Dry Doddington is a small village in the north-west of the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England within the civil parish of Westborough and Dry Doddington. It is situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) south-east from Newark, approximately 8 miles (13 km) north-west from Grantham, and just over 1 mile (2 km) to the east from the A1 road.
Dry Doddington | |
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![]() Church of St James, Dry Doddington | |
![]() ![]() Dry Doddington Location within Lincolnshire | |
OS grid reference | SK850466 |
• London | 105 mi (169 km) S |
Civil parish |
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Shire county |
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Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Newark |
Postcode district | NG23 |
Police | Lincolnshire |
Fire | Lincolnshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament |
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Dry Doddington means the "dry estate of a man called Dodda". There was a deserted medieval village called 'Stocking' or 'Stockyng' associated with Dry Doddington in the early 14th century; its precise location is unknown.[1]
Dry Doddington CE School was built as a National School in 1872, but was closed between 1926 and 1929, after which it re-opened as a primary school. It closed for the last time in 1961.[2]
Today, the village forms part of the civil parish of Westborough and Dry Doddington, which had a population of 335 in 2001. Before 1931 Dry Doddington was a separate parish.[3]
The village public house is The Wheatsheaf Inn on Main Street.[4]
The village, on a small hill called Lincoln Hill, is surrounded by the River Witham to the west and south. The village of Claypole is to the north and Westborough and Long Bennington 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south. The East Coast Main Line passes 1 mile to the north-east.
The parish church, dedicated to St James, has a west-ward leaning tower. It is a Grade II* listed building dating from the 12th century, with an early 14th-century tower. It was restored in 1876.[5][6]
Recent restoration work, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has brought the 14th century tower back to its former glory. The tower boasts an impressive tilt of 4.8[7] or 5.1[8] degrees, leaning more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy which is now tilted at 3.97 degrees.
The church contains a memorial to a No. 49 Squadron RAF Avro Lancaster that crashed near the village on 26 November 1944. The aircraft, called 'O-Oboe', was piloted by F/O Le Marquand (PB432). It had only been in the air for a few minutes before it crashed, laden with bombs and fuel. Whilst five members of the crew survived, Norman Langley, the wireless operator and air gunner, and Edward Blake, the mid-upper gunner, were killed.[9]
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