Kirkby on Bain 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 ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It lies on 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 ...

between

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 ...

and

Coningsby Coningsby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England, it is situated on the A153 road, adjoining Tattershall on its western side, 13 miles (22 km) north west of Boston and 8 miles (13 km) so ...

, and just west of 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 Roma ...

. Close to the north is the village of Haltham.

History

Formerly known as Kirkby Super Bain, the name comes from the Old Norse ''kîrkĵu + býr'' (Church settlement), with the village dating back to at least the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

Ebrington Arms

The village

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 ...

is the Ebrington Arms on Main Street which dates back to at least the 16th Century. It was popular with airmen from the nearby

RAF Woodhall Spa Royal Air Force Woodhall Spa or more simply RAF Woodhall Spa is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Coningsby, Lincolnshire and southeast of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. History Constructed on farmland south of Woodhall S ...

famed for its links with the

617 Squadron Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastis ...

Dambusters.

St. Mary's Church

The

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, ...

is dedicated to St Mary, and is in the Bain Valley Group of churches. It dates back to Norman times, and the parish records to 1562. The church was largely rebuilt in 1802 and expanded in 1879–82.

Notable residents

Ethel Major Ethel Lillie Major (189219 December 1934) was a British murderer. She was the only woman to be hanged at Hull Prison. She was known as the Corned Beef Killer. Life Ethel Lillie Brown was the daughter of a Lincolnshire gamekeeper on the estate of ...

the Corned Beef Killer and her victim, her husband, Arthur Major. *

Abigail Tarttelin Abigail Jane Kathryn Tarttelin (born 13 October 1987) is an English novelist and actress. Her second book, ''Golden Boy'', was described as a "dazzling debut" by Oprah's Book Club. Published in 2013, the book was translated into several languag ...

, award-winning author was born in Lincolnshire and attended the village school

Geography

Kirkby on Bain lies within the glacial Bain Valley at the confluence of River Bain and Haltham Beck. The Bain was canalised into the Horncastle Canal in the 1790s with the Old Course now little more than a stream in many places and dry in others.

North

To the north stretches the shallow glacial valley of the River Bain. Along the valley floor and flood plain the land is largely pastoral farmland used for rearing cattle and sheep, whilst further away from the river the land is more arable.

South

Bridle path and nature reserve near to Kirkby on Bain

To the south along the valley are sand and gravel pits, many of them now long disused and some transformed into Kirkby Gravel Pits Nature Reserve, which is managed by

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, (part of the Wildlife Trusts partnership), covers the whole ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. It was founded in 1948 as a voluntary charitable organisation dedicated to conserving the wildlife and wild ...

. The nature reserve is very biodiverse, and is one of very few inland sites in the county which have been visited by

Eurasian spoonbill The Eurasian spoonbill (''Platalea leucorodia''), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The genus name ''Platalea'' is from Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the b ...

East

West

Heather and bracken, Kirkby Moor - geograph

To the west are Kirkby and Roughton Moors; a landscape once dominated by Lowland Heath now restricted to Fox Hill, and beyond is

Ostler's Plantation Ostler's Plantation is a woodland east of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire on Kirkby Moor. It has public access and lies to the west of an open area of Lowland Heath, the Kirkby Moor Nature Reserve; both are noted for having large numbers of adders. ...

, a pine woodland owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

. In this landscape can be found Kirkby Moor and Moor Farm Nature Reserves, both SSSIs, and soon to be joined by the former airfield of RAF Woodhall Spa purchased by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust in September 2014.

References

External links

*
Kirkby on Bain Village Website

Kirkby Gravel Pits

Kirkby Moor
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District