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Barnack is a village and
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 ...
, now in the
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
of the ceremonial county of
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
, England and the historic county of
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
. Barnack is in the north-west of the unitary authority, south-east of
Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...
. The parish includes the
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 ...
of
Pilsgate Pilsgate is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Barnack, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. Pilsgate is close to the county boundary and south-east of Stamford, Lincolnshire. In 1 ...
about northwest of Barnack. Both Barnack and Pilsgate are on the B1443 road. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 931. Barnack is historically part of the
Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and compr ...
, which was associated with Northamptonshire but had its own County Council from 1888 until 1965. From 1894 until 1965 there was a
Barnack Rural District Barnack was a rural district in the Soke of Peterborough and later Huntingdon and Peterborough from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, from that part of the Stamford rural sanitary district which was in ...
that was a subdivision of the Soke, and which formed part of
Huntingdon and Peterborough Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative and geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgeshire. Formation The Local Government Act 1888 created fo ...
until 1974. Barnack is notable for its former
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
industry, its
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
parish church and an unusual 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 ...
burial. Hills and Holes, an area of Roman and later quarrying, is now a nature reserve.


The Barnack burial

The Barnack burial is an important early Bronze Age find. It comes from a complicated monument which was expanded and altered on at least three occasions. The original burial was very rich for the period, but was covered by only a small barrow. Later additional burials and cremations were cut into the barrow, and it was enlarged twice. Probably at the same time, three concentric ditches were dug around the barrow. The final monument contained at least 23 bodies and had a diameter of . When gravel quarrying threatened the barrow in 1974, the decision was taken to excavate. The objects recovered were donated to the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
but replicas are displayed in
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery houses the historical and art collections of the city of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, England. Managed by Vivacity on behalf of the city council, it is part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership. Histo ...
.


The primary burial

The primary burial was of a man aged between 35 and 45. He died sometime between 2330 and 2130 BC. He was very robustly built and quite tall for the time: about . He was suffering from slight
arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...
. Marks on his bones, and those of the other people in the barrow, show that they were used to squatting. It is unknown if this was due to their work or just how they sat. His teeth had no disease but were well worn, showing he ate mainly a gritty diet of cereals.


The grave goods

The grave goods of the primary burial are rare and prestigious. There is a large " beaker" pot and a copper dagger, common items found in graves of the time. There is also a piece of
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
; it is unknown what this was for and archaeologists have been unable to provide an adequate explanation why it was buried in the grave. There is an unusual pendant made of either bone from a
sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...
or
walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped, flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in ...
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
. Yet the most luxurious item is a
stone wrist-guard Early Bronze Age stone wrist-guards are found across Europe from around 2400-1900 BC and are closely associated with the Beaker culture and Unetice culture. In the past they have been variously known as ''stone bracers'', ''stone arm-guards'' and ...
. These stone wrist-guards normally have between two and six holes carefully drilled into them. However, the wrist-guard from Barnack has eighteen holes, and each one was filled with a foil-thin disc of gold. The wrist-guard. made of greenstone, was never intended to be worn since the gold caps in the holes would have stopped it from being tied to the arm. Fewer than a hundred such wrist-guards have been found in Great Britain and the example from Barnack is arguably the finest. A similar less refined wrist-guard from
Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...
in Yorkshire is also in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.


Parish church

The
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of St
John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
is notable for its 11th-century
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
tower. The interior of the church includes a high-quality late Saxon
Romanesque sculpture Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 19th-century ...
of
Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory ( la, Maiestas Domini) is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whos ...
. The tower is topped by what may be one of the earliest spires in England, dating to around the 12th Century.


Economic and social history


Barnack stone

Oolitic
Lincolnshire limestone The Lincolnshire Limestone Formation is a geological formation in England, part of the Inferior Oolite Group of the (Bajocian) Middle Jurassic strata of eastern England. It was formed around 165 million years ago, in a shallow, warm sea on the ma ...
, including some called "Barnack rag", was a valuable building stone first used by the
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 ...
. Quarrying continued in the
Middle Ages 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
when the abbeys at
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
,
Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...
,
Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
,
Sawtry Sawtry () is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Sawtry lies approximately north of Huntingdon. Sawtry is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic cou ...
and
Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
all used Barnack stone, and the
monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
frequently were in dispute over the rights to it. Blocks of stone were transported on sleds to the
river Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...
and loaded onto barges on which they were taken down the
River Nene The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
and the Fenland waterways. Most notably, Barnack stone was used to build
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
and
Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...
s. Barnack stone was also used extensively for buildings in Stamford. It is likely that the stone was also carved in the village. A possible Barnack school of Anglo-Saxon sculpture has been identified. The stone was used for numerous buildings in Barnack itself, most notably the parish church. Another notable example is 7 Station Road, which is a 13th or 14th century house remodelled in the 16th or early 17th century. It is a
Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The best Barnack stone had been worked out by about 1460, but after the dissolution of the monasteries, supplies became available from demolition of the Fenland monasteries and was re-used in Cambridge colleges. Lesser-quality Barnack stone continued to be quarried until the 18th century, and in 1825 it was quarried as roadstone for the Great North Road. After the useful stone had been removed, the bare heaps of lime-rich rubble were gradually covered by a rich carpet of wild flowers, such as the
pasque flower The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh", the common name pasque flower refers to th ...
and
pyramidal orchid ''Anacamptis pyramidalis'', the pyramidal orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus ''Anacamptis'' of the family Orchidaceae. The scientific name ''Anacamptis'' derives from Greek ανακάμτειν 'anakamptein' meaning 'b ...
, which can be seen today. The quarry area, now a national nature reserve and
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
, is called the "Hills and Holes" or "Hills and Hollows".


Apples

The 'Barnack Beauty' apple variety was first cultivated here in about 1840.


Mills

Barnack
water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...
was built in the 18th century. Its undershot water wheel is ''in situ'' but none of the mill's interior machinery remains. Barnack
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
is a
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 ...
built of Barnack stone in 1797. Its commercial use as a mill ceased in 1914 and for a time it stood derelict. Its interior machinery survives complete and the mill was restored in 1959–62.


Railways

In 1846 the
Syston and Peterborough Railway The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1846 and 1848 to form a connection from the Midland Counties Railway near Leicester to Peterborough, giving access to East Anglia over the Eastern Counties Railway ...
opened. It included a station in the parish about north of Barnack. It was nearer
Uffington, Lincolnshire Uffington is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 686. It is in the valley of the River Welland, between Stamford and The Deepings. Geo ...
than Barnack, so initially it was called Uffington station. The Syston – Peterborough line was absorbed by the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
, which in 1858 renamed the station .
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways closed the station in 1952, and that line's nearest station to Barnack is now . The disused Uffington and Barnack station survives and is a
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. In 1867 the Great Northern Railway opened a branch line linking Stamford and , with a Barnack railway station on the east side of the village. The
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
absorbed the GNR in 1923 and closed the branch line in 1929.


School and village hall

In the middle of the 19th century a house in the village built in 1797 was converted into the parish school. In the 20th century the school moved to new premises and the building was converted into the village hall.


Notable people

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...
, author of '' The Water Babies'', spent his childhood at the Rectory. His brother
Henry Kingsley Henry Kingsley (2 January 1830 – 24 May 1876) was an English novelist, brother of the better-known Charles Kingsley. He was an early exponent of muscular Christianity in an 1859 work, ''The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn''. Life Kingsley wa ...
was born there in 1830. They were the sons of the Rev. Charles Kingsley the elder and Mary, ''née'' Lucas. The Rectory was largely rebuilt later in the 19th century and is now called Kingsley House. The painter
Wilfrid Wood Wilfrid René Wood (1 December 1888 – 18 February 1976) was a British engraver and watercolourist. He painted urban landscapes of British towns such as Stamford, Lincolnshire. Wilfrid Wood was born in Cheadle Hulme, south of Manchester. His ...
(1888–1976) lived in a 17th-century thatched cottage, Littlefield on Station Road, Barnack from 1938. The village hall is now named after him.


Amenities

Barnack has a primary school, a pub, two
bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...
s, a
MOT test The MOT test (or simply MOT) is an annual test of vehicle safety, roadworthiness aspects and exhaust emissions required in the United Kingdom for most vehicles over three years old. In Northern Ireland the equivalent requirement applies after ...
centre and a garage. There are also several other small businesses and an agricultural goods supplier.


References


Sources and further reading

* * * Goodwin, J Martin (1983) 'The Book of Barnack' (Barracuda Books Ltd, Buckingham, ISBN 0 86023 158 5). * *


External links

* {{authority control Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Geography of Peterborough Villages in Cambridgeshire