Barkston

Barkston
The spire of Barkston church
Barkston Barkston shown within Lincolnshire
Population	497 (2001 census)[1][2]
OS grid reference	SK930415
• London	100 mi (160 km) S
Civil parish	Barkston
District	South Kesteven
Shire county	Lincolnshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Grantham
Postcode district	NG32
Dialling code	01400
Police	Lincolnshire
Fire	Lincolnshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Sleaford and North Hykeham

Barkston is a village and civil parish^[3] in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 497 at the 2001 census and 493 at the 2011 census.^[4] The village lies about 4 miles (6 km) north of the market town of Grantham, on the A607, just south of the junction with the A153 to Ancaster.

History

The village is named in the Domesday Book as "Barchestune", and the name probably means "the farmstead of a man called Barkr."

The Deserted Medieval Village of Ringsthorpe was located just to the west of Barkston, on the other side of the River Witham.SK927414 Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the latest archaeological discoveries at the site are from the Medieval period, and the last documentary mention is in the 14th century.^[5]

Hickson's Almshouses, built in 1640 and re-built in 1839, provide homes for local elderly people.^[6]

Barkston railway station was near the Barkston South junction of the East Coast Main Line and Sleaford railways.

Military history

During the Second World War, Arthur Lowe, the main character in the television series Dad's Army, was stationed at Barkston with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, which had the task of servicing searchlights.^[7]

RAF Barkston Heath tower

RAF Barkston Heath was in recent years the base of the Joint Elementary Flying Training School (RAF and Fleet Air Arm) in 1995; the Army Air Corps joined in 1996, so that it became the Defence Elementary Flying Training School in 2003, when the RAF withdrew. Now the 703 Naval Air Squadron and 674 Squadron Army Air Corps are parts of the RAF's No. 3 Flying Training School. The airfield is also used for the British Model Flying Association national championships. In June 2003, the BBMF moved to Barkston Heath for four months.^[8]

Geography

The present route of the A607 through the village dates from the 1930s. The River Witham passes through the west of the village. At the 2001 census there were 229 households,^[2] 100 per cent of the population were white, 87 per cent declared themselves to be Christian, and 20 per cent of the population were retired.^[1]

Viking Way

To the east, on top of the Jurassic limestone escarpment, RAF Barkston Heath stands next to the course of the Roman Road Ermine Street.

The parish boundary crosses the A607 at the northern end of the Syston bypass. It follows to the south of Station Road, crossing the River Witham, the northern side of Hambleton Hill, and the East Coast Main Line at Shire House, to the west. North of this point are the Barkston South and Barkston East railway junctions, situated either side of Westfield Farm. They have not been in use since 2004. The boundary follows the northern edge of Hurn Wood, where it meets Marston. Northwards, it crosses the Grantham Avoiding Line at the Sand Lane bridge. It then crosses the East Coast Main Line, follows the Viking Way eastwards to meet Hougham, and the River Witham, south of Frinkley Plantation. At Far Hill, the boundary leaves the Viking Way, passing northwards through Old Gorse Wood, to the west of the former Barkston Gorse Farm, crossing Frinkley Lane. Eastwards, it briefly meets Carlton Scroop, and at the top of a hill it meets Honington at Spellar Wood, passing along the southern edge. Passing to the south-west, it crosses Frinkley Lane, the Viking Way, Hough Road along the southern edge of Grove Plantations, and the Grantham–Sleaford railway line (Poacher Line). It crosses the A607 at the A153 junction, passes through Minnetts Wood north of Heath Farm, tops Honington Heath to meet Ancaster, and runs straight across the middle of RAF Barkston Heath.

Along Ermine Street (B6403 road) it meets Wilsford and North Kesteven, and is briefly the South Kesteven boundary. At the southern edge of Barkston Heath airfield, it follows Heath Lane westwards, and meets Syston. It follows Heath Lane, at this point a track, along Barkston Heath, passing through Minnett's Wood along Minnett's Hill.

Community

St Nicholas' Church

The ecclesiastical parish of Barkston belongs to the Barkston and Hough group of parishes in the Deanery of Loveden and Diocese of Lincoln. The incumbent since 2013 is Rev. Stuart Hadley.^[9] The parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, a philanthropist bishop from whom the legends and customs of Santa Claus derive.

St Nicholas's Church includes a Norman window, a 14th-century spire and 15th-century porch.^[10]

The Methodist Chapel in West Street was built as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in 1832. It closed in 2002, but the congregation continued to meet in the village hall as part of the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Circuit until 2013.^[11]

The village pub is The Stag in Church Street, which also serves "locally sourced" food.^[12] A mobile library calls once a month, a mobile fish and chip van every Thursday, and a mobile greengrocer every Friday. There is a petrol station with a shop on the main road. Adjacent to it is a hand car wash and a mechanic's garage.

Barkston has Girl Guide and Brownie troops, and a mother-and-toddler group. A produce show is held every summer. The village has a cricket club, an indoor bowls team, and an association football team. The latter plays in the Grantham and District League Premier Division since finishing third in the 2007–08 season in Division One.

References

External links

• Media related to Barkston at Wikimedia Commons
• Barkston in the Domesday Book