'Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth' is a
hamlet at , in the
parish of
Colsterworth, in the
English county of
Lincolnshire, best known as the birthplace of
Sir Isaac Newton. It is not to be confused with the village of
Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir, generally known just as Woolsthorpe, which is also in Lincolnshire but about 8
miles (13
kilometres) to the north-west.
Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth is 100 miles (170 km) north of
London, and 1 kilometre west of the
A1 (one of the primary north-south roads of Great Britain. That road bypasses Colsterworth which grew up on the old
Great North Road). The hamlet is three to four kilometres from the county boundary with
Leicestershire and six from
Rutland.
The hamlet now stands in pleasant rather rural surroundings but it is on the
Lower Lincolnshire Limestone, below which are the
Lower Estuarine Series and the
Northampton sand of the
Inferior Oolite Series of the
Jurassic. The Northampton Sand here is cemented by
iron and in the
twentieth century the hamlet was almost surrounded by
strip mining for the
iron ore. The line of the now dismantled
railway which carried the ore away lies behind the houses. The railway's
bridge, still spans the A1.
Woolsthorpe Manor, Newton's birthplace, is a typical
seventeenth century yeoman farmer's limestone house with its later
farmyard buildings. It is owned by the
National Trust and is open to the public.
References
★ Ordnance Survey.
★ Geological Survey 1:50 000 Sheet 143.
External links
★
Woolsthorpe by Colsterworth page in the website of the
Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire
★
★
Postcodes: NG33 5xx