Branston, Lincolnshire

Branston
All Saints' Church in 2005
Branston Location within Lincolnshire
Population	4,019 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	TF021673
• London	120 mi (190 km) S
Civil parish	Branston and Mere
District	North Kesteven
Shire county	Lincolnshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LINCOLN
Postcode district	LN4
Dialling code	01522
Police	Lincolnshire
Fire	Lincolnshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Sleaford and North Hykeham

Branston is a large village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated approximately 4 miles (6 km) south-east from the city and county town of Lincoln. It is the principal settlement in the civil parish of Branston and Mere, population 4019 (in the 2001 Census).

History

Neolithic and Bronze Age axes have been found in the village. 10 Bronze Age axes were found on the grounds of Branston Hall in 1906. Evidence has also been found of a Roman villa or villa farm; a Roman memorial stone on Folly Lane, part of a statue, a Roman bronze candlestick and pottery fragments (photographs here ). The inscription on the Roman tombstone has been translated as 'In this estate lie buried the bones of Aurelia Concessa, a very pure girl'.

The 1086 Domesday Book records a village population as 350, a figure which stayed relatively stable until the beginning of the 19th century. In the 19th century the population almost tripled, rising to 1216 in 1901. In the 20th century the population trebled further, to exceed 4000. The character of the village changed much over the second half of the 20th Century but the village has retained much of its historic centre – where the majority of buildings are constructed from local limestone.

The 'bran' in 'Branston' may be from the same Saxon root as 'bourne' in old English and 'burn' in Scots, referring to the three streams in the village, or it could refer to a leader with the Norse name Brandr. 'ton' was a Saxon suffix indicating a village or town. In the Domesday book it is listed as Branztune or Branztone. In the Norman Conquest land in Branston was passed from Haminc (Hemming, thane of Blankney) to Walter de Aincurt (a kinsman of Remigius de Fécamp). In 1219 the De Aincurt estate passed from Oliver De Aincurt to his wife Amabila Camville, who remarried to Henry Le Eueske.

The village's most notable buildings are Branston Hall, built 1884-86 and Branston All Saints' Church (parts dating to the 11th century). Branston Hall was preceded by Branston old hall, dating to 1735, which burnt down in 1903 (refer to Branston Hall article for more information). There was a major fire at Branston All Saints Church on Christmas day in 1962.

Other historic buildings include a rectory house, built in 1765; a now unused Methodist chapel, built in 1847, which is of Gothic style and previously seated 300 and a Methodist chapel with seating for 110 which was built to the north-east of the village at Branston Moor in 1911. A war memorial to men of the parish killed in the First World War was erected on the village green in 1920.

The village used to have a railway station which was in the parish of Heighington. Before the railway station was built, Station Road was called Heighington Road. Silver Street was formerly known as Bleak Street. Two other public houses were once located in the village. The Plough which stood on the High Street opposite the Waggon and Horses, which was demolished in the 1970s to straighten a dangerous bend at the centre of the village, and the Bertie Arms, a small public house on Rectory Lane, long ago converted into a private dwelling. The Bertie Arms was named after the family which built Branston old hall. 19th century communal water pumps have been preserved on the High Street and Waterwheel Lane.

The civil parish of Branston was merged with that of Mere to form the present unit in 1931. In the early 1930s parish occupations included twenty-one farmers and one smallholder, two poultry breeders, a horse dealer, a haulage contractor, two coal dealers, a motor bus proprietor, a cycle dealer, a fried fish dealer, three blacksmiths, a wheelwright, a plumber, two carpenters, a boot maker, two butchers, two grocers, three shopkeepers, two tailors, one of whom ran the post office, and landlords of the Waggon and Horses, Plough and Horses, Green Tree (Branston Booths), and Anchor (Washingborough) public houses.

In July 1977 more than fifty children from the junior school had to go to Lincoln County Hospital after a crop spraying aircraft inadvertently sprayed their playground. The insecticide was a mixture of meta-systox and aphox; organophosphate and carbamate compounds designed to clear crops of aphids.

Geography and ecology

Main article: Branston and Mere

The village of Branston is on the B1188 road, from Lincoln to Sleaford. It is built around the shallow valleys of three limestone streams, all of which originate within 3 miles of the village, before merging and flowing northwards toward Washingborough, to join the River Witham. One originates at Westfield Farm, another at Mere Farm and another near Highfield House. Smaller freshwater springs have been found in the valleys.

Most of the village is around 45m above sea level. The bedrock under the village is Jurassic limestone. Fossils found in Branston are mostly marine animals, including ammonites, crinoids and coral, reflecting the fact that the county was under the sea for much of prehistory. Arable farmland now dominates the surrounding countryside. The main crops are wheat, barley and potatoes. Sheep and horses are also raised in the village. Wildlife found in the arable fields includes barn owl, linnet and northern lapwing.

A marsh occupies the valley in the middle of the village, part of which is designated a local nature reserve. The marsh is fed by two of the village streams but also probably by freshwater springs. Wildlife found in the local nature reserve, known as Branston Jungle, includes water rail, common frog, blackcap, hops, kingcup and alder. Woodlands surrounding Branston Hall Hotel and within the boundary of the Village Conservation Area feature rare plants as well as tawny owls, stoats and jays.

Since 2014, part of the cemetary on Branston High Street has been converted into a wildflower meadow, which is traditionally managed by the Branston and Mere Parish Council. Unusual plant species in the meadow include Scabiosa columbaria, Stachys officinalis and Rhinanthus minor. Some of these species were historically wiped out in the Branston area due to changing farming practices and now cannot be found anywhere else around the village. Animals observed in the wildflower meadow include vole, common toad and grey partridge.

Amenities

Signpost in Branston

Branston has one public house, the Waggon and Horses, a modern building which stands on the High Street close to the historic centre of the village. About 110 yards (100 m) farther along the High Street is the Home Guard Club, a private members club. The bar at Branston Hall Hotel is open to visitors and residents. There are two cafés on the High Street and a supermarket on Station Road. There are three takeaway restaurants. Social activities take place at the Church Hall on Church Hill as well as at the Village Hall on Lincoln Road.

Public recreation grounds can be found on Lincoln Road and Moor Lane. There are tennis courts, a skate park and lawns for bowls. Herons Fitness operate a swimming pool at Branston Community Academy. Pottergate Golf Club is on Moor Lane. There are three hairdressers, beauty salons and a spa. In the village there are social clubs for knitting, gardening and Lego construction. An annual garden show takes places at the Village Hall on Lincoln Road and there is a Christmas Market each winter, located close to the church.

There are two doctors' surgeries in the village; one on Station Road and the other on Beech Road. Lincoln County Hospital is only five miles away. Creche facilities are available at the Infant School and on the grounds of Branston Community Academy. Also at Branston Community Academy secondary school, there is a medium-sized public library run by volunteers. Branston All Saints Church is a Protestant Christian place of worship.

Education

Branston C of E Infant School is located on Beech Road, to the northern end of the village. Branston Junior School is located on Station Road, close to the Co-op supermarket. Branston's secondary school is Branston Community Academy, situated on the outskirts of the village on the road to Heighington; the public library is situated in the school. Further education opportunities include Branston Community Academy Sixth Form and Lincoln College. Due to the concentration of schools in the village, children travel to Branston for school from many nearby villages. The nearest Higher Education institutions are the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University (four and five miles away, respectively).

Economy

Although most of the community are employed in the nearby city of Lincoln, Branston is the location for the national headquarters of Branston Potatoes, a potato processing company, which founded in 1968 and employs 600 people nationwide as of 2018. The three schools in the village also provide a lot of employment. Branston Pickle is named after Branston in Staffordshire, where it was originally made, and not the village in Lincolnshire.

Formerly, the local economy was based around wool production, as evidenced by the remains of the Sheepwash on Rectory Lane and the name of Dye House Farm. In 2016 the artist James Sutton was commissioned by the Branston Christmas Market Committee and Branston History Group to produce a metal sculpture called 'Lincoln Longwool Sheep Heading for the Sheepwash', located on the High Street, to commemorate this past and a local variety of sheep, which has the longest fleece of any breed in the world. Wool production became uneconomical for most of the United Kingdom in the mid-20th century, due to cheap imports, and farmland in Lincolnshire transitioned away from mixed farming, to specialising in arable cropping, over the same period.

A 94 hectare 'solar park' is due to be built between Mere Road and Sleaford Road, to generate electricity for the National Grid. It is estimated that it will produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes. Planning permission is temporary, for 35 years, after which time it may be dismantled and returned to agricultural use.

External links

• Media related to Branston, Lincolnshire at Wikimedia Commons
• History of the church
• Junior School
• C of E Infant School
• Branston in the Domesday Book