Laneham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laneham is a small Nottinghamshire village on the banks of the River Trent. It is 13 miles due west of the city of Lincoln and 8 miles east of the market town of Retford.
The Parish of Laneham, which has a total population of approximately 300 people, includes the two settlements of "Town" Laneham and "Church" Laneham, separated by the village beck and a short stretch of low-lying ground. In earlier times the parish suffered some flooding from the Trent and the village beck, but the situation was improved by an Act of 1768-9 which set up drainage commissioners who were to protect Laneham and several other villages from flooding and improve the drainage of the land.
The village is enjoyed, especially in summer, by visitors who come to use the river for watersports or just for the view, with many making use of caravan sites.
Substantial farmhouses reflect the former prosperity of the village, based on the well ordered fields surrounding the village which in turn show the influence of the enclosure movement. Laneham was enclosed by Act of Parliament in the 12th year of George III's reign - 1772; the enclosure involved 1,073 of the parish's 1,588 acres.
A number of village residents now choose to commute to larger towns and cities from Laneham, but a large proportion still remain in the village to work.
The village has two public houses (The Butchers Arms and The Ferryboat), a village hall and a Parish Church (St. Peters). Another public house, the Ring o' Bells, stood on the site of the present senior citizens' bungalows. The Church is the focal point of Church Laneham, it is built on a small knoll above the river and contains a memorial to Gervase Markham.
