Waddington
Encyclopedia
Waddington
is a large rural commuter village and civil parish in the North Kesteven
district of Lincolnshire
, England
. Situated approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Lincoln on the A607 Grantham
Road. According to the census 2001
the village had a population of 6,086.
limestone
called the Lincoln Edge or Lincoln Cliff
. The small cliff is one of only a few hills in Lincolnshire. Lying 2.7 miles (8 km) south of Lincoln and 12.9 miles (18.3 km) north-northwest of Sleaford
, Waddington enjoys warm summers and dry frosty winters.
During the Ice Age
, most of the region surrounding Waddington was covered by ice sheets and this has influenced the topography
and nature of the soils. Much of Lincolnshire is low-lying, in some places below sea level, but Waddington's cliff-top position means it is 226 ft (69 m) above sea level, giving it commanding views over the River Witham
valley.
The more modern areas of the village have developed down the steep hill towards Lincoln. The Viking Way
enters the village from the north on Far Lane and passes south along High Street then briefly along Millers Road.
of 1086 and was mainly an agricultural community until the late 19th century. Horseracing also took place on the heathland areas, which are now part of the RAF station.
At various times other activities including malting, brick-making and stone-quarrying have taken place in the village.
High Dyke, the road that runs between the main RAF station and the service married quarters, lies on the line of the Roman road Ermine Street
. There is only minor evidence that High Dyke is Ermine Street, but the alignment is so exact that it is unlikely to be a coincidence. It is of note that Ermine Street, as it passes Byards Leap
, 20 miles to the south, is also called High Dyke at that point. The traceable line of Ermine Street peters out in the adjacent village of Harmston
and does not reappear until the other side of Lincoln.
Around 1830, George Boole
, the mathematician
, taught at Waddington Academy Boarding School
in the village, run by Robert Hall. From 1838 to 1840, Boole lived in the village and became headmaster of the academy.
of St Michael is a modern stone building situated on High Street. Consecrated in 1954, it replaced an earlier 12th century church destroyed in a World War II
air raid
on the night of 8 May 1941. An account of that night is documented in the book Waddington at War 1939-1941.
along with some brick-built houses built after brick making began to take place on the lower slopes of the village.
The newer residential areas are located in the lower part of the village and are of modern brick and tile construction.
Enemy action during 1941 severely damaged 71 houses in the village, as well as the Horse & Jockey pub and the NAAFI building on the RAF station
. The damage was mainly caused by two aerial mines; large bombs dropped by parachute and fused to explode before hitting the ground. Unfortunately 11 people were killed, among them the NAAFI manageress, Mrs Constance Raven, after whom the All-Ranks Club on the RAF station is still named.
and a pharmacy
are incorporated within the Co-op premises on Bar Lane. The Waddington branch of the Lincolnshire
county libraries is located in Lower High Street.
In addition to the Cliff Villages Medical Practice located on Grantham Road at the Mere Road junction, there is also a chiropody practice located on Bar Lane. The Lincolnshire Fire Brigade premises are located adjacent to the Cliff Villages Medical Practice on Mere Road.
Primary School is in the upper part of the village on Mere Road, whilst Redwood Primary School is in the lower part of the village off Brant Road.
There are Chinese
and Indian
takeaway
s in both locations, as well as a fish and chip shop in the upper village.
.
Also at the lower village there is a large pub/restaurant called the Crow's Nest.
, is an important British airbase east of the village's centre. One of the oldest airfields in the UK, it was founded in November 1916 for the Royal Flying Corps
. RAF Waddington is the RAF's main ISTAR
base, operating amongst others the E-3D Sentry
(a.k.a. AWACS
) reconnaissance aircraft. Previous to this, the station had been home to part of the Avro Vulcan
nuclear bomber force.
. Buses travel to and from Lincoln at 15 minute intervals during peak hours and there is a bus service every half hour to Grantham and villages on the A607.
, the British Isles
experience a maritime climate
characterised by relatively cool summers and mild winters. Compared with other parts of the country, Lincolnshire – and Waddington – are slightly warmer and sunnier in the summer and colder and frostier in the winter. Owing to Waddington's inland position, far from the landfall of most Atlantic depressions, it is one of the driest places to live in the UK, receiving, on average, less than 3 ft (600 mm) of rain per year. The mean annual daily duration of bright sunshine is four hours and 12 minutes; the absence of any high ground is probably responsible for the area being one of the sunniest parts of the British Isles.
Waddington
Waddington is a large rural commuter village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately south of Lincoln on the A607 Grantham Road...
is a large rural commuter village and civil parish in the North Kesteven
North Kesteven
North Kesteven is a local government district in the East Midlands. Just over north of London, it is east of Nottingham and south of Lincoln. North Kesteven is one of seven districts in Lincolnshire, England and is in the centre of the County...
district of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Situated approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Lincoln on the A607 Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
Road. According to the census 2001
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
the village had a population of 6,086.
Topography
Waddington is located at 53°11′31"N 2°26′35"W and known as a Lincolnshire Cliff Village, as it is situated on a ridge of JurassicJurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
called the Lincoln Edge or Lincoln Cliff
Lincoln Cliff
The Lincoln Cliff is the portion of a major escarpment that runs north-south through Lindsey and Kesteven, in central Lincolnshire and is a prominent landscape feature in a generally flat portion of the county...
. The small cliff is one of only a few hills in Lincolnshire. Lying 2.7 miles (8 km) south of Lincoln and 12.9 miles (18.3 km) north-northwest of Sleaford
Sleaford
Sleaford is a town in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is located thirteen miles northeast of Grantham, seventeen miles west of Boston, and nineteen miles south of Lincoln, and had a total resident population of around 14,500 in 6,167 households at the time...
, Waddington enjoys warm summers and dry frosty winters.
During the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, most of the region surrounding Waddington was covered by ice sheets and this has influenced the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
and nature of the soils. Much of Lincolnshire is low-lying, in some places below sea level, but Waddington's cliff-top position means it is 226 ft (69 m) above sea level, giving it commanding views over the River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
valley.
The more modern areas of the village have developed down the steep hill towards Lincoln. The Viking Way
Viking Way
The Viking Way is a long distance footpath in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland. The Countryside Commission recognised the significance of the Viking Way as a high quality long distance walk linking other major routes in Eastern England, these...
enters the village from the north on Far Lane and passes south along High Street then briefly along Millers Road.
History
The village is a documented settlement in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 and was mainly an agricultural community until the late 19th century. Horseracing also took place on the heathland areas, which are now part of the RAF station.
At various times other activities including malting, brick-making and stone-quarrying have taken place in the village.
High Dyke, the road that runs between the main RAF station and the service married quarters, lies on the line of the Roman road Ermine Street
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
. There is only minor evidence that High Dyke is Ermine Street, but the alignment is so exact that it is unlikely to be a coincidence. It is of note that Ermine Street, as it passes Byards Leap
Byards Leap
Byard's Leap is a hamlet in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, and lies 3 miles west of Cranwell. It is part of the civil parish of Cranwell and Byard's Leap. The hamlet is associated with various legends....
, 20 miles to the south, is also called High Dyke at that point. The traceable line of Ermine Street peters out in the adjacent village of Harmston
Harmston
Harmston is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies just east off the A607. south of Lincoln...
and does not reappear until the other side of Lincoln.
Around 1830, George Boole
George Boole
George Boole was an English mathematician and philosopher.As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science. Boole said,...
, the mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, taught at Waddington Academy Boarding School
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in the village, run by Robert Hall. From 1838 to 1840, Boole lived in the village and became headmaster of the academy.
Parish church
The present-day Anglican parish churchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St Michael is a modern stone building situated on High Street. Consecrated in 1954, it replaced an earlier 12th century church destroyed in a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
air raid
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
on the night of 8 May 1941. An account of that night is documented in the book Waddington at War 1939-1941.
Buildings
The older part of the village primarily consists of buildings built of the local limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
along with some brick-built houses built after brick making began to take place on the lower slopes of the village.
The newer residential areas are located in the lower part of the village and are of modern brick and tile construction.
Enemy action during 1941 severely damaged 71 houses in the village, as well as the Horse & Jockey pub and the NAAFI building on the RAF station
RAF station
A Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Many RAF stations are aerodromes, or airbases, being the home to one or more flying squadrons. Other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters , or carry out ground-based operational tasks...
. The damage was mainly caused by two aerial mines; large bombs dropped by parachute and fused to explode before hitting the ground. Unfortunately 11 people were killed, among them the NAAFI manageress, Mrs Constance Raven, after whom the All-Ranks Club on the RAF station is still named.
Public buildings
The parish council office is located on High Street, while the post officePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and a pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
are incorporated within the Co-op premises on Bar Lane. The Waddington branch of the Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
county libraries is located in Lower High Street.
In addition to the Cliff Villages Medical Practice located on Grantham Road at the Mere Road junction, there is also a chiropody practice located on Bar Lane. The Lincolnshire Fire Brigade premises are located adjacent to the Cliff Villages Medical Practice on Mere Road.
Schools
There are two primary schools within the parish of Waddington. All SaintsAll Saints
All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...
Primary School is in the upper part of the village on Mere Road, whilst Redwood Primary School is in the lower part of the village off Brant Road.
Shops and restaurants
The village has a varied selection of shops which are mainly located around the Bar Lane area in the upper part of the village and the Redwood Drive Shopping Centre in the lower part of the village.There are Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
and Indian
Indian cuisine
Indian cuisine consists of thousands of regional cuisines which date back thousands of years. The dishes of India are characterised by the extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society...
takeaway
Takeaway
Takeaway can refer to:* Take-out food* The Takeaway , an American public radio morning news show* Turnover * Turnover * Subtraction—an alternative name...
s in both locations, as well as a fish and chip shop in the upper village.
Public houses
There are three public houses in the village, the names of which reflect the agricultural history of the village. In the centre of the village is the Horse and Jockey which fronts the old town square, while the Three Horse Shoes is situated beside St. Michael’s Church on High Street. The third public house is the Wheatsheaf which is situated at the crossroads of the Lincoln to Grantham road (A607) and Mere Road which is the main access road to RAF WaddingtonRAF Waddington
RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.-Formation:Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916 until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance....
.
Also at the lower village there is a large pub/restaurant called the Crow's Nest.
RAF Waddington
RAF WaddingtonRAF Waddington
RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.-Formation:Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916 until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance....
, is an important British airbase east of the village's centre. One of the oldest airfields in the UK, it was founded in November 1916 for the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
. RAF Waddington is the RAF's main ISTAR
ISTAR
ISTAR stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.Information is collected on...
base, operating amongst others the E-3D Sentry
E-3 Sentry
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force , NATO, Royal Air Force , French Air Force...
(a.k.a. AWACS
Airborne Warning And Control System
Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, may refer to:* E-3 Sentry, the aircraft developed under the USAF's "Airborne Warning and Control System" program...
) reconnaissance aircraft. Previous to this, the station had been home to part of the Avro Vulcan
Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A V Roe & Co designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced,...
nuclear bomber force.
Public transport
The village is served by bus links to Lincoln and Grantham operated by Stagecoach GroupStagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
. Buses travel to and from Lincoln at 15 minute intervals during peak hours and there is a bus service every half hour to Grantham and villages on the A607.
Climate
According to the Köppen classificationKöppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
, the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
experience a maritime climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
characterised by relatively cool summers and mild winters. Compared with other parts of the country, Lincolnshire – and Waddington – are slightly warmer and sunnier in the summer and colder and frostier in the winter. Owing to Waddington's inland position, far from the landfall of most Atlantic depressions, it is one of the driest places to live in the UK, receiving, on average, less than 3 ft (600 mm) of rain per year. The mean annual daily duration of bright sunshine is four hours and 12 minutes; the absence of any high ground is probably responsible for the area being one of the sunniest parts of the British Isles.