Village on the A611, 3 m. W of Newstead Abbey. Byron at 15 fell desperately in love with his cousin Mary Chaworth, who lived at Annesley Hall, 1 m. S, and was already engaged. He used to ride over from Southwell, and sometimes spent the night here. In ‘The Dream’ (1816) he tells of his unrequited love and how it ended:
"the one
To end in madness—both in misery.
"
His attachment was more poignant because, as he relates in ‘The Duel’ (1818), his great-uncle killed her grandfather. Byron used to keep his great-uncle's sword by his bed and it is still at Newstead. Her descendants later lived at the Hall.
