Middle Rasen

Middle Rasen
Red-brown church with limestone pinnacles and details. A square tower on the left, the nave on the right under a low roof hidden behind castellations in the same material. We can see a neat porch and a very imposing stained glass window. The church and graveyard stand a metre higher than the road, retained behind a low wall of the same red-brown ironstone. The church is seen framed by bushes and large trees in the middle nearground. The sky is mostly of high, light, clouds with patches of blue.
St Peter’s Church, Middle Rasen
Middle Rasen is shown in red on the cream outline of Lincolnshire, two thirds of the way up and roughly half way across. It is NE of Lincoln, half way to Grimsby.
Middle Rasen
 Middle Rasen shown within Lincolnshire
Population 1,319 (2001)
OS grid referenceTF089890
   – London 130 mi (210 km)  S
DistrictWest Lindsey
Shire countyLincolnshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Market Rasen
Postcode district LN8
Police Lincolnshire
Fire Lincolnshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK ParliamentGainsborough
List of places
UK
England
Lincolnshire

Coordinates: 53°23′14″N 0°21′45″W / 53.387129°N 0.362506°W / 53.387129; -0.362506

Middle Rasen is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, located about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west from the town of Market Rasen.[1] Today the village consists of two villages which have merged to become one; they were called Middle Rasen Drax and Middle Rasen Tupholme.[2][3][4]

History

Rasen is mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086, but West Rasen, Middle Rasen and Market Rasen are indistinguishable. In its entirety the list includes ten separate references to Rasen, which as a whole consists of 144 households.[4][5]

Middle Rasen has had two churches. A church dedicated to St Paul Middle Rasen Drax took part of its name from the parent house of Drax Priory in Yorkshire. In 1846 St Paul's comprised a nave, chancel, South aisle and western tower, with the probable remains of a demolished north aisle and north chapel. – it was demolished in 1860, with parts of its fabric used to restore of the church of St Peter.[6][7][8] Grade II* listed St Peter's church dates from the 12th century, with later alterations and additions, and an 1861 restoration by Pearson Bellamy and John Spence Hardy, of Lincoln.[6][9]

In 1885 Kelly's Directory noted village Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, and Reformed Wesleyan chapels. It described a parish land of sand and clay, with a clay subsoil, on which wheat, barley and turnips were grown, and with pasture. Parish area was 3,550 acres (14 km2), supporting an 1881 population of 928. There were 17 farmers listed, four of whom had added trades, variously a miller, cattle dealer, butcher & cattle dealer, and machine owner. Other occupations were a blacksmith, beer retailer & blacksmith, millwright, grocer, shopkeeper, wheelwright, carrier, grocer & draper, butcher & cattle dealer, miller, publican, and dressmaker, and a shoemaker who also ran the post office.[8]

Middle Rasen Mill

A tower windmill, built in 1827 for the grinding of cereal, ceased working permanently in 1925, and is now used as a store.[10] A previous three storey red-brick watermill dated from the late 18th century, with 1827 remodelling – its remaining wheelhouse is Grade II listed.[4][11][12]

Middle Rasen Primary School was built in 1875 to replace a charity school founded through a bequest by John Wilkinson, who died in 1720. In 1878 the school became a Board School, and in 1903 the Middle Rasen Council School. The charity still supports the current school.[4][8][13]

Community

The ecclesiastical parish is part of The Middle Rasen Group of the Deanery of West Wold. The 2013 incumbent is The Revd Charles Patrick. Since the demolition of one church the other has carried both dedications, and is known to the Diocese as Drax St Peter & St Paul. The parish maintains a modern church hall which is used by the village.[14][15] To mark the Millennium a new clock, new bell frame, and three additional bells were installed.[16]

The Middle Rasen Methodist church maintains a chapel on Gainsborough Road. The Anglican and Methodist churches hold joint services at a former RAF base 4 miles (6.4 km) away.[17]

The Bowling club maintains a Bowling Green on Church Street.[18] The village has numerous sports and social clubs, including a Cricket Club and a Horticultural Society.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Parish council web site". Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Historic England. "Middle Rasen (892385)". PastScape. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Middle Rasen". Vision of Britain. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Parish council web site history page".
  5. ↑ "Middle Rasen (and Market Rasen and West Rasen)". Domesday Map. Anna Powell-Smith/University of Hull. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Ecclesiastical parish history". Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  7. ↑ Historic England. "St Paul, Middle Rasen (349736)". PastScape. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull 1885, p. 601
  9. ↑ Historic England. "St Peters, Middle Rasen (1166238)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  10. ↑ Historic England. "Middle Rasen Windmill (498317)". PastScape. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Historic England. "Middle Rasen Watermill (892383)". PastScape. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Historic England. "Middle Rasen Watermill (1064040)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Middle Rasen Primary School". Lincs to the Past. Lincolnshire Archives. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "Middle Rasen P C C"., Diocese of Lincoln
  15. ↑ "St. Peter and St. Pauls Church, Middle Rasen"., Middle Rasen Group
  16. ↑ "Middle Rasen St Peter and St Pauls Parish Church". Lincolnshire County Council.
  17. ↑ "Middle Rasen methodist chapel". Market Rasen & Caistor Circuit. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Bowling club venue".
  19. ↑ "Clubs and associations, Parish web site". Retrieved 16 March 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.