__NOTOC__ Freiston 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 ...

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. The population of the civil parish (including Freiston Shore) at the 2011 census was 1,306. It is situated approximately east from

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 Greenwich Prime Zero meridian line passes between the village and Hobhole Drain.

History

In 1114 Freiston Priory of St James was founded by Alan de Creon for

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monks – it became a monastic cell of

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (historically often spelled Croyland Abbey; Latin: ) is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. Histor ...

in 1130. Nothing remains of the priory buildings that stood on the south side of the present church, except for a Norman doorway in the south

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

that opened into the cloisters. Between 1217 and 1232 the powerful Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester signed an agreement with the 56 free tenants of Freiston, who quite remarkably all had seals on the document. The number of seals could also suggest remarkably high literacy rates which were not previously thought to have existed in the 13th century. From what is known about the composition of medieval settlements and households there would have been between 4-6 people on average for each of these households giving a minimum population of 224–336, this not taking into the account the possibility of serfs and other peasants who were not included in the signing of the document meaning the population could have been above 500. Until 1974 the parish formed part of Boston

Rural District A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

, 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. Before this, Freiston had been in

Skirbeck Skirbeck is a historic village and suburb of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. Skirbeck is a long v-shaped formation wrapped around the south and east side of Boston parish. It has been incorporated into the Borough of Boston since 1932. It is in ...

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 ...

, Parts of Holland.

Community

Freiston is one of 18 civil parishes which, together with Boston, form the Borough of Boston local government arrangement, in place since a 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 ...

. The parish forms part of the Coastal electoral ward. The settlements of Haltoft End, north-north-west, and Scrane End (or Crane End), south from Freiston, lie within the parish On its eastern side, Freiston parish adjoins

The Wash The Wash is a shallow natural rectangular bay and multiple estuary on the east coast of England in the United Kingdom. It is an inlet of the North Sea and is the largest multiple estuary system in the UK, as well as being the largest natural ba ...

. Freiston is the location of HM Prison North Sea Camp, a men's

open prison An open prison or open jail is any jail in which the prisoners are trusted to complete sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employmen ...

St James' church

Freiston

Grade I 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, H ...

listed

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church is dedicated to St James. The church was originally

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

with a central tower. The existing tower is of

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style, and the parts of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

are Early English. The roof and

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 ...

were restored in 1763, and the whole building in 1871.''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, pp. 397, 398 An earlier

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

was sold to the church at Fishtoft.Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' p. 129; Methuen & Co. Ltd"St James' Church"
Lincolnshire Parish Councils. Retrieved 23 December 2013

References

External links

details of the parish Council
not available at present--> *
RSPB Freiston Shore reserve information
{{authority control Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in England Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Villages in Lincolnshire Borough of Boston