Collingham Village

A Short introduction to the History, Geography and Architecture of Collingham

The village of Collingham is situated towards the eastern edge of Nottinghamshire on the eastern side of the Trent Valley, six miles northeast of Newark and some twelve miles from Lincoln. The name ‘Collingham’ is derived from the combination of Saxon words ‘inga’ meaning ‘people’, ‘ham’ meaning ‘settlement’ and ‘Colla’, the name of the chief. However, Bronze Age and Roman finds indicate there had been settlement here long before then.

It is possible that ‘Long Collingham’ was split into two settlements by the early Danish settlers, who called one half ‘Northbie’ and the other ‘Southbie’. Later, in Medieval times, North and South Collingham existed as two parishes, each with a church. The ‘advowson’ (rights) belonged to Peterborough Abbey.

The village is now one long settlement following the Fleet, once a course of the River Trent. The two main streets, High Street and Low Street, run parallel and are connected several times by narrow lanes.

There are 62 listed buildings in Collingham, six of which are dated as 16th century or earlier. This indicates the wealth of architecture present and it is little wonder White’s directory of 1832 described Collingham as ‘one of the handsomest villages in the county’.

The vernacular buildings are generally recognised by their limestone (blue lias) bases with timber frame and mud or plaster walling above. When brick became more widely used in the late 18th century, this replaced the mud walling. Originally these buildings would have has thatched roofs. Pantiles are now more commonly found.

The above account is reproduced by kind permission of the Collingham and District Local History Society. Further details of buildings in the village can be obtained from the leaflet ‘Collingham Heritage Trail’, available for purchase from the Post Office in the High Street.

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Collingham Parish

The parish of Collingham consists of the villages of Brough, Danethorpe and Danethorpe Hill as well as Collingham itself. The major village of Collingham sits astride the A1133, approximately 7km north of Newark-on-Trent and 17km south west of Lincoln. This lively and picturesque village comprises North Collingham and South Collingham; each having its own medieval church. There is a substantial conservation area and a rich mix of domestic architecture dating from the 16th century to the present day. The site of the Roman settlement of Crococalana is nearby.

The village is on the east bank of the old course of the River Trent, now called the Fleet; it was around 1600 that the Trent changed course to its present position about 2km away.

Collingham has a population of more than 2700 people (2001 Census) and benefits from having a range of shops and services including four churches, three pubs, a post office, medical centre, pharmacy, library, and a primary school as well as train and bus services to Newark and Lincoln.

Pictures of Collingham