Collingham, Nottinghamshire

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Collingham
The north end of the High Street showing the Grey Horse Public House (left), and One-Stop convenience store (right).
Collingham shown within Nottinghamshire
OS grid reference	SK835615
District	Newark and Sherwood
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWARK
Postcode district	NG23
Dialling code	01636
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Newark
List of places: UK • England • Nottinghamshire

Coordinates: 53°08′39″N 0°45′03″W / 53.144244, -0.750721

Collingham is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England.

Collingham is located on the banks of the River Trent on the A1133 main road, just off the A46. It is approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from Newark-on-Trent, 15 miles (24.1 km) from the city of Lincoln, and 28 miles (45.1 km) from the city of Nottingham.

1 History
2 Facilities
3 Bypass
4 Notable people
5 See also
6 References

[edit] History

Collingham is close to the old Roman Fort at Brough and there have been several local finds of Roman coins, jewellery and villa remains. It lies close to the Fosse Way on its way to Lincoln. The village name suggests a fairly early Saxon foundation, preceding the occupation of eastern England by the Danes and it is naturally mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is thought that the Great North Road crossed the Trent here before Newark was founded; prior to the river's change of channel westwards it ran close to the village and was the cause of much flooding. Many of the other villages close by have names which suggest that they were later daughter settlements. It possessed two churches in North and South Collingham from before the Norman Conquest. The parishes extended from the river floodplain onto the uncultivated moorland on the higher ground between Trent and Witham, allowing for good grazing and meadowland throughout the year.

In medieval and early modern times Collingham operated an openfield system and enclosure did not take place until the turn of the 18th/19th centuries, changing much local farming from a small holding of strips and the right to extensive grazing, to individual small cottage holdings or a precarious existence as a landless agricultural labourer. During the siege of Newark in the Civil War, the countryside was subject to deprivation from the opposing armies wanting food and fresh horses and the village suffered. The wide square fields and relatively few isolated farms are the result. One field was set aside in the enclosure award of 1790 for lease every year with the revenues being put to the use of the poor of the parish.

In the nineteenth century Collingham was fairly self-sufficient with its own watchmaker, shoemakers, blacksmiths, dressmakers, schools, grocers and carriers. There were many local societies and the Nonconformist Churches had their own congregations. At one point there was considerable enmity between the Vicar of North Collingham and the Rector of South Collingham with many disputes about the schools in the village.

[edit] Facilities

Local amenities include the Co-op and One-Stop convenience stores, butchers, general store, newsagent, post office, and police contact point. There is a medical centre/dentist/pharmacy complex which serves much of the surrounding area, plus a library in the same building.

There are some sporting facilities in Collingham, notably Collingham Football Club and Collingham Cricket Club. There are also facilities for tennis, bowling and croquet while the nearby River Trent seems very popular with anglers^{[citation needed]}.

Collingham is fairly easy to get to by road or railway, being very close to the A46 and 5.5 miles from the A1/A46 junction at Newark-on-Trent. Collingham is served by the Nottingham-Lincoln railway line used by East Midlands Trains and you can reach most parts of the Midlands. There is a National Express East Coast station at Newark Northgate from which London can be reached as well as all locations on the East Coast mainline. A bus service to Newark operates each hour (6am-11pm), with two daily buses running to Lincoln on a daily basis.

[edit] Bypass

The most recent issue affecting the village regards a bypass. The issue is not new, and has surfaced several times over the years, this time being rejected in favour of other projects in the county. The proposed bypass is not seen as a priority and in addition would damage the countryside and natural environment along the east side of the village.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable people

The composer John Blow was born in the village and two villagers, John and William Bacon were in the Charge of the Light Brigade (under the assumed name of Baker). William was killed and John returned but later left the Army and both are buried in North Collingham churchyard.

Notts County goalkeeper Kevin Pilkington resides in the village, and receives a free steak from Nicholson's butchers every time he keeps a clean sheet.^[1]