Gosberton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a 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-west, Leicestershir ...

, England. It is situated south-west of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, north of Spalding and north-west of

Holbeach Holbeach is a market town and civil parish in the South Holland District in Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and by road from Lincoln. It is on the junction of ...

. The parish includes the villages of Gosberton Clough and Risegate, and the hamlets of Westhorpe and Gosberton Cheal. The population of Gosberton, which was approximately 2500, increased to 2,958 at the 2011 Census. The place-name 'Gosberton' is first attested 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, where it appears as ''Gosebertechirche'' and ''Gozeberdechercha''. The name meant 'Gosbeorht's church', which was later changed to Gosberton, meaning 'Gosbeorht's town or settlement'.

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (born 8 January 1877 in Vallsjö (now in Sävsjö, Jönköpings län), Sweden, died 23 November 1964 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 t ...

comments, "''Gosbeorht'' is probably a Continental name (

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

''Gauzpert'', ''Gosbert'' from ''Gautberht'')."

, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.201. The village was skirted by the A16 road but has been bypassed. The crossroads of the B1397 (

Dowsby Dowsby is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the western edge of The Fens at the junction of the east–west B1397 road and the north–south B1177. It is north-east from Rip ...

to Boston road) and th
A152
( Donington to Surfleet road) are located here. The Peterborough to Lincoln railway line crosses the B1397, at a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass An overpass (called ...

in Risegate, and passes through the hamlet of Westhorpe further north. When this line was known as the

Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway The Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, colloquially referred to as "the Joint Line"''Joint Line Joy'', in the Railway Magazine, June 2015 was a railway line connecting Doncaster and Lincoln with March and Huntingdon in the eastern co ...

, it had a railway station. The parish church of Gosberton is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, and is under the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leices ...

. Gosberton Clough's wooden church is dedicated to St Gilbert and St Hugh. These two churches and that at Quadring are in the same Group, based in Gosberton. The

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...

Church in Gosberton was founded in 1666. At the time, non-conformist Christians had no protection from the law and, like

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In additio ...

, could be imprisoned for their faith. Worship takes place in the original 17th-century meeting house. The main occupation in the parish is farming. Some residents commute to jobs in surrounding areas and the larger towns of Spalding and

. Gosberton House Academy is a private school for children with learning difficulties.

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 within the parish are The Black Horse Inn, The Duke of York and The Five Bells Inn in Risegate, and the Bell Inn in Gosberton village. Just to the east of the village is a nature reserve administered by the

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, (part of the Wildlife Trusts partnership), covers the whole ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. It was founded in 1948 as a voluntary charitable organisation dedicated to conserving the wildlife and wild ...

Gallery

Image:High Street, Gosberton (South).jpg Image:Salem Street, Gosberton.jpg Image:High Street, Gosberton (North).jpg Image:Gosberton Fen.JPG Image:Gosberton Risegate.JPG Image:Gosberton Level Crossing.jpg Image: North Gate Level Crossing (Gosberton).jpg

References

External links

*
Gosberton Primary school

Clough & Risegate Community Primary school

Gosberton House school

Boston Road Brick Pits
* * * Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire South Holland, Lincolnshire {{lincolnshire-geo-stub