Harmston 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

North Kesteven North Kesteven is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The district is located to the east of Nottinghamshire, north-east of Leicestershire and south of the city of Lincoln. Its council, North Kesteven District Council, is ...

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 just west off the

A607 The A607 is an A road in England that starts in Belgrave, Leicester and heads northeastwards through Leicestershire and the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, terminating at Bracebridge Heath, a village on the outskirts of Lincoln. It is a primary ...

, and south from the city and county town of Lincoln. It sits on the Lincoln Cliff overlooking the

River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversi ...

valley.

History

The village is a documented settlement 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 ...

''. The site of a

toft Toft may refer to: People * Albert Toft (1862–1949), English sculptor * Alfonso Toft (1866–1964), English pottery artist * Christian Toft (born 1968), Danish Olympic swimmer * Claude Toft (1922–1981), Irish politician and Mayor of Galway ...

, a settlement of small and relatively closely packed farms, lies towards the western end of Chapel Lane. Harmston Hall was built as a

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 with ...

, totalling , in 1710 for Sir Charles Thorold, and in 1719 was the home of Sir George Thorold,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. In 1930 it became part of a mental health hospital complex, and functioned as the headquarters for the Lincolnshire Joint Board for Mental Defectives. The hospital closed in 1989, the site being redeveloped as a private residence. Harmston remained a small village until the mid-1990s when the new owner of Harmston Hall, a local property developer, made plans for a housing development at the southern perimeter of the village on the former hospital site. The new housing estate, completed in 2006, brought in new people and has transformed Harmston from an agricultural to a mainly commuter village for workers in nearby Lincoln.

Community

Harmston Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints. The village

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 ...

, The Thorold Arms, is situated close to the church.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire North Kesteven District