North Hykeham

History

North Hykeham was originally spelt "North Hyckham", and is commonly referred to as just 'Hykeham'.

North Hykeham, both as a village and, since 1973, as a town, is independent from Lincoln. The old village dates back to the Angles, Germanic invaders who occupied much of Britain after the Romans left in 400AD. The Danes and Vikings arrived in Lincolnshire in 900AD, hence places with names ending in –by, thorpe and ham (which mean ‘village’).

The Domesday Book (1087) records that North Hykeham had 15 households and a 52-acre meadow. The tenant-in-chief was Baldwin of Flanders.[1]

North Hykeham Church was first mentioned in 1160 but, by 1535 it was a 'free chapel', and by 1700 a ruin. From 1700 there was no church in North Hykeham. All Saints Church, consisting of nave, south aisle, chancel and tower, was erected on a new site in 1868, at a cost of £1200. A Methodist Chapel was built in 1881. In 1894 the first Parish Council was established and met in the village school. In 1948 the Parish Council moved to the Memorial Hall ('The Tin Tabernacle') on Newark Road. The present Memorial Hall was built in 1969. In May 2006 the Town Council moved to its new premises in Fen Lane, an extension of an existing pavilion.

Geography

Newark Road is built directly on top of the old Roman road, Fosse Way; it is now the A1434 road although, until December 1985, it was the A46. North of the road is Hykeham railway station on the Nottingham to Lincoln Line, with few trains stopping each day. Farther along Mill Lane, to the south, is South Hykeham.

To the east, the parish boundary runs for a short distance against the River Witham and the North Hykeham Pump Drain, where it borders Waddington. It deviates to the west from the Witham, following the Pump Drain, then follows the Witham further south from Hykeham Bridge for 0.5 miles (0.8 km). To the south it follows The Beck, with South Hykeham to the south, and passes to the south of Grange Farm. it crosses Newark Road (A1434) at Ascot Way. At Pike Drain, near the Sailing Club and Teal Lake, it borders Doddington and Whisby. Directly north of the Sailing Club, it crosses the railway, then crosses the A46 bypass to the north-west. It passes through the middle of West Lodge Game Farm and on the eastern edge of Coronation Plantation. South-west of the A46 Doddington Road roundabout, the parish meets Lincoln, becoming the North Kesteven boundary. The boundary crosses the A46 just south of the roundabout, following Prial Drain. The parish includes the Lyndon Business Park next to the A46, the factory units on Whisby Road and the Hotel Ibis on Runcorn Road. Although Prial Drain crosses Doddington Road (B1190), the boundary deviates to the east, following the road to the south, just north of the transport museum, to the railway line. It leaves the railway line on the eastern edge of the lakes, and runs straight through a housing estate to meet Tritton Road (B1003). It crosses the A1434 at the Tritton Road junction. South-east, it crosses Hykeham Road, and passes just north of Conway Drive to the river.

Government

North Hykeham is in the district of North Kesteven and has its own local town council on Fen Lane. It falls within the Sleaford and North Hykeham parliamentary constituency. The MP for the seat since 2016 has been the Conservative Caroline Johnson.

Economy

An Asda 24-hour superstore, re-built in March 1998, is on Newark Road towards the district boundary (Tritton Road - B1003) with the City of Lincoln. There is a Co-op store near the junction of Lincoln Road, Mill Lane, and Moor Lane, with a small group of shops and medical practice. Most local shops are on Newark Road in The Forum, where a Tesco Express has recently opened.

The Lindum Group have a site on Station Road which houses several businesses comprising the Lindum Group and a number of other businesses, some of which are closely associated with the group. ASC Metals make metal sheets and tubes. There are engineering companies on Freeman Road, near the railway station, including Siemens (formerly Alstom Power). A foundry, Lincoln Castings, on Station Road closed in February 2007; the last owners were the Meade Corporation of Malmesbury.

There is a sailing club on Apex Lake (formed from a former sand and gravel pit). Nearby is Whisby Nature Park. The Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum is on Whisby Road near the railway station.

On the Westminster Trading Estate on Station Road there is a practice studio for musicians.

Landmarks

There is a memorial to those who lost their lives in both The First and Second World Wars.

Public houses

The town's public houses are The Fox and Hounds, The Centurion, The Harrows and The Lincoln Green.

The Fox and Hounds is just south of the Hykeham Memorial Club at the entrance to North Hykeham Sailing Club. The Centurion is opposite Asda. The Harrows is opposite the church of All Saints, in the old village at the crossroads of Moor Lane and Lincoln Road. The Lincoln Green is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the old village, next to the driveway to the Old Vicarage and Glebe Park, just south of the border with the City of Lincoln.

Churches

North Hykeham has four churches.

St Hugh's Anglican church is on Harewood Crescent, built in the 1960s in one of the housing estates, and just north of the civil parish. A further Anglican church is the Victorian gothic style All Saints on the corner of Moor Lane. Both churches are part of the Hykeham Team Ministry which incorporates the church in South Hykeham. The Hykeham ecclesiastical parish lies south of the railway line. A Methodist chapel is situated on Chapel Lane. In January 2014 a new church opened at the Sir Robert Pattinson Academy known as 'Alive Hykeham', part of a new multisite Church in Lincoln, Norwich, Grantham, Scunthorpe, Metheringham, Wymondham, Newark, and Harrogate.

Parks

North Hykeham has five parks.

Glebe Park is situated at the back of the Lincoln Green public house. Fen Lane Park is on Fen Lane; it has football pitches, a children's play area and a purpose built skatepark. "The Green" park is part of the old village green, and The Memorial Hall park is part of the Memorial Hall sporting facilities. St Aidan's Park contains an old orchard.

Education

There are two secondary schools: North Kesteven School and the Sir Robert Pattinson Academy, adjacent on Moor Lane near the A46; they share North Hykeham Joint Sixth Form. The Terry O'Toole Theatre and NK Sports Centre are at North Kesteven School.

Sport

North Hykeham sports clubs include North Hykeham Rugby Union Club, which plays at the Memorial Hall & Playing Fields Association pitch on Newark Road.

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