Editing Brigg (section)

==Geography==
[[File:River Ancholme, Brigg.jpeg|thumb|left|The Old River Ancholme in Brigg]]
{{climate chart
| Brigg
|1|6|48
|1|6|38
|2|9|48
|4|11|48
|7|15|51
|10|18|53
|11|20|53
|11|20|64
|10|18|48
|7|14|48
|3|9|56
|1|7|53
|float=right
|source=[http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?unit=C&location=UKXX0749 Intellicast]
}}Brigg is roughly {{convert|230|km|mi|order=flip}} directly north of [[London]]. The nearest big towns are [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] {{convert|35|km|mi|order=flip}} to the south, [[Scunthorpe]] {{convert|11|km|mi|order=flip}} to the west, [[Grimsby]] {{convert|27|km|mi|order=flip}} to the east, and [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] {{convert|23.5|km|mi|order=flip}} to the north. The local area is broadly the south bank of the [[Humber]] estuary.

The town itself sits on a gravel spur of the [[Lincolnshire Wolds]] that juts out into the valley of the Ancholme—a tributary of the Humber—which historically provided a narrow crossing point of the river and its flood plain.<ref>{{cite book|last=Leahy|first=Kevin|title=The Anglo–Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey|year=2010|publisher=History Press|edition=2nd}}</ref>  The Wolds proper rise to the east, reaching a maximum of roughly {{convert|100|m|ft|order=flip}} about {{convert|5|km|mi|order=flip}} from the town, although with a lower pass at the Kirmington Gap. To the west the land gently slopes up to roughly {{convert|70|m|ft|order=flip}} on the Lincolnshire Edge about {{convert|5|km|mi|order=flip}} away.

Between these low ranges of hills the Ancholme river runs south to north through its flat, low&ndash;lying flood plain, with a north&ndash;south height difference of only a few metres. The town sits on alluvial soils of the Ancholme, and the area surrounding the town was previously a semi&ndash;flooded marsh known as [[carr (topography)|carrs]]. A series of drainage improvements from the 1630s to the 1820s transformed the whole of the valley into arable land. The largest of the drainage channels is also a [[canal]] known as the New River Ancholme. The original course of the river has been obliterated in places by the drainage works, but its discontinuous surviving length is known as the Old River Ancholme.

The town itself lies mostly on the east bank of the old river, with a small amount to the west. A portion of the west bank is cut off from the rest by the new river, forming an island&ndash;like piece of land known as Island Carr. Due to nearness of the river, the town regularly suffers minor flooding, and concerns over flood plain development are a major issue in local planning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/163-60-000-scheme-cut-flood-risk-gets-way/story-11177823-detail/story.html|title=This is Scunthorpe: £60,000 scheme to cut flood risk in Brigg gets under way|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930095142/http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/163-60-000-scheme-cut-flood-risk-gets-way/story-11177823-detail/story.html|archive-date=30 September 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The only other watercourse of reasonable size is Candley Beck, which runs through the very southern parts of the town. There are also about half a dozen clayponds along the riverside in Brigg where clay was formerly extracted for brick&ndash;making.

===Townscape===
[[File:The Exchange, Bigby Street, Brigg - geograph.org.uk - 359267.jpg|thumb|The Exchange in Bigby Street. The town's only Grade II* listed building.]]
The old town is centred on the [[marketplace]] and the adjoining streets of Bridge Street, Wrawby Street, and Bigby Street. The marketplace and Wrawby Street, where much of the town's retail is located, were pedestrianized in the early 1990s. A significant number of buildings in the town centre date to the late 1700s or early 1800s and are [[listed building|listed]], with the old town as a whole designated a Conservation Area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northlincs.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/0B80F20E-C360-442F-9F7F-A7B908CB70B2/48232/BRIGGDIRECTIONSEALEDCOPY.pdf|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111015122403/http%3A//www.northlincs.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/0B80F20E%2DC360%2D442F%2D9F7F%2DA7B908CB70B2/48232/BRIGGDIRECTIONSEALEDCOPY.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date=15 October 2011|title=North Lincolnshire Council (Brigg) Conservation Area Direction 2011 (pdf)}}</ref> The marketplace is dominated by the [[Buttercross]] and [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/951485 the Angel], a former [[coaching inn]] with an early [[Tudor Revival architecture|mock Tudor]] façade, which is now home to Brigg Town Council and various North Lincolnshire Council services. Another former coaching inn, the Exchange, stands in Bigby Street, opposite the former manor house of the [[Gervase Elwes|Elwes family]]. The [[Anglican]] church of Saint John the Evangelist, built in 1843, also lies on Bigby Street. Its style is of the [[Gothic Revival architecture]] popular at the time, but [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] notes the curious construction where the stone has first been carved into the shape of [[brick]]s before being laid in courses.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pevsner|first=Nikolaus|title=Lincolnshire|year=1989|publisher=Penguin|edition=2nd}}</ref>

Much of the town's poorer housing formerly lay in a series of narrow yards that ran northward from the marketplace and Wrawby Street.<ref name="Lyons1983">{{cite book|last=Lyons|first=Nick|title=The Courts and Yards of Brigg|year=1983|publisher=Scunthorpe Museum Society}}</ref> The yards were considered unsanitary [[slum]]s by the late 1800s, but the housing was not finally vacated and demolished until the 1950s.<ref name="Lyons1983" /> However, the yards themselves remain in use, with the larger ones repurposed for retail and services, and the smaller for [[alley|public passageways]].

The [[A18 road (England)|A18]] bisects the town, running just north of the town centre. To the north and east of this road, housing development throughout the 1900s expanded the town significantly in size. To the west beyond the New River Ancholme, the town's urban area continues into the neighbouring hamlet of Scawby Brook. The settlement is substantially bounded by the [[M180 motorway]] to the north and the Grimsby branch of the [[Sheffield to Lincoln Line|Sheffield to Lincoln railway line]] to the south.