From Here We Changed The World - a new book from Adrian Gray

Bookworm of Retford have recently published a book on the religious history of North Nottinghamshire (and west Lincolnshire) by local author, Adrian Gray. Subtitled 'Amazing Stories of Pilgrims and Rebels from North Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire' this well illustrated book reminds us what a huge impact this small area of the English midlands has had on the development of the Christian faith.

As the promotional literature says, 'from this area have come of the great martyrs of the English Reformation, the leading puritans of Elizabethan England, the "Separatists" who became the "Mayflower" Pilgrims, and the founders of the Baptist, Quaker and Methodist denominations.'

Further information is available on the Bookworm website: www.bookwormretford.co.uk/publications.html

Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record now online

The Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is now online courtesy of Historic England's Heritage Gateway website. This is excellent news for researchers interested in archaeology and the built environment in Nottinghamshire. Please note the HER does not, regrettably, include the City of Nottingham itself.

The HER (formerly known as the Sites and Monuments Record) is a database of information on archaeological sites and finds, historic buildings and historic landscapes in Nottinghamshire. According to the county council website 'there are currently over 15,000 data entries in the Nottinghamshire HER. They refer to features ranging in size from single chance finds, such as Roman coins, to WWII airfields.'

Results from a search on the small village of Winkburn in central Notts are shown below:

Details of the record on the church of St John of Jerusalem are shown below:

Interestingly, there is no mention in the Heritage section of the Notts CC website that the HER has gone online. I found out today thanks to a posting by Emily Gillott on the East Midlands History and Heritage Facebook page.

Is this an example of what they call a system 'soft launch'?!