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A Short History of Metheringham's Market Cross from 1800 to present day,

It is believed there has been a village cross in Metheringham for over seven centuries. This said, it is not certain as to whether the present site is the original one or whether it used to be further down the High Street near to Drury Street, which in times gone by, was the "centre" of the village. There are no specific ideas as to what the original cross would have looked like but one has to believe it would have been somewhat basic in structure.

Metheringham Butter Cross - Pre 1911.

The part of the village now known as Cross Hill has without doubt been the location of the village cross since the early part of the 17th century as it is documented that, in about 1835, a "new" cross was erected at a cost of £25.00 to replace the old one. At this location a Saturday Market was held every week until possibly the 18th / 19th century. It was known as a Butter Market as this was the main product sold and the cross became known as the "Butter Cross."

This cross stood in the village centre for over 75 years until the early 1900s when it was replaced by a brand new one.

Stepping through Time in Metheringham
Saturday 15 May at 10.30am

Marking the halfway point on the Spires & Steeples Arts and Heritage Trail, Metheringham is steeped in history. To celebrate this, a fascinating leaflet has been produced, guiding you around the village to discover its history and fine historical artworks and newly refurbished stone cross.

To mark the launch of the leaflet, join North Kesteven's Countryside Promotion Officer, Theresa Hobbs and local historian, Alan Waddington on a walk around Metheringham to discover its hidden secrets!

To join this free event please book a place on 01522 694353 or email theresa.hobbs@leisureconnection.co.uk

Though there is little if no trace today, almost 900 years ago Nocton, like some one hundred other locations in Lincolnshire, had its own monastery.

The founder of Nocton Park Priory was the second lord of Nocton Hall, Robert D'Arcy, who had been heavily influenced by the monastic revival of King Henry 1st. At this time, back in the early years of the twelfth century, Robert, an understanding landlord, had realised the need for "education" and placed the churches of the two villages of Nocton and Dunston into the hands of the Benedictine Monks. He felt this was the best way forward for his "people" as these holy men, in the main, were the only ones able to read and write and thus pass on their knowledge.

Around 1118 Robert gifted around 300 acres of his Nocton estate to the Canons of the Order of St Augustine with the Cisterian Monks of Kirkstead the trustees. The Priory erected on what is known locally as Abbey Hill also had a convent built in close proximity but little, if nothing, is known of this. From its location on the hillside the monks had an unobstructed view across the fenland towards other priories situated at Tupholme and Bardney. The Priory was a seat of learning and human activity for over 400 years until Henry 8th launched his attack on England's monasteries on the implementing of the Dissolution of Monasteries Act in 1536.

This excellent blog, entitled A Blankney Journal by Rodney Garlant, has just come to our attention. As well as comments on day to day events Rodney has a good eye for quizzes, humour and trivia.

Rodney has been posting articles since January and there are hundreds of articles to browse through. One could usefully while away an entire day browsing Rodney's site. I know I did!

Currently Rodney is being very active in the blog posting 3 or 4 items most days.

This site is highly recommended viewing. Warning: it can be addictive!

Some of the older (January 2009) articles about Blankney include:

• Poem - Blankney Ghosts


• Poem - Blankney 1841


• Poem - Blankney Masquerade


• Return to Blankney - Part 1


• Return To Blankney - Part 2


• Return to Blankney - Part 3


• Return to Blankney - Part 4


• John Cartwright (1862-1944) - Part 1


• John Cartwright (1862-1944) - Part 2


• John Cartwright (1862-1944) - Part 3


• John Cartwright (1862-1944) - Part 4


• John Cartwright (1862-1944) - Part 5


• Are There Vikings in Blankney Park?


• Blankney POWs

Blankney Cricket Club has had close links with Blankney Hall and the local gentry since it was first formed during the reign of Queen Victoria. The first known records of the club go back to 1873 when Sir Henry Chaplin, later 1st Viscount Chaplin, was 33 years of age. Henry, being educated at Christ Church College, Oxford was a close friend of Queen Victoria's son the Prince of Wales (later to be Edward VII). Known to be a "playboy" prince Edward probably saw Blankney as an escape from the hustle and bustle of the capital and possibly his favourite haunt for his amorous clandestine liaisons with his many known mistresses, even after his marriage to Alexandra of Denmark in 1863. One can quite possibly imagine that one of these mistresses, British actress Lillie Langtry, French actress, Sarah Bernhardt, Lady Randolph Churchill (mother of Sir Winston Churchill) or even Alice Keppel, the great grandmother of Camilla, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, could have watched a game of cricket on a balmy summer's evening in Blankney!

For many who have lived in this area throughout their lives, they will know all there is to know about the general history of RAF Hospital, Nocton Hall. For others it will only be the knowledge that it used to be a military hospital but closed down when it was felt, by the military, to be no longer viable. Since then everyone knows of its demise over recent time.

Nocton Hall's first days of being a hospital came in the First World War, surprisingly under the control of the Americans. The owners of Nocton Estates at this time were the Hodgsons with the third generation of the family, Norman, the lord of the manor. Norman had taken over at the helm in 1902 on the death of his father John. He was 25 years old and had already seen action in conflict, risen to the rank of captain during the Boer War in South Africa. His passion was game shooting and during his time on the estate it is reported that an average of 10,000 game birds a year were bagged on his "shoots".

I am an interior design student at Lincoln University. For my final year dissertation I have chosen to base it on historical buildings losing their identity by being demolished, restored or altered. I have lived in Metheringham for nearly all my life and for my dissertation piece I have a great interest in Blankney especially the Blankney Hall. I have visited the MACLA website and gathered some information about it but I wondered whether anyone could provide me with any further information or images of it at all. I am interested in when exactly it was demolished, why it was not restored and how did the people of the village react or feel about losing such a great building.
If anyone has any information or knows anything about it, I would really appreciate it - Claire claire_p_13@hotmail.com

If people were asked what involvement Blankney had at sea in WW2 the general answer would probably be "none, the nearest sea is the North Sea and that's 40 miles away. "Blankney" in actual fact had a very active part to play in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the North Sea during this time as there was a ship named after her.

HMS Blankney was a Hunt Type II Escort Destroyer, one of a number named after British Fox Hunts. Between 1939 and 1942 86 such destroyers were built in four different classes from Type I to Type IV. As suggested, these vessels were used primarily on convoy duties but many saw active duty, including HMS Blankney herself, involving sinking German U-boats,

I was looking at the page about 'Metheringham Highlights'
In particular the section about 'Metheringham Railway Station'.
There is an error in fact in it, the original name of the station was 'Blankney and Metheringham'.
Before I dared to write this, I had a rootle around in a very old railway timetable to confirm my memory !!
Another observation is about the name of the track between the Station and Blankney Hall.
The formal name of it given by the occupants of the hall is 'The Old Coach-Road'
In the 1940's and 50's when I was a kid in Meg, we used to talk about walking and playing up and around 'The drive'.
Another story that I researched many years ago is that the Lord Londesborough was late and missed a train for a journey to London. As a result, he missed an appointment with the Queen.
To avoid any repeat of this, he had a law enacted in the House of Lords that decreed that 'Blankney Time' would be five (or maybe ten) minutes before the rest of England's time.
I have a vague memory of having a bus timetable for a bus going to Blankney from Metheringham arriving at a time before it left Meg.

Pete Byers

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