North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Bar ...

The Cliff A cliff is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliff, The Cliff or The Cliffs may also refer to: Buildings *Cliff Brewery, a former brewery near Ipswich, England *Cliff Palace, largest cliff dwelling in North America *The Cliffs, a histo ...

Trent Falls Trent Falls is the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent which forms the Humber between Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. Location The River Ouse flows to the east where it turns into the Humber, and the R ...

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Aquis Arnemetiae'').

Toponymy

The place-name Alkborough seems to contain an

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

personal name, ''Aluca'' or ''Alca'', + ''berg '' (Old English), a hill, a mound; an artificial hill; a tumulus, so 'Alca's hill'. Cameron derived the place-name Walcot from "the cottage, hut or shelter of the Welshman" and suggested that the name might represent an isolated group of Welshmen, identifiable as such in Anglo-Saxon England. Alkborough appears in the Domesday survey of 1086 as ''Alchebarge''.

History

Neolithic

The earliest evidence of settlement in the area has been found near Kell Well (a spring on the ridge to the south of Alkborough and the west of Walcot) in the form of a stone axe head, flint arrowheads and other finds thought to date from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

period (4000 BC–2351 BC).

Bronze Age

Artifacts including a beaker, dating from the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(2350 BC–1501 BC), were unearthed in 1920, in the grounds of Walcot Hall.

Iron Age

During the late

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

, Alkborough lay within the territory of the

Corieltauvi The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were ...

tribe.

Roman

Following

Roman invasion The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Stane ...

of the area, some time after AD43, the local Corieltauvi tribe became a Roman ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

''. Pottery

sherds This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

dating from the 1st to the 4th century AD have been found in the fields south of Countess Close. These finds, along with a pot containing a small hoard of

Roman coins Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...

, which was unearthed in the grounds of Walcot Hall, indicate the possibility of a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

Settlement here. A geophysical survey taken in 2003 showed clear evidence of a Romano-British ladder settlement.

Medieval

The village is the site of the former Alkborough Benedictine Priory Cell. It was founded before 1052, when it is recorded as being given by its founder, Thorold,

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilit ...

, to

Spalding Priory Spalding Priory was a small Benedictine house in the town of Spalding, Lincolnshire, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St Nicholas. It was founded as a cell of Croyland Abbey, in 1052, by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife, Godiva, Count ...

. It was a small priory, being a cell of only three

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

, a secular chaplain, and a

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

. The cell was dependent on Spalding Priory from 1052 to 1074, then its staffing levels were reduced, until 1220, when it ceased to exist as a monastic house and was abandoned. It was located at , which is in the south of the village in the grounds of College Farm. A Field Investigator's comment from 17 February 1964 states that there is no material evidence of antiquity. Alkborough Priory Cell is included in the

English Heritage Archive The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...

(Number: SE 82 SE 7, Monument Number: 61223).

Wartime

Bombing range

Alkborough Flats was home to a

bombing range A bombing range usually refers to a remote military aerial bombing and gunnery training range used by combat aircraft to attack ground targets (air-to-ground bombing), or a remote area reserved for researching, developing, testing and evaluatin ...

during the Second World War. The following is a summary of an

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

provided by an Alkborough resident who was school age during Second World War:

The bombing range itself took the form of a chalk marker on Alkborough Flats, and two observation posts positioned on the ridge overlooking the target. An RAF detachment from RAF Elsham Wolds, including two sergeants, were billeted in the southern of the two observation posts. Bombers would take off from Elsham, and drop smoke bombs on the target. Following a bombing run, a bearing on the bomb's landing site was taken from each observation post, and the position of the site calculated using triangulation. During one bombing run, a horse was killed, and another bomb narrowly missed a group of children sledging. After the war, agricultural workers ploughing on the Flats regularly reported releasing smoke. During the establishment of the Alkborough Flats Tidal Defence Scheme in 2005/2006, a large quantity of World War II ordnance was removed from the site under supervision of bomb disposal officers. Currently, very little remains of the southern observation post, though an entire wall of the northern observation post is still standing (including the observation windows).

The southern observation post was located at , and the northern at . They are both accessible to the public via a

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

. The location of the chalk target marker is not known exactly, but was somewhere to the west of the new

bird hide A bird hide (blind or bird blind in North America) is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides or hunting blinds were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commo ...

, which is located at .

Defensive structures

A number of Second World War defensive structures were also in the Alkborough area, including: *Three

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

batteries. One of these (Site 3) was located just west of Whitton Road, at . It was staffed by 1 Troop of 323 Searchlight Battery from October 1941. It was established as part of a special deployment of searchlights to defend the Humber Estuary, complementing existing local searchlight batteries). A typical installation of this type comprised a small

ring ditch In archaeology, a ring ditch is a trench of circular or penannular plan, cut into bedrock. They are usually identified through aerial photography either as soil marks or cropmarks. When excavated, ring ditches are usually found to be the ploughed� ...

(providing operators with some shelter during an air raid, a predictor emplacement (for calculating the height/range of aircraft), a light anti-aircraft machine gun pit, a

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

and hutted accommodation for the crew. This site is included in the

English Heritage Archive The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...

(Number: SE 82 SE 62, Monument Number: 1500984). *A heavy anti-aircraft battery. It was located just south of West Halton Lane (near Southdale Farm), at , and was listed as 'unarmed' in 1942. This site is included in the

English Heritage Archive The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...

(Number: SE 82 SE 60, Monument Number: 1473341).

Governance

Lying within the historic county boundaries of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

for centuries, from a very early time, Alkborough formed part of the Manley

Wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...

in the North division of

Lindsey Lindsey may refer to : Places Canada * Lindsey Lake, Nova Scotia England * Parts of Lindsey, one of the historic Parts of Lincolnshire and an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 ** East Lindsey, an administrative district in Lincolnshire, ...

. Care for the poor of the parish extends back prior to 1765, though after the Poor Law reforms of 1834, Alkborough became part of the

Glanford Brigg Brigg ( /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west tran ...

Poor Law Union. From 1894 until 1974, Alkborough lay within

Glanford Brigg Rural District Glanford Brigg was a rural district in Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey from 1894 to 1974. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Glanford Brigg rural sanitary district. It entirely surrounded the borough of Scunthorpe. It wa ...

.

Population history (1801–2001)

The population history of the area is reported as the following, transcribed from North Lincolnshire Council website.

Conservation Area

The older part of Alkborough, including

Julian's Bower Julian's Bower or Julian Bower is a name given to turf mazes in several different parts of England. Only one of this name still exists, at Alkborough in North Lincolnshire. It has also been known by corrupted forms of the name, such as "Gillian's ...

, Countess Close, and Walcot, lies within a Conservation Area.

Geography

Alkborough Flats and Trent Falls - geograph

Alkborough is situated on an escarpment formed of Triassic

Mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

, known as The Cliff, which runs roughly north–south. The steep mudstone escarpment is to the west, with a shallow slope to the east formed from shale of the

Lower Lias The Lias Group or Lias is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) found in a large area of western Europe, including the British Isles, the North Sea, the Low Countries and the north of Germany. It consists of marine limestones, ...

in the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

system.

Alkborough Flats

Alkborough Flats is an area of low-lying arable farmland of nearly situated at the "Confluence of the Rivers" (

Trent Falls Trent Falls is the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent which forms the Humber between Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. Location The River Ouse flows to the east where it turns into the Humber, and the R ...

) where the Rivers

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

and

Ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...

join to form the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...

Estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. The

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...

is now jointly owned by the UK's Environment Agency and

English Nature English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Environmen ...

.

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

defences, which were built in the 1950s to protect the area, have been breached to allow water to reclaim the land at high tide and in times of flooding. The project created of new intertidal habitat in the inner part of the Humber Estuary. The new grassland will be managed to encourage

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, with

reedbed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s, lagoons and

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

areas. Alkborough Flats is the first coastal realignment site to be developed as part of the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...

Shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

line Management Plan. This "

managed retreat Managed retreat involves the purposeful, coordinated movement of people and buildings away from risks. This may involve the movement of a person, infrastructure (e.g., building or road), or community. It can occur in response to a variety of hazar ...

" strategy should lessen the risks of flooding in low-lying towns along the Ouse and Trent by realigning existing flood defences to create compensatory intertidal habitat around the estuary. The relatively new island of Whitton Island in the Humber Estuary falls partly within the parish.

Walcot

Walcot is an outlying

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

situated to the south of Alkborough, and within the same parish.

Landmarks

Julian's Bower

Close to the Cliff edge is

Julian's Bower Julian's Bower or Julian Bower is a name given to turf mazes in several different parts of England. Only one of this name still exists, at Alkborough in North Lincolnshire. It has also been known by corrupted forms of the name, such as "Gillian's ...

, a unicursal

turf maze Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...

, 43 feet (13 m) across, of indeterminate age. Although referred to as a maze, being unicursal (having only one way in and one path through) it is more accurately a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

. According to Arthur Mee's book ''Lincolnshire'' the maze was cut by monks in the 12th century, but White's ''Lincolnshire Directory'' of 1872 maintains that it was constructed in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times as part of a game. Others think that while the feature is of Roman origin, it was later used by the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Church for some sort of penitential purpose and only reverted to its former use as an amusement or diversion, after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Firm documentary evidence of its existence only seems to date from 1697 however, when it was noticed, on his travels, by the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Abraham de la Pryme Abraham de la Pryme (15 January 1671 – 12 June 1704) was an English antiquary. Life Abraham de la Pryme was born to French Huguenot parents, Matthias de la Pryme and Sarah Smague (or Smagge) at Hatfield in 1671. Despite his father's desire ...

. In case the maze becomes overgrown or otherwise indistinct, its pattern is recorded, in a 19th-century

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

church window, on the floor of the church

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

and also on the

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

of James Goulton Constable, which is in Alkborough cemetery. Julian's Bower is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

.

Countess Close

Countess Close (National Monument No. 32622; North Lincolnshire Sites and Monuments Record (NLSMR) No. 44) is a rectangular earthwork lying a few yards to the south of

Julian's Bower Julian's Bower or Julian Bower is a name given to turf mazes in several different parts of England. Only one of this name still exists, at Alkborough in North Lincolnshire. It has also been known by corrupted forms of the name, such as "Gillian's ...

. It measures approx. 80 m × 90 m internally. It was recorded by the 18th century antiquary, William Stukeley on a visit to the area whilst researching his book ''Itinerarium Curiosum'' (or ''Observations From A Journey''). He thought Countess Close to be a Roman Fort, as did the earlier

Abraham de la Pryme Abraham de la Pryme (15 January 1671 – 12 June 1704) was an English antiquary. Life Abraham de la Pryme was born to French Huguenot parents, Matthias de la Pryme and Sarah Smague (or Smagge) at Hatfield in 1671. Despite his father's desire ...

. However, a 2003 archaeological project carried out by Humber Field Archaeology concluded that, despite evidence of a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

ladder settlement running south along the ridge from Countess Close, it is probable that the earthwork is the remains of a Medieval fortified manor house. It is thought that Countess Close is named for a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

heiress called Countess Lucy of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

,

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. She inherited the land from her husband

Ivo Taillebois Ivo Taillebois (died 1094) was a powerful Norman nobleman, sheriff and tenant-in-chief in 11th-century England. Life Ivo Taillebois was a Norman most probably from Taillebois, now a small hamlet in Saint-Gervais de Briouze, Calvados.K.S.B. Keat ...

(who in the time of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

was Lord of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

), who was given the land by

Peterborough Abbey Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

. Following Lucy's death, Countess Close passed to her son, who then gave the land to

Spalding Priory Spalding Priory was a small Benedictine house in the town of Spalding, Lincolnshire, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St Nicholas. It was founded as a cell of Croyland Abbey, in 1052, by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife, Godiva, Count ...

in 1147. Countess Close is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

.

St John the Baptist Church

Earliest records show a church here in 1052, and the tower is of typical

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

design. The architecture of the church shows there have been many changes to the building throughout its long history. The font, although set on a modern base, dates back to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times. The oak reredos behind the altar was made by the famous Robert (Mouseman) Thompson (also known as Mousey Thompson) of Kilburn. His signature mouse can be seen on the right hand upright. The reredos was placed in the church as a memorial in the early 1920s. Under a capping stone set in the floor near the tower entrance, lies what is believed to be a stone of

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

origin. For some years the church housed a pair of

Grotrian-Steinweg Grotrian-Steinweg, known as Grotrian in the US, is a German manufacturer of prestige pianos. The company is based in Braunschweig, Germany, commonly known as Brunswick in English. Grotrian-Steinweg makes premium grand pianos and upright pianos. ...

grand pianos belonging to the Goldstone and Clemmow piano duo, and was used for many of their recordings.

Possible Thomas Becket connection

In 1697, Abraham de la Pryme reported the existence of a stone in the ruined

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

of the church, bearing the inscribed names of "Richardus Bruto Necnon Menonius Hugo, Willelmus Trajo templum hoc lapidus altum, Condebant patria gloria dignia Deo". The inscription is translated as "Richard Brito as well as Hugh Morville and William Tracy, built with stones this lofty temple, a worthy glory to God", suggesting that three of the four knights who murdered

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

in 1170, (namely Sir

Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland Sir Hugh de Morville (died c. 1173) was an Anglo-Norman knight who served King Henry II of England in the late 12th century. He is chiefly famous as one of the assassins of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1170. He held the title Lord o ...

, Sir

William de Tracy Sir William de Tracy (died ) was a knight and the feudal baron of Bradninch, Devon, with '' caput'' at the manor of Bradninch near Exeter, and was lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to th ...

and Sir

Richard le Breton Sir Richard le Breton or Richard de Brito (fl. 1170) was one of the four knights who in 1170 murdered Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Origins Roger Brito is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as holding land under the overlordship o ...

), took refuge in Alkborough and helped with restoration of the church. If any such stone ever existed, it cannot now be found.

Alkborough tower mill

The

tower mill A tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower, on which sits a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the sails into the wind.Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia (2005), 520 Thi ...

at Alkborough was built circa 1860 of red brick and tar, originally for the milling of

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

. It replaced a

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

which was recorded as still standing in 1853. It remained in wind operation until 1916 (but continued with engine operation for a short while thereafter), and from 2009 became part of a private dwelling. The mill retains two

millstones Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

in situ on the first floor. The floors contain re-used timber from the post mill, and two posts are made from a common sail whip. The tower mill is included in the

English Heritage Archive The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...

(Number: SE 883,215, Monument Number: 497747). It is located just off West Halton Lane at .

Walcot Hall

Walcot Hall is a Grade II listed Georgian country house which stands in 22 acres of parkland in the hamlet of Walcot some 1 mile (2 km) south of the village of Alkborough. It was built in the mid to late 18th century for Thomas Goulton, modified in the early 1800s and partly demolished in 1964. Several families have occupied the building, including the Marriotts, Stricklands, Constables and Legards. It was bought by the current owners in 2004. It is currently used to cater for weddings and corporate events. It is located at .

Kell Well

Kell Well is a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

that discharges from a point just below the top of

The Cliff A cliff is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliff, The Cliff or The Cliffs may also refer to: Buildings *Cliff Brewery, a former brewery near Ipswich, England *Cliff Palace, largest cliff dwelling in North America *The Cliffs, a histo ...

escarpment, west of Walcot. However, due to Danish influence the name is not uncommon for springs in eastern England, ''keld'' being a Danish word for ''spring pool''. The waters of the spring were once believed to have had petrifying properties, but if this were ever the case those properties are now lost. However, the spring is chalybeate. Kell Well was first recorded by Abraham de la Pryme following his visit in 1697. He wrote "a great many pretty stones, being a kind of astroites or starr stones... The country people call them kestles and postles." The stones to which De la Pryme referred were the remnants of fossil

crinoids Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are ...

. These were once common at Kell Well, though there have been no recorded finds for many years. Kell Well is accessible to the public via a spur path from the nearby

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

. It is located at .

Low Wells

Low Wells is a spring that discharges from a point just the south side of Prospect Lane, north of (and several yards below) St John the Baptist Church. There is no evidence suggesting how the spring became known as "Low Wells", though its position below the level of the main part of the village would seem to suggest an obvious answer. The well takes the form of three low brick arches behind a long rectangular trough, into which the water flows. This well-structure is thought to have been constructed . As this arrangement was probably to facilitate the watering of livestock, a pump was installed nearby to tap the springs first and provide clean drinking water for villagers, though this has now gone. The structure was restored in 1986. Low Wells is accessible to the public from Prospect Lane, and is located at coordinates .

Apex Light

By a quirk of the Alkborough & Walcot parish boundary, the

Trent Falls Trent Falls is the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent which forms the Humber between Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. Location The River Ouse flows to the east where it turns into the Humber, and the R ...

light known as Apex Light lies within the parish. This is despite its being 'attached' to the opposite bank of the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

, and inaccessible from Alkborough.
It is located at

Image gallery

File:Tower House - geograph.org.uk - 248450.jpg, The three-storey 'Tower House' on Back Street File:A wet square - geograph.org.uk - 10837.jpg,

Trent Falls Trent Falls is the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent which forms the Humber between Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. Location The River Ouse flows to the east where it turns into the Humber, and the R ...

(the Confluence of Rivers

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

,

Ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...

and

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...

) File:Walcot Hall - geograph.org.uk - 11707.jpg, Walcot Hall File:Alkborough Wesleyan Chapel - geograph.org.uk - 296411.jpg, Alkborough Wesleyan Chapel

References

External links

Pastscape – English Heritage Archive websiteAlkborough & Walcot parish website
*
Alkborough shown on 1:50 000 OS Map (streetmap.co.uk)
* {{Authority control Villages in the Borough of North Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Borough of North Lincolnshire