Editing Brigg (section)

==History==
[[File:Discovery of logboat in Brigg in 1886.jpg|thumb|left|Discovery of Iron Age dugout in 1886.]]
The area of present-day Brigg has been used for thousands of years as both a [[ford (crossing)|crossing point]] of the Ancholme and for access to the river itself. Prehistoric boats of [[sewn boat|sewn&ndash;built]]<ref>{{cite book|last=McGrail|first=Sean|title=The Brigg 'Raft' and her Prehistoric environment|year=1981|publisher=British Archaeological Reports}}</ref> and [[dugout (boat)|dugout]]<ref name="autogenerated1991">{{cite book|last=Dodd|first=Edward|title=Brigg|year=1991}}</ref> construction have been found in the town, both dating to around 900 BC. A [[causeway]] or [[jetty]] also stood on the riverside during the late [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]], although its exact use is uncertain.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wylie|first=William|title=Prehistoric Road at Brigg, Lincolnshire|journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquitaries|year=1884|volume=10|series=2nd series|pages=110–115}}</ref>

During the [[Anglo-Saxon]] period the area became known as ''Glanford''. The second element of the name is not disputed, but the origin of the first element is unclear. It is possibly derived from the [[Old English]] ''gleam'' meaning joy or revelry, and thus the full word is interpreted as "ford where sports are held".<ref name=k/> Another suggestion is that the first element refers to a 'glamping' track&mdash;a walkway formed by placing interlocking planks or logs over boggy ground&mdash;and thus describes a ford crossed in this manner.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=C H|title=Historical origins of Lincolnshire villages: and Lincoln street names|year=1994|publisher=Lincolnshire Publishing}}</ref> A third possibility is that it means "smooth ford"<ref>{{cite book|title=Like a dream remembered: a short history of the Borough of Glanford|year=1988|publisher=Glanford Borough Council|author=Glanford Borough Council Leisure Services Department}}</ref> although its etymology is not specified.

Glanford Brigg was founded at the crossing place of the Ancholme before 1183, its first mention being a [[Pipe roll]] entry for that year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beresford |first=Maurice |title=New Towns of the Middle Ages: Town Plantation in England, Wales and Gascony |year=1988 |publisher=Alan Sutton |location= Gloucester, England |isbn=0-86299-430-6 |edition=2nd |page=465}}</ref> The town's formal charter for a weekly [[market (place)|market]] and yearly [[fair]] date from a royal grant to Hugh Nevil in 1205, in which the founder's name is given as his father&ndash;in&ndash;law Stephen de Camera.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.briggmarkettown.co.uk/history.php |title=Brigg Market Town: History |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012170351/http://www.briggmarkettown.co.uk/history.php |archive-date=12 October 2010 }}</ref> The fair began on 25 July&mdash;the [[Feast of Saint James]]&mdash;and continued for three days afterward. The grant of a market and fair were subsequently reconfirmed to Hugh's son Ernisius in 1235. The second part of the town's full name dates to this time, coming from the new bridge built to replace the existing ford across the river. Its non-standard form of ''Brigg'' is due to influence from [[Old Norse]] ''bryggja'', which although usually describes a jetty or quay here refers to a bridge.<ref name=k>{{cite book |first=Kenneth |last=Cameron |year=1991 |title=The Place-Names of Lincolnshire |volume=Part Two}}</ref> The name of a place spelt "Glawemfordbrigge" in Lincolnshire, appears in 1418.<ref>''Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas''; National Archives; CP 40/629; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H5/CP40no629/bCP40no629dorses/IMG_1702.htm; 4th entry, line 1, home of John Barton, yeoman</ref>

Brigg originally sat at the meeting point of four parishes ([[Broughton, Lincolnshire|Broughton]], [[Kettleby, Lincolnshire|Kettleby]], [[Scawby]] and [[Wrawby]]), although it lay mainly in the last, and was officially regarded as part of that village. In the 1190s, the lord of the manor of Broughton, Adam Paynel, founded a hospital for the poor within the town.<ref name="Dodd1990">{{cite book|last=Dodd|first=Edward|title=The History of Catholicism in Brigg and District|year=1990}}</ref> Several small [[chapel]]s also existed during medieval times, with another hospital and chapel founded by [[William Tyrwhitt]] in 1441.<ref name="Dodd1990" /> However, the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution of the monasteries]] in 1536&ndash;41 also affected hospitals and chapels, leaving the town without ecclesiastical coverage except the parish church in nearby Wrawby.<ref name="Dodd1990" />

[[File:Brigg Marketplace in 1836.png|thumb|left|Brigg Marketplace in 1836]]
Due to its strategic position, Brigg was fortified by [[Cavalier|Royalist]] forces during the [[English Civil War|civil war]]. After the [[Battle of Winceby]] in 1643, [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] forces attacked and seized the garrison on their way to help relieve the [[Siege of Hull (1643)|siege of Hull]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Clive|title=Seventeenth-Century Lincolnshire|url=https://archive.org/details/seventeenthcentu0007holm|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=History of Lincolnshire Committee|isbn=978-0-902668-06-5 }}</ref> Sir John Nelthorpe, a local landowner who had been a member of Parliament during the [[The Protectorate|Protectorate]], bequeathed some of his estate in 1669 for the foundation and maintenance of a free school in the town. Four other local gentlemen established a [[chapel of ease]] in Bigby Street in 1699, restoring church presence in the town after 150 years of absence.<ref name="Dodd1990" />

The town was substantially improved and rebuilt in the late 1700s and early 1800s, partly through the demands of the Elwes family, the largest landowner in the town.<ref name="Henthorn1987">{{cite book|last=Henthorn|first=Frank|title=History of 19th Century Brigg|year=1987|publisher=Spiegl}}</ref> The old town hall—now known as the [[Buttercross, Brigg|Buttercross]]—was built in 1817.<ref name="Henthorn1987" /> Later, in 1842–43, the existing chapel of ease was replaced by a full–sized church dedicated to [[St John the Evangelist]],<ref name=Cox>Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' p. 81; Methuen & Co. Ltd</ref> and a cemetery was established on Wrawby Road in 1857, following significant controversy over the burial of non–conformists. Brigg's ecclesiastical parish was established in 1872,<ref name="Henthorn1987" /> finally separating the town from Wrawby, but also incorporating neighbouring parts of Scawby, Broughton, and Bigby parishes.

A workhouse was built at the east end of the town in 1835, and was the responsibility of the Glanford Brigg Poor Law Union.<ref name=g/><ref>{{PastScape|mnumber=1451999|mname=Glanford Brigg Union Workhouse|access-date=22 March 2010}}</ref> Its architect was [[William Adams Nicholson]] who also designed the similar building in Lincoln, and replaced an earlier alms house dating back to 1701. The workhouse at Brigg is one of the best known and best documented of its type, probably because of the national interest that arose after [[Percy Grainger]] collected traditional songs from the inmates. An infirmary was later built attached to the workhouse, and this portion remained open as a hospital until 1991.<ref name="autogenerated1991"/>