Barnack
Encyclopedia
Barnack is a village and civil parish in the City of Peterborough unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located in the north-west of the district, only four miles south-east from Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...

 in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 851 people. Barnack's councillor is the former Deputy Mayor, Dr. David Over (Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

).

Notable history

Barnack is famous for three things: its limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 industry, its church and an unusual early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 burial.

The stone, sometimes called "Barnack rag", was a valuable building stone first exploited by the Romans
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

. Quarrying continued in Medieval times
Britain in the Middle Ages
England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Medieval period — from the end of Roman rule in Britain through to the Early Modern period...

 when the Abbeys at Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

, Crowland
Crowland
Crowland or Croyland is a small town in south Lincolnshire, England, positioned between Peterborough and Spalding, with two sites of historical interest.-Geography:...

, Ramsey
Ramsey, Cambridgeshire
Ramsey is a small Cambridgeshire market town and parish, north of Huntingdon and St Ives. For local government purposes it lies in the district of Huntingdonshire within the local government county of Cambridgeshire....

, Sawtry
Sawtry
Sawtry is a village in the district of Huntingdonshire in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. The village is home to over people.-Location:...

 and Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...

 all used Barnack stone, and the monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 frequently argued over the rights to it. Blocks of stone were transported on sleds to the river Welland
River Welland
The River Welland is a river in the east of England, some long. It rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market Harborough, Stamford and Spalding, to reach The Wash near Fosdyke. For much of its length it forms the county boundary between...

 and loaded on to barges in which it travelled down the Nene
River Nene
The River Nene is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about . It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for from Northampton to The...

 and the fenland
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....

 waterways. Most famously, stone from Barnack was used to build Peterborough
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...

 and Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...

s. By the year AD 1500, all the useful stone had been removed, and the bare heaps of limestone rubble gradually became covered by the rich carpet of wild flowers, such as the pasque flower
Pulsatilla vulgaris
Pulsatilla vulgaris belongs to the buttercup family , native to western, central and southern Europe....

 and pyramidal orchid
Pyramidal orchid
The Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the Genus Anacamptis of the family Orchidaceae...

, which can be seen today. This area, now a National Nature Reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...

, is known as "The Hills and Hollows" or "The Hills and Holes
Barnack Hills & Holes NNR
Barnack Hills & Holes is managed as a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England, a non-departmental public body vested in 2006. It is situated in the village of Barnack in the unitary authority area of Peterborough in the United Kingdom...

".

The church of St John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

 is noted in particular for its Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon architecture
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...

 tower. It also has a Romanesque sculpture of a seated Christ and possibly one of the earliest spires in England.

The Barnack burial

The Barnack burial was an important early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 find. The burial comes from a complicated monument which was expanded and altered on at least three different occasions. The original burial was very rich for the period, but was only covered by a small barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

. Over later times additional burials and cremations were cut into the barrow and it was enlarged twice. Probably at the same time three concentric ditches were dug around the barrow. The final monument contained at least 23 bodies and had a diameter of 50 metres.

When gravel quarrying threatened it in 1974, the decision was taken to excavate. The objects recovered were donated to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

, however, replicas are on display at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery

The primary burial

The primary burial was of a man aged between 35–45. He died sometime between 2330–2130BC. He was very robustly built and quite tall for the time, he would have stood at 1.78m. He was suffering from slight arthritis
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....

. Marks on his bones, and those of the other people in the barrow, show they were used to squatting down (though it is unknown if this is due to the type of daily work they did or just how they sat). His teeth had no disease, but were well worn, showing he had mainly a gritty diet of cereals.

The grave goods

The grave goods of the primary burial are unusual. There was a large ‘beaker
Beaker culture
The Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...

’ pot. There was a copper dagger, again a common item to be found in graves of the time. There was a piece of oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

. It is unknown what this was for and no one has been able to make a good guess. There was an unusual pendant made of either bone from a sperm whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...

 or walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...

 ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

. However, the most unusual item was a stone wrist-guard
Stone wrist-guard
Early Bronze Age stone wrist-guards are found across Europe from around 2400-1900BC and are closely associated with the Beaker culture and Unetice culture...

. These Stone wrist-guards normally have between two and six holes carefully drilled into them. However, the wrist-guard from Barnack has eighteen holes, and each one is filled with a foil-thin disc of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

. The wrist-guard from Barnack was never meant to be worn since the gold caps in the holes would have stopped it from being tied to the arm. Less than a hundred such wrist-guards have been found in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the example from Barnack is arguably the finest.

Famous Barnackians

Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...

, writer of The Water Babies
The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby
The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby is a children's novel by the Reverend Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–1863 as a serial for Macmillan's Magazine, it was first published in its entirety in 1863...

, spent his childhood at The Rectory, rebuilt in the 16th century and now called Kingsley House. His brother Henry Kingsley
Henry Kingsley
Henry Kingsley was an English novelist, brother of the better-known Charles Kingsley.Kingsley was born at Barnack rectory, Northamptonshire, son of the Rev. Charles Kingsley the elder, Mary, née Lucas. Charles Kingsley came of a long line of clergymen and soldiers, and in addition to the two...

 was born there in 1830.

Nigel Sixsmith
Nigel Sixsmith
Nigel Sixsmith is a British musician.He lived most of his early childhood in Ryhall before moving with his family to Barnack where his love for music was spotted by his primary school teacher, Mr. Sharp, who encouraged Nigel to learn and play the piano...

, founder member of The Art Of Sound
The Art Of Sound
The Art of Sound was formed in Peterborough, England in 1973, to promote the use of synthesizers in both modern and classical music. The originating members of The Art of Sound were: Nigel Sixsmith, Thomas Wright, Michael Bale and Shirley Feischer....

, well-known Keytar
Keytar
A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...

 player.

The artist, Wilfrid Wood (1888-1976) lived in Barnack. THe village hall is named after him.

Amenities in Barnack

Barnack is well served in terms of local amenities. The villiage has a primary school, shop and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, two bed and breakfasts an MOT
Mot
In Ugaritic Mot 'Death' is personified as a god of death. The word is cognate with forms meaning 'death' in other Semitic and Afro-Asiatic languages: with Arabic موت mawt; with Hebrew מות ; with Maltese mewt; with Syriac mautā; with Ge'ez mot; with Canaanite, Egyptian Aramaic, Nabataean, and...

 test centre and garage. There are also several other small businesses and a agricultural goods supplier.
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