Felley

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Felley civil parish is in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of four. Since 1974 it has formed part of the local government district of Ashfield. Before 1974 it was part of Basford Rural District Council.

The parish is grouped with the neighbouring parish of Annesley (pop 1096) to elect a joint parish council.

[edit] Felley Priory

Throughout its history the hamlet of Felley has been overshadowed by the Augustinian priory, Felley Priory. Therefore, few records of the secular settlement exist.

In 1539, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII, the priory’s land was granted to William Bolles, but he did not hold them for long. As Mary I sold the land to Sir Anthony Strelley, whose family held Strelley, near Nottingham

Again the old priory's Felley property reverted to the Crown, James I letting it to Anthony Millington and his heirs. The Millingtons made it their family seat. It became the home of Gilbert Millington, Anthony's son. A member of the Long Parliament and Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1642 when the civil war broke out between Charles I and parliament, he was marked out for punishment by the Royalists who seized and sacked his home at Felley. Millington was one of those who signed the king's death warrant, for which at the Restoration he was condemned to death along with other regicides. However, he was spared the gallows and spent the rest of his life in captivity on Jersey until he died in 1676.

[edit] References

• Nottinghamshire History