Washingborough

Washingborough signpost

Washingborough is the point on the River Witham at which the Lincolnshire Fens begin. The Fens were first drained by the Romans and the Roman Car Dyke ran from Washingborough to the River Nene, near Peterborough.[3]

The origin of the name 'Washingborough' is uncertain but is thought to mean either 'fortification near the wash' or 'fortification of the people of Wassa'.[4]

There is a war memorial to the men of Heighington and Washingborough in the church.[5]

A dig involving Channel 4's archaeological television programme Time Team, on a site adjacent to the modern canalised course of the River Witham, found evidence of an important late Iron Age settlement of around 1000 BC. At this time the river was tidal and the evidence suggests a trading and metal working centre with trading connections to northern Europe. Copper ore and ingots were found as well as evidence of smelting in crucibles. The settlement may have lost importance as water levels rose and the site became unsuitable. Much of the settlement site was destroyed when the river was canalised in the 18th century as part of the effort to drain the Fens.[6]

The parish church is dedicated to St John the Evangelist and has a Norman tower. Inside is a Norman font.[7] Windows depict a Zeppelin raid on the village in 1916.[8]

The Witham Shield, dated to the Iron Age, was discovered nearby in 1826 and is now in the British Museum.[9]

The village was served by the Lincolnshire Loop Line between Lincoln and Peterborough via Boston and Spalding. However, the station that served the village closed in 1940 to passengers and never reopened. The line closed to freight traffic in the 1970s and is now a trail called the "Water Rail Way" between Lincoln and Woodhall Junction.

The village has two public houses, the Ferryboat on High Street and the Hunters Leap on Oak Hill,[10] a Chinese and an Indian takeaway, a pizza house, fish and chip shop, supermarket and post office with chemists.

The Powell hut is the home of scouting and guiding in the village.[11] The Peterborough to Lincoln Line passes through the south-west corner of the village.

Washingborough Academy is the village primary school. The school gained a good rating in their Ofsted reports in 2017, 2012 and 2009 inspection.[12]

• Orgerus in Yvelines, northern France.

• Media related to Washingborough at Wikimedia Commons
• Washingborough Primary School
• Village history
• Parish council
• Washingborough on Time team
• Washingborough Archaeology Group
• Washingborough in the Domesday Book