Immingham is a town, civil parish and ward in the

North East Lincolnshire North East Lincolnshire is a Unitary authority area with borough status in Lincolnshire, England. It borders the borough of North Lincolnshire and districts of West Lindsey and East Lindsey. The population of the district in the 2011 Census was ...

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

of England. It is situated on the south-west bank of the Humber Estuary, and is north-west from

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

. The region was relatively unpopulated and undeveloped until the early 1900s, when the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

began developing its

Immingham Dock The Port of Immingham, also known as Immingham Dock, is a major port on the east coast of England, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary in the town of Immingham, Lincolnshire. In 2019, the Port of Grimsby & Immingham was the largest ...

; as a consequence of the dock development, and of nearby post-Second World War large scale industrial developments Immingham developed from a minor place into a significant town during the 20th century. The Port of Immingham & Grimsby was the largest port in the United Kingdom by tonnage with 54 million tonnes of cargo passing through in 2019.

Geography

Council ward

The Immingham Ward of North East Lincolnshire Council includes

Stallingborough Stallingborough is a village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,234. History Prehistory-1840 The area around Stallingborough may have been inhabited in prehistoric ...

Healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells i ...

and

Habrough __NOTOC__ Habrough ( ) is a village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England, north-west of Grimsby and inland from the River Humber at the southern edge of the A180 road, just west of Immingham and south of South Killin ...

. As of 2018, its elected councillors are Stewart Swinburn (Conservative), David Bolton (Labour), and David Watson (Labour). Population of the ward in 2001 was 11,804 persons (2001 census), and 11,507 persons in 2011 (2011 census).

European route E22 European route E22 is one of the longest European routes. It has a length of about . Many of the E-roads have been extended into Asia since the year 2000; the E22 was extended on 24 June 2002. Route United Kingdom Port of Holyhead () *: ...

passes through Immingham on the A180 and A160 via Immingham Dock.

Civil parish

The civil parish of Immingham is located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary west-north-west of

. The civil parish is bounded by

South Killingholme South Killingholme is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,108. The parish was predominately agricultural and sparsely populated and the village small until the ...

to the north-west, with the drain watercourse outfalling at South Killingholme Haven forming the boundary – also the county boundary between

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...

and

. The south-eastern boundary is with the civil parish of

, with the North Beck Drain forming most of the boundary. The parish extends to the south-west as far as Roxton, with boundaries to the south-west and south with the civil parishes of

and

Keelby Keelby is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the A18, west from the seaport of Grimsby and east from the local Humberside Airport, with close access to the A180 to the north, and M180 to th ...

.Ordnance Survey 1:25000, Sheet 284, 2006 The civil parish is low lying, extending from below above sea level near the Humber foreshore, to a peak of in Roxton wood in the south-west corner. The main features within the parish are the Humber shoreline, running roughly north-west to south-east, the

and estate, and adjacent south of the dock the town of Immingham. The A180 and Stallingborough-Habrough section of the mainline railway west out of Grimsby (

Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway The Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway was an early British railway company which existed between 1845 and 1847 with the intention of providing rail services between Grimsby, New Holland and Gainsborough in the county of Lincolnshire. ...

) pass roughly east–west through the southern part of the parish. The A1173 connects the town and dock to the A180. Excluding farms there are no other places of habitation outside the town in the civil parish. There are two abandoned sites of medieval villages in the parish: that of the village of Immingham, north-west of the modern town, near St Andrew's Church; and Roxton in the southern extremity of the parish. Population of the civil parish was 9,861 in 2001, and 9,642 in 2011.

Town

The mayor of Immingham is Kevin Houghton who was elected to follow Stefan Allan, who was elected on 15 May 2019, and then re-elected the following year. Allan currently serves as Houghton's deputy. Before his election as mayor, Allan served as the deputy to preceding mayor and mayoress George Fox, and his wife Veronica Fox. The town of Immingham is a compact urban area of approximately , situated south-west of the dock in the middle of the parish. It is bisected by the B1210. The town has a retail centre, "Kennedy Way", a leisure centre with swimming pool and gym, and several schools. On the north-eastern outskirts of the town there is a Knauf UK GmbH plant that makes

plasterboard Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...

History

Etymology

The name ''Immingham'' is thought to mean the "Homestead of the people of Imma"; (de)constructed from the elements "Imma" + ''inga'' + ''ham''. The place was referred to as ''Imungeham'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, and recorded as ''Immingeham'' in around 1115. The termination "-ham" is

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- ...

in origin. The patronymic, (interpreted as "Imming" or "Emming") has been noted as occurring elsewhere, such as in ''Imminghausen'' (

Immenhausen Immenhausen () is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km north of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. The town has 7,098 inhabitants as of July 2020, including the northern village of Mariendorf and easte ...

), or ''Emmingen'' (

Emmingen-Liptingen Emmingen-Liptingen is a town in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe af ...

) (Germany).

Early history

Immingham is mentioned (as ''Imungeham'') as a manor in the 11th-century

Saint Andrew's church dates to the early medieval period, with much of the structure dating to the 13th century, with parts of the nave as early as the 11th or 12th century. The tower was constructed in the 16th/17th century, to a similar design to that found in nearby

Aylesby Aylesby is a village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is situated near the A18 road, approximately west from Cleethorpes and north of Laceby. The population at the 2001 census was 135, increasing to 155 at the 2011 ...

, Wootton and

. The structure was restored in the 1880s and 1920. A decorated octagonal font in the church dates to the 15th C. The remains of a stone cross outside the church also dates to the medieval period. There is archaeological evidence of the medieval settlement. Earthwork remains indicating a settlement and agricultural use exist near south of the church; earthwork remnants of a former

shrunken village An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...

exist to the north of the church. Archaeological evidence of saltmaking has been found north of the village (formerly in the parish of Harbrough, now within the dock estate), references to a saltmaking site here exist from the Domesday book, and in a late 12th-century document describing the gift of land including the saltpan to

Newhouse Abbey Newsham Abbey was an abbey in Newsham, a small hamlet north of Brocklesby village in Lincolnshire, England. Founded by Peter of Gousla in 1143, Newsham was a daughter house of the Abbey of Licques, near Calais, and the first Premonstratensian hou ...

In 1608 the village briefly became a location in the story of the

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who came to North America on the ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony in what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts, named after the final departure port of Plymo ...

of America; their vessel was forced to put ashore due to bad weather, sailing up Killingholme Creek; the women of the party were allowed to sleep in the village church for the night, but news of this reached the authorities, with the consequence that the womenfolk were arrested, whilst the others escaped to the Netherlands. A popular protest secured the release of the women, who were then able to rejoin their families, and continue the journey. In the later medieval period Immingham declined from 66 households in 1523 to 46 in 1723, in common with other Lincolnshire places on or near the Humber banks. The silting of the haven leading from the Humber has been supposed as one possible cause. Churchfield Manor, in the north-west of the town dates to the late 1600s/early 1700s. Belmont cottage south of the church dates to the early 1800s. Both are now listed structures. The

Ings ''Ings'' is an old word of Old English origin referring to water meadows and marshes. The term appears in place names in Yorkshire (such as Hall Ings, Bradford, Fairburn Ings RSPB reserve, Clifton Ings in York, Derwent Ings, Sutton Ings, A ...

at Immingham were enclosed in 1840. A coastguard station erected in 1850. The

(opened 1845) passed through the parish south of Immingham. In the 1870s the parish of Immingham had a population of 237, whilst Roxton was still known as a small hamlet. The parish had an area of which was mostly good grazing land – much of which was owned by the

Earl of Yarborough Earl of Yarborough is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1837 for Charles Anderson-Pelham, 2nd Baron Yarborough. History The Anderson-Pelham family descends from Francis Anderson of Manby, Lincolnshire. He marrie ...

. In addition to the church the village also had Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels.

1900–1950

Building of the

began in 1906, and it was opened by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

on 22 July 1912. In part funded by the

, the dock property was ; covering , with of water. A railway line to the north-west, the

Barton and Immingham Light Railway The Barton and Immingham Light Railway is a railway line in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. It ran from a junction at Goxhill to Immingham Dock. Another spur runs from Immingham Dock to Ulceby. It was lat ...

was opened in 1912. The docks were connected to their primary supply of labour in Grimsby by the

Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway The Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway (G&IER) was an electric light railway, primarily for passenger traffic, linking Great Grimsby with the Port of Immingham in Lincolnshire, England. The line was built by the Great Central Railway (GCR), ...

, opened 1912. As part of the development of the new port some wood framed, corrugated iron clad housing was constructed; several of these survived to the 21st century, and one of these dated 1907 is now a listed structure. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Immingham served as a base for British D class submarines. There was also an anti-aircraft battery in the town, manned with 1 pounder and later a 12-pounder gun. By the 1920s the village of Immingham had been eclipsed in importance by the port; a publication of the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

opined: By the early 1930s housing development was scattered across several locations: most was along Pelham Road, of which the majority was east of the original village (St Andrew's church), centred around the ''County Hotel'', and close to the dock estate; further development had taken place south and south-east of the church, also on Pelham Road, in two locations each centred on one of the two nonconformist chapels. Almost all the housing was terraced, with the more generous ground plans found moving south-west along Pelham Road. By the mid 1930s the village had grown as much to require a comprehensive school which opened in 1936. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

John Dowland John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...

and Leonard Harrison received the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

for defusing a bomb that had fallen onto the grain ship SS ''Kildare'' in February 1940 in Immingham Dock. Anti-aircraft batteries were located around the dock during the war, as well as at Homestead Park, and near Immingham Grange. The Humber Force, part of the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

which had two cruisers and a destroyer flotilla, including

HMS Afridi (F07) HMS ''Afridi'' was one of 16 destroyers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the beginning of Second World War in 1939. Completed in 1938 the ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet where she served as a flotilla leader. ...

was based at Immingham during the war, as well as submarines including HMS Seal (N37).

1950–present

At the beginning of the 1950s the village of Immingham had little expanded. Development of new industries on the South Humber bank after the

caused further growth of the town. By 1981 the population had risen to 11,506; making it North Lincolnshire's fourth town, after

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...

and

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

. The expansion of the village included: ''Eastfield County Junior School'' built in 1970; expansion of the comprehensive school, 1973; a shopping centre "Kennedy Way" constructed in 1965–7; and north of the centre 18 blocks of five storey flats constructed by

George Wimpey George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a constructi ...

from 1965; a Civic Centre also opened in 1965. Standard housing also expanded: By 1968 there were many new side streets, in particular a new estate encompassed by Pilgrim Avenue; development along Pelham Road had become almost continuous, and the new village now expanding north-west towards the old Immingham. Further growth took place in the late 1960 and 1970s: north-west of Pelham Road, with the village continuous towards Church Lane; a new estate south-east of Pilgrim Road; as well as further infilling to the south-west. Immingham Dock Station, originally part of the

closed in 1969, whilst

Immingham Museum Immingham is a town, civil parish and ward in the North East Lincolnshire unitary authority of England. It is situated on the south-west bank of the Humber Estuary, and is north-west from Grimsby. The region was relatively unpopulated and u ...

was established in 1970. In 1979 the Kennedy Way centre was extended to house a further supermarket and other shop units. The local council added a Sports centre in 1980. The expansion of the new town had peaked by the mid 1980s, with only minor extra expansion in the next two decades to 2006. In 2007 Immingham School was renamed

Oasis Academy Immingham Oasis Academy Immingham (formerly The Immingham School) is a coeducational secondary school with academy status located in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, England. History Previously a community school administered by North East Lincol ...

. Supermarket retailers

Somerfield Somerfield (; originally Gateway) was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The company also previously owned the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative ...

took over a former

Kwik Save Kwik Save is a British convenience store chain. Prior to 2007, it was also a discount supermarket chain that had shops across the United Kingdom. It went into administration in July 2007, but was brought back in April 2012. Its shops were sm ...

shop at Kennedy Way c.2006; the branch became part of the

Co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

after the takeover of the chain in 2010; in 2014 the Co-op announced it was to close the shop (closed September 2014). Supermarket chain

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

acquired the site in 2014 with the aim of opening a new store in 2015; the store was opened in May 2015 by the Mayor of Immingham. The town's Yorkshire Bank closed in August 2009 after 40 years of operation. the

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Formed by the merger of the Norwich and Peterborough building societies in 1986, at the time of merger with YBS, it w ...

closed their Immingham office in March 2010;

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

closed their branch in the centre in late 2010. In 2012 planning permission was granted for a new large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

store to the north of Immingham Civic Centre, (originally consented 2009.), and refurbishment and alterations to the Kennedy Way shopping centre. Preparatory work on a £10 million Tesco supermarket began 2014, with the Immingham Sports Centre to be demolished; a new sports facility was to be provided at Oasis Academy. A

Poundstretcher Poundstretcher (previously styled as £-stretcher and also previously known as ...instore) is a chain of discount stores operating in the United Kingdom. It is based in Kirby Muxloe, England. History Poundstretcher was established in 1981 b ...

opened in November 2014 at the development, and

B & M B&M European Value Retail S.A., trading as B&M, is a British-Luxembourg variety store chain founded in 1978 and incorporated in Luxembourg. It employs over 32,000 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FT ...

store in December 2014. The new "Multi User Games Area" (MUGA) opened March 2015. In January 2015 Tesco announced cost-cutting plans following falling sales, and halted development of 49 stores, The built but unopened store in Immingham was mothballed, having had its opening previously delayed. As of late 2015 the unopened Tesco supermarket was being retained by Tesco. On 20 September 2018 Tesco opened one of their first Jack's stores in the unused building. Wimpey blocks (geograph 2572732)

In early 2016 work began on the reconstruction of Immingham Civic Centre – an aim was to concentrate public services at one location including Immingham Town Council, North East Lincolnshire Council offices, Humberside Police offices, Shoreline (housing agent) offices, a Library and the Immingham museum, which portrays the role of the

in the building of the docks and construction of the local rail network. The museum, which is home to the Great Central Railway Society archive, is open from 1pm to 4pm, Wednesday to Saturday from March through to November.

Governance

At the lowest level of governance is Immingham Town Council. Immingham has 3 electoral wards, electing a total of 15 councillors. These councillors are responsible for burial grounds, allotments, play areas and some street lighting. Elections to the town council are held every four years and the most recent elections were held in May 2019. The Mayor of Immingham is elected annually by the members of the town council. At county level the town is part of

North East Lincolnshire Council North East Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North East Lincolnshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It was established following the abolition of Humberside ...

unitary authority area, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. The town is represented by three Unitary councillors on North East Lincolnshire Council. The county council provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. In the United Kingdom Parliament, Immingham is part of the Cleethorpes constituency, represented by Conservative MP,

Martin Vickers Martin John Vickers (born 13 September 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cleethorpes at the 2010 general election. Early life Born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, Vickers was ed ...

. The Cleethorpes constituency also includes other towns in the area including

and

Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...

Roxton

There was once a village at Roxton. The medieval village is evidenced by earthworks, as well a nearby cropmarking to the east. Additionally there may once have been a moated enclosure between Immingham and Roxton, now lost and not visible on modern maps.

Notable people

Sean Storey Sean Storey (born 19 August 1971 in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England) is a former English professional snooker player. His best ranking performance to date came in the World Championship in 2003, where he defeated Joe Perry before bowing o ...

, professional snooker player *

Ian Huntley The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident an ...

(born 31 January 1974, Grimsby), Soham murderer, lived at Immingham until the mid-1990s.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

Literature

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Towns in Lincolnshire Port cities and towns in Yorkshire and the Humber Port cities and towns of the North Sea Borough of North East Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire