| South Witham | |
St John the Baptist, South Witham |
|
|
South Witham
South Witham shown within Lincolnshire |
|
| Population | 1,439 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SK925192 |
| District | South Kesteven |
| Shire county | Lincolnshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | NG33 5 |
| Police | Lincolnshire |
| Fire | Lincolnshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Grantham and Stamford |
| List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire | |
South Witham is a village in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, situated close to the Leicestershire and Rutland borders.
Contents |
It is bisected by the young River Witham, about three miles to the east of its source. It is the point on the A1 where it enters Lincolnshire from the south, near The Fox Inn. The parish of 1770 acres borders Thistleton and Rutland to the south, and the boundary to the west meets Wymondham and Leicestershire at Thistleton Gap. The parish includes the Forty Acre Wood to the north-west, where it borders Gunby. The boundary follows due east to meet North Witham parish at the first undulation (small valley) in the road northwards.
Crossing the road, the boundary follows due eastwards to meet the A1, then follows this due south, on the east side of the road. The boundary goes through The Fox, with North Witham parish to the east, to a point just south of the A1 interchange. The A1 was upgraded in early August 1971, through Rutland, to Tickencote (built by Rutland County Council). Previous to the improved road, there was the South Witham crossroads on the A1, which met the main road where the sliproads join today.
On the road to Wymondham (Mill Lane) is a large limestone quarry owned by Breedon Aggregates[1] (based at Breedon on the Hill), containing around 3.2 million tonnes of limestone. Ennstone Johnston bought the quarry for £1.5 million in April 2004 from GRS. Close to the north is a former ironstone quarry.
Nearby to the south was RAF Cottesmore, and the village was the centre of the flight path circuit.
Companies based in the village include Compressed Air Plant and Auriga at New Mills on North Witham Road. Petlife International is on Occupation Road towards the A1 and nearby is Clever Cooks. Also in the parish on the northbound A1 is the Grantham South Witham Travelodge.[2] (currently £35 a night), and the Blue Cow also offers accommodation.
The village has until recently also been spelt as South Wytham. In 1966, the Royal Air Force built a large housing estate on the opposite side of the River Witham. The houses were intended for servicemen at RAF Cottesmore, but were taken instead by personnel at RAF North Luffenham. The village trebled in size virtually overnight, and the primary school was similarly increased in size. A NAAFI was provided for the forces' families.
On 2 August 1973, Canberra B2 WJ674 of 231 OCU crashed in the field east of The Fox, actually in North Witham parish, near Woodbine Farm. Only one of the aircrew ejected successfully.
In 2010, similar to Nocton, there was a plan for a super-dairy for around 3,000 cows on land owned by Buckminster Trust Estate south of the approach road to the A1, by Velmur. It was withdrawn in June 2010.[3]
There was once a South Witham railway station which is now closed. The line went from Melton, via Bourne, to Spalding. In 1898, a branch line was built from the railway (near the quarry) to Buckminster to transport iron ore for the Holwell Iron Company, later the Appleby-Frodingham Steel Company, and ran parallel to Sewstern Lane.
The church is dedicated to St John the Baptist and included in the Withams group of churches are North Witham, Stainby and Gunby. In the nineteenth century, the vicar was Ralph Tollemache, nephew of Lord Frederick Tollemache. He built the primary school in 1879, and his children that were born in the village were well-known (internationally) for their bizarre long names such as Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache, who was born in 1884. His eldest son, Sir Lyonel Felix Carteret Eugene Tollemache, 4th Baronet born in 1854, became Lord Tollemache in 1935.
There were two chapels - a Methodist and Congregationalist (now known nationally as the United Reformed Church). One chapel on Thistleton Road became a well-known vintage motorcycle museum. The owner later claimed to be Britain's safest driver[4], having taken to the wheel in 1925 (at the age of 15), and buying his first car, a Willys Overland Crossley Whippet in 1935 for £2.50. He sold his collection of eighty 1920s and 1930s motorcycles in March 2003.[5]
The parish is well known among archaeologists as the site of one of Lincolnshire's Knights Templar preceptories in 1164. This was the most complete archaeological plan of the military orders of the Knights Templar ever seen in Britain, and Europe. Temple Hill was recently investigated by the Society for Medieval Archaeology in 2002.
Until their disbandment in 1312, the Knights Templar were major landowners on the higher lands of Lincolnshire where they had a number of preceptories on property which provided income while Temple Bruer was an estate on the Lincoln Heath, believed to have been used also for military training. The preceptories from which the Lincolnshire properties were managed were:[6]