Scartho () is a suburban village in the southern part of

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 ...

, England, and in the unitary authority of

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 ...

. Scartho's population is approximately 11,000. Up until the end of the Second World War it was a village; subsequent post-war expansion on the greenfield areas between Scartho and Grimsby has resulted in the village becoming an outer suburb. Its population has increased through recent urban developments such as Scartho Top.

History

Etymology

Like '

' the etymology of the word Scartho can be traced back to having

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

origin, more than likely due to the ancestry of the surrounding area. In ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', A. D. Mills identifies the elements ''skarth'' or ''skafr'' and the ending ''haugr'' to give the meaning as 'Mound near a gap' or a mound 'frequented by cormorants'.

11th century

The earliest surviving written reference to Scartho is 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 ...

'' of 1086 where it shares an entry with the adjoining parishes of

Laceby Laceby is a village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A46 road, just outside the western boundary of Grimsby. Laceby's population at the 2001 Census was 2,886, increasing to 3,259 at the 2011 Census. Th ...

and

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

. The three parishes were under the lordship of Swein, Erik brother of Tosti, and Tosti brother of Erik, in 1066, and after the Norman invasion by

Odo of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097), Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux, was the maternal half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England. Early life Odo was the son of William the Conqueror's mother ...

, a half-brother of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

. The church, dedicated to

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

, retains a tower that dates to the

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a 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-Saxons happened wit ...

period, although there have been more recent changes, including the removal of the north wall for an extension as recently as the 1950s. Walter Johnson in ''Byways in British Archaeology'' considers the tower to date from the period of church building in the 1042 to 1066 reign of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

and disagrees with 19th century suggestions that the stonework shows signs of scorch mark from having been torched during earlier Viking raids. Rather, Johnson argues, the tower, and others from the same era in Lincolnshire, were built after the period of Viking raids but in a style that reflects a memory of Church towers being used as a place of refuge during those raids.

19th century

In the first census of the United Kingdom in 1801 Scartho had 135 inhabitants, in 1831 the population was 147. In 1894, a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

and

infirmary Infirmary may refer to: *Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital *A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution *A dispensary (an office that dispenses medications) *A clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambu ...

were built at a site on the west-side of Scartho Road to the south of

. These new buildings were opened on 9 October 1894 by the Right Honourable J Shaw-Le-Fevre. Following the

Local Government Act 1929 The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their board ...

, the

came under the control of

Town Council's

Public Assistance Committee A Public Assistance Committee (PAC), in the UK, was a body locally created after the abolition of the boards of guardians in 1930 by the Local Government Act 1929, when their powers and responsibilities for poor relief were passed to county and co ...

and was renamed Scartho Road Institution. After the introduction of the

National Health National Health were an English progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury scene. Founded in 1975, the band featured members of keyboardist Dave Stewart's band Hatfield and the North and Alan Gowen's band Gilgamesh, including guita ...

Act in 1948 it became a general hospital. For many years it was known as Grimsby District General Hospital. Following the erection of the new

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was firs ...

' hospital to the south of the site, a number of the former

buildings have been demolished or stand empty. Others are still used for administrative or ancillary services.

20th century

Scartho Road is home to the Flower Cottages. Built in 1903, they are named after the order that flowers come into bloom after Winter, starting at number 100 with Snowdrop Cottage, 98 Crocus Cottage, and finishing at number 76. The architect was Herbert Scaping. In 1916, 13 bombs were dropped on Scartho by a German

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

, but no-one was killed or injured. The site where one bomb fell is now home to a branch of

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 ...

, an optician, a few shops and a dance school. At the side of the building is a plaque commemorating this event. A monument giving thanks that no-one was hurt can be found at a spot where another bomb fell, in the churchyard of the nearby parish church of St. Giles, itself believed to be nearly a thousand years old. The church itself was badly damaged in the attack. Scartho was a separate civil parish until 1928. Its northern boundary included part of the area that now forms the

Nunsthorpe Nunsthorpe (sometimes known locally as 'The Nunny', or by its nickname of Garden city movement, Garden City) is a suburb and housing estate in the western part of Great Grimsby, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between L ...

housing estate. In that year the greater part of the village was absorbed by Grimsby, with a small part being attached to the parish of Waltham. Before the Second World War building work commenced on what had been

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

land. These constructions include properties along Scartho Road and the roads off it, including Cragston Avenue, Limetree Avenue and Sycamore Avenue. The village saw post-war growth following the then government-policy of local councils building houses to replace those damaged in the war. This led to the development of three estates on green-belt land around the village: Springfield, Fairfield and (on a smaller-scale) the area around Edge Avenue. As part of this growth three schools were created – Springfield First and Middle schools, Fairfield First and Middle schools and Scartho First and Middle schools (in Edge Avenue). In 1958 the village opened its first

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 ...

, the Rose and Crown on Louth Road. The Seven Seas opened in 1962 in Springfield. In 1960 the local council built a swimming pool at the northernmost tip of the village boundary, next to the Barratts Playing Field. This is known locally as 'Scatha Baths'. It was closed in December 2015 and has now been demolished. In 1965 a new shopping arcade on Waltham Road was constructed in the area, followed a few years later by a similar development on the junction of Louth Road and Pinfold Lane which housed two banks and several retail premises. Between 1974 and 1982 the village saw the construction of the town's new hospital, the Grimsby District General Hospital, next to an existing smaller site. It was opened in 1982 by Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales. After her death in 1997 it was renamed the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital. The nearby Scartho Top development began in the mid-1990s.

Governance

North East Lincolnshire Council has one council ward within the area of Scartho. All of the councillors for the ward currently are Conservatives. Only in the inaugural council election of 1995, when Labour won all three seats, and in 2012 and 2014, when UKIP won one seat at either election, has it returned a councillor for another party. Scartho Ward * Cllr Charlotte Croft * Cllr Ian Lindley * Cllr Ronald Sheppard

Community

Scartho's retail availability includes a

Spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

mini-supermarket on Waltham Road, surrounded by a number of other businesses including take-aways and a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

. The supermarket houses the village Post Office after the long-established facility in Pinfold Lane closed in 2000. At this time one of the villages' two banks (

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

– previously a Lloyds Bank) closed after 33 years of service. On Louth Road is a number of other businesses including a veterinary clinic, a newsagent, a

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdo ...

and a pet store.

Notable people

* Richard A Collins (1966) – scientist and author, lived with his parents in

Holton-le-Clay Holton-le-Clay is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, around south of Grimsby. The village is twinned with Sargé-lès-le-Mans, Sarthe, France. History Ditched enclosures and b ...

and Scartho for most of his youth. * Brenda Fisher (b.1927) - long-distance and world record swimmer *

Hanserd Knollys Hanserd Knollys (1599–1691) was an English particular Baptist minister. Life He was born at Cawkwell, Lincolnshire, about 1599. He was educated privately under a tutor, was for a short time at Great Grimsby grammar school, and afterwards ma ...

(1599–1691) - an English

particular Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith w ...

minister was appointed rector of the church in the 1640s.

References

External links

Scartho Village WebsiteScartho Village PortalHistoric ScarthoPhotograph of the former Grimsby Workhouse
{{North East Lincolnshire (district) , state=collapsed Populated places in Lincolnshire Geography of Grimsby