| Brigg | |
Brigg Market Place |
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Brigg
Brigg shown within Lincolnshire |
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| Population | 5,076 (2001 census)[1] |
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| OS grid reference | TA003073 |
| Unitary authority | North Lincolnshire |
| Ceremonial county | Lincolnshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIGG |
| Postcode district | DN20 |
| Dialling code | 01652 |
| Police | Humberside |
| Fire | Humberside |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Brigg and Goole |
| List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire | |
Brigg (/'brɪg/) is a small market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in 2,213 households (2001 UK census).[1] The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east-west transport routes across northern Lincolnshire. As a formerly important local centre, the town's full name of Glanford Brigg[2] is reflected in the surrounding area and local government district of the same name.
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The town finds its roots in the granting of a Royal Charter to Hugh Nevil in 1205 for the holding of a Thursday market and a twice yearly fair.[3] No record of a settlement is known before this, and the origin of the town's name is partly disputed. Brigg comes from Old Norse bryggja, which although usually describes a jetty or quay here refers to a bridge.[4] The origin of Glanford is less clear, specifically the meaning of the first element. It is possibly derived from the Old English gleam meaning joy or revelry, and thus the full word is interpreted as "ford where sports are held".[4] Another suggestion is that the first element refers to a 'glamping' track—a walkway formed by placing interlocking planks or logs over boggy ground—and thus describes a ford crossed in this manner.[5]
Brigg was previously a secondary settlement in the parish of Wrawby. The town probably outgrew Wrawby early on, but ecclesiastical functions were only slowly separated. A chapel of ease was established in Bigby Street in 1699, being replaced by a full-sized church dedicated to St John the Evangelist in 1842–43.[6] A cemetery was established on Wrawby Road in 1857, and the parish finally separated in 1864.[7]
The workhouse at Brigg is one of the best known and best documented of its type, probably because of the national interest that arose after Percy Grainger collected traditional songs from the inmates. It was designed by William Adams Nicholson who also designed the similar building in Lincoln, and was built in 1835, replacing an earlier alms house dating back to 1701. The workhouse was the responsibility of the Glanford Brigg Union.[2][8] An infirmary was later built attached to the workhouse, and this portion remained open as a hospital until 1991.[9]
Brigg sits on a spur of the Lincolnshire Wolds that juts out into the Ancholme Valley, historically providing a narrow crossing point of the river. The Wolds proper rise to the east, reaching a maximum of roughly 330 feet about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the town. To the west the land gently slopes up to roughly 230feet on the Lincolnshire Edge about 3 miles away. Between the two low ranges of hills the River Ancholme runs south to north through a flat, low-lying flood plain. The land surrounding the town was previously a semi-flooded marsh known as carrs, but a series of drainage improvements from the early 1600s to the early 1800s transformed the area into arable land. The largest of the drainage channels is known as the New River Ancholme.
The town itself lies mostly on the east bank of the old river, with a small amount to the west. A portion of the west bank is cut off from the rest by the new river, forming an island–like piece of land known as Island Carr, or jokingly as "Mesopotamia". Due to closeness of the river, the town regularly suffers minor flooding, and concerns over flood plain development are a major issue in local planning.[10] The only other watercourse of reasonable size is Candley Beck, which runs through the very southern parts of the town. There are also about half a dozen clayponds along the riverside in Brigg where clay was formerly extracted for brick–making.
Brigg is the source of several early recordings of English folk song, which subsequently inspired other composers. At competitions arranged by Gervase Elwes in 1905-06, several folk singers from the surrounding area—including Joseph Taylor and George Gouldthorpe—sang for the composer Percy Grainger songs such as Brigg Fair and Horkstow Grange.[11] These songs inspired Grainger's work Lincolnshire Posy and subsequently Frederick Delius's own Brigg Fair.
Brigg is home to Brigg Town Football Club, known locally as the Zebras for their black and white striped home kit. Established in 1863 the team is the oldest association football club in Lincolnshire and among the oldest surviving clubs in the world. The team has won the FA Vase twice—once in 1996 and again in 2003.[12]
Nearly as old as the football club is the Ancholme Rowing Club which is based in Manley Gardens. It was founded in 1868 and still operates today.[13]
Ancholme Leisure Centre is on Scawby Road (A18) towards Scawby Brook, west of the town.[14]
The town also holds an annual triathlon event - cycling, canoeing and running.
Brigg has several pubs, including the Black Bull and the White Horse Inn on Wrawby Street, the Exchange Hotel, the Woolpack Inn and the Dying Gladiator on Bigby Street, and the Nelthorpe Arms, the White Hart and the Yarborough Hunt on Bridge Street.
Brigg has been a thriving market town for centuries, serving the largely rural villages on both sides of the river with a corn exchange and livestock market. Road communications were good with the old Roman road Ermine Street passing not far away. There are two surviving coaching inns, one of which is the Angel on the route from Lincoln via Caenby Corner to the Humber Estuary (The Angel now is home to Brigg Town Council). The Ancholme also gave access to the Humber Estuary and the port of Hull and, earlier, to the historically important Medieval port of Barton-on-Humber. A significant part of Brigg town centre has been designated a Conservation Area.[15]
Brigg became the administrative centre for the local area with a grammar school founded in 1669 by Sir John Nelthorpe, after whom the school, a comprehensive since 1976, is named. With the coming of the railways the town grew rapidly. Indeed it could have been still more important had Brigg been selected as junction for north-south lines with the east-west link to Grimsby. However, local opposition from the influential Carey family pushed much of the traffic through the nearby village of Barnetby-le-Wold.
Past industries included Spring's jam factory and the beet sugar factory to the west of the town. The sugar factory site to the south-west now contains a power station owned by Centrica. The jam factory, and the neighbouring livestock market, have been replaced by supermarkets (Tesco). The town is also home to the Falcon Cycles factory, the company having moved to Brigg from nearby Barton-on-Humber in the early 20th century.
Today with the building of a bypass and the pedestrianisation of the town centre, Brigg has regained some of the qualities of a country market town with a small marketplace at its heart, with a traditional street market on Thursdays and Saturdays. In recent years a farmers' market has developed, held on the fourth Saturday each month selling local produce from pork and organic vegetables to ostrich meat, and locally produced condiments.[16] The main shopping street is Wrawby Street.
Primary education in Brigg is provided by Brigg County Primary School[17] and St Mary's Catholic Primary School.[18] There was also previously a private preparatory school, which closed in 2009 and was replaced by Demeter House Special School.
Secondary education in Brigg also covers the surrounding villages and is provided by two comprehensive schools: Vale of Ancholme School, and the Sir John Nelthorpe School, a former grammar school. These two schools also collaborate to provide further education for post–16 pupils, although some attend colleges in nearby Scunthorpe.
The M180 bypassed the town on 2 September 1977. The A15 Brigg & Redbourne Bypass (the extension to the M180 from Hibaldstow) opened in December 1989. The A15 south, towards Lincoln, allows access to the A1(M) near Newark. The A18 passes east-west through the town, with the A1084 (Bigby Road) heading south-east to Caistor. Brigg also had the A15 north-south route passing through the town.
Much of the old and somewhat tidal River Ancholme was canalised and lock gates were constructed at South Ferribly, its confluence with the Humber. A natural looping meander of the Old River Ancholme flows through Brigg, while the canalised section of the New River Ancholme allowed for the addition of Victorian wharfage for river-side industries to develop further west from the town centre.
Brigg railway station[19] is on a branch of the Sheffield to Lincoln Line (Grimsby Branch), receiving six trains a week, all on Saturdays. There is a level crossing over the A1084.
Brigg has access to North Sea ferry crossings from Hull, 15 miles away.
Humberside International Airport, near the village of Kirmington, is about 5 miles away.
Joan Plowright, Joan Ann Olivier, the Lady Olivier, DBE (born 28 October 1929 in Brigg), known by her maiden name as Dame Joan Plowright, is a British actress, widow of Laurence Olivier. She was made a Dame (DBE) in the New Year's Honours for 2004. Joan was born on Central Square, Brigg. The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe (near Brigg) was also named after her.
Revd Richard Enraght (1837–1898), religious controversialist, Curate of St Mary's Church, Wrawby. 1866–1867.
Concert and oratorio singer Gervase Elwes had a family home at Brigg Manor. He and Lady Winifrede helped to establish the musical events and singing contests at which their friend Percy Grainger collected a number of early folk-songs from the singing of Joseph Taylor of Saxby-All-Saints'.
David Yelland, former editor of The Sun from 1998–2003, went to the Sir John Nelthorpe School from 1976–81.
George Gouldthorpe (1839–1910) folksinger and workhouse inmate who provided many of the songs collected by Percy Grainger of the English Folk Dance and Song Society
Monty Oxy Moron (born 4 April 1937 in Brigg), is a keyboardist for the British punk rock group The Damned.
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