Haddington is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Aubourn with Haddington, in the

North Kesteven North Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Sleaford. The district also contains the town of North Hykeham, which adjoins the neighbouring city of Lincoln, England, L ...

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. It is situated just off the

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis ( Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bat ...

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

, now the A46, south-west from

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

and west from Aubourn. Haddington was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the parishes of Aubourn and

South Hyckham South Hykeham is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 835. It is situated approximately south-west of Lincoln, and on the A1434 road. S ...

; in 1866 Haddington became a separate civil parish, and on 1 April 1931 the parish was abolished to form " Aubourn, Haddington and South Hykeham". In 1921 the parish had a population of 94.

Geography

It contains a mixture of houses and farm buildings, all brick built, an
stands
on the north bank 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 ...

200m from th
river
The parish primary school is in South Hykeham.

Earthworks

Between the hamlet and the river are the earthworks of what appears to be a considerable

manorial Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...

complex or grange. However, it has not so far been possible to carry out the archaeological work needed to positively identify them. The complex consists chiefly of one more or less square

moated A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water de ...

area of 30m by 40m, surrounded by water-filled ditches. A rectangular platform which lies to the west is partly ditched and approximately 100m across; it has the appearance of part of a

formal garden A formal garden is a garden with a clear structure, geometric shapes and in most cases a symmetrical layout. Its origin goes back to the gardens which are located in the desert areas of Western Asia and are protected by walls. The style of a form ...

. There is a narrow bank across it 20m from the west end, which may conceal a buried wall; it encloses part of the west end, but is unclear at its southern corner. A 30m length of water may have been a symmetrical pond. The remainder of the earthworks continue on a layout almost at right angles to the rest. What is onl
visible
is a medieval

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

Community

The ecclesiastical parish is ''Aubourn with Haddington'' which is part of ''The Bassingham Group'' of the

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

of Graffoe. The parish church is St Peter's in Aubourn. The Bassingham group is very active, styling itself ''Withamside United Parish''. The mobile library visits every month. There is no scheduled bus route but flexible public transport serves the parish.

References

External links

*
Parish Council
(shared with Aubourn) *details of permissive site access to the earthworks {{Authority control Hamlets in Lincolnshire North Kesteven District Former civil parishes in Lincolnshire