Cranwell is a village in the North Kesteven 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. It is part of the

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 ...

of Cranwell and

Byard's Leap Byard's Leap is a hamlet in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately west from Cranwell, and is part of the civil parish of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap. The hamlet is associated with various ...

and is situated approximately north-west from

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, ...

and south-east from the city and

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

of Lincoln. The principal through road, the B1429 between the A15 to the east and the A17 to the west, joins the village to

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

. The appropriate

is called Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap with a population of 2,827 at the 2011 census.

History

During the medieval period the parish was originally governed as part of the ancient Flaxwell

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 Kesteven division of Lincolnshire. The name Cranwell is thought to mean the spring or stream frequented by cranes or herons. The village centres on the remains of the village cross. The cross is a 14th-century

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosse ...

(or

buttercross A buttercross, also known as butter cross or butter market, is a type of market cross associated with English market towns and dating from medieval times. Its name originates from the fact that they were located at the market place, where peopl ...

) from which important matters of public moment were announced. The cross, which is listed as a scheduled monument, had restoration work carried out by a Mr CH Fowler between 1903 and 1904. Cranwell manor was held by the Thorold family from the 16th century for over three hundred years. The manor house was demolished in 1816 and the Hall Farm's farmhouse was erected on the site. The Thorold family moved to a new mansion at Syston Park. In 1871 Sir John Thorold is recorded as owning all the land in Cranwell with the exception of the church glebelands and a single farmstead that was under the ownership of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. In 1682, Sir William and his wife Lady Anne Thorold are recorded as establishing a charity that gave about £8 and 2 shillings (£8.10) per year for the poor, to be distributed on Lady Day (25 March and then considered to be New Year's Day). The parish also benefited from the will of Lady Margaret Thorold who granted £15 a year to apprentice four boys from the village. With the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Sleaford Poor Law Union group of parishes. The population of the village in 1801 was recorded as being just 88 people and even by 1911 had only risen to 184. The village only grew and has continued to expand since the opening of the aviation training facility and now stands in the region of 3,000 residents. Cranwell railway station, on a single track branch line from Sleaford, opened in 1917 and served the naval aviation training facility then known as RNAS Daedalus, later to become RAF Cranwell. The branch line was closed in 1956 and the track removed. However, the original station building still stands and is in use as the current RAF main guardroom. Engine sheds in a small goods yard area closer to the village were demolished and the land re-used for housing.

Religious sites

Standing near to the cross is the village's

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, ...

. Dedicated to St Andrew, the church originates circa the 10th century, the village possibly dates from the time of King Alfred (849-899). The church consists only of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

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 ...

with, above the former, a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

, much of the masonry is

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 ...

but parts date 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. The fittings include 17th century bench-ends and a

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

. Mounted on corbels in the north aisle are the remains of a hogsback grave. The carvings on these stones are either Saxon or Norse ( Ringerike). The stones are unique to

and are probably the finest of their type in the country. In the stonework in the porch is the incised outline of a

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

's shoe and the year 1728, and on the right-hand door pillar are six carved figures believed to depict ancient May King and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

ceremonial costumes. The

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

includes a

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

cemetery with 131 graves from

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Education

As early as 1682, Sir William and Lady Anne Thorold funded a charity that provided £3 each year for the education of poor children from within the parish. The first true school built in Cranwell opened in 1850 by public subscription and provided facilities for up to 35 children. The current Cranwell Primary School is housed in a modern building and has approximately 300 children on the roll between the ages of 4 - 11. The school is a Foundation school and is non-denominational. There are no secondary schools in the village and children instead travel to Lincoln,

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 ...

RAF College Cranwell

Just over one mile to the west of the village is Royal Air Force College Cranwell, and

with its two associated airfields. The northern

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

is the older, being used for light aircraft and airships from 1916 and remains as a grassed field used regularly by gliders and light aircraft. The southern airfield is much larger with two paved runways and abuts the A17 road, this was first used as a flying training base in 1917. The paved runways were built in 1954, to make way for the jet aircraft,

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

and

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

. Cranwell does not have a

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 ...

. It does, however, have a members only social club. This dates back to when the cadets training at RAF Cranwell during the

used to come into the village to try and buy alcohol. The members only club was introduced as a deterrent to them, being only temporary residents in the area they were therefore unable to gain membership. To this day, no pub has ever opened its doors to the public, even though the reasons for not having one have long since become obsolete.Cranwell, Brauncewell & Byards Leap
Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byards Leap Parish Council

Other uses of the name Cranwell

The surname Cranwell occurs in Buckinghamshire and Essex (at least), it appears 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 ...

''. A few very small farms and hamlets are named Cranwell in Bucks.

References

External links

*
RAF Cranwell Home Page
*
"Cranwell"

Genuki GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...

.org.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2011 {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire North Kesteven District