Digby is a small village in the district of North Kesteven, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. The village lies in the vale of the Digby Beck watercourse, six miles north of the town of Sleaford and twelve miles south of the city of Lincoln. The population is around 500, and there is a Parish Council.

Contents 1 Travel and transport 2 History and notable features 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links

[edit] Travel and transport

The village is on the north-south B1188 road, and is about six miles west of the National Cycle Network's National Route 1. Three miles to the south there is a local railway station at Ruskington, on the Sleaford to Lincoln line. About sixteen miles from Digby is Grantham, which has a regular East Coast Main Line express train to London (about 70 minutes).

[edit] History and notable features

In 1956 a Neolithic polished stone axe, made about 4,000 years ago, was found in Digby Fen. It is currently at Lincoln Museum.

The church is dedicated to Thomas Becket and has a porch with strong Saxon elements and carvings. Built in the Gothic style, it has a tall spire. There is also a circular Village lock-up and a stone buttercross in the centre of the village that date from medieval times, although the top section of pillar and cross of the buttercross appear to have been renewed, probably during the Victorian period. In the 1930s the churchyard was said to be haunted (see: Rudkin, "Lincolnshire Folklore" Folklore, Vol.44, No.2, June 1933).

Near the village is the large Royal Air Force base of RAF Digby (formerly RAF Scopwick). During the Second World War the base was home to Hurricane and Spitfire squadrons and to Douglas Bader, Guy Gibson, and poet John Gillespie Magee,^[1] among others. The base was Canadian later in the war, as RCAF Digby Fighter Station, with the Operations Room and billets at nearby Blankney Hall.

Today the village has a school, the Digby C of E School, for children aged 4 to 11. There is also a Post Office come-convenience store. The pub is the Red Lion.^[2] There are allotments, these are not used by the villagers as there is an ancient law that doesn't permit allotment users to grow vegetables for human consumption, only fodder for their livestock!^{[citation needed]} The village hall is Digby War Memorial Hall in Church Street. There are many fine examples of 18th & 19th century buildings, now private dwellings. Also of note is the Digby Manor House, a listed building situated on North Street, and almost opposite the new housing development of Chestnut Close.

During 2009 the Village Hall frontage has undergone extensive re-development and now provides seating for the weary, and new gardens.

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust manage Digby Corner^[3] as a wildlife sanctuary. At June 2007 Digby Fen was home to a breeding pair of Montagu's Harriers, the rarest breeding birds of prey in the British Isles.^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ John Gillespie Magee
2. ^ Red Lion
3. ^ Digby Corner
4. ^ a breeding pair of birds of prey

[edit] Further reading

Rennison, John (2003). The Digby Diary : a History of RAF Digby in Lincolnshire, 1917-1953. Aspect. 

Hawkins Buch, Mary (1997). Props on Her Sleeve: The Wartime Letters of a Canadian Airwoman. Dundurn. 

Gresswell, Fred. Bright Boots. Country Book Club. 

[edit] External links

• Digby + Lincolnshire photos on Flickr
• Parish Council
• Primary school
• Digby Judo Club

Coordinates: 53°04′47″N 0°23′20″W / 53.0797°N 0.389°W / 53.0797; -0.389