bailiff handle the Archbishop of York’s Scrooby estates⁴. Farming surrounds this, but local 1590s crop details are not preserved in the sources found here.

Faith

A watched parish church

Scrooby worships in a chapel-of-ease to Sutton-cum-Lound, with income and patronage in lay hands¹. In 1598 the curate is in trouble over ritual dress: Henry Jones was cited for not using the surplice¹.

Law & power

Archbishop, Crown, parish

Local authority is layered: the manor is an Archbishop of York manor-place⁴, while the same household office serves the Crown through the Queen’s posts⁴. Poor relief is moving toward parish control, as the later 1601 system made relief a parish responsibility⁵.

In the air

Conformity under pressure

The arguments are religious before they are political. In 1603, just after the decade, the visitation said no adult refused communion and no separatism or puritanism¹ existed in the parish church, but the 1598 surplice case shows how closely conformity was watched.

What people feared

Hunger and punishment

The late decade is hard across England: bad harvests between 1595 and 1598 increased poverty⁵. The official answer joins relief to discipline, with laws aimed at poverty and vagrancy⁵.

Home & table

Small, young population

By 1603 Scrooby held 71 adults and about 114 children under sixteen¹, making it a village where children outnumbered adults. Ordinary house interiors are a gap: no online source found here gives a 1590s description of ordinary Scrooby cottages.

Money

Small salaries, fixed dues

The archbishop’s local offices paid cash: receiver was £2 a year⁴ and bailiff £1 6s 8d a year⁴. Those sums belong to office-holding, not to ordinary labourers, whose Scrooby wages are not found here.

Roads & news

News rides the road

Scrooby is not isolated: the Great North Road ran by Scrooby^2,3, and its post office had to receive Crown messengers travelling on the road from London to Scotland⁴. The nearest little town named in the sources is Bawtry, somewhat over a mile away².

Year by year

1. 1588The Spanish Armada was defeated, a national memory still recent in the 1590s. the country
2. 1590William Brewster senior died, and William Brewster junior succeeded him at Scrooby. here⁴
3. 1590A warrant accused James Brewster of ruining the hospital house and chapel at Bawtry and using it as a stable. nearby²
4. 1595Bad harvests began a run of national scarcity that increased poverty through 1598. the country⁵
5. 1598Scrooby curate Henry Jones was cited for non-use of the surplice. here¹
6. 1598Parliament passed poor-law measures against poverty and vagrancy. the country⁵
7. 1603An archbishop’s visitation estimated Scrooby at 71 adults and about 114 children under sixteen. here¹

Pictures from the time

What the sources say

• The old Great North Road ran by Scrooby, passing the eastern end of the churchyard. inferred^2,3
• The old road then went through the ford below the mill. inferred²
• John Leland described Scrooby church in about 1540 as not large but well built of squared stone. inferred²
• The church tower, with its Perpendicular west window, dates from the early fifteenth century. inferred³
• The south aisle of the church was added about a century after the tower and had Tudor-style windows. inferred³
• Scrooby manor stood within a moat enclosing about six and a half acres. inferred⁴
• Leland described the manor as an Archbishop of York manor-place built in two courts, mainly timber, with a brick hall front and stone steps. inferred⁴
• William Brewster senior was appointed receiver and bailiff of the Archbishop of York’s Scrooby estates in 1575, with salaries of £2 and £1 6s 8d a year. inferred⁴
• In 1588 William Brewster senior also became Master of the Queen’s Posts and was responsible for accommodating Crown messengers travelling on the road from London to Scotland. inferred⁴
• William Brewster senior died in 1590 and was succeeded by his son William Brewster junior. inferred⁴
• The church was a chapel-of-ease to Sutton-cum-Lound, and Scrooby’s church income and patronage had passed into lay hands during Elizabeth I’s reign. from the sources¹
• In 1598 Scrooby curate Henry Jones was cited for not using the surplice, though the record says he did use it for most services and for sacraments. from the sources¹
• In 1603 the parish was estimated at 71 adults and about 114 children under sixteen. from the sources¹
• By 1603 an archbishop’s visitation reported no adult in Scrooby refusing communion and no separatism or puritanism in the parish church. from the sources¹
• Bawtry, north of Scrooby, was described as a little town somewhat over a mile away. inferred²
• Nearby Bawtry had the hospital or chapel of St Mary Magdalene, re-endowed in 1390. inferred²
• In 1590 a warrant accused James Brewster of ruining the Bawtry hospital house and chapel and turning it into a stable. inferred²
• Across England, bad harvests between 1595 and 1598 increased poverty and helped produce the Poor Laws of 1598. from the sources⁵
• The Poor Laws of 1598 were intended to answer poverty and vagrancy, and the later 1601 system made relief a parish responsibility funded by local rates. from the sources⁵
• No online source found here gives a 1590s description of ordinary Scrooby cottages, room layouts, diets, or field names. not known

Sources

1. Scrooby - History. Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project
2. 16th Century Scrooby. Scrooby Village
3. Visiting Scrooby. Scrooby Village
4. Scrooby Manor House. Scrooby Village
5. English Poor Laws. Wikipedia