Aubourn

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Aubourn (the attractive name means ‘Stream where the Alders grow' ) is a small '0' shaped village just east of the A46, in between Lincoln and Newark, England, in the county of Lincolnshire and the district of North Kesteven and the civil parish of Aubourn, Haddington and South Hykeham. It has an odd one way system (odd for a small village in a countryside location), and a rather nice pub called 'The Royal Oak'.

The village sits in the valley formed by the River Witham as it wends eastwards to The Wash, hence a prime candidate for flooding. In pre World War Two days the whole area was allowed to flood during the winter if the river got too high.

After the War, 2.5 m (8 feet) high flood banks were built along each side, reducing the annual flooding but making a flood (should it happen) likely to be more catastrophic, especially as large numbers of houses have now been built right up to the flood banks.

At the eastern end of the village stands Aubourn Hall, a beautiful 16th-century house, designed by architect James Smythson, set in 1.2 ha of gardens. Built for Sir John Meres between 1587 and 1628, possibly on Tudor foundations, it is brick, with stone quoins and three storeys high. The interior of the house features a beautifully carved staircase and attractively panelled rooms. The property has been the home of the Nevile family from the 17th century with the present owner being Sir Henry Nevile.

To the east of the Hall stands the Parish Church, dedicated to “St. Peter”, and it must be one of the smallest Parish Churches in the Country. The present church was built around 1200 on the site of an earlier church built of wood and stone and recorded in the Doomesday Book of 1086. When built in 1200 the church was a much larger structure then it is today and included a nave, porch and tower but in 1862 most of the building was demolished following the building of a new Parish Church on a new site, leaving just the chancel standing, however the original foundations can still be seen in the Churchyard in front of the main door.

The new church, also dedicated to “St. Peter“, was built on a site mid-way between Aubourn and Haddington, a large hamlet 1½ km (1 mile) west of Aubourn, which is part of Aubourn parish and therefore does not have a church of its own (the residents of Haddington must have found the position of the new church much more convenient for them compared with walking to the old church on the far side of Aubourn as previously).

The new Victorian church was clearly less robustly built then the earlier church for by 1968 it had deteriorated to the point that it was thought unsafe for it to continue to be used so the congregation moved back into what remained of the old church. This at first after its abandonment had been used as a mortuary but in 1933 had been restored, at which time a new altar and a gallery for the organ had been installed. It was then the new church’s turn to be largely demolished, leaving just the tower standing in the churchyard as a landmark on the road to Haddington.

• grid reference SK925625
• Map sources for Aubourn