__NOTOC__ Castle Bytham 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 authorit ...

of around 300 houses in

South Kesteven South Kesteven is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. It covers Bourne, Grantham, Market Deeping and Stamford. The 2011 census reports 133,788 people at 1.4 p ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, 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-we ...

, England. It is located 9 miles (15 km) north of Stamford and 9 miles (15 km) west of Bourne.The population was measured at 768 in 317 households at the 2011 census. At one time the village was an important commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural communities, but it is now largely a

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or universi ...

, although a number of farming families remain with a much reduced workforce.

History

The name 'Bytham' is first recorded in 1067 (as a monastery that rapidly translated to Vaudey Abbey), and comes 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 settlers in the mid-5th ...

word ''bythme'' meaning ''Valley bottom, broad valley''. In the

Domesday 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 ...

survey of 1086 the village was known as ''West Bytham'' as the castle had yet to be built. People have named the river that runs through the village the ''Tham'' or ''Am'' as a back-formation from the village name. Morkery Wood housed a former bomb dump during the

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 opposi ...

for the nearby airfields. In the early hours of 19 November 1942 Handley Page Halifax BB209 NP-G of 158 Sqn, from

RAF Rufforth Royal Air Force Rufforth or RAF Rufforth is a former Royal Air Force station located near Rufforth in North Yorkshire, England. It was used by only one operational squadron on long-range bombing missions during the Second World War, with most f ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, crashed near Stocken Hall Farm (in the wood). It had been hit by flak south-east of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

coming back from a raid on

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Half the aircrew were in the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

Castle

Overlooking the village is an 11th-century Norman

castle mound Cambridge Castle, locally also known as Castle Mound, is located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Originally built after the Norman conquest of England, Norman conquest to control the strategically important route to the north of England, ...

. The site of the castle in Saxon times was owned by

Morcar Morcar (or Morkere) ( ang, Mōrcǣr) (died after 1087) was the son of Ælfgār (earl of Mercia) and brother of Ēadwine. He was the earl of Northumbria from 1065 to 1066, when he was replaced by William the Conqueror with Copsi. Dispute with t ...

, also known as Morkere, who was the brother of

Ealdgyth The name Ealdgyth ( ang, Ealdgȳð; sometimes modernized to Aldith, may refer to * Ealdgyth, daughter of Uhtred the Bold, Earl of Northumbria (died 1016) and Ælfgifu who is a daughter of Æthelred II * Ealdgyth (floruit 1015–1016) (born c. 9 ...

, wife of King Harold. The castle, which gave its name to the village, was built soon after the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

and was given by the Conqueror to his half brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent;Cox, J. Charles (1916); ''Lincolnshire'', '' Methuen & Co. Ltd.'', p.96 it was later owned by

William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle William le Gros, William le Gras, William d'Aumale, William Crassus (died 20 August 1179) was Earl of York and Lord of Holderness in the English peerage and the Count of Aumale in France. He was the eldest son of Stephen, Count of Aumale, and ...

, and passed to the family of Coleville. During the

First Barons' War The First Barons' War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against King John of England. The conflict resulte ...

it was occupied by

William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

aided by William d'Aubigny, Sir Richard Siward, Henry de Hastings and William de Hastings.. In 1221, after a siege, the castle was captured by Henry III with the help of Hugh de Mortimer and William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey and restored to its lord, the former rebel William de Coleville. The castle was burnt in the 15th century during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

. In the 16th century John Leland described remnants of the castle: "yet remained great walls of buildings".

Geography

The nearest town is Stamford (even though Castle Bytham is in the

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 a ...

postal area, with a

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, includ ...

). It is at the apex of the NG (Grantham), LE (Rutland) and PE (Stamford) postcodes. The village is very close to the

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

boundary. The civil parish extends much to the north-west of the village, up t
Woolley's Lane
includin
Red Barn Quarry
owned by Bullimores. It also extends westwards to include all of Morkery Wood (originally named ''Morkerhaw'' - named after the Saxon earl Morcar mentioned above). South of the A1 interchange to Woolley's Lane, the parish boundary is with

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 ...

, including Park House Farm. The eastern buildings of Stocken Hall Farm lie in the parish (with an LE15 postcode), with the rest in Stretton. To the east, Little Haw Wood is also in the parish. Southwards, the civil parish extends to (and includes) Pillowsyke Holt, a piece o
woodland
near Holywell. Eastwards, the parish extends for about half a mile, where it includes the 30 acre Lawn Wood which has been a nature reserve since 1995, joining two neighbouring meadows that were donated to

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

in 1993. The meadows are a good site for buttercups and

yellow rattle ''Rhinanthus minor'', known as yellow rattle, is a herbaceous wildflower in the genus '' Rhinanthus'' in the family Orobanchaceae (the broomrapes). It has circumpolar distribution in Europe, Russia, western Asia, and northern North America. An a ...

, and are managed to encourage butterflies, including the

ringlet The ringlet (''Aphantopus hyperantus'') is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is only one of the numerous "ringlet" butterflies in the tribe Satyrini. Range The ringlet is a widely distributed species found throughout much of the Pale ...

, and the

meadow brown The meadow brown (''Maniola jurtina'') is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The larvae feed on grasse ...

. The wood is mainly oak and

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

, but includes

field maple ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...

midland hawthorn ''Crataegus laevigata'', known as the Midland hawthorn, English hawthorn, woodland hawthorn, or mayflower, is a species of hawthorn native to western and central Europe, from Great Britain (where it is typically found in ancient woodland and old ...

and the uncommon wild service tree; woodland flora such as

wood anemone The phrase wood anemone is used in common names for several closely related species of flowering plants in genus ''Anemonoides'', including: * ''Anemonoides nemorosa'', the ''wood anemone'' in Europe and Asia * '' Anemonoides quinquefolia'', the '' ...

, woodruff and

early purple orchid ''Orchis mascula'', the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Description ''Orchis mascula'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to high, green at the base and ...

also found there.

Fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

and

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...

are frequently seen in the reserve.

Surrounding area

About to the east lies

Little Bytham Little Bytham 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 384. It lies on the B1176 road, south from Corby Glen and north from Stamford . T ...

. The two villages used to be called West and East Bytham. To the west, on the western side of the A1 road, is

South Witham South Witham 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 1,533. It is situated south of Grantham, 10 miles east of Melton Mowbray and 10 miles ...

near the source of 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 Riversi ...

. The village's vicar, and that of the Bythams Group, is also the wife of the vicar of South Witham. Between the village and the A1 the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust maintains an important wildlife reserve at Tortoiseshell Wood (which borders on to the west of the civil parish) and some of the road verges are protected for wildlife by

Lincolnshire County Council 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 an ...

. Tortoiseshell Wood is in the parish of

, although the edge lies on the parish boundary. West of the village, towards

Clipsham Clipsham is a small village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is in the northeast of Rutland, close to the county boundary with Lincolnshire. The population of the civil parish was 120 at the 2001 census increasi ...

, is a Yew Tree Avenue maintained 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 resp ...

, the trees cut into large

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

forms.

Community

File:St. James Church, Castle Bytham - geograph.org.uk - 1614335.jpg, St James's Church File:Former School, Castle Bytham-Geograph-2297810-by-Bob-Harvey.jpg, Former school File:The Castle Public House, High Street, Castle Bytham - geograph.org.uk - 1614305.jpg, Castle Inn public house File:The Fox and Hounds public house - geograph.org.uk - 1277263.jpg, Fox and Hounds public house The

Ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

is part of the ''Castle Bytham with Creeton'' group of the

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or reside ...

of ''Beltisloe''. The incumbent is Revd S M Evans. community web site Castle Bytham's community supports several events each year in the village hall. Every year Castle Bytham holds a midsummer fair and street market, with stalls, a duck grand prix, dog show, funfair, children's games, beer tents and barbecues. The fair has raised over £40,000 for local causes including a Christmas lunch for pensioners and a children's party, and village infrastructure improvements. Efforts are currently being made to improve the village recreation ground for the benefit of local young people and a 2010 Parish Plan suggested wider improvements. The former

RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and ho ...

station commander (1974-60) and Commandant of the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

(1979–83) lives in the village, and a former resident on Glen Road was

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

's press secretary, Sir Trevor Lloyd-Hughes. There is a village shop on Pinfold Road. Castle Bytham Post Office was closed in 2008 despite local opposition. It had served

Creeton Creeton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Counthorpe and Creeton in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south west from Bourne and south from Corby Glen, on the River Glen. Creeton Grade I listed Anglic ...

Swinstead Swinstead is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated west from Bourne, north from Stamford and south-east from Grantham. It is a village of just over 100 households, the population ...

Swayfield Swayfield 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 316. It is situated just over east from the A1 road, south-east from Grantham and nor ...

and

, and other nearby small villages – it has now been replaced by a mobile 'outreach' service. There are two remaining

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 wa ...

s in the village: th
Fox & Hounds
and the Castle Inn. The New Inn on Station Road was converted to housing in the 1960s.

Former railway station

The village had a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

on the

Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated ...

, the remains of which can still be seen. This railway station was rather unusual, being a single platform in a deep cutting through the village. The railway station was not originally planned by the railway, but was added after considerable local lobbying. It remained open, as did the goods yard on the other side of the road, until the line closed in 1959. West of the village the line of the railway now forms a road crossing under the A1.

Places of worship

The church, started in the 12th century, and restored in 1900, is dedicated to St James and is one of a group of parishes in the rural 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.

. It contains an unusual memento of the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to ...

: a ladder, formerly used in the tower, with a carved inscription which reads "THIS WARE THE MAY POVL 1660" (''see photograph''), suggesting that May celebrations were held in the village (as they were throughout the country) to mark the return to the throne of King Charles II. There was at one time a

Methodist 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 ...

chapel in High Street (now a private house), served by visiting ministers from Stamford. On its closure in 1972 the Methodist Circuit still sent a preacher to the village for a few years, service taking place in the parish church.

Publications

*Wild, John, (1871); ''The History of Castle Bytham: Its Ancient Fortress and Manor'' BiblioBazaar (2008) / Nabu Press (2010) *Chorlton, Martyn; ''Danger Area: The Complete History of RAF South Witham, 100 MU'' Old Forge Publishing (2003)

References

External links

* * *
Photographic history of Castle Bytham

Lawn Wood, Bottleneck and Jacksons nature reserve
* *
"Funeral march for village post office"
''Stamford and Rutland Mercury'', 1 November 2007
"How DNA saved an 'extinct' breed"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

, 20 August 2004
"Farmer jailed over cannabis find"
BBC News, 21 November 2003 {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Nature reserves in Lincolnshire Bytham