Wainfleet All Saints is an ancient

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

and

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 ...

on the east coast of England, in the

East Lindsey East Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The population of the district council was 136,401 at the 2011 census. The council is based in Manby. Other major settlements in the district include Alford, Wragby, Spils ...

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 ...

,OS Explorer map: Skegness, Alford & Spilsby: (1:25 000): on the A52 road south-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, ...

and 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 ...

. It stands on two small rivers, the

Steeping Steeping is the soaking of an organic solid, such as leaves, in a liquid (usually water) to extract flavours or to soften it. The specific process of teas being prepared for drinking by leaving the leaves in heated water to release the flavour ...

and Limb (or Lymn), that form Wainfleet Haven.Cox, J. Charles (1916); ''Lincolnshire'' p. 325; Methuen & Co. Ltd.; retrieved 23 April 2011 The town is close to the Lincolnshire Wolds. The village of Wainfleet St Mary is to the south.

History and landmarks

Barkham Street plaque - Wainfleet, Lincolnshire

The name "Wainfleet" is derived from , a stream that can be crossed by a wagon (compare with 'wainwright', a maker of wagons). The town stands on or near the former Roman settlement of ''Vainona''. Two

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

, one to the north and one to the south of the town, are of unknown origin, although it has been suggested that they could be Viking or Roman. A number of coins from the period have been found in the vicinity. 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, Wainfleet is referred to as 'Wenflet'. The parish church of All Saints was built in 1820-21 following the demolition of a previous medieval church of the same dedication, using part of the old church's material. A further church, St Thomas, had been destroyed by then. During the demolition of All Saints the tomb of Richard Patten, father of William of Waynflete, was broken up, but it was later restored within Waynflete's

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

Chapel,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. William of Waynflete founded the town's Magdalen College School in 1484"The Magdalen College School, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, UK"
''BBC - The Guide to Life, The Universe and Everything.''; retrieved 28 April 2011 and obtained for the town a charter of incorporation in 1457. The school building is Grade I listed and houses a museum. In 1847 Barkham Street, a 'London-style' terrace, was commissioned by Bethlem Hospital and built to the design of Sydney Smirke and to specifications similar to other Bethlem terraces in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, London. The Market Place has two

Grade II 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 I ...

listed structures: a clock tower erected in 1899, and a 15th-century limestone

Buttercross A buttercross, also known as butter cross or butter market, is a type of market cross associated with English market towns and dating from medieval times. Its name originates from the fact that they were located at the market place, where peop ...

(set on three steps and topped with a 19th-century finial and weathervane), from which

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Meth ...

preached.Wainfleet Conservation Area Appraisal
''East Lindsey District Council''; retrieved 30 April 2011 The town is notable for

Batemans Brewery Batemans Brewery (George Bateman & Son Ltd) is an English brewery based at Salem Bridge Brewery in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, and founded in 1874. The company owns 69 public houses, with 23 situated in Boston alone. The brewery focuses on cask ...

; the brewery building incorporates the Georgian Salem House and a former corn mill, Salem Bridge Mill."Wainfleet All Saints windmill"
''Windmill World''; retrieved 30 April 2011

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 ...

in Wainfleet are the Woolpack Hotel and The Angel on High Street. Former pubs included the Jolly Sailor (St Johns Street) and the Royal Oak and the Red Lion (both on High Street and now residential). Skegness Grammar School has a boarding house in the town on Low Road. Wainfleet became a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 1972.

Transport

The town was at the end of a branch of the Great Northern Railway until the development of

about to the east. Wainfleet railway station is on Station Road, and is on the Nottingham to Skegness Line.

Sport

Meetings of the Motorcycle Grasstrack Racing are hosted by the Wainfleet & District Sporting Motorcycle Club. They have run annually the International Lincolnshire Poacher race since 1992. The club have also hosted the British Masters Championship on four occasions in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004. In 2011 the club hosted the European Grasstrack Championship Final at their home at Thorpe St Peter.

Northolme

At the northern end of Wainfleet All Saints is the hamlet of Northolme, which is all that remains of the lost parish of Wainfleet St Thomas. No distinction was made between Wainfleet All Saints, Wainfleet St Mary, and Wainfleet St Thomas, until a deed from Peter De Beningword to

Bardney Abbey Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire, England, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 697 by King Æthelred of Mercia, who was to become the first abbot. The monastery was supposedly destroyed during a Danish raid in 869. In 1087, the site was refou ...

mentions ''North Wenfled''. The original deed held in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

is undated, but is estimated to be from the 13th century. In 1316 Wainfleet St Thomas is mentioned as paying tax under Feudal Aid. At the time of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the chapel belonged to

Kyme Priory __NOTOC__ Kyme Priory was a priory in South Kyme, Lincolnshire, England. What remains of the buildings are now part of Saint Mary and All Saints Church. The Augustinian Priory of Kyme was founded by Philip of Kyme, steward to Gilbert Earl of L ...

. There is no clear indication of when it was demolished, but it was still standing at the time of the

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

, when the general

Baptists 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 com ...

were granted its use. Nothing remains of the chapel today, although its site is used as an extension of the present cemetery. In 1546 Thomas Lyttlebury was heir to the manor of Northolme through his brother John. However it seems that the estate became the property of John's daughter, Alice, who married Thomas Upton. Thomas Upton's successors lived at Northolme Hall. The first Northolme Hall was an Elizabethan moated

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 ...

, reputedly built in 1549. The present Northolme Hall was built on the same site in 1866.

Population

Geography

Wainfleet is located South of

and North of

on the A52.

References

External links

*
Town web site
* {{authority control Towns in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Buildings and structures in Lincolnshire Windmills in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District