Greetwell

Description

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• Overview

  Greetwell Character Area lies to the east of the built up area of Lincoln on land that slopes down to the west and south to the Witham Valley. The area is predominantly agricultural land, with the exception of part of a disused quarry in the west of the area. There are few buildings, which include a number of farm and residential buildings located adjacent to the main roads running through the north and south of the area.

   

  There are many traces of the area’s historic past including a Roman road (now followed by the line of Wragby Road) possibly from the Roman Military Era [60 – 90 AD], the earthworks of Greetwell medieval village in the southeast of the area, a number of early 19^th century field boundaries that persist from the enclosure of Greetwell parish lands, and the route of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) which began construction in the mid-19^th century.

   

  The agricultural land is divided into a semi-regular pattern of sub-rectangular fields which are put to a mixture of uses including arable, pasture and semi-improved scrubland. These are separated by overgrown hedges and shallow open drainage dykes.

   

  The disused quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geological importance. Quarrying continued until as late as 2003 and some areas have still not fully established vegetation, although the majority of the quarry floor has been colonised by Calcareous grasses typical of limestone areas, and sections of the quarry are now being developed into a nature reserve.

   

  A number of roads run through the Character Area, both parallel to and across the contours of the slope. Of these roads, Wragby Road and Greetwell Road are the only routes that continue to the city.

   

  This area forms part of Lincoln’s rural hinterland to the east. The location of the area between Lincoln and its outlying commuter towns, gives this area a sense of transition between the urban fringe and the open rural hinterland. The area separates Lincoln from its outlying satellite commuter settlements and rural villages. The Cathedral is visible on the skyline emphasising the relative proximity of the city. However, the mid-range views are of the modern residential and industrial developments on the fringe of the city making the area feel distinct from the built-up areas of Lincoln.

• Historical Development

  Greetwell Character Area is located on the north escarpment and lies between the eastern fringe of the City of Lincoln and the rural villages of North Greetwell and Cherry Willingham. The current landscape is mainly agricultural in use, although a large part includes the remains of open-cast mining conducted during the 20^th century.

   

  The north escarpment of the Witham Gap was the focus for activity and settlement from the Prehistoric Era [10000 BC-60 AD] as evidenced by archaeological finds, a triple ditched boundary system and an Iron Age settlement all located in the west of the Character Area. During the Roman Military [60-90 AD] and Roman Colonia [90 AD-410 AD] Eras land probably formed part of the Legionary ‘territorium’, an area surrounding a major Roman fort in which agricultural production and other services were dedicated to the service of the legion as opposed to the local population. In addition to grazing and farming, the Character Area’s location on the north escarpment may have made it a suitable place for early quarrying of ironstone and/or limestone.

   

  The northern boundary of the Character Area is formed by Wragby Road, a Roman road that led from Eastgate in Lincoln to the Lincolnshire Wolds and round to The Wash[1]. There are several other Roman sites within the west of the Character Area, in the form of two settlements. Since its construction, the Wragby Road has remained as a key gateway into the northeast of Lincoln and was made a turnpike in 1739[2]. Turnpike roads were often nick-named ‘Rampers’[3] and this name survives in Ramper Farm to the north of the Character Area.

   

  Greetwell Road, which runs east-west through the south of the Character Area, may date to the High Medieval Era [850-1350 AD] although the road may follow the route of an earlier Roman road also leading to and from Eastgate in Lincoln. The road, which connected outlying villages with the city, would have been important in Lincoln’s development as a market centre.

   

  The now deserted medieval village of Greetwell was established before the 11^th century. The name means ‘the gravelly spring’[4]. It was recorded in 1086 as having a minimum population of 21, and the size of the village is thought to have remained fairly constant throughout the medieval period. Despite declining slightly in the 15^th century it appears to have reached its peak in the early 17^th century when 88 communicants were recorded[5]. Since that time Greetwell’s population fluctuated but overall steadily reduced in numbers, until its virtual abandonment in the first half of the 18^th century. Numbers in the village dwindled due to the effects of enclosure and subsequent reorganisations of the estate. Villagers that formerly made a living from the land were replaced with more efficient machinery or marginalised to infertile parcels of land and often had to relocate to find work and survive.

   

  The village is marked by a series of earthworks laying either side of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) line in the south of the area. The main part of the village lies outside the Character Area but a number of closes to the west of a linear hollow way, which is a continuation of the village’s principal street, can be seen to the south of the railway line[6].

   

  During the medieval period, land in the Character Area was probably divided into open agricultural fields for grazing and cultivation of which traces of ridge and furrow of the medieval field system survive to the north and east of Greetwell Hall Farm. Sometime in the Early Industrial Period [1750 – 1845 AD] the open fields in Greetwell were divided up and enclosed under a private treaty. The fields are first depicted on the Tithe Award map of 1848[7] and several of these field boundaries persist in the present layout (e.g. field boundaries south of Hawthorn Road).

   

  The southern boundary of the Character Area is formed by the Market Rasen branch of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) which continues to operate today. Construction began on this line in 1847 as part of the Great Grimsby And Sheffield Junction Railway (GGSJR), who had aspirations of this being part of a main line from Hull to London. Work had only just commenced when GGSJR became amalgamated into The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS & LR) who built the Market Rasen line as a branch line only[8].

   

  Ironstone mining at Greetwell was started in about 1872 when the land was leased to the Mid-Lincolnshire Ironstone Company and large scale open-cast mining began in the southwest of the Character Area and to the south of Greetwell Road. Ironstone is found through the county in a strip of land that passes roughly through Grantham, Lincoln and Scunthorpe, part of the geological band of Lias and Oolites and since the mid 19^th century this band has become the main source of British Iron Ore[9]. By 1875 the area south of Greetwell Road was worked out, causing the quarrying company to focus their efforts on deposits located within the Character Area. The curved section of a field boundary in the southwest of the Character Area and a straight pathway and earthwork running southwest-northeast to the north of the depot mark the line of the former tramway. These Ironstone deposits ceased to be mined during the Inter-War Period [1920 – 1945 AD] as the process became no longer financially viable. However, open cast quarrying of limestone continued until August 2003.

   

  Residential properties are minimal in the Character Area with a farmstead in the north of the area and semi-detached house in the south of the area both dating from the 19^th century. Further residential properties lie in the south of the area, dating from the Modern period [1967 – Present day]. Utilitarian farm buildings tend to date from a variety of periods, as farms adapt to the changing needs and machinery of farming practices.

   

  Both the east and west boundaries of the Character Area follow, for the most part, the lines of Civil Parish Boundaries. The western boundary was originally closer to Lincoln but was moved out to the east in the 1970s. It forms the entire western limit of the Character Area and mostly follows the line of early 20^th century field boundaries. The eastern boundary mostly follows the line of the parish boundary, between the Parishes of Greetwell and Cherry Willingham.

  
  

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  [1] Margary 1973, 238

  [2] Wright 1993a, 78

  [3] Healey 1997, 30

  [4] Cameron 1998, 53

  [5] Everson et al., 1991, 104

  [6] ibid., 105

  [7] LAO E492

  [8] Birch 1968, 6

  [9] Wright 1993b, 114

• Urban form

  Greetwell Character Area lies immediately east of the built-up area of Lincoln. The Character Area encompasses agricultural land, a disused quarry and a handful of residential and farm buildings. The area is bounded to the south by the Market Rasen line of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), to the north by Wragby Road, and to the east by the Greetwell Parish boundary. Open agricultural land and small village settlements lie to the north and east of this Character Area, with the city to the west.

   

  The land is relatively flat and slopes gently down to the Witham Valley to the south and Greetwell Quarry to the west. A number of roads run through the Character Area, these include Wragby Road and Greetwell Road, two major routes into Lincoln from the east that are generally the busiest routes in the Character Area. Hawthorn Road takes traffic from the outlying villages of Cherry Willingham and Reepham to major transport routes, and a minor road runs north-south through farmland between Greetwell Road and Hawthorn Road. Roads are aligned both parallel to and across the contours of the slope. Footpaths are minimal within the Character Area and are only present to the north-eastern edge of the quarry and running north/south between Hawthorn Road and Wragby Road. However, walkers are able to roam throughout most parts of the former quarry area.

   

   

  Figure 2 – Established lane through agricultural land

   

  The landscape is predominantly agricultural, characterised by a semi-regular pattern of sub-rectangular pattern of fields defined by shallow open drainage dykes and/or overgrown hedges that are associated with the area's drainage and enclosure during the early part of the 19^th century. The hedgerows are typical of the quick set hedges used during the late 18^th and early 19^th century enclosure. Agricultural areas are now predominantly used as arable land or grazed pasture although there are some areas of semi-improved scrubland.

   

  Several small drains and ponds are located within the Character Area and these support a range of aquatic and wetland species of both flora and fauna, e.g. Ivy-leaved duckweed and Nuttall’s waterweed.

   

  The open-cast quarrying of limestone has left a permanent mark on the landscape in the west of the Character Area with the formation of high limestone cliffs that skirt a wide, relatively level, quarry floor. Parts of the quarry were mined until as recently 2003 and these areas have had little chance to develop substantial vegetation. More established vegetation is present on the cliff-tops surrounding the quarry with areas of scrub and semi-mature trees and the remnants of a 19^th century enclosure field boundary with mature trees extending into the quarry area. Calcareous grasses, typical of limestone areas, have colonised parts of the valley floor. These areas are an important habitat for a number of species, notably the Bee Orchid, brown long-eared bat, and several types of butterfly.

   

   

  Figure 3 - View over floor of quarry

   

  The quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the importance of the exposed geology in the cliff faces. Since the cessation of quarrying activities, much of the quarry has become a nature reserve. The quarry has been fenced, presumably to prevent entry during its working life, but much of this has now been vandalised and trampled.

   

  Buildings within the Character Area are either residential or agricultural in use. There are only two clusters of buildings, a farmstead along Wragby Road in the north of the area, and a farm and residential buildings along Greetwell Road in the south of the area.

   

  The buildings at the north are a collection of farm and residential buildings within a single plot. The buildings lie close to the footway immediately upon a large grass verge, with all the buildings facing into a central courtyard at the centre of a medium sized plot. The house is a detached, 2 storey, gabled building with a number of later additions. The buildings are covered in painted render and have concrete tiled roofs. The farmhouse itself is well screened from the road by the surrounding farm buildings and strategic tree planting, concealing the front of the house from view and giving the property a passive frontage.

   

  The buildings in the south of the Character Area include a large collection of farm buildings, a pair of Modern Period [1967 – Present day] semi-detached bungalows built in the same style and a semi-detached two-storey house of the Late Victorian/Edwardian Period [1869 – 1919 AD]. The residential properties are all set parallel to Greetwell Road. The bungalows are to the centre of small plots, with a setback of 5-10m from the road. Public/private boundaries are relatively well-defined with a mixture of brick and stone walls and hedgerows. A high (1.5 – 2m) stone wall divides the rear boundary of the properties from the farmyard beyond. The bungalows are constructed of brown brick with gabled concrete tiled roofs. Projecting roof kneelers form the extent of the decoration. Doors set to the side of the properties and medium/high solid-to-void ratios give these properties a passive frontage.

   

   

   

  Figure 4 – Collection of farm and residential buildings north of Greetwell Road in the south of the Character Area

   

  The two-storey, Late Victorian/Edwardian, property is constructed of red brick with a slate hipped roof with contrasting ridge tiles. This appears to have originally functioned as the farmhouse of the adjacent farm. Boundaries around the property are defined by low hedging. Decoration is indistinct although the vertically aligned windows have segmental arched brick lintels. Doors are to the front of the house, but the properties still have a relatively high solid-to-void ratio due to the relatively small size of the windows. All the properties appear to have replacement uPVC windows.

   

  The surrounding farm buildings are mostly medium to large single storey sheds located around a large farmyard. They are medium to large in size, and are constructed from a variety of materials. This includes stone and brick buildings with pantile roofs, and steel-framed buildings with a brick or steel clad shell and steel or asbestos sheeting to the roof. The buildings are functional and often have open sides to accommodate large machinery.

   

  There is a low sense of enclosure across the Character Area formed by large open agricultural fields and a low building density. The vitality across the area is generally low, although Wragby Road and Greetwell Road are busy thoroughfares due to high levels of traffic entering the east of Lincoln. There is potential for use of the area to increase as the Nature Reserve areas within the quarry become more-established and the area develops as a local amenity.

• Views

  Distant views looking west from the Character Area include good end-on views of the east façade of the Cathedral, creating a strong and pronounced connection between the city centre and its rural hinterland. Mid-range views include the residential and industrial developments located on the city fringe, with shorter views of rolling agricultural land.

   

   

  Figure 5 – Long-ranging views over agricultural land to the cathedral

   

  Elevated areas in the north of the Character Area offer panoramic views across the Witham Valley to the south escarpment, including the villages of Canwick and Washingborough. Views to the east are uninterrupted distant panoramas of the broad Witham fens. Rural views illustrate the relationship between the city and its rural hinterland, with this area also forming the rural foreground of views into Lincoln from outlying villages such as Cherry Willingham and North Greetwell.

• Condition of Buildings and Streetscape

  Fields are in agricultural use and appear to be intensely farmed. Although the area is a well-maintained private enclosure landscape, a number of hedgerows are likely to have been lost through the amalgamation of fields, due to modern farming practices being imposed on the traditional layout of the land.

   

  The quarry workings were originally fenced off but fences have been vandalised and access is now possible, which has led to episodes of fly tipping within the quarry.

   

  Main roads are generally in good condition. An unnamed lane between Wragby Road and Greetwell Road is in considerable need of maintenance.

• Use

  The majority of the area is in agricultural use, mainly for grazing and cultivation. Part of the west of the area is a disused quarry which is notable for its important geology, and is a listed SSSI. Much of the former quarry areas are now a developing nature reserve, being passively maintained and allowed to develop naturally.

   

  There are a small number of residential and farm buildings in both the north and the south of the Character Area.

• Relationship to City and Surrounding Areas

  Greetwell Character Area is on the periphery of the City of Lincoln and its landscape has more in common with the rural agricultural land beyond the city boundary. This close connection of countryside and town is a key characteristic of Lincoln, contributing to the city’s rural setting and maintaining a relationship between the market centre and its rural hinterland that has existed for almost two millennia.

   

  The area is a transitional zone between Lincoln and its outlying commuter settlements, such as Cherry Willingham. It acts as a buffer between the city and the outlying villages preventing them from becoming a further part of the city’s expanding conurbation.

• Key Townscape Characteristics

  • • Greetwell Character Area lies on the eastern fringes of the City of Lincoln
    • The land slopes gently down to the Witham Valley at the south and toward the quarry to the west
    • The area encompasses agricultural land, a disused quarry and a small number of residential and farm buildings
    • Several traces of the area’s historic past remain including:

    • Relic field boundaries dating from since the time of enclosure during the Early Industrial Period
    • The LNER railway line that forms the southern boundary
    • Evidence for Ironstone mining and quarrying
    • The Roman Era Wragby Road and High Medieval Greetwell Road

    • The landscape is mainly agricultural with rectilinear fields of arable, grazed pasture and semi-improved scrubland, divided by shallow open dykes and hedgerows that are typical of the quick set hedges used during 18^th and 19^th century enclosure
    • Quarrying for limestone has left a lasting impact on the west of the Character Area, with high limestone cliffs surrounding a wide, relatively flat, quarry floor
    • Vegetation is not yet well established although calcareous grassland, typical in limestone regions, does cover much of the quarry floor
    • The quarry provides an important wildlife habitat for several species of flora and fauna including brown long-eared bats, Bee Orchids and several species of butterfly
    • Developed scrubland and semi-mature trees are present on the cliff-tops and a relic field boundary of mature trees extends into the quarry area
    • Buildings are scarce within the area although there is a farmstead immediately to the south of Wragby Road and there is a cluster of farm and residential buildings to the north of Greetwell Road
    • There is a low sense of enclosure formed by open agricultural fields and very low building density
    • Apart from along the major roads, vitality is low
    • Agricultural land is well maintained for purpose
    • Buildings and roads are also in a relatively good condition
    • The quarry has been subject to fly-tipping
    • There are long-ranging views due to the open nature of the Character Area, these include views out to Lincoln and the east façade of the Cathedral
    • As a foreground to this, mid-range views include the industrial and new-residential developments on the fringes of the city
    • Short-range views are over gently undulating agricultural fields and into the quarry
    • This Character Area is a part of Lincoln’s important rural hinterland that helps to define the character of the city
    • The area forms part of an agricultural/ rural buffer between the city and its satellite villages