having taken to the wheel in 1925 (at the age of 15), and buying his first car, a Willys Overland Crossley Whippet in 1935 for £2.50. He sold his collection of eighty 1920s and 1930s motorcycles in March 2003. Archaeology The parish is one of Lincolnshire's Knights Templar preceptories. Temple Hill was investigated by the Society for Medieval Archaeology in 2002. Lincolnshire preceptories Until their disbandment in 1312, the Knights Templar were major landowners on the higher lands of Lincolnshire, where they had a number of preceptories on property which provided income, while Temple Bruer was an estate on the Lincoln Heath, believed to have been used also for military training. The preceptories from which the Lincolnshire properties were managed were: Aslackby Preceptory, Kesteven () Bottesford, Lindsey () Eagle, Kesteven () Great Limber, Lindsey () Horkstow, Lindsey () Witham Preceptory, Kesteven () Temple Bruer, Kesteven () Willoughton Preceptory, Lindsey () Byard's Leap () was part of the Temple Bruer estate. Community The village focuses on two centres: around the church and around the former MOD housing estate. The ecclesiastical parish South Witham is part of the Witham Group of the Deanery of Beltisloe in the Diocese of Lincoln. The incumbent is the Revd Dr Tom Broadbent. The village primary school is in Water Lane. The school's 2011 Ofsted rating was Grade 2 (good). Older children are bussed out of the village to school. The village magazine, Witham Word, is published monthly on the web. The village is the terminus of the No. 28 bus route from Grantham, which provides a daily service. Notable people John Butt (sport shooter), Olympic shooter, born in the village in 1850, won the team bronze in the 1908 Olympics, and the team silver in 1912 Olympics, in clay pigeon shooting Elizabeth Mitchell, mother of Rutland MP Richard Halford (1662–1742) Eric Simms (ornithologist), the first person in Britain to record on magnetic tape, and presented The Countryside Programme, which continued for 38 years, starting on the BBC Light Programme in March 1952 See also Blue pubs References Current Archaeology No.9 (July 1968) p. 232 SMA book about the Knights Templars preceptory External links Village website The Blue Cow South Witham Verges SWAG (South Witham Archaeology Group) Archaeological sites in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Knights Templar Limestone mines in the United Kingdom Nature reserves in Lincolnshire Quarries in England Witham Villages in Lincolnshire