Holland Fen is a settlement in the Borough 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 ...

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 approximately north-west of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

, and less than west of 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 ...

History

Holland Fen has been known as the Haute Huntre, or Eight Hundred Fen. In 1720 Earl Fitzwilliam decided to drain the Holland Fen, having been frustrated by the local Commissioners of Sewers. He built the North

Forty Foot Drain The Forty Foot or Forty Foot Drain is a name given to several of the principal channels in the drainage schemes of the Fens of Eastern England, the name being qualified when there is a need to distinguish between them. They are Vermuyden's D ...

, which emptied by Lodowicks Gowt into the River Witham above Grand Sluice. The North Forty Foot was subsequently diverted to the South Forty Foot Drain at Cooks Lock and from there to Boston Haven through Black Sluice. The Haute Huntre was drained and

enclosed Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

in 1767. Holland Fen was an ecclesiastical

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

created in 1812 and abolished in 1948. It is now part of the

Holland Fen with Brothertoft Holland Fen with Brothertoft is a civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, consisting, as the name indicates, of Holland Fen and Brothertoft, but also includes the areas known as Pelhams Land, Harts Ground and Pepper Gowt Plot. The population of t ...

parish. Holland Fen consists of: *Holland Fen *Ferry Corner Plot *River Bottom *

North Forty Foot Bank The North Forty Foot Bank is an area in the civil parish of Holland Fen with Brothertoft, in the Borough of Boston, Boston district, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It runs about along the Forty Foot Drain, North Forty Foot Drain, abou ...

*Hedgehog Bridge *Toft Tunnel

Church

The church is dedicated to

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

and was built as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

Fosdyke Fosdyke is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2021 census was 510. It is situated approximately south from Boston, just off the A17, and east from the junctio ...

in 1812. It was constructed of brick in

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, with

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 ...

and

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 ...

only, and bell turret.''

Kelly's Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in Britain that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses ...

of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, p. 481 In 1964 ''Pevsner'' noted a chancel dated 1880, a west gallery on iron shafts, a

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

with

fluted Fluting may refer to: *Fluting (architecture) *Fluting (firearms) *Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) *Playing a flute (musical instrument) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump ''Fluting on the Hump'' is the ...

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

, and a

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

probably by William Bell. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Harris, John; ''The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire'' p. 575; Penguin, (1964); revised by Nicholas Antram (1989), Yale University Press. Today, All Saints' Church is part of the Holland Fen with Brothertoft Group, also known as "Five in the Fen" which also includes: *Saint Gilbert Of Sempringham,

Brothertoft Brothertoft is a village in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holland Fen with Brothertoft, in the Borough of Boston, Boston district, in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is about northwest from the market town of Boston, L ...

*Christ Church, Kirton Holme *Saint Margaret of Scotland, Langrick *Saint Peter, Wildmore North Forty Foot - geograph

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire