Navenby

Navenby is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Lying south from Lincoln and north-northwest from Sleaford, Navenby had a population of 2,361 in the 2021 census. In March 2011, it was named as the 'Best Value Village' in England following a national survey.
A Bronze Age cemetery and the remains of an Iron Age settlement have been uncovered in the village by Navenby Archaeologist Group and Allen Archaeology. Historians also believe Navenby was a significant staging point on the Roman Ermine Street, as the Romans are reported to have maintained a small base or garrison in the village due to close proximity to the village of Ancaster. Navenby became a market town after receiving a charter from Edward the Confessor in the 11th century. The charter was later renewed by William Rufus, Edward III and Richard II. When the market fell into disuse in the early 19th century, Navenby returned to being a village.
The civil parish of Navenby is rural, covering more than. It straddles Ermine Street, a Roman road built between 45 and 75 AD, which runs between London and York. The Viking Way, a footpath between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland, also cuts through the village. The Vikings exerted great influence over Lincolnshire in the 9th and 10th centuries, as can be seen in the many local place names ending in -by, such as Navenby. Names ending with -by meant homestead or village.

History

Early history

around Navenby indicate the area has been occupied since at least the British Bronze Age, about 600 BC. The remains of British Iron Age farms have been found at Chapel Lane, a site now protected as a public open space by the district and parish councils and supported by
Navenby Archaeology Group.
Significant Roman finds include parts of shops and houses that would have fronted onto Ermine Street, down which Roman armies marched to and from the Legionary Fortress at Lincoln. The city of Lincoln was very important at that time, probably the capital of the late Roman Province of Flavia Caesariensis. Evidence suggests that Navenby was a significant staging point along Ermine Street. The Romans are reported to have maintained a small base or garrison in the village, and a possible Romano-British temple and burial sites have been unearthed in the area. A 2009 archaeological dig uncovering a road, building foundations and Roman graves along with pottery and coins, showed Navenby to be a Roman Service Station.
Cremations dated to the middle Saxon period have been discovered near the junction of High Dyke with Chapel Lane. Late Saxon remains have also been found under and around St Peter's Church, suggesting the original Roman village had moved from Ermine Street to Church Lane and North Lane by the late-Saxon period.
Navenby's Saxon name is unknown. The present name is derived from the Old Norse Nafni+by, which means "farmstead or village of a man called Nafni". In the Domesday Book of 1086, Navenby appears as Navenbi and Navenebi. The Vikings exerted considerable influence over Lincolnshire in the 9th and 10th centuries, as can be seen in the many local place names ending in -by. The Viking Way, a footpath that cuts through the village, is a lasting reminder of their presence.

Middle Ages

Navenby, originally an agricultural village, became a market town after receiving a charter from Edward the Confessor in the 11th century. The charter was later renewed by William Rufus, Edward III, and Richard II.
The wide main street, down which farmers once drove their sheep to market, is lasting evidence of its market town status. A market square once stood at the centre, marked by a cross in honour of Queen Eleanor. Today, the square has gone and the cross is a ruin.
Parish records exist for Navenby from 1681, although bishops' transcripts go back to 1562. The documents show the village hosted several annual fairs each year: a market fair on 17 October at which farm animals were traded; a feast on the Thursday before Easter; and a Hiring Fair held each May Day, at which servants gathered to seek employment.
The records also show that part of the parish of Navenby was enclosed in 1772. Such was the significance of Navenby at this time that a workhouse for the parish poor was erected here, although the building was later given over to other uses. A Sick Society was founded in 1811 and a Parish School was built next to St Peter's Church in 1816, paid for by subscription. Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Navenby parish became part of the Lincoln Poor Law Union.

19th century

When the market closed in the early 19th century Navenby lost its status as a market town, and once again became an agricultural village. The Penny Cyclopaedia of 1839, published by The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, described the village in this way:
Many buildings were erected in Navenby during the 19th century, including a small Wesleyan Methodist chapel in about 1830, which was completely rebuilt in 1840. A Temperance Hall was built in 1852, later used as a second base by the Wesleyan Reformers.
A Volunteer Fire Brigade was founded in 1844, comprising five men and a manual engine. The Provincial Gas Light and Coke Company began supplying gas lighting to the village in 1857, and in 1867 a railway station was built three-quarters of a mile west of the village, on the Lincoln-to-Grantham branch of the Great Northern Railway.
By 1871, the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln was the principal landowner and Lord of the Manor of Navenby. A witch bottle was discovered in the foundations of a Navenby farmhouse in 2005, thought to date back to about 1830. Containing pins, human hair and urine, the bottle was believed to protect a household against evil spells.

Modern history

Navenby was an agricultural village at the beginning of the 20th century, but the outbreak of the First World War brought changes for the community. A small airfield, Wellingore Heath, was opened on land bordering Navenby in 1917, to provide a base for the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. The flat landscape, with its cliff-top situation, proved an ideal situation for flight operations.
T. E. Lawrence, perhaps better known as Lawrence of Arabia, was stationed at nearby RAF Cranwell just after the war, in 1926, where he wrote a revised version of his Seven Pillars Of Wisdom. He mentioned Navenby in a letter to a friend at the time, saying:

I'm too shy to go looking for dirt. That's why I can't go off stewing into the Lincoln or Navenby brothels with the fellows. They think it's because I'm superior: proud, or peculiar or 'posh', as they say: and it's because I wouldn't know what to do, how to carry myself, where to stop. Fear again: fear everywhere.

Wellingore airfield closed after the war ended, but it was re-opened in 1935 and its facilities expanded during the winter of 1939–40. By then known as RAF Wellingore, notable officers stationed there included Wing Commander Guy Gibson. Group Captain Douglas Bader is known to have briefly messed at Wellingore while on R&R leave from the Battle of Britain too, and both Gibson and Bader were regular visitors to Navenby. The base served as a satellite field for RAF Digby until 1944 and as a relief landing ground for RAF Cranwell from April 1944 until its final closure in 1945, after which it was used as a camp for prisoners of war from Germany and Ukraine; the inmates were often made to work on the surrounding farmland.
Navenby lost many men during the two World Wars. The village war memorial, a rough hewn stone Celtic Cross mounted on a plinth with a three-stepped base, is in the churchyard of St Peter's. It was manufactured by Messrs G Maile & Son Ltd at a cost of £200, and unveiled in April 1921. On it are inscribed the names of the 22 casualties from the First World War and the 8 from the Second World War.
Following an initial decline in the population of Navenby at the turn of the 20th century, the post-war years saw numbers rise steeply. This increase can be directly linked to the 35-plus new houses built from the end of the First World War until the 1950s, as well as to other building projects from the 1970s onwards. Other post-war changes include the move away from a dependence on farming. Although Navenby continues to be surrounded by farms, it is now largely a dormitory village for Lincoln, Grantham and beyond. Figures from the 2001 census show that, out of a population of 1,666, almost 600 commute to work each day.

Governance

The parish of Navenby was originally in the higher division of the ancient Boothby Graffoe wapentake, in the North Kesteven division of the county of Lincolnshire. The term wapentake dates back to the Vikings and was used to describe a collection of local parishes. It originally meant "show your weapon" and the idea behind the term was that all those in favour of a resolution would raise their sword or axe to show agreement.
The History of the County of Lincoln, a book written by Thomas Allen in 1834, states:
Navenby was classed as an ancient parish from the 11th to the 19th century, as it came "under the jurisdiction of a clergyman" and existed before 1597. Early records show that the Manor of Navenby was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln in 1292. The money generated by land rent was used by Roger de Newton, the first incumbent of the chantry chapel at Harby, Nottinghamshire, to maintain the building. This followed the death of Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I, while on a visit to Lincoln. Eleanor died at de Newton's manor house at Harby in November 1290 and the chapel was erected in her honour.
The parish began to take on civil as well as ecclesiastical duties following the 16th-century Dissolution of the Monasteries and the Tudor Poor Law Acts of 1601. The ecclesiastical parish of Navenby was originally placed in the Longoboby Rural Deanery, but was transferred to the Graffoe Rural Deanery in 1968, and it is still part of the Diocese of Lincoln. Navenby officially became a civil parish in the 19th century and became a member of the Lincoln Poor Law Union in 1834. The parish was also part of the Lincoln Rural Sanitary District. The Navenby civil parish boundaries were adjusted in 1931, to include the civil parish of nearby Skinnand.
Following the Local Government Act 1888, Navenby was governed by Branston Rural District Council from 1894 to 1931. The village then came under the control of North Kesteven Rural District Council from 1931 to 1974, after the Local Government Act 1972 reformed the districts of Holland, Kesteven and much of Lindsey into the shire county of Lincolnshire. Today Navenby remains part of the North Kesteven district.
Before the Reform Act 1832, Lincolnshire sent twelve members to parliament, including two for the county, two for the city of Lincoln and two for the boroughs of Boston, Grantham, Great Grimsby and Stamford. As a result of the act, Lincolnshire's electoral divisions were amended, and Navenby became part of the South Division Parliamentary District for Lincolnshire. Two Whig candidates, Henry Handley and Gilbert John Heathcote, were returned in the first election. The village remained in the South Division until 1867, when it was transferred to the Mid Division. In 1885 it joined the North Kesteven Division, and in 1918 it became part of the Grantham Division, until 1974.
Today, Navenby has its own parish council, dealing with issues such as play-area revamps and the protection of public open spaces. The council is based at High Street, Navenby., the chairman is Steve Woollas. The second tier of local government provided for Navenby is the Conservative-controlled North Kesteven District Council, which is responsible for housing problems and public health. The council is based at Kesteven Street, Sleaford. Navenby is part of the Cliff Villages ward and is represented by two local councillors on the district council: Mrs Marianne Jane Overton and Mrs Laura Louise Conway, who both belong to the Rural Independent Group.
Conservative-led Lincolnshire County Council provides the top tier of local government for Navenby, with responsibility for highways, sites of special interest and schools. It is based at the County Offices in Newland, Lincoln. Navenby has one representative on this council, Marianne Overton, who also represents Branston ward. Following the by-election of December 2016, Navenby is represented at government level by Caroline Johnson, the Conservative MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham constituency, following the resignation of Stephen Phillips. Prior to Phillips, the Right Honorable Douglas Hogg QC, stood down from the post before the 2010 election after having to pay back the cost of cleaning his moat.
Navenby was part of the East Midlands constituency for the European Parliament until Brexit in 2020. Former Conservative turned Liberal Democrat Bill Newton Dunn represented the area as a Member of the European Parliament. Newton Dunn lives in Navenby and his European responsibilities included vice-chairman of Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy Committee. In the 1980s, Newton Dunn coined the much-used phrase "Democratic deficit".