Whitton, North Lincolnshire

infobox UK place
country= England
official_name= Whitton
latitude= 53.708
longitude= -0.634
population= 171 (2001 Census)
unitary_england= North Lincolnshire
lieutenancy_england= Lincolnshire
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
constituency_westminster=Brigg and Goole
post_town= Scunthorpe
postcode_district = DN15
postcode_area= DN |dial_code= 01724
os_grid_reference= SE903244
map_type=Lincolnshire

Whitton is an English village of about 170 inhabitants in North Lincolnshire. It is located at the northern termination of the Cliff range of hills, on the south shore of the River Humber, about convert|3|mi|km below Trent Falls, and convert|9|mi|km west of Barton-upon-Humber. The parish is bounded on the west by Alkborough, on the east by Winteringham and, to the south, by West Halton.

History

Whitton may have originated at the time the Romans crossed the Humber northward in 71 AD; first as a military camp and then later as a Roman villa, overlooking the river, with its temple a few yards to the east, where the Church now stands. It is perhaps possible that Whitton was a landing stage on the south bank for the Roman fort and civitas of "Petuaria Parisorum" at Brough across the river. Roman Coins of Claudius Gothicus (268-270 AD) and Constantine I (the Great) (309-337AD) have been found in the fields.

Nikolaus Pevsner tells us "The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire", London, 1989, p.797] that the Church tower 're-uses massive blocks of Roman stone', but these blocks of millstone grit which are to be found in several local churches (for example neighbouring Winteringham) may have been sailed down the Ouse and the Humber from York where Roman buildings were being dismantled or may even have come from some sort of triumphal arch or structure (perhaps like the Arch of Constantine), which might have stood at the end of Ermine Street.

Whitton is mentioned in the Domesday book in 1086"Domesday Book: A Complete Translation". London: Penguin, 2003. p.918 ISBN 0-14-143994-7] as land that belonged to Henry de Ferrers. Mention is made of land for eight ploughs, Henry's man has another two and ten and 4 have another 5 and of convert|300|acre|km2 of meadow. The land was valued at seven pounds.

, of 1794 shows a dilapidated structure with a south aisle and a south porch.The church was reseated in 1865 at the expense of Lady Strickland, and between about 1892 and 1897 the nave, chancel and roof were entirely rebuilt from the designs of W. & C. A. Bassett-Smith, architects, of London. On the north side of the chancel are two stained-glass windows, erected in 1918 to the memory of Henry Spilman who was killed in the First World War. In 1952-3 cracks in the tower were repaired under the direction of A.R Haynes, architect of Brigg.

The table, below right, shows the relative stability of the population, from the decennial census figures.

Trivia

In August, 2005, Graham Boanas, a Hull man, became the first person to successfully wade across the Humber since Roman times. The trek started on the North bank at Boothferry, 4 hours later, he made it across onto the South bank at Whitton. The feat was attempted to raise cash and awareness for the medical research charity, DebRA. [cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/4173118.stm
title = Humber crossing after 1,000 years
work = BBC News Online
publisher = BBC
accessdate = 2008-07-28
date = 22 August 2005]

Approximately one year later TV series Top Gear filmed a race between Graham Boanas and James May, May raced round not able to use the Humber Bridge and Boanas walked across the Humber estuary, this was aired on the 18 November 2007 (May was driving a silver Alfa Romeo).

References

External links

* [http://www.diplomate.freeserve.co.uk/whitton.htm Notes on the History of Whitton Village]
* [http://www.northlincs.gov.uk/NorthLincs/Leisure/libraries/localstudies/localhistorypacks/Whitton.htm North Lincs Council]
* [http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/ed/li/whitt/index.htm The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland ]