Brigg

Brigg (fully Glanford Brigg) in Lincolnshire, England, is a small market town on the River Ancholme with a population of 5,076 (2001 census). Earliest references date from the 12th century, the name derived from the old Norse "briggja" meaning a bridge.

Brigg has been a thriving market town for centuries, serving the largely rural villages on both sides of the river with a corn exchange. Road communications were good with the old Roman road Ermine Street passing not far away. There are many old coaching inns, most notably "The Angel" on the route from Lincoln via Caenby Corner to the Humber. The Ancholme also gave access to the River Humber and the port of Kingston upon Hull.

Brigg became the administrative centre for the local area with a grammar school founded in 1669 by Sir John Nelthorpe, after whom the school, a comprehensive since 1976, is named. With the coming of the railways the town grew rapidly. Indeed it could have been still more important had Brigg been selected as junction for North-South lines with the East-West link to Grimsby. However, local opposition from the influential Carey family pushed much of the traffic through the nearby village of Barnetby-le-Wold.

Today with the building of a bypass and the pedestrianisation of the town centre, Brigg has regained some of the relaxed qualities of a country market town with a small marketplace at its heart.

Brigg is home to Brigg Town Football Club, which formed in 1864, only two years after the first, Notts County, making it one of the oldest clubs in the world.

The M180 bypassed the town on September 2nd 1977. The A15 Brigg & Redbourne Bypass (the extension to the M180 from Hibaldstow) opened in December 1989.

People from the town include actress Dame Joan Plowright