West Burton, Nottinghamshire, is a very small hamlet and former civil parish in the north east of the county, within the district of Bassetlaw. It lies between the villages of Bole and Sturton-le-Steeple. West Burton was originally based around a now-deserted village, which went into terminal decline when the course of the River Trent altered sometime around 1797 [1]. For many years afterwards the total recorded population was less than 60 [2] and the residential part of the parish had effectively been reduced to just one or two scattered farms and their neighbouring cottages - notably Grange Farm and High House Farm.
The ecclesiastical parish of West Burton was joined to the benefice of North Wheatley in 1884 even though these two adjacent places had no direct connection by road. The disused church of St Helen, founded in medieval times and previously served by a perpetual curate, was finally demolished around 1886 [3], although annual harvest thanksgiving services were later revived upon its site in the 20th century and these continued for many years [4].
The quiet and largely agricultural character of the area underwent a total transformation in the years following February 1961, when the Central Electricity Generating Board received consent for the building of the first West Burton Power Station, at that time intended for completion in 1967 [5]. This was constructed on land surrounding the original deserted hamlet and in subsequent years its cooling towers have totally dominated the surrounding countryside.
A topographical survey of the deserted village of West Burton was carried out by a team from Nottinghamshire County Council's community archaeology service in 2008-09 [1].