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Branston
 
Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House
Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House
Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House

Former public house now closed.

Listed in Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 :-

"Brewer Robt. Thos. Plough P.H. Fen"

DB 20 March 2019 

Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House
Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House
Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House
Branston Fen, Plough Inn, Public House

A second view of the former Public House.

DB 20 March 2019 

Branston, Plough Inn, Public House
Branston Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

The former Wesleyan Chapel and Sunday school in Moor Lane, Branston Booths were built in 1911 to replace an earlier chapel built in 1847. They were converted into a house in 2005.

Pearl Wheatley, 2102

Branston, Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, church, image
Branston Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

An earlier image showing the chapel when it was still operational. 

"A List And Brief Details Of Chapels In The Lincoln Circuits Past And Present" prepared by Colin Shepherdson (Revised October 2000) states that :-

"i) A chapel was built in 1847.

ii) The second chapel was built in The Moors in 1911 and is still in use with a membership of 7"

Geoff Swain Collection 24 June 1994

Branston, Booths, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, church, image
Branston, All Saints
Branston, All Saints
Branston, All Saints

The tower of All Saints is probably Anglo-Saxon and the porch Norman.

There in fact elements of the building from every period, and Victorian restoration by GG Scott.

June 2013

Branston, All Saints church
Branston, All Saints
Branston, All Saints
Branston, All Saints

From the north-east showing to the left the chancel east window of 1964-66 and in the centre foreground the Sunday School of 1837.

June 2013

Branston, All Saints church
Branston, All Saints
Branston, All Saints
Branston, All Saints

The little used west door at Branston is Norman with blank arcading of the same period on either side.

June 2013

Branston, All Saints church
Branston, All Saints, Bench End
Branston, All Saints, Bench End
Branston, All Saints, Bench End

A depiction of the Lincolnshire bagpipes being played.

DB 5 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, bench end, bagpipes
Branston, All Saints, Chancel
Branston, All Saints, Chancel
Branston, All Saints, Chancel

Chancel was completely rebuilt after a fire in 1962.

Architect was George Pace of York who re-used the 3 arched sedilia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pace 

Stained glass in east window "The Glory Behind The Cross " by Kieth New

https://c20society.org.uk/publications/c20-magazine/obituary-keith-new/ 

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Chancel, Kieth New, George Pace
Branston, All Saints, Font
Branston, All Saints, Font
Branston, All Saints, Font
Branston, All Saints, Church, Font
Branston, All Saints, Grave Slab (de Thistleton)
Branston, All Saints, Grave Slab (de Thistleton)
Branston, All Saints, Grave Slab (de Thistleton)

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"In the chancel is a slab of Purbeck marble, with a cross and Norman-French inscription to Richard de Thistleton, rector 1293-1309"

DB 5 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, monument, Purbeck marble, Richard de Thistleton
Branston, All Saints, Memorial Plaque (fire)
Branston, All Saints, Memorial Plaque (fire)
Branston, All Saints, Memorial Plaque (fire)

Plaque in the north aisle recording a major fire Christmas Day 1962.

Possibly an electrical fault with the organ which at that time stood on the north side of the chancel. 

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Fire
Branston, All Saints, Monument (Bertie)
Branston, All Saints, Monument (Bertie)
Branston, All Saints, Monument (Bertie)

"IN THE VAULT NEAR THIS MONUMENT IS DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF THE RIGHT HON. LORD VERE BERTIE LATE OF BRANSTON IN THE COUNTY OF THE CITY OF LINCOLN ELDEST SON OF THE MOST NOBLE ROBERT THE FIRST DUKE OF ANCASTER AND KESTEVEN, MARQUIS AND EARL OF LINDSEY ...."

Monument in the north aisle erected by his widow in 1770.

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, monument, LORD VERE BERTIE
Branston, All Saints, Monument (Wray)
Branston, All Saints, Monument (Wray)
Branston, All Saints, Monument (Wray)

Monument "1736 to Sir Cecil Wray by Thomas Carter" in the north aisle

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1360529 

Inscription states that the monument was erected some years before his death. 

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Monument, Sir Cecil Wray, Thomas Carter
Branston, All Saints, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave

View looking west towards the large free standing organ case.

Cousans organ installed in 1966. 

Pews escaped the fire of 1962 which passed overhead from the chancel and burnt through the bells ropes in the tower at the west end. 

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave

View looking east towards the chancel.

Well before the fire of 1962 which destroyed the chancel Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 described the church :-

"The church of All Saints is a building of stone, in the Early Norman and Early English styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles and lofty spire, containing a clock with two dials and 6 bells :

the chancel arch affords a very fine example of Early English work, the clerestory and roof are Perpendicular:

the chancel has triple sedilia, and a piscina of the Early English period and the tower a doorway of Norman date:

in the north aisle is a very fine monument to Sir Cecil Wray bart. d. May, 1736, and Dame Mary (Harrison), his wife, and there are others to the Vere and Bertie families :

a large vestry was erected in 1836 by the. Rev. Peregrine Curtois, rector from 1815:

the chancel was rebuilt in 1864 by the Rev. Atwill Curtois, then rector, who also executed the carved work at the top of the chancel screen; which has been adorned with finely-carved panels, the work of Miss Ellen Curtois :

the church was restored in 1875-6 under the superintendence of the late Sir George Gilbert Scott R.A. when the tower arch was opened and a new north aisle erected :

in 1895 the spire was restored and the four old bells, with two new bells, were rehung in new iron framing :

the stained east window is a memorial to Robert Smith esq. inserted by Eustace A. Smith esq. of Longhills:

during 1911-14 repairs were effected to the roof of the nave, south aisle and the tower stone work :

the church affords 450 sittings"

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave
Branston, All Saints, Nave

"Wooden nave roof is C20 copy of original C15 roof"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1360529 

Blackening from the 1962 fire can be seen on the nave arches.

The angels are casts of the charred originals. 

Organ case to the left. 

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Nave, Roof
Branston, All Saints, Organ
Branston, All Saints, Organ
Branston, All Saints, Organ

Underside of the free standing organ case.

DB 5 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, organ
Branston, All Saints, Organ
Branston, All Saints, Organ
Branston, All Saints, Organ

Close up of the organ case.

Organ was planned by Dr WL Sumner, built by Cousans, and installed in 1966.

Separate organ console in the north aisle. 

Prior to the fire in 1962 the C19 chancel screen was "adorned with finely-carved panels, the work of Miss Ellen Curtois" daughter of the then rector Rev. Atwill Curtois.

The chancel screen is no more but the panels were saved and have been reset around the organ case.

DB 5 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, organ, WL Sumner, Cousans, Ellen Curtois, Atwill Curtois
Branston, All Saints, Pulpit
Branston, All Saints, Pulpit
Branston, All Saints, Pulpit

There is a brass plaque dedicating the pulpit :-

"THIS PULPIT IS DEDICATED BY ALEXANDER S. AND ALBINIA F. LESLIE MELVILLE TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN THANKFUL REMEMBRANCE OF HIS PROTECTING AND PRESERVING MERCIES VOUCHSAFED TO THEIR SON CHARLES LE D. LESLIE MELVILLE. WHO SERVED IN THE THE 3RD BATTN GRENADIER GUARDS THROUGH THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. 1900-1902"

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Pulpit, Alexander Melville, Albina Melville
Branston, All Saints, Reredos
Branston, All Saints, Reredos
Branston, All Saints, Reredos

Reredos originally located in Grimsby Minster now displayed on the east wall of the north aisle.

"designed by George Pace and fabricated by Frank Roper in 1972"

http://www.lawandreligionuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Re-All-Saints-Branston-2018-ECC-Lin-2.pdf 

The large figure on the right is that of Saint James holding a scallop shell.

Background represents a fishing net studded with scenes from the life of Christ.

Virgin and Child to the left.

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, George Pace, Frank Roper
Branston, All Saints, Roll of Honour
Branston, All Saints, Roll of Honour
Branston, All Saints, Roll of Honour

Roll of Honour for both World Wars.

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Roll of Honour
Branston, All Saints, Royal Arms
Branston, All Saints, Royal Arms
Branston, All Saints, Royal Arms

C19 Royal Arms positioned on front of the modern organ case.

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Organ, Royal Arms
Branston, All Saints, South Aisle
Branston, All Saints, South Aisle
Branston, All Saints, South Aisle

View from the south aisle, across the nave and into the north aisle.

Christmas Tree Festival in progress. 

DB 5 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, Christmas Tree Festival
Branston, All Saints, Stained Glass
Branston, All Saints, Stained Glass
Branston, All Saints, Stained Glass

Pevsner states

"bits of C15 and C17 glass collected by Lord Levin on his continental travels" 

This window is in the north aisle. 

DB 1 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, stained glass
Branston, All Saints, Sunday School
Branston, All Saints, Sunday School
Branston, All Saints, Sunday School

The rector of Branston, Revd Peregrine Curtois, funded this extension on the north-east side All Saints' Church in 1837 to provide a Sunday School for the village.

June 2013

 

Branston, Peregrine Curtois, Sunday School
Branston, All Saints, Sunday School
Branston, All Saints, Sunday School
Branston, All Saints, Sunday School

Plaque commemorating the Sunday School annexe of 1837.

June 2013

Branston,
Branston, All Saints, Tower, Bells
Branston, All Saints, Tower, Bells
Branston, All Saints, Tower, Bells

One of several boards celebrating feats of bell ringing. 

Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire 1919 states :-

"in 1895 the spire was restored and the four old bells, with two new bells, were rehung in new iron framing" 

DB 5 December 2018

Branston, All Saints, Church, tower, bell
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall

Branston Hall was built on a new site by J MacVicar Anderson in 1884 for the Leslie Melville family.

T R Leach Collection, 1980

Branston, Hall, J MacVicar Anderson, Leslie Melville
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall

As the caption on this postcard indicates, Branston Hall was once used as a sanatorium.

It had been bullt and occupied by the Leslie Melville family until c.1920 and then became a Lindsey County Council sanatorium.

During the Second World War it was used as a hospital for RAF officers.

For about twenty years afterwards it continued in use as a santorium, especially for patients with TB.

T R Leach Collection, c.1925

Branston, Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall

A pre-war photograph showing the timber sheltered patients' seating area of the sanatorium at the south-east corner of the Hall.

T R Leach Collection, c.1930

Branston, Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall

South elevation of the Hall.

T R Leach Collection, undated postcard

Branston, Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall

Aerial view from the south-east. The large sheltered outdoor sitting area is in the foreground.

T R Leach Collection, undated postcard

Branston, Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall
Branston, Branston Hall

The principal entrance to the Hall is from the north.

T R Leach Collection, undated postcard

Branston, Hall
Branston, Branston Hall, Gasworks
Branston, Branston Hall, Gasworks
Branston, Branston Hall, Gasworks

This photograph, taken about 1980, shows the then surviving buildings of the gasworks which George Bower of St Neots advertised as having built in the 1850s for the Melville family at Branston Hall.

It was later extended, possibly by Porter & Co of Lincoln, and ceased working in the 1920s.

The small building with the ventilators is the retort house; the condenser and purifier stood outside and coal was stored in the building on the left.

Today only the former threshing barn at the rear survives (as a house) together with the pit of one gasholder. 

See: Ken Redmore, Branston Hall Gasworks, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, 45 (2010), pp 31-33.

Branston, gas, hall, Bower, Porter,
Branston, Bus
Branston, Bus
Branston, Bus

One of the first buses (Silver Queen) to serve Branston, seen here at Branston cross roads pointing along Station Road towards Heighington.

It appears to have come from Sleaford and to be heading for Lincoln. The destination board on the front reads: LINCOLN via Washingborough, Heighington, Branston, Metheringham, Blankney, Scopwick, Digby, Dorrington and Ruskington.

The tall building behind it is the Post Office.

Branston, bus, Heighington, Post Office
Branston, Finger Post
Branston, Finger Post
Branston, Finger Post

A very fine 1930s cast iron finger post, now fully restored, is shown here.

The roundel on top gives the location (Branston Mere) and the local authority (K.C.C. = Kesteven County Council).

The post is 0.5 mile east of Waddington Airfield on the B1178.

Chris Lester, 2001
Branston, sign, finger, post,
Branston, High Street
Branston, High Street
Branston, High Street

This photograph taken in c.1930 looks south from Lincoln Road along High Street towards the centre of the village with the All Saints church and the Waggon and Horses public house in the distance.

On the right is the parish Reading Room.

Courtesy, Mrs Bellamy
Branston, road, reading room,
Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall

The west elevation of the Hall which dates from the mid-eighteenth century.

Pearl Wheatley, 2012

Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall

South elevation of Longhills Hall.

Pearl Wheatley, 2012

Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall
Branston, Longhills Hall
Home of Peregrine Curtois and also the place where his relative Dr John Willis (son of Revd Francis Willis) died in 1835.
Branston, Longhills, Peregrine Curtois, John Willis, Francis Willis
Branston, Longhills Hall, Memorial
Branston, Longhills Hall, Memorial
Branston, Longhills Hall, Memorial

This memorial at the entrance to Longhills Hall, Branston, is to the First Airborne Division.

Pearl Wheatley, 2012

Branston, Longhills Hall memorial, First Airborne Division
Branston, Mere, Y Station Guardhouse
Branston, Mere, Y Station Guardhouse
Branston, Mere, Y Station Guardhouse

The guardhouse at the entrance to the Mere Y Station site was built in the 1950s at the time of the Cold War.

The site ceased to operate in about 1954.

October 2009

Branston, Mere, Y Station guardhouse, Cold War
Branston, Mere, Y Station mast supports
Branston, Mere, Y Station mast supports
Branston, Mere, Y Station mast supports

One of the very first stations for listening to wireless traffic was set up in 1927 at the hamlet of Mere, about two miles south of Branston village centre.

The station continued in operation - playing an important and secretive role - until the 1950s.

The base of one of the 4 or 5 receiver masts from the 1930s can be seen in the small area of woodland alongside the site.

October 2009

Branston, Mere Y Station, mast supports
Branston, Mere, Y Station Operations Room
Branston, Mere, Y Station Operations Room
Branston, Mere, Y Station Operations Room

The operations room or signal receiver building was built in the 1950s and is now used as an agricultural building.

It replaced WW2 wooden huts where Morse signals were received, often giving early warnings of Luftwaffe activity.

Transmissions were taken daily by RAF despatch rider to Cheadle and later to Bletchley for decoding.

October 2009

Branston, Y Station, Mere, Operations Room, Bletchley, Cheadle
Branston, Old Hall
Branston, Old Hall
Branston, Old Hall

The site of the Old Hall was just west of the village centre. It was destroyed by fire in 1904 as vividly shown in this photograph.

T R Leach Collection, 1904

Branston, Old Hall
Branston, Old Infants School
Branston, Old Infants School
Branston, Old Infants School

The building occupying Nos 9 and 11 Hall Lane was originally an Infants School built by Hon A S Leslie Melville of Branston Hall.

It opened in 1837 for 70 children and, like other schools of the period, was supported by voluntary contributions.

June 2013

Branston, infants school, A S Leslie Melville
Branston, Plough Play
Branston, Plough Play
Branston, Plough Play
The Branston Morris dancers in c.1900.
 
From the left they are: Doctor, King George, Lady, Fool, Dame Jane, Ribboner and Sergeant.
 
The play was performed annually from 1895 to 1913 from mid-December to Plough Monday (first Monday after Twelfth Night).
 
Visits were made to large houses in the district, as many as eight or ten performances in one evening.
 
From 'The Local Historian', 1957
Branston, Plough Play, Morris Dancers
Branston, Roman candlestick
Branston, Roman candlestick
Branston, Roman candlestick

This wonderful copper alloy candlestick, discovered at Branston in 1973, is one of the finest examples ever found in Britain.

When discovered, the candlestick was missing one leg, and the other two were bent underneath.

When the soil was cleaned out of the drip pan, two bronze coins of Constantine II (dated AD335-340) were found inside.

The bent legs were straightened and a replacement third leg added at the time of discovery, but it remains likely that the damage was deliberately done at the time the candlestick was buried and is an important aspect of the object's deposition.

The design of the candlestick is unique, and believed to have been manufactured in Britain, rather than on the continent, in the 3rd or early 4th Centuries AD.

Courtesy of Lincolnshire County Council, The Collection

Branston, Roman candlestick, copper alloy, Constantine
Branston, Roman tombstone
Branston, Roman tombstone
Branston, Roman tombstone

This limestone memorial inscription was discovered at Branston in 1963.  Although broken, it is possible to translate the major part of the inscription.

The inscription reads:

IN HIS PRAED[IS] (OSSA SITA SUNT)
AVREL(IAE) CO[NCE]
SSAE SAN[CTIS]
SIMAE PV[ELLAE]

This has been restored and translated as 'In this estate (lie buried the bones) of Aurelia Concessa, a very pure girl'.

The stone does not seem to be an actual tombstone, therefore, but a memorial to her, presumably erected by her family on land that they owned and that Aurelia knew well.

Courtesy of Lincolnshire County Council, The Collection

Branston, tombstone Aurelia Concessa,
Branston, Sheepwash
Branston, Sheepwash
Branston, Sheepwash

A community project in 2006 uncovered and restored a sheepwash near the centre of the village. It was last in use during the 1930s.

Reconstruction drawing by David Hopkins, 2006 

Branston, sheepwash, David Hopkins
Branston, Waterworks
Branston, Waterworks
Branston, Waterworks

In 1879 a waterwheel-powered waterworks was installed by Charles Hett of Brigg for the Melville family of Branston.

Water from a sluice in Branston Beck was used to turn this waterwheel which, in turn, drove pumps to raise water from a spring.

It was pumped to Branston Old Hall (and, later, to the New Hall when it was completed in 1886).

Ken Redmore, 2009
Branston, waterworks, hett, waterwheel, melville,
Branston, Waterworks
Branston, Waterworks
Branston, Waterworks

In 1879 a waterwheel-powered waterworks was installed by Charles Hett of Brigg for the Melville family of Branston.

Water from a sluice in Branston Beck was used to turn this waterwheel which, in turn, drove pumps to raise water from a spring.

It was pumped to Branston Old Hall (and, later, to the New Hall when it was completed in 1886).

The pumps in the foreground were installed later together with a gas engine to supplement the original equipment.

Ken Redmore, 2009

 

Branston, waterworks, hett, waterwheel, melville,
Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

The former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Chapel Lane, Branston was built in 1883 at a cost of £1100 next to the previous chapel which became the Sunday school. The lancet windows on the ground floor are as original.

Pearl Wheatley, 2012

Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, church, image
Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

A slightly blurry image but showing the chapel when it was still open in 1994. 

"A List And Brief Details Of Chapels In The Lincoln Circuits Past And Present" prepared by Colin Shepherdson (Revised October 2000) states :-

"i) A chapel was erected in 1819 and enlarged in 1839.

ii) A second chapel was built in Chapel Lane in 1847 and became the Sunday school when the third chapel was built along side it in 1883. The last service was held on the 28.9.98 when the membership stood at 34. The buildings were sold in 1999 and now stand empty"

Geoff Swain Collection 24 June 1994

Branston, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, church, image