Willoughby is a village in the district of East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south 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 Alford, and on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

History

The name 'Willoughby' derives from the

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

''wilig-by'' meaning '

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

tree farm/settlement'. To the rear of Tavern Way is a field containing a scheduled ancient monument, a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

earthwork of an unknown date. The most notable person to have come from Willoughby is John Smith, one of the leaders of the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

in North America. He was born and raised in the village, and christened at St Helena's church in 1580. When Smith was 16 years old his father George Smith died and was buried at the same church on 3 April 1596. Smith was connected to the Native American girl

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

, daughter of the chief of the

Powhatan The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...

confederacy tribes. Smith met her when settling Jamestown in the 17th century. There have been many fictional representations of their encounter and surrounding events, including Disney's animated musical film ''

'' and its

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

. The cottage where Smith lived still exists and is in one of the village lanes. On the anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement hundreds of Americans come to the village to see where Smith lived.

Geography

The village is close to the coast, with

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, ...

away and Chapel St Leonards away. The village is within the

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 authorit ...

of Willoughby with Sloothby, which includes the hamlets of Sloothby and Hasthorpe. Willoughby has two main farms. One is on the Clover Industrial Estate and the other is on Hanby Lane opposite the petrol station. Both farms have wide field access and pasture

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

in the summer.

Population

All together, the 2011

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

counted 592 residents of the Willoughby with Sloothby parish. The population was gender balanced, with 50.3% male and 49.7% female. Most residents were

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

(98.6%) who declared as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

(71.1%). Residents of Willoughby with Sloothby live primarily in small, aging households. Of the 252 households, 20.6% were a single person, 52.8% were two people, 12.3% were three people, and 14.3% comprised four or more people. Most families had no dependent children (76.6%), and 64.3% of households were headed by a person aged 55 or over.

Architecture

Residential

Although several new houses have been built in the village, such as those on Tavern Way and John Smith Close, the village has seen little growth. Newer houses have been built to the west of the village on the old grounds of the tavern. Older houses are to the east of the village near the church. The most recent development is a group of new bungalows on Station Road. There is a large manor house at the eastern edge of the village toward Bonthorpe. The older main building was recently renovated. In the 1980s, a new hall and extension was constructed and in the 1990s and 2000s further improvements were carried out. Another large house in the grounds of the church is the rectory on Station Road.

Commercial

At present there is only one shop/ petrol station selling convenience goods and a former blacksmith's shop which sells and repairs gardening equipment. A mobile fish and chip shop visits the village weekly. The

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 wa ...

is called The Willoughby Arms. The village used to be larger, with more services that included a

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

and a dairy shop. Changing demographics and the loss of the railway line and station caused the decline of these businesses.

Facilities

Education

The village has a small

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, St Helena's Church of England Primary School. The school, which opened in 1948, serves students from

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

to Year 6 (ages 4 through 11). As of July 2011 the school had 106 pupils.

Transportation

In 1848, the village was connected to the rest of the county by the

East Lincolnshire Railway The East Lincolnshire Railway was a main line railway linking the towns of Boston, Louth and Grimsby in Lincolnshire, England. It opened in 1848. The ELR ''Company'' had leased the line to the Great Northern Railway, and it was the latter whic ...

, a line from

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

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 L ...

. Willoughby railway station was also the point where the Mablethorpe line began. Since the rail line closed in 1970, villagers have had to depend on motor-vehicle travel. The original platform, former line and station houses still exist. There are a few daily buses operated by the Lincolnshire bus company, Translinc, and Stagecoach in Lincolnshire. Three school bus services run through the week to Alford. There are three main roads through the village – Church Road, Station Road and Hanby Lane.

Community and events

The village community life revolves around the church. Some residents attend Sunday service and many use it for weddings, funerals and baptisms.

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

's Church is one of many in the parish. The rural parish stretches as far as Chapel St Leonards. The Village Hall and Green sponsors numerous events throughout the year including a garden competition run by the Willoughby Garden Club, the annual Summer Fair and a Christmas dinner. The Hall is also used for private events. The Bowls Club meets weekly and players are free to use the green near the Village Hall whenever they please. The playing field hosts the annual School Sports Day and many other functions. Many locals use the recently installed play equipment. Near the playing field are allotments.

References

External links

*
St Helena's Church of England Primary School
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District