Skendleby

History

A chalk long barrow, Giants Hill, was built here for seven adults and a child, whose remains were found on chalk slabs at the south-east edge of the site.

Skendleby is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as having a church and 36 households, with Lord of the Manor being Gilbert de Gant. In the reign of Elizabeth I Skendleby was recorded as having 27 households.

The believed remains of St James Chapel, Skendleby Priory, were uncovered during archaeological investigations and excavations in 2005. It was a small cell to Bardney Abbey built by Walter de Gant in the 12th century. It is possible that an earlier Saxon monastery may also be near the site of the cell, Bede having mentioned a monastery 'near Partney', in the 7th century. Bardney Abbey was founded no later than 697, but fell into decline, during the 9th century. It is reputed to have been destroyed by a Danish raid in 869, but this is unlikely.

Bardney Abbey was refounded by Gilbert de Gant who re-dedicated it to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. A St Peter's church at Skendleby was given to the monks of Bardney by Gilbert De Gant, sometime prior to 1094. The present Grade II listed church of St Peter and St Paul dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, and was restored in 1875 by George Gilbert Scott.

Skendleby Hall dates from the mid-18th century with some later alterations and additions. It is Grade II listed.

Historical demography

The village has never had a large population, peaking in the mid-19th century and falling to around 160 residents by 2001.

Community

Skendleby public house is the Blacksmith's Arms. A Translinc bus service runs through the village daily.

Skendleby National School opened in 1844, and later became Skendleby Church of England School. The school closed on 18 July 1969, after which most village children attended school in the neighbouring village of Partney.

RAF Skendleby

One mile north-east of Skendleby was the location of RAF Skendleby Chain Home Low radar station, with a 200 ft wooden mast on the top of a nearby manmade hillock, that operated during the Second World War between 1941 and 1945. In 1950 the site was developed further by the RAF with the addition of a two-storey underground facility excavated to house a ROTOR ground control intercept station that operated during the Cold War.

The RAF handed over the site during the late 1960s and it became a civil defence regional headquarters that controlled Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Redesignated as Regional Government HQ 3.1 in the 1980s and with an additional two underground floors added, the only above ground structures are four ventilators on the mound together with a radio mast. A small building, disguised as a bungalow, conceals the heavy blast doors and stairs down to the nuclear proof bunker. The site was sold in 2000 and the whole facility is now in private ownership and believed to be used for secure storage.

References

References

1. "Parish population 2011".
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4. "Megaliths in England". Andy Burnham.
5. "Domesday Map". Anna Powell-Smith.
6. Steven Ronald Ronson: 'The founding, decline and refounding of Bardney Abbey and its dependencies', 2012
7. (May 2012). "Lincs To The Past". Lincolnshire Archives.
8. "British History Online". Victoria County History.
9. Edmund Oldfield. (1829). "A Topographichal and Historical account of Wainfleet in the Wapentake of Candleshoe, in the County of Lincoln". Longman Rees Orme Brown and Green.
10. "British Listed Buildings". English Heritage.
11. "British Listed Buildings". English Heritage.
12. "Vision of Britain". University of Portsmouth.
13. "Lincs To The Past". Lincolnshire Archives.
14. [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/s/skendleby/ RAF Skendleby]