Bassingham: a quick history…

In his 1842 ‘Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire‘ – the earliest example of such a document that I can find relating to the village – William White recorded that:

“BASSINGHAM is a large and well-built village, on the south side of the Witham, 9 miles S.S.W. of Lincoln, and its parish contains 792 souls, and 3015 acres of fertile land. Messrs. Edward and Chas. Marfleet are lords of the manor; but a great part of the soil belongs to Colonel Reeve, Mr. Frear, Mr. H. Wagstaff, and several of the freeholders. The Church (St. Michael) is a large Gothic building, and the tower was rebuilt in 1782. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £26. 16s. 8d., is in the patronage of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and incumbency of the Rev. John King, BD. The glebe is 130 acres, and the tithes were commuted in 1834 for a yearly modus of £495, which the incumbent considers too little, and is about to have a new valuation. Here is a Wesleyan and also Primitive Methodist chapel; and the former is a handsome structure, erected in 1839, at the cost of £1000. The Poor’s Close, 8A IR., was purchased in 1680, for £36, of which £12 was raised by subscription; £12 was left by John Lambe, in 1760; and £12 by John Garnett, in 1672. It is let for £10. 11s. per annum. Poole Savage, in 1823, left £200 to the poor of Bassingham, and it was laid out in the purchase of Lark Close, 3A. 3R. 32P., let for £12 per annum. The poor parishioners have also about £5 yearly from Sir Chpr. Nevile’s charity, noticed with Aubourn; 40s. yearly from Thorold’s charity, (vide Marston:) and a yearly rent-charge of 10s., left by Robt. Jessop, in 1714, out of Four Acres close. At the Parish School, 13 poor children are educated at the expense of the rector.”

And according to Wikipedia…

“Bassingham is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,425.[1] The village is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) south-west from the city and county town of Lincoln.

Bassingham is situated about midway between Newark-on-Trent and Lincoln. The parish is defined by the River Witham to the west, and the River Brant to the east (across Bassingham Fen). To the south-west is Carlton-le-Moorland.

A Ham class minesweeper, HMS Bassingham, was named after the village.[2]

The church of St. Michael and All Angels was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.[3] The church is in the Bassingham Group of seven churches.

In 1998 the church added a seventh bell: the ship’s bell from HMS Bassingham, presented by her former commander after she was decommissioned. It hangs in a mahogany bell hood in the north aisle and is rung to signal the start of Sunday worship.[citation needed]

Bassingham has one public house, the Bugle Horn, a primary school, and a Methodist chapel.”

And a few more facts…

  • After the Norman Conquest (1066) Bassingham was put under the influence of the Earl of Huntingdon, who had married Judith, the niece of William of Normandy.
  • At the time of the Domesday Book, Bassingham had two thirds of its land under the plough and the remaining one third was swamp and fen close by the Brant. The village consisted of 35 villeins, 8 cottagers, and one freehold farmer.
  • Little change took place until the seventeenth century. The three-field system of strip farming was established, with two large arable fields and the third field was low pasture or meadow. Then in 1629 the villagers drew up a petition asking for enclosure. At this time of the first map of the village was made. In 1654 the enclosure of the land was carried out and the fields and the lanes still look very much the same today as they did back then.
  • In 1664 there was a serious fire in Bassingham, which started in Baker’s Lane. The timber and thatched cottages were easy victims of the fire and were quickly destroyed.
  • The first evidence of schools in the village was in 1775 when the Charity School was established. £1-4s-1d was spent per year on the school for the poor of the village.
  • In 1779 the effect of the Poor Law was thrown when no newcomers were allowed into the village unless they could pay £10 per annum in rent. This would prove that they were not likely to be an expense on the village.
  • In 1782 Bassingham Church tower was rebuilt.
  • In 1892 the Methodist Church was enlarged and renovated at a cost of £500.
  • In 1924 the first bus service to Lincoln began.
  • In 1926 the village was put on mains water supply and ten years later in 1936 mains electricity came to Bassingham. It was not until 1967 that the village had mains sewers installed.

(Source: Village Archive)

References: (I have corrected the broken links to these where possible)

  1.  “Civil parish population 2011”. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 April 2016 (this is a dead link which cannot be resurrected)
  2. ^ “HMS Bassingham”. The Witham Staple. Retrieved 7 August 2016 (this is a dead link which cannot be resurrected)
  3. ^ “St. Michael and All Angels Church, Bassingham”. Withamside Churches. Retrieved 7 August 2016.

External links: (again, I have corrected the broken links to all of these)

And I’m not going to argue with any of that, other than to say that there is a second public house/restaurant called the Five Bells on High Street, and it’s been there for donkeys years!

On 14th November 2023 this video appeared on YouTube. The chap explains his raison d’être right at the outset and gives a decent look around the village, although he omits the vast majority of the historical interest. Well worth a watch though!

BASSINGHAM signBACK HOME

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