Colsterworth 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 ...
in the
South Kesteven
South Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. It covers Bourne, Lincolnshire, Bourne, Grantham, Market Deeping and Stamford, Li ...
district 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 ...
, England, less than half a mile (0.8 km) west of the
A1, about south of
Grantham
Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...
, and north-west of
Stamford. The village with the hamlet of
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth (to distinguish it from Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir in the same county) is a hamlet in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is best known as the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton.
Woolsthorpe-by-Colster ...
had a recorded population of 1,713 at the time of the 2011 Census, in an area of .
Civil parish
The civil parish includes the village of Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, north-west of Colsterworth. The parish shares a
grouped parish council with
Gunby and Stainby Gunby and Stainby is a civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 141, falling to 136 at the 2011 census. It includes the hamlets of Gunby and Stainby.
For administr ...
and
North Witham
North Witham is a small village and nominally a civil parish in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. The village is located along the upper course of the River Witham 1.5 miles downstream (north) of South Witham, and approximately south fr ...
, known as Colsterworth and District Parish Council.
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth is notable as the birthplace of
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the great ...
, his home,
Woolsthorpe Manor
Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, is the birthplace and was the family home of Sir Isaac Newton. He was born there on 25 December 1642 (old calendar). At that time, it was a yeoman's farmstea ...
, being a visitor attraction. Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth village hall was built as a result of an appeal in Newton's memory, and is named after him. Newton was christened at the parish church of St John the Baptist, where a copy of the entry in the register can be found.
[
]
Heritage
The name Colsterworth is from the 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 ...
'colestre' + 'worth' for "enclosure of the charcoal burners"; the name appears as "Colsteuorde" in the ''Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
''.
The village dates from the Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
. It is close to Ermine Street
Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln (''Lindum Colonia'') and York (''Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas'', ...
, the old Roman road that ran from London directly north to 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 to the Roman road known as High Dyke
High Dyke is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the north of Middleton-in-Teesdale
Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale betw ...
. A Roman smelting furnace was found at Colsterworth in 1931, as was a small defended 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 ...
settlement in the 1940s.["Colsterworth and District Parish Council"]
Lincolnshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
Colsterworth is raised upon a slight 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 ...
ridge, with the River Witham
The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversid ...
running below on the western side and dividing the two villages. The old hamlet of Twyford has been incorporated by the growth of Colsterworth, but the name survives in the names of some houses and in Twyford Wood. The area between Colsterworth Church and Twyford was once known as Dunkirk. Colsterworth, Woolsthorpe and Twyford are all separately entered in the ''Domesday Book'' of 1086.["Welcome to the Village Archive Group web site!"]
Villagearchivegroup.com. Retrieved 30 April 2012 The village belonged to the historical 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 ...
of Winnibriggs and Threo.
The enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
s of the land in 1808 allowed the local landlords to increase their holdings. Thirty villagers also received land, but some sold on to avoid the compulsory expense of fencing it. In Colsterworth the rector commuted his tythes for 398 acres, in addition to his 11 acres of glebe
Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...
. The position of Colsterworth on the Great York Road, later the Great North Road, became important as soon as the turnpike road was completed in 1752. It was appointed a post town, and by the mid-19th century had a thriving coaching trade. There were numerous inns – ten at one time. However, the village was bypassed in 1935.
The old coaching inns have been transformed into houses or business properties, such as The George House and The Sun Pottery, or demolished completely. The ''White Lion'' public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, standing opposite the parish church 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 ...
, alone now serves the population.["History of Colsterworth"]
Villagearchivegroup.com. Retrieved 30 April 2012
Colsterworth lies one mile to the west of Twyford Wood, which was the site of a Second World War airfield RAF North Witham
Royal Air Force North Witham or more simply RAF North Witham is a former Royal Air Force station located in Twyford Wood, off the A1 between Stamford and Grantham, Lincolnshire, England about north-northwest of London.
The site opened in 1943 ...
, and still retains military artefacts, including open runways and a derelict control tower. After the war, the grassed part of the airfield was planted with oaks and conifers. This grassland habitat is home to a regionally important colony of dingy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
and grizzled skipper butterflies.
In 1884 the Rev. J. Mirehouse, Rector of Colsterworth, was responsible for the Home Office Baby publicity stunt.
The former Lincoln City footballer Ayden Duffy was brought up in Colsterworth.
Religion
The parish church of St John the Baptist has been a Grade I 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 ...
since 1966. It goes back to 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 ...
times, as indicated by the herring-bone stonework in the 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 ...
. The 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 ...
arches were preserved during Victorian renovation, of which this church is a prime example. The surrounding churchyard has been closed for almost a century, but is kept tidy by the Parish Council. Inside the church, behind the organ, is a stone sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
plate, cut with a penknife by Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the great ...
when he was nine years of age. The stone, which has no gnomon
A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields.
History
A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the ol ...
, is mounted upside down below a carved wooden effigy
An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
of the scientist.[ Newton's mother, Hannah Ayscough (died 1679) and father, also called Isaac (died 1642), were buried in the church.]["The Church of Saint John the Baptist,Colsterworth"]
Retrieved 30 April 2012
St John the Baptist's belongs to the Colsterworth Group of Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
churches, sharing a priest with Holy Cross at Great Ponton
Great Ponton is an English village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, south of Grantham on the A1 trunk road, which bisects the village. The tower of the parish church is a roadside landmark. The 2001 Census re ...
, St Guthlac's at Little Ponton with Woodnook, St James's
St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the de ...
at Skillington
Skillington is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2021 census was 314. It is situated west from the A1 road, south from Grantham, and is within of the ...
and St Andrew and St Mary's at Stoke Rochford
Stoke Rochford is a small English village and civil parish south of Grantham in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 230 (including Easton, Lincolnshire, Easton). It has two notable Grad ...
with Easton. It is in the deanery of Beltisloe
Beltisloe is a Deanery of the Diocese of Lincoln in England, and a former Wapentake.
The Wapentake of Beltisloe was established as ancient administrative division of the English county of Lincolnshire before the Norman Conquest of 1066. and the Diocese of Lincoln
The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire.
History
The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leices ...
.
Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
came to Colsterworth about 1795. The present Methodist church in Back Lane dates from the 1830s[ and is part of the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Methodist Circuit.
]
Economy and amenities
There is little employment in the village itself. During and for some time after the Second World War, work was available at the ironstone excavations, but after operations ceased in the 1970s, the site was filled and levelled. A tyre depot and a Christian Salvesen
Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by French listed transport ...
food cold-store offer local jobs. Farming, the traditional occupation that absorbed most of the workforce, still provides some employment, for instance at the Openfield
Openfield is a British grain marketing and arable inputs co-operative based in Lincolnshire. It is one of Britain's largest agricultural companies and Britain's only national co-operative in its field, with a turnover in excess of £500m. It mark ...
grain cooperative on the former RAF station. There is work at fast-food restaurants Little Chef
Little Chef was a chain of restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 by entrepreneur Sam Alper, who was inspired by American diners. The chain was famous for the "Olympic Breakfast" – its version of a full English – as well as it ...
, OK Diner
The OK Diner is a privately owned roadside restaurant chain in the United Kingdom. The restaurants have a retro, 1950s-style American diner theme with popular 1950s music, chequerboard flooring, booth seating, plenty of chrome details and 195 ...
and Travelodge
Travelodge (formerly TraveLodge) refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and several countries in Asia. However, many of t ...
on the A1, and at the nearby Stoke Rochford Hall, a conference and function centre.
The village has a post office, a medical surgery, a Co-op
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
store and a hairdresser, with greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger mobile shops. There is a mobile library service.
Other facilities in the village include a sports and social club, a village hall, a youth centre that doubles as a nursery, and three playgrounds. There is another village hall at North Witham.
Colsterworth's Church of England primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
also provides for children in neighbouring villages. It has about 100 pupils in five classes that span the seven years of primary education. The school is a "guardian school" for nearby Woolsthorpe Manor
Woolsthorpe Manor in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, is the birthplace and was the family home of Sir Isaac Newton. He was born there on 25 December 1642 (old calendar). At that time, it was a yeoman's farmstea ...
, the birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
. The new school buildings that opened in Back Lane in 1973 replaced earlier ones in School Lane, dating from 1824 and 1895.[
The A1 trunk road at Colsterworth was redeveloped in 2010, when Colsterworth roundabout was removed and a road bridge over the A1 added for local traffic, to address safety and traffic congestion concerns. The village is on the bus route between Grantham and Witham.
]
Dwellings and archive group
Although the oldest dwellings are of 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 ...
, brick houses of the 1920s and 1930s are interposed amongst them. During the 1970s a large estate, Woodlands Drive, was built on ground previously belonging to Colsterworth House, which was demolished. The land between the village and the A1 was developed into a new housing estate. More recently, in 2009, a further housing development commenced on land previously utilised for steel storage and distribution, known as Newton Grange.[Promotional news repor]
Retrieved 4 February 2016.
/ref>
A village archive group was founded to record memories of Colsterworth people for posterity. The group's aim is to chronicle local social history and changes in dialect, and publish material as a resource and educational tool in book and DVD form. It has been funded by Lincolnshire Community Champions and the Local Heritage Initiative, now under the auspices of the Heritage Lottery Funding.[
]
References
External links
*
"Woolsthorpe Manor"
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
"Isaac Newton"
Newsreel, British Pathe
Colsterworth and District Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in Lincolnshire
Civil parishes in Lincolnshire
South Kesteven District