The Isle of Axholme is an area of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England, adjoining

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

and the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. It is located between

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

and

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...

, both of which are in the traditional

West Riding of Lindsey The West Riding of Lindsey was a division of the Lindsey part of Lincolnshire in England, along with the North and South ridings. It consisted of the north-western part of the county, and included the Isle of Axholme and the Aslacoe, Corringh ...

, and

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, in South Yorkshire.

Description

The name ''Isle'' is given to the area since, prior to the area being drained by the Dutchman

Cornelius Vermuyden Sir Cornelius Vermuyden (, ; also spelled ''Vermuijden''; 1595 – 11 October 1677) was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch land reclamation methods to England. Vermuyden was commissioned by the Crown to drain Hatfield Chase in the Isle of Ax ...

in the 17th century, each town or village was built on areas of dry, raised ground in the surrounding marshland. The River Don used to flow to the north and west (it has since been diverted), dividing the Isle from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

; the

River Idle The River Idle is a river in Nottinghamshire, England, formed by the confluence of the River Maun and the River Meden near Markham Moor. It flows north from its source through Retford and Bawtry before joining the River Trent at West Stockwi ...

separates the Isle from

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

; and the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

separates the Isle from the rest of Lincolnshire. Three towns developed here: Epworth, Crowle and

Haxey Haxey is a town and civil parish on the Isle of Axholme in the North Lincolnshire unitary authority of Lincolnshire, England. It is directly south of Epworth, south-west of Scunthorpe, north-west of Gainsborough, east of Doncaster and north-no ...

. The boundaries of the Isle of Axholme usually match with those of the ancient ''

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

'' of Epworth and its 17 communities as listed 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086: Belton, Crowle, Epworth, Haxey,

Beltoft Beltoft is a hamlet in the civil parish of Belton, North Lincolnshire, England. The village lies within the Isle of Axholme and is south-east of Crowle. There is a gas offtake from the National Transmission System at Beltoft, which is run b ...

, (High and Low) Burnham,

Owston Ferry Owston Ferry is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the west bank of the River Trent, and north from Gainsborough. It had a total resident population of 1,128 in 2001 including Kelfield. This increased ...

, (East) Lound and (Graise)lound, Garthorpe, Luddington,

Amcotts Amcotts is a village and civil parish in the North Lincolnshire district of Lincolnshire, England, and on the Isle of Axholme. The village is situated north-west from Scunthorpe, and on the west bank of the River Trent facing Flixborough on th ...

, (West) Butterwick,

Althorpe Althorpe is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Keadby with Althorpe, in the North Lincolnshire district, in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. It is west of Scunthorpe and the same distance south-east ...

, The Marshes, Waterton, Upperthorpe, and

Westwoodside Westwoodside is a village in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the Isle of Axholme north-west of Gainsborough, east of Doncaster and south-west of Scunthorpe. Westwoodside is in the civil parish of Haxey, a town to the east. I ...

. Other settlements on the Isle include

Eastoft Eastoft is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated within the Isle of Axholme, north-east from Crowle, Lincolnshire, Crowle, and on the A161 road.OS Explorer Map 280: Isle of Axholme, Scunthorpe and Gainsboroug ...

, Sandtoft – home to Europe's largest trolleybus museum – and

Wroot Wroot (pronounced ) is a linear village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England, south of the River Torne on the Isle of Axholme, close to the boundary with South Yorkshire. The population at the 2011 census was 455. History The n ...

. Much of the northern part of the Isle has flat topography, with rich farmland used mainly to grow wheat and sugar beet. The land is particularly fertile due to its history of annual flooding from the Trent and peat soil which was created by dense ancient woodland which covered much of the Isle. Even today, in many parts of the northern Isle, petrified wood can be found at about six feet below ground; relics from this woodland, these are locally called "bog oaks". A long-distance walking route, the "Peatlands Way", traverses the Isle.

Etymology

''Axholme'' means "island by

", from the town name +

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''holmr'' "island". The name was recorded as ''Hakirhomle'' in 1196. The Old English suffix "ey" in "Haxey" also indicates an island.

Historical descriptions

1833 description

1911 description

Land drainage history

The Isle is known for the early influence of

, a Dutch engineer who initiated the realignment of several of the highland carriers flowing through the district. To carry out the work he brought in a large number of

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

workers, many of whom settled permanently despite violent opposition from the established population. The drainage allowed increased agricultural production, and has left a legacy in the unique strip farming which survives in the 21st century around Epworth. The watercourses of the Isle and the surrounding area are managed by the Isle of Axholme

Internal Drainage Board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management wit ...

which maintains 188 miles (302 km) of watercourse and 18 pumping stations,Isle of Axholme Internal Drainage Board website
and manages the water levels of the adjacent Thorne Moors and Hatfield Moors, both environmentally sensitive areas.

Road and railway

The

Axholme Joint Railway The Axholme Joint Railway was a committee created as a joint enterprise between the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y) and the North Eastern Railway (UK), North Eastern Railway (NER) and was established by the North Eastern Railway Act 190 ...

traversed the area, but the line has now been abandoned. There are still railway stations in and on the line between Scunthorpe and Sheffield. The

M180 motorway The M180 is a motorway in eastern England, starting at junction 5 on the M18 motorway in Hatfield, within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and terminating at Barnetby, Lincolnshire, some from the port of Immingha ...

now crosses the centre of the area, dividing 'South Axholme', centred on Epworth, from 'North Axholme', centred on Crowle. The

A161 road This is a list of A roads in Great Britain, A roads in List of A roads zones in Great Britain, zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames, east of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 (roads beginning with 1). Single- and double-d ...

crosses the Isle from north to south.

Governance

There was an

Isle of Axholme Rural District Isle of Axholme was a rural district in Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey from 1894 to 1974. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Lincolnshire parts of the Thorne rural sanitary district and two parishes of the Goole R ...

from 1894 to 1974, which covered the entire Isle after 1936. This became part of the Boothferry district of

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of ...

in 1974, and since 1996 has been in the

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

unitary authority. Following boundary changes in 2023, the isle became part of the new

Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, since ...

parliamentary constituency in 2024.

Notes

References

* *

External links

An Isle of Axholme News SiteHistory of the Isle of AxholmeIsle of Axholme information siteIsle of Axholme Internal Drainage Board websiteHistory of the northern area of the Isle of Axholme Eastoft - Gateway to the Isle of Axholme
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Axholme, Isle of Geography of Lincolnshire Former islands of England