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The village of Alkborough sits on the northern edge of the limestone escarpment which runs through the county from Stamford northwards. At Alkborough, this is the northernmost outcrop of "Cotswold limestone".
On the Western side of the village is "Julian's Bower" , one of the three remaining turf mazes left in Britain, even this maze is under threat with a very uncertain future. The centre of the village is marked by the church, a Saxon/Norman building with a history which extends way back into the mists of time.
The history of Alkborough extends to pre-Christian times and was settled far back into the Bronze-Age. The mound on which the church stands, one can conjecture to have been the centre of the village and of village life. It would have been the place of worship for the pagan gods, Cernunnos, Brigit, &c.
The importance of the site from a defence point of view is shown in the next photo where the confluence of the Ouse and Trent join to form the river Humber.
Aswarby church was mentioned in the Doomsday book, which dates its origins to the Anglo-Saxon period. Soon after the conquest, the church passed into the Priors of Kyme.
Aswarby Park lies just to the east of the A15 between Sleaford and Bourne. It was once the home of the Carre family and the name will be familiar to Sleaford people from "Carre Street", "Carre's Grammar School", etc. The name was at first spelled "Aswardebi" and the name ending "bi" points to a Danish origin: That the Danes inhabited the area is beyond doubt from other local placenames. At the village of Stow nearby, the Danes fought a victorious battle over the Saxons in the year 870 AD.
Originally the park was given to the "de Ghant" family by the conqueror. At this time there stood a Saxon church on the site. The rebuilding of the church was conducted at the behest of Gilbert de Ghant. The de Ghant's gave the park at Aswarby to the tennancy of Simon de Kyme. For a more full account of the de Kyme family see "South Kyme". The land then passed into the hands of Sir Robert de Umfraville, Earl of Anjou, through his marriage to Lucy de Kyme. In the 14th C. the land passed into the hands of one Robert Carre, then the park remained in the hands of this family until the 1720's when it was sold by Lord Carre-Hervey to Sir Francis Whichcote and the estate remains in their hands today.
Today, the park comprises a large farm, much of the original parkland has disappeared, but a general idea can be obtained from the remaining park between the farm and the main road; an area of grassland sparsely populated with large Oak trees, some of which grow on mounds and probably mark burial barrows. There is one large barrow in the park, the origin of which is unclear but more than likely a relic from Anglo-Saxon days. Local legend has it that this barrow was built to cover an elephant which died in a travelling circus.