Spilsby
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Spilsby is a
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 ...
,
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 ...
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. The town is adjacent to the main A16, east of the county town of
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...
, north-east 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 north-west 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, ...
. It lies at the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds and north of the Fenlands, and is surrounded by scenic walking, nature reserves and other places to visit. The town has been a rural
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 ...
for more than 700 years. It has changed little in size since the beginning of the 19th century. The town centre includes a range of small supermarkets, banks, traditional newsagents, baker, butchers, jewellers and clothing stores, together with public houses, cafes and fast-food takeaways. At the centre of town is an open square or traditional market place, from which the four main town streets radiate. Markets take place on a Monday. As Spilsby is located within a predominantly agricultural area, much of the market produce consists of locally grown vegetables and meat. The population of the town was 2,336 in the 2001 census, increasing to 3,045 at the 2011 Census.


History


Early history and a medieval market town

The area has been occupied since prehistoric times. Evidence for this can be found at nearby
West Keal West Keal is a village and civil parish east of Lincoln, England, Lincoln, in the East Lindsey district, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Keal Cotes. In 2011 the parish had a population of 327. The parish ...
, where an
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
and defensive terraced earthworks were built at the tip of the Wolds promontory, overlooking the present village. The Spilsby area was visited and occupied by the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
during the 1st century and until the 4th century AD. During the 1960s, an archaeological dig and field walk at nearby
Keal Cotes Keal Cotes, forming part of West Keal parish, is a small linear village in East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A16 road, south from West Keal and 1 mile north from Stickford. The nearest market town is Spils ...
, in a large field south of the village (where the A16 meets Hagnaby Lane), discovered tessellated
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
floor tiles and roof tiles. These indicated that a substantial
Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...
or high-status Romano-British farmhouse once stood on the site. The recorded finds from the site are stored at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln. In 1849 six Roman funeral urns were dug up in nearby
Fulletby Fulletby is a village and a civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is in the Lincolnshire Wolds, and north-east from Horncastle, south from Louth, and north-west from Spilsby. The parish covers approximately ...
. Spilsby was probably named before or no later than the 9th-century period of Danish rule. It derives from the term "Spila's-by", where ''by'' is old
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 settlemen ...
for "place of dwelling". Hence, it meant "Spila's village", Spila (pronounced "Spiller") having been the local
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
warlord or chieftain, who acted as head of the immediate area. The town was recorded 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 as "Spilesbei". In 1082 it was not much more than a large farmstead and few surrounding crofts under the squireship of the
Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
. In 1255 a charter was granted to a John de Beke (or John Beck) to hold a weekly market in Spilsby each Monday and a three-day annual fair in July. Four years later, in 1259, the same John de Beke was granted a further charter to hold a three-day Christmas fair from 5–8 December. The next recorded charter to hold a weekly Monday market in the town and an annual fair in July was granted in 1302 to the
Lord 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 seig ...
, Norman noble Robert de Willoughby. A copy of this charter is in the
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
. At the east end of the town centre's marketplace stands 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 ...
buttercross monument. The architectural historian
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
suggests that the Spilsby Buttercross dates from as early as the 14th and certainly no later than the 16th century. The stepped bases of these monuments were used by early traders on market day to display their goods, usually milk, cheeses and butter. Standing in the centre of the marketplace is a building originally known as the town hall, later called the Old Town Hall. More recently it has been a store and petrol station. In the 18th century the town civic offices, a small courtroom and the town gaol, were in the upstairs level supported by the arches. The ground level was an open covered space used as the local
corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...
and for stalls by market traders to protect them from the weather.


The Manor of Eresby

An oft-repeated historical myth is that the Manor of Eresby, including the lands and parish of Spilsby, was awarded to Walter de Beke, sometime after 1083, by
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 ...
. This myth is one of several generated in the writings of
William Dugdale Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject. Life Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coles ...
. However, 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 ...
shows that the manor of Spilsby was held in 1086 by the
Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
(St Cuthbert's) as both Lord and
tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opp ...
. The only Domesday entry for Walter of Bec is as Lord of Singleborough, under Walter Giffard, the tenant-in-chief. Other sources indicate that another Walter de Bec, who may or may not be related to the aforementioned Walter, married Agnes of
Tattershall Tattershall is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A153 Horncastle to Sleaford road, east from the point where that road crosses the River Witham. At its eastern end, Tatter ...
, daughter of Hugh, son of Pinco FitzEudo. She brought Spilsby, and the Manor of Eresby, with her, those lands being gifted to her by
William I 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 Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
. The manor was held by the Beke family until the male line died out, leaving Alice, the daughter of
John Beke, 1st Baron Beke John Beke, 1st Baron Beke (d.1303/4) of Eresby in the parish of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, was a baron.Cokayne, ''Complete Peerage'', new edition, Vol.1, p.89, "Beke" Origins He was the eldest son and heir of Walter II Beke, of Eresby, by his wife E ...
of Eresby, and the sole heiress of Walter, 2nd Baron Beke de Eresby, her brother who died in about 1310. The manor passed to Robert de Willoughby by way of his father William de Willoughby's marriage to Alice de Beke in about 1254. The Willoughy family originated in nearby Willoughby in the Marsh. In 1313, Robert was summoned to parliament as the first
Baron Willoughby de Eresby Baron Willoughby de Eresby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1313 for Robert de Willoughby. Since 1983, the title has been held by Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. History The ...
, a family line that continues to the 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. The original manor house from the 14th century stood near to the site of the later mansion. It was probably demolished when the new manor was built. During excavations in the mid-1960s, fragments of the earlier dwelling were discovered. Many examples of medieval and post-medieval pottery shards were recovered from the site of the Eresby Manor's moat by archeologist E. H. Rudkin in 1966. The new Eresby manor house was built by
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII. Biography Charles Brandon was the second ...
, in 1535 after he married his ward, the fifteen-year-old
Catherine Willoughby Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, ''suo jure'' 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby ( Willoughby; 22 March 1519 – 19 September 1580), was an English noblewoman living at the courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I. ...
, daughter and heiress of the 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. In 1769, the Manor House was destroyed by fire during the stewardship of the 19th Baron, who was also
Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven Earl of Lindsey is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for the 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (see Baron Willoughby de Eresby for earlier history of the family). He was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1635 to 1636 and ...
. It is believed that a carpenter accidentally started a fire with his candle while he was working in the roof space. A 1771 plan shows that the house was built in an 'H' shape. The plan also shows details of the grounds, which included an
orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...
, cherry orchard, bowling green, dovecote, and an ash grove, all near to the house. The Manor House had originally been moated, but by 1771 the moat had been adapted as an ornamental fishing lake. The Church of England parish church of St James is built of the local Spilsby green
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
. Parts of it date from the late 14th century, although it has been much added to over the centuries. The church has important funerary monuments. The greenstone is a soft and porous stone that absorbs water. The church was recased in Lancaster stone. It can seat a congregation of around 750. The parish churchyard was closed to further burials when it ran out of available space in 1884. To mark his inheritance of the title in 1349, the 3rd Baron, Sir John de Willoughby, built a private chapel on his estate. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, it was endowed with collegiate status, with a master and up to twelve priests. When the head of the family founded the King Edward VI Grammar School in 1550, the school initially had no school building. The twenty or so children were taught in the Eresby chapel building for the next sixty years. A school house was provided in 1611, by converting an agricultural building on the edge of the estate. In 1839 the school house of 1611 was replaced by a new school building that was constructed on its current site, with funds provided by the 25th Baron, who was the first
Earl of Ancaster Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
. The site of the Manor House was partially excavated in the mid 20th century by the archaeologist and folklorist
Ethel Rudkin Ethel Rudkin (189321 September 1985) was an English writer, historian, archaeologist and folklorist from Lincolnshire. She pioneered the collection of folk material, particularly from Lincolnshire, and her collections are now part of several publ ...
.


Bolingbroke Castle

Bolingbroke Castle Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke (now Old Bolingbroke) in Lincolnshire, England. Construction Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that pr ...
was built in the nearby parish of Bolingbroke after 1220 by Ranulph de Blondeville, Earl of Chester and Earl of Lincoln. Much damaged during the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, after the nearby
Battle of Winceby The Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the First English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire. In the battle, a Royalist relieving force under the command of Sir William Widdrington was defeated by the ...
in October 1643, only the lower sections of the outer walls remain. The last standing section of the castle, the gatehouse, collapsed in 1815. Henry de Bolingbroke, later to become King Henry IV at the age of thirty-two, was born at Bolingbroke Castle in 1366. Bolingbroke's original walls, also constructed of Spilsby greenstone, were in an irregular hexagon, with round towers on five of the corners. The gatehouse consists of two towers built about 3 yards apart. Leading to a portcullis further inside was a drawbridge that spanned the moat. The moat encircled an area about 87 yards in diameter. The six walls were 6½ feet wide and varied in length from 16 to long. There was a small priest door in the rear wall just above the moat water line. The castle garrison was supported and supplied by an important market village outside the castle walls, including several small farms, a friary and salmon lakes, two mills and the chantry church of St. Peter & St. Paul.


Gunby Hall

According to the dated keystone on the west doorway, Gunby Hall was built in 1700 by Sir Henry Massingberd. The mansion still stands in several acres of landscaped and wooded parkland, including gardens containing a blue
gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th c ...
. Locally born
Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson described it as "an English home... all things in order stored and a haunt of peace". The original words, written in his own hand, are framed and preserved in the hall's library. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
attempted to build an airfield at Gunby that would have covered the estate and necessitated demolishing the mansion. The then-owner, Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd, personally appealed to King George VI. The Air Ministry relented, redrawing the plans that resulted in building RAF Spilsby two miles (3 km) further south at Great Steeping. The runway eventually ended only a few yards short of the Gunby estate boundary hedge. Gunby Hall was one of the first major British mansion houses and estates to be presented to the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
in 1944. It is open to the public on limited days of the week during the summer, while remaining a private family residence for the remainder of the year.


Hundleby

Hundleby was an ancient parish that fell within Spilsby. It has not changed greatly in size or layout for the past two hundred years. The village population in 1801 was 218, and in 1901 it reached a peak of 528, mostly agricultural farm workers and their families. By 1971 the population had fallen to 439. It has remained fairly stable ever since with only minor fluctuations. Hundleby's Anglican St Mary's parish church was rebuilt between 1853 and 1855, and seated around two hundred parishioners. The parish had a long-standing right to send three children to the
Raithby Raithby is a village in the Stellenbosch Local Municipality. As of the 2011 census, the village had a population of 908. It lies on the western side of the R44, just off the Winery Road that leaves the R44 to connect Stellenbosch Stellenbo ...
parish free school. Hundleby's elementary school was built around 1860 and was enlarged in 1884 to accommodate up to 120 children. Grace Swan Memorial Cottage Hospital was built in Hundleby during the late 19th century as a 25-bed in-patient facility. It was split between charity and private fee-paying wards, with its own operating theatre, maternity unit and resident surgeon. Closed by the local health authority as part of a rationalisation programme during the 1990s, the building is now a local health centre. Spilsby Poor Law Union group of parishes had 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' ...
in Hundleby, built in 1838. The workhouse was recorded in 1870 as having 280 residents. The workhouse was later converted into Spilsby's Gables Hospital, which was demolished in the early 21st century for the construction of new housing.


Spilsby in the 19th century

In 1833 a new cemetery of approximately one acre was established on Boston Road. ''White's 1842 Directory'' described Spilsby as being "a small, but thriving and well-built market town, pleasantly seated on an eminence, which overlooks an extensive tract of marshes and
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...
s. Eresby is a small hamlet just south of town." In 1839 the King Edward VI Grammar School had moved from its original 17th-century school building to a new school built on its current site in Spilsby. The grammar school building was abandoned during the 1990s after the two Spilsby secondary schools had amalgamated as Spilsby High School. In the mid-19th century, several chapels for nonconformist Methodism were built in the town, including Wesleyan Methodist, Primitive Methodist and Independent Methodists. When the Independents built a new chapel in 1866, they converted their original chapel to a Sunday school. The Wesleyans built a chapel opposite the Buttercross, in Market Place, during 1878. A prison for the area was built in Spilsby between 1824 and 1826. It occupied a site where Spence Street and West End now stand. The prison covered just over surrounded by a high brick wall and fronted by a courthouse. It was enlarged in 1869 to provide 85 single cells. The prison was demolished in 1876, except for the small front area. This contained the sessions house with a Greek Doric-pillared portico, police station and town lockup. The Sessions House of 1826, where court quarter sessions for the district of Lindsey were held until 1878, is now home to the Spilsby Theatre and Arts Centre. The town's gasworks were constructed in 1853, opening in 1854 on Ashby Road, bringing street and house lighting to the town for the first time. In 1908 the North East Lincolnshire Water Company opened a pumping station in Hundleby, with a 75,000-gallon reservoir on Raithby Hill. It brought tap water to homes in Spilsby for the first time. In 1892 Spilsby Pavilion opened, with a further room opened in 1896, each room accommodating 300 to 400 people. At the time, the Pavilion was advertised as providing accommodation for "dancing parties and smoking concerts". The
Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...
and Hall opened on Halton Road in 1913. The parish had set aside as "poor land", owning many tenements and the Red Lion public house. Annual rental revenue from these properties, £76-5s-0d (£76.25) in 1842, was distributed half-yearly among any poor in the parish who did not receive any other financial aid from the town's poor rates. As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Spilsby Poor Law Union, which covered 33 local parishes.


Railway connections

A small local railway company built a branch line from Firsby junction to Spilsby, which opened on 1 May 1868. The branch was just over 4 miles (6 km) long and connected Spilsby to the
King's Cross, London Kings Cross is a district on either side of Euston Road, in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Barnsbury to the north, Clerkenwell and Islington to the east, Holborn to the south and Euston to the west. It is ser ...
to Cleethorpes main line. The only other railway station on the branch line was Halton Holegate Halt. The necessary parliamentary permission had been obtained by an Act in July 1865 which incorporated the Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company with an authorised capital of £20,000 and loans of £8,333 for the construction of the , single-track branch. Construction of the railway began in March 1867. The ceremonial cutting of the first turf was performed by the local rector, the Reverend Rawnsley, who was standing in for the railway company's chairman Lord Willoughby de Eresby the 25th Baron. The railway was expected to be opened quickly but disputes with the contractors arose over the quality of their work, and several lengths of track had to be replaced. The Great Northern Railway bought out the Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company for £20,000 through an Act of Parliament on 25 July 1890. Passenger services were suspended in 1939. A goods service for grain, potatoes, livestock and other agricultural products continued for nearly 20 years. Goods including petrol, paraffin and coal continued to come into Spilsby via the rail link up to its final closure on 30 November 1958. The main station building was demolished in 1965. The engine shed has been used by agricultural suppliers as a shop and store with new sections added. The original
trackbed The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links. According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ballast a ...
within the town has been built on, with most of it covered by the Vale Industrial Estate. Outside the town, most of the old track route to
Firsby Firsby is a small rural linear village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated east from the city and county town of Lincoln, south-east from the nearest market town of Spilsby, and inland fro ...
can still be seen in aerial photographs, marked by the avenue of trees and bushes.


Military connections

The Seventh Spilsby Rifle Volunteer Corps, an early part-time army detachment, part of the
Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...
, was formed in the town during 1860. At its height, the corps contained about 100 members. In 1872, Captain J. W. Preston was the officer in charge, supported by Lt George Walker, Ensign Robert MacKinder and drill-master Sergeant Thomas Ward. In 1889 the Rifle Volunteer Corps, renamed as F Company of the First Volunteer Battalion, was based in Spilsby. Its commandant was the now-promoted Major George Walker. He was aided by Lt G. B. Walker and Lt W. Hoff, Acting Surgeon Lieutenant Francis John Walker and the acting chaplain Rev. Pownoll Kendall. In 1899 Spilsby's Territorial Force Drill Hall was completed in Halton Road, built of solid red brick. The site also contained housing and quarters for the resident professional army sergeant instructors. In 1912, C Company of the 5th Battalion
Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...
(
Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...
) was formed in the town. The company's commandant was Captain H. S. Scorer ( killed in action at
Hohenzollern Redoubt The Hohenzollern Redoubt () was a strongpoint of the German 6th Army on the Western Front during the First World War, at Auchy-les-Mines near Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. Named after the House of Hohenzollern, ...
on 13 October 1915 during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
), Surgeon Colonel Francis John Walker was the chief medical officer, and the regular army drill instructor was Colour Sergeant Wallace Cowling.


Royal Air Force in Spilsby

During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, RAF Spilsby, a bomber airfield designed for Lancaster bombers, was built at Great Steeping. It opened for operations on 20 September 1943. Later used by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
as a strategic bomber base until 1958, the airfield was finally demolished in the late 1970s. The runways and perimeter track were torn up, with most of the crushed aggregate being used in the construction of the new Humber Bridge. RAF Spilsby is commemorated by an airfield memorial standing just outside Great Steeping and by plaques in All Saints' Church, Great Steeping.
Cropmark Cropmarks or crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform. Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks a ...
s showing the airfield's runway layout are still visible in aerial photographs. Spilsby
Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...
formed in 1950 initially as a detached flight of the established
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, ...
squadron, becoming the 2266 Spilsby Squadron ATC in 1952. Falling membership resulted in the squadron's disbandment in 2005. RAF Spilsby was rebuilt in the 1950s as a standby base in case of war. It was designated as a standby base for escort fighters only and never used, and there is no record of any aircraft ever landing here. The new runway was weak because of drainage problems.


Governance

Spilsby parish was traditionally in the East division of the ancient Bolingbroke Wapentake in the East Lindsey district in the
parts of Lindsey The Parts of Lindsey are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it. The district's name origina ...
. The parish was also in the Bolingbroke Soke. ''Kelly's'' 1913 Directory of Lincolnshire places the parish in the South Lindsey division of the county. Spilsby, governed locally by Spilsby Town Council, is under East Lindsey District Council based at Manby. Spilsby falls under the Louth and Horncastle Westminster parliamentary constituency. The sitting MP is Victoria Atkins. The area's European MEPs are: Derek Clark, Bill Newton Dunn, Chris Heaton-Harris, Roger Helmer,
Robert Kilroy-Silk Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk (born Robert Michael Silk; 19 May 1942) is an English former politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the H ...
and Glenys Wilmott.


Geography

The town is situated upon slightly elevated ground at the southwestern rim of the Lincolnshire Wolds. Spilsby has an extensive south-east view of a tract of marsh and fen land, bounded by Boston Deeps and the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
. It is within 12 miles (19 km) inland from Skegness. The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys, underlain by calcareous
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
, green limestone and
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
rock, laid down in the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
period under a shallow warm sea. The characteristic open valleys of the Wolds were created during the last ice age through the action of glaciation and meltwater. Geographically, the Lincolnshire Wolds are a continuation of the
Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie. On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...
, which run up through the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
. The Wolds as a whole were bisected by the erosion of the waters of the River Humber. The
fenlands The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...
, which stretch down as far as
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, are former wetlands, consisting both of
peat bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg ...
and tidal silt marshes. They were nearly all drained by the end of the 19th century, when Spilsby had its longest period of Victorian expansion. The drainage was organised into river drainage, the passing of upland water through the region, and internal drainage of the land between the rivers. The internal drainage was designed to be organised by levels or districts, each of which includes the fen parts of one or several parishes. Spilsby falls within the Witham Fourth District: East, West and Wildmore Fens; and the Townland, from Boston to Wainfleet.


Demography


Previous population counts

Historical population sizes for the town include: :1801 – 932 :1821 – 1,234 :1841 – 1,434 :1861 – 1,467 :1881 – 1,423 :1911 – 1,464 :1931 – 1,654


2001 census

The latest figures are drawn from the 2001 census: Population in 2001: 2,336 :47.3% male and 52.7% female :26.3% single and never married, 47.8% married, the remainder split between separated, divorced and widowed :98.6% White with 1.4% spread between
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
n,
British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...
, Indian and Chinese :81.4% Christian, with 11% indicating no religion, and the remainder split between other religions :56.1% employed, 20.3% retired and 3% unemployed, remainder in full-time education :60.1% of households were owner occupied, significantly below the national average : :2011 census :The latest figures are drawn from the 2011 census. :Population: 3045 :Number of households: 1398 :Average household size: 2.1 :Residents in households: 2992 :Residents in communal living: 53 :Area: 500 hectares :Population density (people per hectare): 6.10


Economy

The area is predominantly a rural agricultural economy, with increasing tourism to Spilsby and the surrounding market towns in the Wolds.


Landmarks

Spilsby and nearby landmarks include Gunby Hall, a National Trust property open on selected days during summer months, the Buttercross monument, a statue to
Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...
, Spilsby Theatre and Arts Centre, Northcote Heavy Horse Centre and
Bolingbroke Castle Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke (now Old Bolingbroke) in Lincolnshire, England. Construction Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that pr ...
. The
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group usually comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft are regularly seen at events c ...
at nearby
RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and ho ...
contains a flying collection, with a Lancaster bomber plus five Spitfire and two Hurricane fighters, plus a DC47 Dakota transport and two Chipmunk trainers.
Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre is an aviation museum in East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England. It was opened to the public in 1988 by Lincolnshire farmers Fred and Harold Panton, as a memorial to their older brother, Christopher Whitton P ...
is in
East Kirkby East Kirkby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south-east from Horncastle, and on the A155 road. East Kirkby 13th century Grade II* listed Anglican parish church is dedicated t ...
, Spilsby on the site of RAF East Kirkby. The museum commemorates the RAF's presence in
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 ...
during the Second World War, with airfields such as
RAF Scampton Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a Firs ...
being in the flat Lincolnshire countryside. The museum contains one of the world's three remaining Lancaster bombers still capable of flying, although it does not currently fly. Plans were announced in March 2008 to raise the funds necessary to get the Lancaster into the air again. Snipe Dales Nature Reserve and Country Park is next to the historic Civil War battlefield at nearby Winceby.


Education


Pre school facilities


Rural pre school

* Bright Sparks Kindergarten – Fen Road, Spilsby * Nestlings Nursery – Rookery Farm, Little Steeping * Skendleby Play School – Gunby


Urban pre school

* Spilsby and Skegness Portage – Eresby Avenue, Spilsby * Spilsby Playgroup – Woodlands Road, Spilsby * Totschool Playgroup – Halton Road, Spilsby


Primary education


Rural primary school

* Great Steeping Primary School- mixed sex; approx 115 pupils (67 boys and 48 girls) * Halton Holegate C of E Primary School - mixed sex; approx 56 pupils (24 boys and 32 girls) * Partney C of E Primary School - mixed sex; approx 83 pupils (46 boys and 37 girls) * Toynton All Saints' Primary School - mixed sex; approx 92 pupils (42 boys and 50 girls)


Urban primary school


Spilsby Primary School
- mixed sex; approx 254 pupils (132 boys and 122 girls)


Secondary education

King Edward VI Academy King Edward VI Academy (formerly King Edward VI Humanities College), is a coeducational bi-lateral secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England, for children between the ages of eleven and eigh ...
, is a
coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
bi-lateral secondary school and specialist Humanities College for children between the ages of 11 and 18. The bilateral status is unusual, with less than five similar arrangements in the whole of
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
, permitting those who have passed the
11+ examination The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...
and those that fail the exam to study separately but under the same roof. The school is an amalgamation of two separate institutions, the King Edward VI Grammar School opened in 1550 and the Sir John Franklin Secondary Modern School, which opened in 1954. These schools were originally combined in 1991 as Spilsby High School, initially retaining both sites and renaming twice. In September 2008 a
sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
was established that provides education for over-16s, with provision for study towards a BTEC National Diploma Studies in Business Studies. The original 1837 grammar school building was abandoned and stood empty for several years, but could not be demolished due to its Grade II listing status. In 2007 the front portion of the old school was adapted as a community facility providing meeting rooms and access to IT use. The rear of the school was demolished and has been developed for new residential housing.


Special schools

* Eresby School - Eresby Avenue, Spilsby. A special school for children aged between 2 and 19 * The Jane, Lady Franklin School - Spilsby. A mixed sex urban community special school for 11- to 16-year-olds. Currently 45 pupils on roll


Religious sites

* St James' Church – Church of England – Church Street & Boston Road * Church of Our Lady & the English Martyrs – Catholic – Church Road opposite Spilsby Theatre * Spilsby Methodist Church – opposite the Buttercross * All Saints' Church – Christian Fellowship * Spilsby Christian Fellowship – Halton Road


Public services and facilities

Spilsby has a variety of cafés, bakeries, delis, florists, butchers and other stores selling clothing, furniture, etc. It has a unique ice cream shop selling home made ice cream. Market day is Monday. There is a large Sainsbury's store, a Co-op, a doctor's surgery, dentist and a post office. The local library is housed in the Co-op. There are multiple churches. The largest playground, along with a playing field and pavilion, can be found on Boston Road. Spilsby
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 are The White Hart Inn, Market Square; The King's Head, Gunby; The Bell Inn, Halton Holegate; The Hundleby Inn, Hundleby; and The Red Lion and The Nelson Butt Inn on Market Street and the George Hotel on Boston Road. Bus services connect to
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...
,
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 ...
,
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, ...
,
Horncastle Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...
, Alford and Spalding with onward connections to more distant locations provided by Lincs Roadcar, Brylaine, Translinc, Hunt's Coaches and Stagecoach. Set in the Lincolnshire Wolds, the town is an ideal place to visit on its own, or on the way to the seaside or accompanying a visit to nearby Snipe Dales. There are some fantastic walks on the nearby Wolds and surrounding Spilsby.


Sports and recreation

Spilsby has football, bowls and hockey clubs, and a sports pavilion and playing fields on Ancaster Avenue. The Spilsby Show takes place on the playing fields every July, with proceeds supporting local charities. Spilsby Town F.C. is a football club that was formed in 1881. The first team currently play in the Boston Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division. The Reserve team play in the first division. The league is not officially a member of the English football league system, but clubs have in recent years moved up to the Lincolnshire Football League and then the Central Midlands League or United Counties League (the 12th level of the football league pyramid). Spilsby Town are 3-times winners of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup in 1881–82, 1882–83 and 1883–84. Between 1880 and 1885 Spilsby Town entered the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
each year but were unable to progress beyond the first round. Spilsby Juniors Football Club Spilsby Juniors was formed during the summer of 1998 when the Mid-Lincolnshire youth football league accepted an application to enter a single Under-12 team in that year's Division C. The club expanded and now runs four teams from Under-9s to Under-14s. Spilsby holds dance and yoga classes at the High School on Monday nights and
Tai Chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...
at the Town Hall on Tuesday evenings.


Twin towns

* , France * , Germany


Notable people

*
Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...
, Royal Navy captain and polar explorer,
Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...
(modern-day
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
), was born in Spilsby in 1786, and died during an expedition to the Arctic in 1847. His statue in Spilsby's town square bears the inscription "Discoverer of the North West Passage" – he might more accurately be described as a Seeker of it. *
Stephen Sackur Stephen John Sackur (born 9 January 1964) is an English journalist who presents ''HARDtalk'', a current affairs interview programme on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel. He was also the main Friday presenter of '' GMT'' on BBC World News. ...
- BBC TV journalist, born in Spilsby"Stephen Sackur"
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, 27 June 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2013 * Joel Pott - musician and songwriter, born in Spilsby


See also

* RAF Spilsby


References

*


External links


About Britain

Spilsby Town and Community Website for Local Information
{{authority control Towns in Lincolnshire Market towns in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District