Coleby is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

North Kesteven North Kesteven is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Sleaford. The district also contains the town of North Hykeham, which adjoins the neighbouring city of Lincoln, England, L ...

district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. It is situated on the A607, and approximately south of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

Village

Coleby, is a documented settlement in ''

Domesday Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'', and in the

Parts of Kesteven The Parts of Kesteven ( or ) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland. Etymology Th ...

. Coleby is set on the

Lincoln Cliff The Lincoln Cliff or Lincoln Edge is a portion of a major escarpment that runs north–south through the historic divisions of Lindsey and Kesteven in central Lincolnshire and is a prominent landscape feature in a generally flat portion of th ...

escarpment with views over the

River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversi ...

valley from its western side. The

Viking Way The Viking Way is a long distance trail in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland. History The route was officially opened on 5 September 1976 at Tealby, by the Deputy Chairman of Lincolnshire C ...

, the

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-co ...

from the

Humber Bridge The Humber Bridge is a single-span road suspension bridge near Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. When it opened to traffic on 24 June 1981, it was the longest of its type in the world; the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge surpassed ...

Oakham Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,14 ...

, passes through the village. Coleby's population is approximately 600, falling to 410 at the 2011 census. Coleby has one village

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, the Tempest Arms which stands at the top of the road that leads up the hill from the valley. The village has a small school typically consisting of below 100 pupils.

Landmarks

Church of All Saints

Coleby

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

listed

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

is dedicated to

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

. The original church was built by the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

. This was rebuilt by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

and extended, retaining the lower part of the Saxon tower and building upon it. The spire was added in the 15th century. There is a lack of symmetry to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, the arches on the north and south walls do not match and half of an arch has been stopped off. The pews inside the church are not original, they come from a former church at

Hackthorn Hackthorn is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, to the north of Lincoln. It is combined with Cold Hanworth to form the parish council of Hackthorn and Cold Hanworth. The population of the civil par ...

, a village about to the north, as do two of the windows in the north aisle. The church was restored by F C Penrose in 1864 and the tower was restored in 1901. On the church steeple are landing lights for the nearby

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington , commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo' is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England. The station is th ...

airbase.

Coleby Hall

Coleby Hall is a Grade II* listed country house which stands near the church in a park of around . It is a gabled house constructed in coursed

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

and

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

with a red-tiled ridge roof, built in 1628 for Sir William Lister of Rippingale, the father of Thomas Lister (1597–1668). The hall became the property of his nephew, William who was the father of Thomas Lister MP. After the death of his father, William, the hall was inherited by Thomas Lister, MP (c.1658 – 8 February 1718) who was the great great-nephew of Sir William Lister of Rippingale, and he extended the hall by adding the eastern gable in 1687, On his death, it passed to his eldest daughter, Mary and thence in 1734 to her nephew, Thomas Scrope. Scrope altered and further extended the hall and in 1762 built in the grounds a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

of a

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...

(now grade I listed). In 1774 a gateway to the Hall was built as an imitation ruined

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

arch based on

Newport Arch Newport Arch is a 3rd-century Roman gate in the Newport district of the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. It is a Scheduled monument and Grade I listed building and is reputedly the oldest arch in the United Kingdom still used by traffic ...

in Lincoln. Ownership passed to the Tempest family in 1856 who made major alterations to the hall and estate before selling it on. It was later bought by the Fowkes family, and apart from being requisitioned by the military during the Second World War, remained in their possession until 1981, when it was sold to property developers. In 2000 Coleby Hall consisted of subdivided separate dwellings, each having their own 20th century 20 garden. Currently, in 2023, it consists of a pleasure ground and woodland of 12 hectares surrounding the 17th- and 18th-century house. The stables and coach house both late 18th century buildings grade II listed buildings are also now private dwellings.

RAF Coleby Grange

During the Second World War, the Ministry of Defence constructed an airfield at

RAF Coleby Grange Royal Air Force Coleby Grange or more simply RAF Coleby Grange was a Royal Air Force satellite station situated alongside the western edge of the A15 on open heathland between the villages of Coleby and Nocton Heath and lying due south of th ...

to the east of the village on open heathland, immediately west of the

A15 road This is a list of roads designated A15. Entries are sorted in alphabetical order by name of country. * A015 road (Argentina), a road connecting the junction with National Route 14 at La Criolla and the Salto Grande Dam access-road * ''A15 road (A ...

. It opened in 1939 with grass runways as a relief landing ground for

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...

. In May 1941 it was transferred to 12 Group,

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

and became a satellite station for

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-s ...

. The station re-opened in 1959 as a

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

IRBM An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range between (), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ballistic missiles by ran ...

launching base, it closed again in 1963. Today the

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

is in private hands and used for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

with only the Control Tower, which still stands although in a ruined state, as a visible sign of the station's existence."Coleby Grange airfield"
controltowers.co.uk: RAF Coleby Grange

References

External links

*
"Coleby Hall"
Lincolnshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2013 {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire North Kesteven District