Welton, Lincolnshire


Welton is a large village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was recorded as 4,327 in the 2011 census. It is geographically situated north from Lincoln. The name Welton by Lincoln is also used to distinguish from other similarly named villages in Lincolnshire: Welton le Wold and Welton le Marsh.
The village centre has been long appreciated for its picturesque and quintessentially English qualities, boasting multiple Grade II or higher listed buildings, alongside the eponymous Welton Beck, whose venerable spring really puts the 'Wel' in Welton. It has also been known as a wildlife haven due to an abundance of green space, and as a charitable place, especially through the church and schools. Since November 1969, the village has been a designated conservation area.

Toponymy

The name means, roughly, "town with a stream", with the suffix 'ton' being from the Saxon term 'tūn' for an enclosure, and 'wel' coming from the Anglo-Saxon 'wella' a place of springing or bubbling waters, possibly referencing the nearby Old Man's Head spring, the source of the Welton Beck. For this reason, it is unlikely to refer to the pump and formerly well on the southern green.
Historically, the village has been known by many diverse names and spelling variations. Most famously in 1086, the Domesday Book registered the area as 'Welletone'. Later names include 'Welletonam' as early as 1070, 'Welton Davy Bekhall' in 1291, 'Welleton cum Kirketon' in 1292, 'Wolteme Brynthall' in 1349, and 'Welton Askeby Payneshill' in 1428. Many refer to the prebends, as they were sometimes seen as similarly significant to the town itself. In relation to the neighbouring hamlet of Dunholme, the area was also called 'Welton iuxta Downeham' and 'Welton nigh Dunham' in 1583 and 1661 respectively, amongst other names.
The town has also been known as Welton by Lincoln or Welton-by-Lincoln, amongst other vaiations, to clearly differentiate it from the multitude of other settlements with a variation of the name Welton, including four within just : Welton with Melton, Welton le Wold Welton le Marsh, and Little Welton, near Louth.

History

The village does have an ancient well, later completed with a Victorian pump. Though the more famous pump is located on a small grassy triangle between Sudbeck Lane and Lincoln Road, there are other old wells with their own functioning pumps elsewhere. Before the Anglo-Saxon inhabitation, there is evidence of both Roman and Celtic settlement from about 7,500 years ago, with coins and fragments of pottery serving as evidence of a Roman farmstead. An evaluation undertaken immediately south of the parish church and near to a known Saxon cemetery, revealed Roman remains and artefacts, and recovered fragments of early-mid Saxon and medieval pottery in 2007. Another evaluation in 2007 at Heathclinic House recorded a late Saxon ditch and a series of medieval pits and ditches. Artefacts from the 12th century and later were noted to be fairly abundant, indicating probable domestic occupation of the site at that time.
Roman building debris, pottery scatter, stamped pottery, stamped tiles, and Roman coins were found on numerous occasions. Air photographs also indicated Roman site around the former hamlet. An Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery, a Bronze Age tanged and barbed arrowhead found, and a Neolithic stone axe were all found in Ryland too.
By 1086, the Domesday Book recorded as many as 52 households, and named the village "Welletone". It was at this time that the medieval fishpond complex beside the Welton Beck was in use.
Welton School was built by subscription in 1826, and by 1881 it had about 130 students. In 1889, it was rebuilt to accommodate 167 students. The site of the school has since become residential, but can be remembered by the symbolically named Old School Yard Passage directly adjacent to the building. In 1881, the parish was entitled to send eleven boys to Christ's Hospital School in Lincoln.
The vicarage was recorded as discharged in 1848, meaning that as it valued in the king's books at 7 pounds, 6 shillings, and 8 pence, it fell below £10 and was therefore exempt from having to pay the First Fruits and Tenths according to law created by Henry VIII, and confirmed by Elizabeth I.
In 1863, a number of apparently Saxon graves were discovered on the site of an old chapel cemetery. Roman remains have also said to have been found in the village as well.
Bastardy cases would be heard in the Lincoln petty session hearings on the first and third Fridays of each month.
There is significant recorded personal charity for the poor through the local parish church, St Mary's, as well a history of other resources for the poor. In 1664, Thomas Codd left 20 shillings per year for the poor, and four year later in 1668, a Mrs Leary left 10 shillings per year. However, by 1881, all knowledge as to what land generated Leary's income was lost and the grant left undone. In 1716, Elizabeth Croft left 20 shillings a year to the poor. The Common Lands were enclosed in the parish around 1771. In 1824, John Camm left the interest from £500 for the poor, which was combined with about £11, 10 shillings a year recorded as chiefly the gift of Earl Brownlow by 1848, to supply about £20 to the poor per annum. Renowned philanthropist Sarah Greville, Countess of Warwick left £10 per annum to the vicar of Welton for delivering a lecture in the church every Sunday evening. The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 made the parish part of the Lincoln Poor Law Union, and in 1881, it still held the right to send one poor man to Market Rasen Hospital.
During the Cold War, a Royal Observer Corps underground monitoring post for nuclear reporting was operated in Ryland. A similar post can be found at the site of the former RAF Dunholme Lodge to the south-west.
William Farr School was opened inside the parish as a secondary modern school in 1952, on a site purchased for £600 from RAF Dunholme Lodge in 1946 by Rev William Farr, then vicar of Welton. The school was named after him when he died in 1955. Five years later in 1960, the old former wartime buildings were replaced, with the new site straddling the southern parish border with Dunholme. The school acquired comprehensive status in 1974, became grant-maintained in 1992, and as part of their trip to Welton in 1996, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited to open the new Humanities building.
In 2000 William Farr signed up for the latest education initiative and attained Technology College status. In 2001 they achieved the distinction of having the best comprehensive school A-level results in England, and in 2006 it received an outstanding award in every category in an Ofsted inspection, one of the best in the country. It is now an academy and is also an associate school of the University of Lincoln.
Welton also has a not-for-profit magazine, Welton News, which has published monthly since June 1999, nearing 300 issues as of 2022. More than 2,000 copies of each issue are distributed free-of-charge to every household in Welton by a group of volunteers. The magazine was edited by Hugh Gilfedder for over 15 years, until his retirement in 2019, when he was succeeded by Dorothy Russell. Gilfedder was also responsible for the donating two new trees to be planted in the village the same year.
The village floral displays were planted in a purple, cream and green theme in 2018 to reflect the colours of the Suffragette movement, commemorating the 100th anniversary of when women first won the vote.

1987 Red Arrows crash

On 16 November 1987 at 12:45 pm, two of RAF Scampton's Red Arrows, Hawks XX259 and XX241, called Reds 1 and 2, piloted by Flt Lt MJ "Spike" Newbury and Sqn Ldr Tim Miller respectively, experienced a mid-air wing tip collision during a winter display practice. Red 2 collided with Red 1 after the air brake failed to operate. Red 1 slammed into houses on Monce Close and Red 2 landed in a field, just metres away from a row of houses. Both pilots ejected, but Sqdn Ldr Miller suffered injuries to his back, and Flt Lt Newbury suffered a broken leg – both had to be taken to Lincoln County Hospital for treatment. Amazingly, nobody was killed in the incident, as the occupants of the house on Monce Close at the epicentre of the crash were all out at the time of the accident. Gillian Schooley had gone to Lincoln while her young daughter was at play school. One neighbour, James Bray was in the bath when the plane crashed next door, while another, Charles Gillon, said he dived for cover after seeing the planes collide, roll over, and burst into flames from his bedroom window.
Both aircraft had to be written off after the accident due to their near total destruction. Red 2 had been on loan to the Red Arrows from No. 4 Flying Training School RAF.
In the immediate aftermath of the crash, there were calls for the Red Arrows to be barred from practising over populated areas, as the team had only been stationed at RAF Scampton for three years. Welton Parish Council chairman Malcolm Parish supported the relocation of the team. Some suggested the team practise over the sea, but were quickly dismissed. Many of Lincolnshire's members of parliament, including Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh, insisted all families affected by the crash should be fully compensated.
Due to being the first in a spree of accidents involving the Red Arrows, with one three months later leading to the death of a pilot and the banning of any future aerobatic displays by the group, some suggested that the Red Arrows were jinxed.

Prebends of Welton

When Lincoln Cathedral was first built, Welton's owner, William the Conqueror, gave the parish to the bishop to endow six prebends which provided income to support six canons attached to the cathedral. These were subsequently confirmed by William II and Henry I. The prebends were:
  • Beckhall
  • Brinkhall
  • Gorehall
  • Painshall
  • Rivehall
  • Westhall
The "H" preceding "all" is silent and not to be pronounced.
Some of the roads in the village have been named after them: Brinkhall Way, Beckhall, Rivehall Avenue, Westhall Road, Painshall Close, Gorehall Drive, and even Prebend Lane. However, there is not necessarily any geographical connection between the original prebends and the streets named after them.