Swineshead 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Borough of Boston in

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. It is west of the town of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The population of the civil parish including Baythorpe was 2,810 at the 2011 census. The parish includes the areas of Swineshead Bridge and North End to the north, Fenhouses and Blackjack to the east, and Drayton to the south.

History

The lost village of Stenning, or Estovening, mentioned 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 is represented by the site of the moated Estovening Hall, which was the

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 usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

of the Holland family. Ralph, founder of the Estovening branch of the Holland family was buried in Swinehead Abbey in 1262. A medieval

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...

castle is believed to have been constructed in the 12th century by the de Gresley family,

lords of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

of Swineshead at Manwar Ings. The remains of the castle are visible as substantial earthworks, which are a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. The easiest access to the motte is by turning off the A52 at th
Manor Farm Shop
which is in the Baythorpe region of the village. Swineshead railway station opened in 1847 as part of the

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. On the edge of the The Fens, Fenlands, it is north-east of Grantham, west of Boston, Lincolnshire, Boston, and sou ...

and Boston Railway. Hitherto, the parish had formed part of Boston Rural District, in the Parts of Holland. Holland was one of the three divisions (formally known as ''parts'') of the traditional county of Lincolnshire. Since the

Local Government Act Local Government Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom, relating to local government. The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been know ...

of 1888, Holland had been in most respects, a county in itself.

Governance

It is one of eighteen

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

which, together with

, form the Borough of Boston, which is in turn one of the seven districts of the non-metropolitan county of

. The local government has been arranged in this way since the reorganisation of 1 April 1974, which resulted from the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. This parish forms part of the Swineshead and Holland Fen electoral ward.

Geography

Swineshead falls within the drainage area of the Black Sluice

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 ...

. The A17 used to pass through th
village
but now passes to the west. The A52 passes close to the east.

Community

The village has various shops, a post office, a pharmacy and a medical centre.

Public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s include the Wheatsheaf, which is a Grade II listed building dating from the 18th century, and the Green Dragon. The village primary school is St Mary's

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Primary School. Swineshead railway station is on the Nottingham-Skegness Line.

Landmarks

Hardwick House is built on the site of a medieval moated house, possibly a grange, originally owned by Swineshead Abbey, and was listed in the crown bailiff's report when the abbey was dissolved in 1534. North End Mill is a 3-stage tower windmill built in 1821 which worked until the 1930s, when the sails blew off. It is Grade II listed. The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel in Swineshead in 1845, which was converted into a

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

after a new chapel was built in 1908. This was demolished in 1986 and the former chapel reverted to its original use, and is now a Grade II listed building.

St Mary's Church

The parish church is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and dates from the 12th century with later additions and alterations. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

was rebuilt in 1848 by Stephen Lavin. The western tower and

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

are 14th-century. In the chancel is a black

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

wall plaque to Sir John Lockton of Swineshead Abbey, who died in 1610.

Cistercian monastery

Swineshead Abbey was founded in 1135 as a

Savigniac The monastic Congregation of Savigny (Savigniac Order) started in the abbey of Savigny, situated in northern France, on the confines of Normandy and Brittany, in the Diocese of Coutances. It originated in 1105 when Vitalis of Mortain established a ...

monastery, but in 1147 was converted to

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

by Robert de Gresley. In 1536 it was dissolved and the building of a private house and a park in 1607 destroyed the last traces of it. The site is a scheduled monument.

Population

Notable people

Swineshead is the birthplace of

Herbert Ingram Herbert Ingram (27 May 1811 – 8 September 1860) was a British journalist and politician. He is considered the father of pictorial journalism through his founding of ''The Illustrated London News'', the first illustrated magazine. He was a ...

, founder of the

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

and MP for Boston, who was instrumental in bringing the railways and fresh piped water to the village. His son became a lord, and the family were given the Ingram Baronetcy of Swineshead Abbey. Further notable people associated with the village are the abbot, Gilbert of Hoyland, and the goalkeeper

Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...

. The successful author Gavin Extence was born here. Former librarian and teacher of English, for refugees and migrant workers, he has written four books. “The End of Time”, published by Hodder, was widely praised by Simon Mayo “A book of substance. The characters will stay with you” The Sunday Times review noted “ Extence unfolds his offbeat tale with skill but his real triumph lies in providing such a memorable voice” Extence now lives in Sheffield.

References

External links

*
Swineshead St Marys Church of England Primary School

Swineshead Parish council web site

Swineshead War Memorial

St Mary's Church, Swineshead
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Borough of Boston