Friskney 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 authorit ...

within 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): The parish includes the settlement of Friskney Eaudyke. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,563. in 652 households.

History

The place-name 'Friskney' is first attested 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 manus ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Frischenei''. It is recorded as ''Freschena'' circa 1115 and as ''Freschenei'' circa 1150. The name is Viking, meaning 'freshwater island' (

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''Frescan ēa). In 1885 ''Kelly's'' reported two

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

chapels, one built in 1804. The chapel built in 1839 is Grade II* listed. It recorded that Friskney parish was a centre for brick making and the catching of shrimps and cockles. In the early part of the 19th century, much of the land was wetlands or swamp, where wildfowl were caught by use of

decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...

ponds. One of these ponds is now a listed ancient monument. The swamp was drained in the early 19th century and the land converted for arable cultivation.

Governance

Friskney is part of the electoral ward called Wainfleet and Friskney. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,192.

Geography

Friskney is situated north-east from 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 ...

, and south-west from the coastal town of

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, ...

.''A to Z Road Atlas'': Boston A-Z Street Atlas: Published by A to Z: Edition 1, 2008: Scale: 3.3 inches to 1 mile (5.3cm to 1km): The nearest railway station is at

Wainfleet All Saints Wainfleet All Saints is an ancient port and market town on the east coast of England, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire,OS Explorer map: Skegness, Alford & Spilsby: (1:25 000): on the A52 road south-west of Skegness and north-ea ...

, to the north-east. The nearest major roadway is the A52 which runs from the eastern side of the village. Friskney, with its surrounding farmland, is the largest village by area in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe.

Community

The

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 church is dedicated to All Saints. The original church was constructed in the late 12th century; it had elements added up to the 15th. Restoration to 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. Ov ...

was carried out in 1849. During an extensive restoration in 1879,

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

and

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ...

architectural fragments were discovered. The lower stage of the tower, with large

lancet windows A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet ...

, is Early English, as is the second stage. The two upper stages are 15th-century, as is the font. In the north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

is an incised stone slab to John de Lyndewode (rector, 1374) and a mutilated effigy of a 14th-century knight, most likely damaged during the

iconoclasm Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...

of the Protestant Reformation.Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' pp. 130-132; Methuen & Co. Ltd During the 1879 restoration, a series of faded wall paintings were revealed between the arches of the arcades. Abbey Hills, the site of an old religious house connected with Bolington ullingtonPriory''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, pp. 398, 399 or Bardney Abbey, lies half a mile west from the church. On the western side of the village on Dickon Hill Road is the Parrot Zoo and National Parrot Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was opened in 2003. The village has a church hall, two

public houses 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 Anchor and The Barley Mow, and a village shop https://www.friskneyvillage.co.uk/shop.html with post office. There are sports clubs for archery, bowls and cricket, and a football team. The cricket club first XI competes in the South Lincolnshire and Border League.

References

External links

*
Friskney Village WebsiteThe Parrot ZooFriskney Bowman Archery ClubFriskney Bowls Club
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District