Coningsby 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
East Lindsey
East Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The population of the district council was 136,401 at the 2011 census. The council is based in Manby. Other major settlements in the district include Alford, Wragby, Spilsby ...
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in
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,
it is situated on the
A153 road
The A153 is a non-primary A road entirely in Lincolnshire in the east of England.
Route description
The A153 starts at the T-junction with the A607 at Honington and heads east to Sleaford, passing a crossroads with the B6403 - the Ro ...
, adjoining
Tattershall
Tattershall is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A153 Horncastle to Sleaford road, east from the point where that road crosses the River Witham. At its eastern end, Tatter ...
on its western side, 13 miles (22 km) north west of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and 8 miles (13 km) south west from
Horncastle
Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains.
History Romans
Alt ...
.
Governance
Coningsby is the most populous parish in the
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
of Coningsby and Tattershall. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 6,943.
Geography
![Road Bridge over the River Bain, Coningsby - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Road_Bridge_over_the_River_Bain%2C_Coningsby_-_geograph.org.uk_-_106253.jpg)
The village takes its name from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''konungr'' meaning "King" and the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
noun ''by'' meaning "settlement", which gives "settlement of the King". Coningsby is about south of
Horncastle
Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains.
History Romans
Alt ...
on the
A153 Horncastle to
Sleaford
Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...
road, with the
Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which run roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary in the north-west to the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens in the south-east. They ar ...
to the east and the
Fens
A fen is a type of wetland.
Fen, Fenn, Fens, Fenns, may also refer to:
People
* Fen (name), a Chinese given name and surname
* Fen Cresswell (1915–1966), New Zealand cricketer
* Fen McDonald (1891–1915), Australian rules footballer
* Kees ...
to the west. The B1192
Kirton to
Woodhall Spa
Woodhall Spa is a former spa Village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, on the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, south-west of Horncastle, west of Skegness, east-south-east of Lincoln and north-west of Boston. It is noted for ...
road passes through the village. At the village's western end it is separated from the village of
Tattershall
Tattershall is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A153 Horncastle to Sleaford road, east from the point where that road crosses the River Witham. At its eastern end, Tatter ...
by the
River Bain
The River Bain is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the River Witham.
The Bain rises in the Lincolnshire Wolds at Ludford,J. N. Clarke, (1990), ''The Horncastle and Tattershall Canal'', Oakwood Press, a village on The Vikin ...
.
The
Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway
The Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway, locally known as the New Line, was a railway line in England built to shorten the route between Lincoln and Firsby in Lincolnshire, England.
It was built by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), and opened ...
passing through the village opened on 1 July 1913 but closed on 5 July 1970. The former
Coningsby railway station
Coningsby railway station was a station in Coningsby, Lincolnshire on the Kirkstead and Little Steeping Railway which ran between Lincoln and Firsby
Firsby is a small rural linear village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of ...
has been demolished and nothing remains except for the station master's house.
A temperature of , which is the
highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, occurred on
19 July 2022 at Coningsby.
Education
Coningsby St Michael's C of E Primary Schoolis on School Lane. The secondary school is
Barnes Wallis Academy
Barnes Wallis Academy (formerly Gartree Community School) is a coeducational secondary school located in the village of Tattershall in Lincolnshire, England.
Governance
Previously a foundation school administered by Lincolnshire County Council ...
, th
Gartree Community School is just outside the Coningsby boundary in Tattershall, near the
A153.
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School provides sixth form education to pupils graduating from Gartree and other secondary modern schools.
RAF Coningsby Nursery and Kids Club provides childcare for military personnel and the community.
The nearest
further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
college is in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. In late March 2008, renovation of the Tattershall/Coningsby Library included a small learning centre provided by
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
.
Parish church
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/St._Michael%27s_Coningsby_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2824737.jpg)
Coningsby is overlooked by the tower of its 15th-century
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
,
St Michael's, with its one-handed clock face. The face is painted directly onto the wall of the tower and was probably installed in the 17th century. It is 16½ feet (5 metres) in diameter and its hand is nearly 9 feet (2.7 metres) long. The driving weights are large stones and its
pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...
swings once every two seconds. The pendulum is not attached to the clock but some distance away, linked by a connecting rod. There are three wheels in the timekeeping mechanism, which needs winding once a day. The tower on which the clock face is painted is on the outside of the building. There is an arched passage under the tower which is part of a public footpath from the
A153 High Street to the school in School Lane, through the churchyard.
There is also a
canonical sundial
A tide dial, also known as a Mass or scratch dial, is a sundial marked with the canonical hours rather than or in addition to the standard hours of daylight. Such sundials were particularly common between the 7th and 14th centuries in Europe, at ...
, dating from the 12th century, on the south wall of the church.
In 1730, Britain's youngest
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
,
Laurence Eusden who was appointed aged thirty, was buried in the church where he had been Rector. Two decades later another poet,
John Dyer, was appointed as Rector and while living in the village completed his poem "The Fleece". He died there of
consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
in 1757, and was buried without memorial in the church chancel.
Amenities
Public houses
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 ...
include the Black Swan, The Castle Inn and the White Bull, are all on High Street, and the Lea Gate Inn on Leagate Road (
B1192).
RAF Coningsby
![Typhoon, RAF Coningsby - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Typhoon%2C_RAF_Coningsby_-_geograph.org.uk_-_737223.jpg)
Half a mile (1 km) to the south of the village is RAF Coningsby, one of the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
's most important stations, home of
No. 3 Squadron,
No. XI Squadron,
No. 29 Squadron and
No.41 (R) Squadron
The airfield houses part of
Britain's heritage, the
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group usually comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft are regularly seen at events c ...
formed in 1957 to commemorate the Royal Air Force's major battle honours, with a
Lancaster, five
Spitfires
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
, two
Hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
and a
Dakota
Dakota may refer to:
* Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux
** Dakota language, their language
Dakota may also refer to:
Places United States
* Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Dakota, Illinois, a town
* Dakota, Minnesota, ...
. These aircraft still fly and can be seen at air shows during summer, as well as at events of national importance or RAF significance.
From 1950 RAF Coningsby was home to three squadrons of Washingtons, the RAF name for the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
B29 bombers ("Superfortresses") and for the first 18 months these were maintained by
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The l ...
technicians whose conscription was extended to 24 months because of their particular skills.
Economy
Pellcroft Engineering Ltd, in Coningsby, is a company selling agricultural fans.
References
External links
*
Coningsby Town Council"St Michael & All Angels, Coningsby" Geograph
Geograph Britain and Ireland is a web-based project, begun in March 2005, to create a freely accessible archive of geographically located photographs of Great Britain and Ireland. Photographs in the Geograph collection are chosen to illustrate ...
.org.uk
"River Bain, Coningsby" Geograph.org.uk
"Railway Bridge at Coningsby" Geograph.org.uk
{{authority control
Villages in Lincolnshire
Civil parishes in Lincolnshire
East Lindsey District