Swineshead is a village and

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 ...

in the Borough of Boston in

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 west of the town of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The population of the civil parish including Baythorpe was 2,810 at the 2011 census. The parish includes the areas of Swineshead Bridge and North End to the north, Fenhouses and Blackjack to the east, and Drayton to the south.

History

The lost village of Stenning, or Estovening, mentioned 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 is represented by the site of the moated Estovening Hall, which was the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

of the Holland family. Ralph, founder of the Estovening branch of the Holland family was buried in Swinehead Abbey in 1262. A medieval motte castle is believed to have been constructed in the 12th century by the de Gresley family,

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...

of Swineshead at Manwar Ings. The remains of the castle are visible as substantial

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

, which are a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The easiest access to the motte is by turning off the A52 at th
Manor Farm Shop
which is in the Baythorpe region of the village. Swineshead railway station opened in 1847 as part of the

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...

and Boston Railway. Hitherto, the parish had formed part of

Boston Rural District Boston was a rural district in Holland, Lincolnshire, Holland, Lincolnshire from 1894 to 1974. It was formed from the Boston rural sanitary district by the Local Government Act 1894 and did not include the municipal borough of Boston, Lincolnshire ...

, in the

Parts of Holland The Parts of Holland is a historical division of Lincolnshire, England, encompassing the south-east of the county. The name is still recognised locally and survives in the district of South Holland. Administration Parts of Holland was one of th ...

. Holland was one of the three divisions (formally known as ''parts'') of the traditional county of Lincolnshire. Since the Local Government Act of 1888, Holland had been in most respects, a county in itself.

Governance

It is one of eighteen

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

which, together with

, form the Borough of Boston, which is in turn one of the seven districts of the non-metropolitan county of

. The local government has been arranged in this way since the reorganisation of 1 April 1974, which resulted from the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. This parish forms part of the Swineshead and Holland Fen electoral ward.

Geography

Swineshead falls within the drainage area of the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board. The A17 used to pass through th
village
but now passes to the west. The A52 passes close to the east.

Community

The village has various shops, a post office, a pharmacy and a medical centre.

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 include the Wheatsheaf, which is a Grade II listed building dating from the 18th century, and the Green Dragon. The village primary school is St Mary's

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Primary School. Swineshead railway station is on the Nottingham-Skegness Line.

Landmarks

Hardwick House is built on the site of a medieval moated house, possibly a

grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

, originally owned by Swineshead Abbey, and was listed in the crown bailiff's report when the abbey was dissolved in 1534. Swineshead, North End Mill

North End Mill is a 3-stage tower windmill built in 1821 which worked until the 1930s, when the sails blew off. It is Grade II listed. The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel in Swineshead in 1845, which was converted into a

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

after a new chapel was built in 1908. This was demolished in 1986 and the former chapel reverted to its original use, and is now a Grade II listed building.

St Mary's Church

The parish church is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, and dates from the 12th century with later additions and alterations. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

was rebuilt in 1848 by Stephen Lavin. The western tower and

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

are 14th-century. In the chancel is a black

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

wall plaque to Sir John Lockton of Swineshead Abbey, who died in 1610.

Cistercian monastery

Swineshead Abbey was founded in 1135 as a

Savigniac The monastic Congregation of Savigny (Savigniac Order) started in the abbey of Savigny, situated in northern France, on the confines of Normandy and Brittany, in the Diocese of Coutances. It originated in 1105 when Vitalis of Mortain established a ...

monastery, but in 1147 was converted to

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

by Robert de Gresley. In 1536 it was dissolved and the building of a private house and a park in 1607 destroyed the last traces of it. The site is a scheduled monument.

Population

Notable people

Swineshead is the birthplace of Herbert Ingram, founder of the Illustrated London News and MP for Boston, who was instrumental in bringing the railways and fresh piped water to the village. His son became a lord, and the family were given the Ingram Baronetcy of Swineshead Abbey. Further notable people associated with the village are the abbot,

Gilbert of Hoyland Gilbert of Hoyland (11??–1172?) (Gilbert of Hoyt) was a twelfth-century abbot of Swineshead Abbey, the Cistercian monastery in Lincolnshire, between about 1147 and his death in 1172. Swineshead had been a member of the monastic order of Savigny, ...

, and the goalkeeper

Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who played in the Football Leag ...

References

External links

*
Swineshead St Marys Church of England Primary School

Swineshead Parish council web site

Swineshead War Memorial

St Mary's Church, Swineshead
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Borough of Boston