Alkborough
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alkborough | |
  Alkborough shown within Lincolnshire |
|
| Population | 455 (2001 Census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Parish | Alkborough and Walcot |
| Unitary authority | North Lincolnshire |
| Ceremonial county | Lincolnshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SCUNTHORPE |
| Postcode district | DN15 |
| Dialling code | 01724 |
| Police | Humberside |
| Fire | Humberside |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| European Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire | |
Alkborough is a village of about 455 people in North Lincolnshire, England, located near the northern end of the cliff range of hills overlooking the Humber Estuary at the Trent Falls, the confluence of the River Trent and the River Ouse.
Alkborough, together with the hamlet of Walcot (which lies about a mile (1.6 km) south), forms a civil parish which covers about 2,875 acres (12 km²).
The village of Alkborough was once thought to be the location that the Romans called Aquis but this name is now usually associated with the town of Buxton in Derbyshire (Aquis Arnemetiae).
Contents |
[edit] Governance
Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lincolnshire for centuries, from a very early time, Alkborough formed part of the Manley Wapentake in the North division of Lindsey.
Care for the poor of the parish extends back prior to 1765, though after the Poor Law reforms of 1834, Alkborough became part of the Glanford Brigg Poor Law Union.
From 1894 until 1974, Alkborough lay within Glanford Brigg Rural District.
[edit] Geography
Alkborough Flats is an area of low-lying arable farmland of nearly 4 km² situated at the "Confluence of the Rivers" (Trent Falls) where the Rivers Trent and Ouse join to form the Humber estuary. The land is now jointly owned by the UK's Environment Agency and English Nature. Flood defences which were built in the 1950s to protect the area are being breached to allow water to reclaim the land at high tide and in times of flooding. The project will create 2 km² of new intertidal habitat in the inner part of the Humber estuary. The new grassland will be managed to encourage biodiversity, with reedbeds, lagoons and grazing areas.
Alkborough Flats is the first coastal realignment site to be developed as part of the Humber Shoreline Management Plan. This "managed retreat" strategy should lessen the risks of flooding in low-lying towns along the Ouse and Trent by realigning existing flood defences to create compensatory intertidal habitat around the estuary.
[edit] Landmarks
Close to the Cliff edge is Julian's Bower, a unicursal turf maze, 43 feet (13 m) across, of indeterminate age.
According to Arthur Mee's book Lincolnshire the maze was cut by monks in the 12th century, but White's Lincolnshire Directory of 1872 maintains that it was constructed in Roman times as part of a game. Others think that while the feature is of Roman origin, it was later used by the Medieval Church for some sort of penitential purpose and only reverted to its former use as an amusement or diversion, after the Reformation.
Firm documentary evidence of its existence only seems to date from 1697 however, when it was noticed, on his travels, by the Yorkshire antiquary Abraham de la Pryme.
In case the maze becomes overgrown or otherwise indistinct, its pattern is recorded, in a 19th century stained glass church window, on the floor of the church porch and also on the gravestone of James Goulton Constable, which is in Alkborough cemetery.
Regardless of its origin, it is one of the few remaining turf labyrinths in the United Kingdom.
[edit] External links
- Plan of Julian's Bower maze
- Alkborough & Walcot parish website
- Alkborough, a GENUKI article.
