Extensive Definition
Cranwell (the name means the spring
where cranes are
found) is a village situated in the North
Kesteven district of Lincolnshire.
It is part of the Civil Parish
of Cranwell and Byard's Leap
about four miles north-north-west of Sleaford, having a
population of about 3,000 souls. The principal through road, the
B1429 between the A15 to the east
and the A17 to the west,
joins the village to RAF
Cranwell.
The village centres on the remains of the Village
Cross. The cross is a 14th century
market
cross from which important matters of public moment were
announced. The base, which is original, and the undisturbed ground
beneath are listed as a national
monument.
Standing near to the cross is the village's
rather unusual looking parish
church. Dedicated to St Andrew, the
church originates circa the 10th
century, the village possibly dates from the time of King Alfred
(849-899). The church
consists only of a nave and
chancel with, above the
former, a rather odd bellcote, much of
the masonry is Norman
but parts date back to Saxon times.
The fittings include 17th century
bench-ends and a Perpendicular
rood
screen. Mounted on corbels in the North aisle are the remains
of a Hogsback
grave. The fine carvings on these stones are either Saxon or
Norse
(Ringerike). The
stones are unique to Lincolnshire and are probably the finest of
their type in the country. In the stonework in the porch is the
incised outline of a pilgrim's shoe and the year
1728, and on
the right-hand door pillar are six carved figures believed to
depict ancient May King and
Queen
ceremonial costumes. The Churchyard
includes a
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery with over 200
military graves.
Cranwell is peculiar for a village of its size in
that it does not have a Public
House. It does, however, have a members only social club. This
dates back to when the cadets training at R.A.F Cranwell during
World
War II used to come into the village to try and buy alcohol.
The members only club was introduced as a deterrent to them, being
only temporary residents in the area they were therefore unable to
gain membership. To this day, no pub has ever opened its doors to
the public, even though the reasons for not having one have long
since become obsolete. Just over one mile (2 kilometres) to the
west of the village is RAF College
Cranwell and its two associated airfields. The northern airfield is the older, being
used for light aircraft and airships from 1916 and remains as a
grassed field used occasionally by gliders and light aircraft. The
southern airfield is much larger with two paved runways and abuts
the A17 road, this was first used as a flying training base in
1917. The
paved runways were built in 1954, to make way for
the jet aircraft, Meteor and
Vampire.
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