Burgh le Marsh is a town, and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, 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-we ...

, England.OS Explorer map: Skegness, Alford & Spilsby: (1:25 000):

Geography

The town is built on a low hill surrounded by former

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

land, and the marsh influenced the town's name. Both the

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

and the church are visible from a distance. The A158 used to run through from west to east, but it was rerouted when a new bypass was opened in late 2007, reducing traffic congestion dramatically. A Roman road passes through the town on the way to Skegness, coming from the north-west via Tetford and Ulceby. The town is on the site of a former Roman fort.

Saxon burial mound

Near the parish St. Peter's and St. Paul's Church is a large earthen mound. Excavations in the 1930s found Saxon burial remains here. There is a dip in the top of the mound. Some researchers suggest that it was a site for

cockfighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

. To this day the mound is known as Cock Hill.

Amenities

The town features a traditional bakery, along with two small convenience shops. There is also a fishmonger's, a post office, a Chinese takeaway, a fish and chip shop, a library, a

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 ...

supermarket, an antiques store, hairdresser's, and a florist. It previously also had two traditional butchers, along with a post office (which has now been combined with one of the convenience shops), an estate agent, a costume shop, and a cafe.

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 ...

s include the Fleece Inn on the Market Square, the Red Lion in Storey's Lane, and the Bell Hotel, the White Hart Hotel, and Ye Olde Burgh Inn on the High Street. The Burgh le Marsh

Grade I 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 ...

listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. There are also a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

church and a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

chapel. St Paul's Missionary College was an institution for training Anglican

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

from 1878 to 1936. The town was served by Burgh le Marsh railway station on the line between

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 ...

and Louth. This station closed in 1970.

Windmills

The town has two

tower mill A tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower, on which sits a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the sails into the wind.Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia (2005), 520 Thi ...

s, the untarred Hanson's Mill of 1855 (originally four-sailed), now used as a residence, and the tarred

Dobson's Mill Dobson's Mill was a working tower windmill for grinding wheat and corn. It stands in the High Street in the town of Burgh le Marsh, near Skegness in Lincolnshire, England. The mill was, prior to damage by Storm Ciara on 9 February 2020, open to th ...

, which is now operated as a museum. Built in 1813 by Sam Oxley (who also built Alford Windmill a sister mill in the nearby town of Alford, Lincolnshire), it is unusual as the only left-handed tower mill that has five sails. "Left-handed sails" mean they rotate clockwise when viewed from the front - a very rare type of windmill. On 9 February 2020,

Storm Ciara Storm Ciara was a powerful and long-lived extratropical cyclone that was the first of a pair of European windstorms to affect the United Kingdom and Ireland at peak intensity less than a week apart in early February 2020, followed by Storm Denn ...

destroyed the sails.

Twinning

Burgh le Marsh is twinned with the town of

Beaumont-sur-Sarthe Beaumont-sur-Sarthe (, literally ''Beaumont on Sarthe''; pre- revolutionary name: ''Beaumont-le-Vicomte'') is a commune in the Sarthe department and Pays de la Loire region of north-western France. The residents of Beaumont are known in French ...

in the Pays de la Loire in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. This twinning began in 1988 and has celebrated its 25th anniversary. The celebrations took place on the weekend of 18 May 2013. The chairmen of the Twinning Associations for each town are Neil Cooper for Burgh Le Marsh and Jean-Pascal Maudet for Beaumont sur Sarthe.

Gallery

File:High Street, Burgh le Marsh - geograph.org.uk - 746686.jpg, High Street File:St Paul's College, Burgh Le Marsh c.1900-10.jpg, St Paul's College c.1900-10 File:Windmill at Burgh Le Marsh - geograph.org.uk - 216370.jpg, Dobson's Windmill

References

External links

*
Burgh Le Marsh Town websiteTown council
{{authority control Towns in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District