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Great Ponton

Coordinates: 52°51′42″N 0°37′44″W / 52.8616°N 0.62885°W / 52.8616; -0.62885
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Great Ponton
Church of The Holy Cross, Great Ponton
Great Ponton is located in Lincolnshire
Great Ponton
Great Ponton
Location within Lincolnshire
Population333 2001 Census[1]
OS grid referenceSK924302
• London95 mi (153 km) S
Civil parish
  • Great Ponton
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGRANTHAM
Postcode districtNG33 5xx
Dialling code01476 53xxxx
PoliceLincolnshire
FireLincolnshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Lincolnshire
52°51′42″N 0°37′44″W / 52.8616°N 0.62885°W / 52.8616; -0.62885

Great Ponton is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 3 miles (5 km) south of Grantham, on the A1 trunk road, which bisects the village. The tower of the parish church is a landmark beside the road. In the 2001 Census, the population of the village was recorded as 333, of whom all were of white ethnic origin and 87% described themselves as Christian. The average age was 40.[1] The population of the civil parish had risen to 379 at the 2011 census.[2]

History

Ellys Manor House, which served as the rectory from 1921 to 1984

The village is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Magna Pamptune, probably meaning "farmstead by a hill". Some material remains have been found dating back to the Neolithic age. Remains of a mid-Bronze Age round barrow cemetery were discovered between Great Ponton and Sproxton in 1959.[3] The village belonged to the historical wapentake of Winnibriggs and Threo.[4]

The village church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, was built in the 13th century. Its tall pinnacled tower was added in 1519 at the expense of Anthony Ellys,[5] a wool merchant who lived in the Ellys Manor House, which is nowadays open to the public.[6] The church weather vane depicts a gilded fiddle. The educationalist and school textbook writer Charles Hoole was briefly the rector from 1642.[7] Joshua William Brooks, who had been responsible while vicar of St. Mary's Church, Nottingham for founding six new churches there, was rector in Great Ponton in 1864–82.[8]

The Grade I church is among a total of nine listed buildings in the village, six of which are residential.[9]

Great Ponton railway station opened in 1853 and was closed in 1959.

Great Ponton Quarry is a limestone quarry.

Geography

Great Ponton is situated on the A1 approximately 3 miles (5 km) south of Grantham. A footbridge provides pedestrian access from the west of the village to the east over the A1. To the east is the River Witham[2] and the East Coast Main Line.

Looking east along Ponton Road near Boothby Pagnell, with Bassingthorpe New Plantation to the right

Nearby villages include Stoke Rochford, Stroxton and Little Ponton. To the north is the parish of Little Ponton and Stroxton, and the parish boundary crosses the A1 at 200 metres south of the electricity pylons, opposite Gibbet Hill, to the west. Due east, it crosses Ermine Street (B6403) south of Ponton Park Wood. It meets Boothby Pagnell west of Boothby Great Wood, and the boundary skirts the wood's western edge. East of Ponton Great Wood, on the road to Boothby Pagnell, it meets Bitchfield and Bassingthorpe, with the boundary following the road westwards, to the north of Bassingthorpe New Plantation.

The boundary follows the western side of the plantation southwards to the Bassingthorpe road, west of Stoke Tunnel Farm, where it meets Stoke Rochford. It follows the road, south of Pasture Farm, to the west of the East Coast Main Line road bridge, and from the bridge runs due west to the A1 at North Lodge Plantation, and meets Cringle Brook, which meanders alongside the A1 northwards to the village. The boundary passes to the south of Cindertrack Plantation, and to the north of Halfmoon Plantation, where it meets Wyville cum Hungerton. A half mile north it meets Little Ponton and Stroxton.

The small hamlet of High Dyke is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Great Ponton, where the East Coast Main Line bridges over High Dyke, a stretch of Roman road.

Community

Grotesque with spectacles, Holy Cross church tower

Great Ponton Parish Council meets every two months.[10]

Holy Cross Anglican Church is in the Colsterworth Group of parishes, which includes Little Ponton, and the Diocese of Lincoln. The Methodist Dallygate Chapel, built in 1805, closed for worship in 1975.

Great Ponton Church of England Primary School, with a roll of about 70, occupies modern premises in Mill Lane.[11][12] It received a positive Ofsted report based on an inspection in February 2015.[13]

Great Ponton Village Centre in Archers Way runs a social evening with a bar every Friday. It hosts a variety of local events and clubs.[14] Great Ponton football club has a range of teams. The village playing fields are also used by Great Ponton Cricket Club.[15] The Ponton Plod is an annual long-distance walk and run that raises money for charity. It starts and finishes at the Village Centre.[16]

There is a garage-cum-shop at the Ponton Main Service Station on the north-bound carriageway of the A1. The Blue Horse public house facing the south-bound carriageway has been converted into flats.[17]

There are infrequent daytime buses between Great Ponton and Grantham on Mondays to Saturdays.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b "Resident Population and Age", Lincolnshire Research Observatory
  2. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  3. ^ Archaeology Data Service [1] Retrieved 18 March 2016.]
  4. ^ "Winnibriggs and Threo Wap"[permanent dead link], Visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2012
  5. ^ Colsterworth Group site Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Ellys Manor House", Ellysmanorhouse.com. Retrieved 25 October 2014
  7. ^ Dictionary of National Biography Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  8. ^ Bowen, M. W. (1997) The Anglican Church in the Industrialised Town, St. Mary's Parish, Nottingham 1770–1884, October 1997.)
  9. ^ Listed buildings Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  10. ^ Lincolnshire Parish Councils Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  11. ^ School site Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  12. ^ Photograph primary school Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  13. ^ Ofsted Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  14. ^ Centre site Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  15. ^ Great Ponton Parish Council Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  16. ^ Plod site Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  17. ^ Grantham Journal, 2 July 2015 Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  18. ^ Traveline. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
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