Holbeach Clough (today synonymous with Saracen's Head) is a fenland village in the

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. It is just under north from the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Holbeach, and on the A17 road. The village is almost conjoined at the east to the village of Holbeach Bank. The village is part of the Holbeach

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

, and is at the south-west edge of

Holbeach Marsh Holbeach Marsh is a The Fens, fenland area in the South Holland, England, South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. Holbeach Marsh is situated between the market town of Holbeach on the A17 road (England), A17 road at the south, and The ...

History

Holbeach Clough is also known as Saracen's Head, with late 18th- and early 19th-century maps including both names. Saracen's Head might be associated with two

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s of that name that existed at the settlement—and still exist in modern form—one for perhaps 400 years, the name possibly taken from the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of significant local Willoughby, Irby, or Littlebury families. The Saracen's Head public house might have served travellers and traders crossing the then wide estuary of the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...

Fosdyke Fosdyke is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 480. It is situated approximately south from Boston, just off the A17, and east from the junction ...

."Origin of the Name of Saracen's Head"
''Whaplode Parish Council'', Lincolnshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2014 The

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

coastline of the area ran immediately north of Holbeach Clough until a

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes, ...

, the Roman Bank, was constructed for land reclamation in the 14th century, this running from the west at

Moulton Seas End Moulton Seas End is a village in the civil parish of The Moultons and the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is north-east from the centre of Spalding and north-west from Holbeach. The village of Moulton is to the south. ...

. The Saracen's Head Ward of the local council covers Holbeach Clough. Two previous Wesleyan Methodist chapels in the village are now demolished. The first was built in 1825, closed in 1971, and demolished in 1998. The second was built in 1866, closed in 1946, and demolished in 1978. Both were of brown brick with hipped slate roof. In 1855 occupations in the village included a farmer, a butcher, a beer retailer, a shopkeeper, and the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

of the Three Tuns public house. The Three Tuns was listed in 1872 along with a further beer house and a shopkeeper, these also in 1885 with the addition of a grocer and a shoemaker. By 1933 listed occupations were a farmer, a cottage farmer, a bulb grower, a smallholder, a beer retailer and the landlady of the Pear Tree public house at Penny Hill (half a mile south of Holbeach Clough), a further beer retailer, and two further smallholders. The Three Tuns was still in existence.'' Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire'' 1855, p.120''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, pp.479, 480''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire'' 1933, pp.296–298 In the 1870s South Lincolnshire Fen-country

coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, t ...

meetings were held on Holbeach Marsh, centred on Holbeach Clough.''The Coursing Calendar for the Autumn Season 1870'', Horace Cox, p.199

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire South Holland, Lincolnshire