Bluestone Heath Road

Last updated September 15, 2019

The Bluestone Heath Road is an ancient route and ridgeway across the Lincolnshire Wolds in Lincolnshire, England.^[1]^[2] The surviving parts are somewhat fragmented in places, but many still bear the name.

The Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent. They run roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary in the north-west to the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens in the south-east.

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Route

The route begins at Candlesby and runs 14 miles (23 km) northbound to Caistor, following closely an ancient ridge trail across the spine of the wold. It climbs to a height of 98 metres (320 feet) above sea level near Tetford, and, on a fine day, provides a view of the hamlets, fields, hills and landmarks of the area, such as Lincoln Cathedral, Boston Stump and the North Sea.

Candlesby is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Candlesby with Gunby, and situated 5 miles (8 km) east from Spilsby. Gunby is a hamlet about 1 mile (1.6 km) east from Candlesby.

Caistor is a town and civil parish situated in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. As its name implies, it was originally a Roman castrum or fortress. It lies at the north-west edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, on the Viking Way, and just off the A46 between Lincoln and Grimsby, at the A46, A1084, A1173 and B1225 junction. It has a population of 2,601. Its name comes from the Anglo-Saxon ceaster and was given in the Domesday Book as Castre.

A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from narrow top on either side. The lines along the crest formed by the highest points, with the terrain dropping down on either sides, are called the ridgelines. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size.

The route is marked on the Landranger No 122 (Skegness Area) Ordnance Survey map.^[3]

Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, 43 miles (69 km) east of Lincoln. In the 2011 census Skegness civil parish had a population of 19,579.

Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose, which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was also a more general and nationwide need in light of the potential threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. Since 1 April 2015 Ordnance Survey has operated as Ordnance Survey Ltd, a government-owned company, 100% in public ownership. The Ordnance Survey Board remains accountable to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It is also a member of the Public Data Group.

History

The route is thought to have been developed by the earliest Celtic settlers of the region and used as a drove road for moving livestock. The primary evidence for this is the route's width compared to nearby routes and its relative distance from existing settlements of the time.^[4]

The route continued to be used by the Romano-British, sometimes closely following the original Celtic route and sometimes deviating from it. Between Ulceby and approximately Skendleby the road was straightened by the Romans and formed part of the Roman Road between Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) and the ancient coast around Wainfleet, Burgh le Marsh and Skegness. This Roman Road deviates from the Bluestone Heath Road around Ulceby but runs parallel to it about a mile to the south until it reaches the Tetford/Belchford area.

Roman Britain was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from 43 to 410 AD. It comprised almost the whole of England and Wales and, for a short period, southern Scotland.

Ulceby is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire in England. It is situated next to the A1028 road, 11 miles (18 km) east from Horncastle and 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west from Alford, and forms part of Ulceby with Fordington civil parish(where the population is listed).

Skendleby is a small village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated near to the A158 and lies 35 miles (56 km) east from the county town Lincoln, and about 4 miles (6 km) north-east from the town of Spilsby. The village stands near the south-eastern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.

There is a disputed claim that the road was used as a munitions store during World War II due to its proximity to a number of air fields, together with a local legend that a German Doodlebug or V-2 rocket landed on Tetford Hill but never detonated.^[1]

The V-1 flying bomb —also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb, or doodlebug, and in Germany as Kirschkern (cherrystone) or Maikäfer —was an early cruise missile and the only production aircraft to use a pulsejet for power.

Related Research Articles

Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London (Londinium) to Lincoln and York (Eboracum). The Old English name was "Earninga Straete" (1012), named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston, Hertfordshire. "Armingford", and "Arrington" share the same Old English origin. The original Celtic and Roman names for the route remain unknown. It is also known as the Old North Road from London to where it joins the A1 Great North Road near Godmanchester.

The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester, Bath, Cirencester and Leicester.

West Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England.

The A15 is a major road in England. It runs north from Peterborough via Market Deeping, Bourne, Sleaford and Lincoln along a variety of ancient, Roman, and Turnpike alignments before it is interrupted at its junction with the M180 near Scawby. The road restarts 10 miles (16 km) east, and then continues north past Barton-upon-Humber, crossing the Humber on the Humber Bridge before terminating at Hessle near Kingston upon Hull.

Asgarby is a hamlet in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies just south from the B1195, a road that runs past the battlefield at Winceby. Asgarby is on the opposite side of the road to the battlefield.

Withcall is a small farming village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies within the Lincolnshire Wolds, and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west from Louth.

South Killingholme is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,108.

Ashby with Scremby is a civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 147, increasing to 179 at the 2011 census. The parish includes the village of Scremby, along with the hamlets of Ashby by Partney and Grebby.

The Viking Way is a long distance trail in England running 147 miles (237 km) between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland.

Winceby is a village in the civil parish of Lusby with Winceby in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated in the Lincolnshire Wolds, and about 5 miles (8.0 km) from both Horncastle and Spilsby.

Miles Cross Hill is a large hill that is the sloping gradient up to the landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds. As it is the first large hill of the Wolds, there are views of the Lincolnshire Fens and Coast. The hill leads to Ulceby Cross Roundabout.

Kirkstead is an ancient village and former parish on the River Witham in Lincolnshire, England. It was amalgamated with the civil parish of Woodhall Spa in 1987.

The A158 road is a major tourist route that heads from Lincoln in the west to Skegness on the east coast. The road is located entirely in the county of Lincolnshire and is single carriageway for almost its entirety. The road is approximately 41 miles (66 km) long. The road gets quite congested with holiday traffic during the summer.

The A607 is an A road in England that starts in Leicester and heads northeastwards through Leicestershire and the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, terminating at Bracebridge Heath, a village on the outskirts of Lincoln. It is a primary route from Thurmaston to the A1 junction at Grantham.

Tetford is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.

High Dyke is a minor road following a length of the Roman Road Ermine Street in the English county of Lincolnshire, between Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth and Ancaster, and onwards nearly to Bracebridge Heath. It is also the name of a small settlement on that road, 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east from Great Ponton, near to the mouth of Stoke Tunnel on the East Coast Main Line. High Dyke is also a name for the general area between Easton and Great Ponton. On the Ordnance Survey 1:25000 sheets it is spelled High Dike.

Greetham with Somersby is a civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately 3 miles (5 km) north-east from the market town of Horncastle.

The A1500 is an 'A' road entirely within the English county of Lincolnshire. It links the A156 at Marton with the A15 south of RAF Scampton via Sturton by Stow.

References

1 2 Keef (February 2001). "Bluestone Heath Road". Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
↑ "The Wolds". Poacher country. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
↑ Skegness. Landranger. 122. Ordnance Survey.
↑ "Bluestone heath road". LincolnshireWolds.info. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

External links

Photographs along the Bluestone Heath Road

Coordinates: 53°16′10″N0°00′54″E / 53.2694°N 0.0149°E / 53.2694; 0.0149

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[KEEF-1] 1 2 Keef (February 2001). "Bluestone Heath Road". Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

[2] "The Wolds". Poacher country. Retrieved 16 July 2013.

[3] Skegness. Landranger. 122. Ordnance Survey.

[4] "Bluestone heath road". LincolnshireWolds.info. Retrieved 16 July 2013.