Blankney is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 251. The village is situated approximately south from the city and

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

of Lincoln and 9 miles north from Sleaford. Blankney is a small stone-built

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representat ...

village, built around the large estate of Blankney Hall. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 239.

History

Blankney has existed at least since the time of William the Conqueror, when it belonged to the major land-owner

Walter D'Aincourt Walter D'Aincourt (or Walter Deincourt or d'Eyncourt) was a landholder in Derby under King Edward the Confessor in 1065/1066. Later in 1066, he fought for William the Conqueror against Harold Godwinson and was rewarded with a large number of manor ...

. The place-name 'Blankney' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ''Blachene''. It is listed as ''Blancaneia'' in 1157 in ''Early Yorkshire Charters'', and as ''Blankenei'' in 1202 in the Assize Rolls. The name is the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''blancan ēg'', thought to mean 'Blanca's island'.

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (born 8 January 1877 in Vallsjö (now in Sävsjö, Jönköpings län), Sweden, died 23 November 1964 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to ...

, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.48. In the 15th century the estate passed through marriage to the Lovels of Titchmarsh. After the

Battle of Stoke Field The Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487 may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims derived from descent from the houses of Lancaster and Yo ...

in 1487, all the estates of the Lovels were confiscated by Henry VII for the crown, and the Blankney Estate was then bought by the Thorold family. It was the Thorolds who did much to embellish the house with carved panelling of the period. During the reign of Charles I, again through marriage it passed into the hands of Sir William Widdrington who was created Baron Widdrington of Blankney in 1643. Lord Widdrington's great grandson,

William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington (167819 April 1743), was an English Roman Catholic peer and supporter of the Stuart claim to the Crown. Background Widdrington was the son of William Widdrington, 3rd Baron Widdrington, by the Honoura ...

had the indiscretion to take part in the Jacobite rising of 1715. He was captured at

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

, convicted of high treason and his lands were confiscated in the following year. In 1719 Thomas Chaplin, a prominent Lincolnshire landowner, purchased the land from the Crown Commissioners for Confiscated Land, and it was to remain in the family for over two centuries. The estate owes its appearance largely to the influence of the Chaplins and their care of the land. The last Chaplin, Henry, led an extravagant lifestyle and had political ambitions; this lifestyle coupled to the falling revenues from farms led him ever into debt until finally in 1892, the estate passed to the principal mortgagee William Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough. At the start of the Second World War the Hall was requisitioned for use as

billets A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier. Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...

for servicemen from nearby RAF stations. During 1945 it was badly damaged by fire and was then left as an empty shell before being demolished in the 1960s. All that remains today are the dilapidated remnants of the former stable block.

Golf

Unusually, the Hall was not built within its park, the park being on the opposite side of the village's main road. Although part of the park has been lost to arable farming, much of it remains as a golf course. The course was first laid out over 9 holes in 1902 by the 2nd Earl of Londesborough, in all probability at this stage for the use of himself and his guests, but in 1904 Blankney Golf Club was formed to manage the course, which it continues to do today. In 1938 it was decided to extend the course to 18 holes, and this extended course came into play at the start of the 1940 season.

Cricket

Blankney Cricket Club was originally formed in 1873, playing on a site in the centre of the village; it continued to flourish into the 20th century under the patronage of Lord Londesborough, who used to watch the matches from the north wing of Blankney Hall. However, after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the club went into decline and closed a few years later. In 1988 the

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Club was re-formed on the same site, the ground was developed, and a new clubhouse was built, opening in 1991.

Old coach-road

The Old Coach-Road was constructed from the Hall to

Metheringham railway station Metheringham railway station serves the village of Metheringham in Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the Peterborough–Lincoln line. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway, which provides all its rail services. Hist ...

(then called Blankney and Metheringham station) away, around the beginning of the 20th century by Lord Londesborough. It was run through woodland both existing and newly planted, and where it crossed the Blankney to

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

road, a bridge with high parapets was built to take the road over the coach-road. It was probably constructed to allow the Earl's visitors, in particular the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) who used the Hall as a discreet retreat for his amorous adventures, to arrive and depart without being seen by the local populace. This coach-road still exists although it is private.

Parish church

At the south end of the village is the parish church dedicated to St Oswald. The church, which was restored twice during the 19th century, has a tomb-slab to John de Glori with a bearded head looking out of a cusped opening, and a sculpture by

Joseph Boehm Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, (6 July 1834 – 12 December 1890) was an Austrian-born British medallist and sculptor, best known for the " Jubilee head" of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Par ...

of Lady Florence Chaplin.

References

External links

*
Blankney Village
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire North Kesteven District