South Willingham
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South Willingham 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
East Lindsey East Lindsey is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England. Its council is based in Horncastle and the largest town is Skegness. Other towns include Alford, Lincolnshire, Alford, Burgh le Marsh, Coningsby, L ...
district of
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, and partly within the
Lincolnshire Wolds The Lincolnshire Wolds which also includes the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which runs roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary just west of the t ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
, . It is situated south of the A157 Lincoln to Louth road, west of Lincoln, where the central Lincolnshire Vale and the Lincolnshire Wolds meet. Its population was 160 at the 2011 census, down from a maximum of 341 in 1851. Much of the village formed part of the Heneage Estate; Hainton Hall is a mile north of the village. At South Willingham is
Belmont transmitting station The Belmont transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility next to the B1225, west of the village of Donington on Bain in the civil parish of South Willingham, near Market Rasen and Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth in Lincol ...
, the second tallest structure in the UK. The geology under the village is unusually complex with four separate bedrocks located within the parish. Sand, gravel and clay have all been quarried in the parish; the clay pit supplied a brickworks in the Victorian era.


History

There are four
bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...
s at the east of the parish adjacent to the B1125 High Street; two within the parish boundary, and two just outside with one each in
Gayton le Wold Gayton le Wold is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies west from Louth, north from Donington on Bain, and to the south of the A157. The parish includes Biscathorpe to the south-west. Acc ...
and Burgh on Bain (at ). The latter appears in Historic England's 2021 ''Heritage at Risk'' report. These
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
burial mounds date from 2400 to 1500 BC. Aerial photographs and early
OS Maps The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. The ...
show evidence of further barrows, now destroyed, north-east from Inns Farm which is north-west from the village on Hainton Road close to the neighbouring parish of Hainton. A
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...
nuclear monitoring post was installed in the bowl barrow on the High Street, close to the junction with the Donington Road in 1959. Officially known as the Burgh on Bain Post, it was used until 1991. In 1964 Beaker Pottery dating from about 1150-1400BC was found close to the sand pit at the end of Moors Lane. Willingham derives from the hām—
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
for homestead, village, manor or estate—of Willa's people. South Willingham is recorded 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 ...
'' as "Ulingeham", in the
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of Wraggoe, and contained three manors owned by different
lords Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina *Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 19 ...
. The first contained 11 villagers and two smallholders, with four ploughlands, 2.5 lord's and 2 men's plough teams, and a meadow of . The lord in 1066 was Almer, the lordship passing in 1086 to William of Verley, who controlled 10 manors in north-east Lincolnshire under the archbishop of St Peter's, York,
Thomas of Bayeux Thomas of Bayeux (died 1100) was Archbishop of York from 1070 until 1100. He was educated at Liège and became a royal chaplain to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William I of England. After the Norman Conquest, the king ...
, who became
tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opposed to holding them ...
to king
William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
. The second contained four villagers and one smallholder, with 1.6 ploughlands, one lord's and one men's plough team, and a meadow of . The lord in 1066 was Eskil, the lordship passing in 1086 to
Wadard Wadard was an 11th-century Norman nobleman who is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. Wadard was a noble who travelled to England in 1066 with Duke William of Normandy. He is depicted and named in ...
—a nobleman depicted in the
Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...
—under
Odo of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and w ...
as tenant-in-chief to the king. The third contained 13 freemen, 2.5 ploughlands, three men's plough teams and a meadow of . The lord in 1066 was Koddi, the lordship passing in 1086 to Gerard under Rainer of Brimeux as tenant-in-chief to the king. By c.1115 South Willingham is written in documentary evidence as 'Willingheham', in 1121–23 as 'Welingeham', and c.1160 as 'Wellingeham'. South Willingham's Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Martin, and dates from the early 13th century. There is aerial photographic evidence that the developed area of the village extended over the field to the north of Barkwith Road and to the west of Hainton Road. However the first OS map (published 1856) shows it in its current position. Before the 1870s Woodbine Cottage at the centre of the village served as the Post Office; from the 1870s the post office had transferred to a village shop opposite, which was run subsequently by the same family until it closed in the 1980s. There has never been a
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 ...
in the village. A
pinfold An animal pound is a place where stray livestock were impounded. Animals were kept in a dedicated enclosure, until claimed by their owners, or sold to cover the costs of impounding. Etymology The terms "pinfold" and "pound" are Saxon in origi ...
is shown on the 1888 map at the edge of the village on Barkwith Road, where the village sign is currently located. It has gone on the 1906 map. South Willingham had both a
Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
and a
Free Methodist The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is Evangelicalism, evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Met ...
chapel,''
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.708
built in 1834 and 1855 respectively. The Wesleyan chapel, on Barkwith Road and close to the centre of the village, closed in 1972. The Free Methodist Chapel, sited further along Barkwith Road, closed in 1933; both are now converted to dwellings. A school was built on Blacksmith Lane in 1834 for 30 children (the 1885 ''
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 ...
'', the first to mention the school, says 40 children, but subsequent issues say 30). Average attendance was reported as 16 children in 1885, 22 in 1889, 18 in 1909 and 13 in 1913. It closed in 1918. The remaining children transferred to the school in
Hainton Hainton is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A157 road, west from Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth and south-east from Market Rasen. Hainton is listed in the Domesday Book of 108 ...
, the South Willingham building since converted to a residence. A tower windmill was sited to the north-east from Mill Cottages on the Barkwith Road. The corn mill was built around the 1850s miller living at Mill House first appears in the 1861 census">miller.html" ;"title=" miller"> miller living at Mill House first appears in the 1861 censusand fitted with six sails by Saundersons of Louth, but converted to four sails in the 1890s. The sails were removed in 1935 and the tower was demolished in 1958. When working, this mill also served a sizable area to the western side of the village as neighbouring mills on the central Lincolnshire vale were some distance away. Taken from the 1888 OS map, these mills included two at
Wragby Wragby ( ) is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated at the junction of the A157 and A158 roads, and approximately north-west from Horncastle and about north-east of L ...
( away from the South Willingham mill by road),
Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...
(), two at Ludford, Lincolnshire, Ludford () and at Hemingby (). However, to the east of the village there were two corn mills just outside the parish boundary. Benniworth Windmill was located from the eastern parish boundary and close to
Donington on Bain Donington on Bain is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is approximately south-west from Louth and north from Horncastle, and is on the east bank of the River Bain, and in the Li ...
. Donington on Bain water mill was only a further 350m away. Other neighbouring mills to the east included the windmill at
Goulceby Goulceby ( ) is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south-west from the market town of Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth, and lies in the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Ar ...
( south east) and the water mill at Burgh on Bain (). A medieval windmill stood on the southern parish boundary, to the west of the Benniworth Road. The mound for this mill was discovered using aerial photographs and is recorded on the 1978 OS Map and subsequent maps as a Mill Mound. The 1856 First edition OS Map shows a building there but later maps show an empty field. Much of the village formed part of the Heneage Estate; Hainton Hall is a mile north of the village. The woodwork of the estate buildings were painted a distinctive Post Office red. Most of the remaining land was owned by the Church, with Glebe Farm (now called Grange Farm) providing for the upkeep of the Church and the living that supported the Rector. Land to the east of the High Street forms part of the Stenigot Estate. In 1957 the Heneage Estate auctioned off 34 dwellings and
smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...
s
ver half the village Ver or VER may refer to: * Voluntary Export Restraints, in international trade * VER, the IATA airport code for Veracruz International Airport * Volk's Electric Railway, Brighton, England * VerPublishing, of the German group VDM Publishing, reprod ...
in South Willingham and further property in surrounding villages. A tower windmill at the edge of the parish was demolished in 1958. The village came second in the 1979 Lincolnshire
Best Kept Village A best kept village is a village that has won one of the annual county competitions in the United Kingdom for its tidiness, appropriateness, and typicality. The competitions have been nationally organized by the Campaign to Protect Rural England ...
competition (Class I; population between 100 and 500). It also came third in the 1983 competition. The award plaque is close to the phone kiosk at the centre of the village but that reads Best Kept Village 1980.


Governance

South Willingham parish council is the lowest tier of local government, responsible for services including allotments, cemeteries, play areas, street furniture and neighbourhood development plans. The parish is in the
Binbrook Binbrook is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the B1203 road, and north-east from Market Rasen. Previously a larger market town,Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' pp. 64 ...
Ward which covers ten local parishes and sends one councillor to the East Lindsey District Council, the next highest tier of government, which is responsible for services including economic, business and tourism support,
housing benefit Housing Benefit is a means-tested social security benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help meet housing costs for rented accommodation. It is the second biggest item in the Department for Work and Pensions' budget after the state ...
s, collection of local taxes, refuse, planning and environmental control, licensing, and leisure facilities. Above this, the parish is represented by one councillor for the Louth Wolds Division of
Lincolnshire County Council Lincolnshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the latter additionally includes North Lincolnshire and No ...
, the council provision including highway maintenance, social care, libraries,
heritage sites A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...
, school admissions, trading standards,
fire and rescue Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion reaction when the fuel ...
, emergency planning, and public health. For the
UK parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...
, South Willingham is represented through the Louth and Horncastle
constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
, whose sitting Member of Parliament is
Victoria Atkins Victoria Mary Atkins (born 22 March 1976) is a British politician who served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak between 2017 and 2024, lastly as Secretary of State for Health and S ...
of the Conservative Party. Prior to
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
in 2020, South Willingham was represented in the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
through the East Midlands constituency.


Geography

The village is south-west from the
A157 road This is a list of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. ...
, south-east from
Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...
, north from
Horncastle Horncastle is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England. It is east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls rema ...
, 10 miles west from
Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...
and north-east from the city and
county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...
of
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
. The civil parish is east to west and north to south, covering —expanded from in the 1880s—and is on the western edge of the
Lincolnshire Wolds The Lincolnshire Wolds which also includes the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which runs roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary just west of the t ...
, an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
(AOB). The AOB runs north–south through the village. Part of the eastern boundary of the parish follows the course of the
River Bain The River Bain is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the River Witham. The Bain rises in the Lincolnshire Wolds at Ludford, Lincolnshire, Ludford,J. N. Clarke, (1990), ''The Horncastle and Tattershall Canal'', Oakwood Press, ...
. The main portion of the village was designated a
conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...
in January 1994. The core of the village was reported to be in poor condition, deteriorating, and of high vulnerability in Historic England's 2019 ''Heritage at Risk'' report, however it is not mentioned in the 2021 report.


Topography

Situated on the first hill on the western edge of the Wolds, there is an uninterrupted view from the village to
Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, also called Lincoln Minster, and formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, is a Church of England cathedral in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lincoln and is the Mo ...
, across the Central Lincolnshire Vale between the Wolds and the
Lincolnshire Edge The Lincoln Cliff or Lincoln Edge is a portion of a major escarpment that runs north–south through the historic divisions of Lindsey and Kesteven in central Lincolnshire and is a prominent landscape feature in a generally flat portion of the ...
. The village is on a small rise 100m above ordnance datum ( AOD) towards the south west of the parish. A valley (75m AOD) separates it from the hill running north–south to the east of the parish, along which the High Street runs (135m AOD). Continuing east, the other side of the High Street, is the
glacial valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...
of the River Bain (69m AOD). The parish lies on a complex watershed with rain draining away in three different directions. Rain falling to the north west of the village drains west via
Holton cum Beckering Holton cum Beckering is a small village and civil parish in West Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south from Market Rasen at the junction of the B1202 and B1399 roads. At the 2001 census it had a population of 140. History Aro ...
and then Stainton Beck, joining the
Barlings Eau Barlings Eau is a small river near Barlings, Lincolnshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Witham, joining it near Short Ferry. It acts as the central spine for a number of other small rivers, which drain the low-lying land to either ...
at
Langworth Langworth is a small village in the West Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from the city and county town of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, and on the A158 road Lincoln to Skegness r ...
and then into 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 ...
. Rain falling to the south and east of the village and west of the High Street, drains south west via Stainfield Beck at
Wragby Wragby ( ) is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated at the junction of the A157 and A158 roads, and approximately north-west from Horncastle and about north-east of L ...
and joins the Barlings Eau north of
Bardney Bardney is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 1,643 at the 2001 census increasing to 1,848 (including Southrey) at the 2011 census. The village sits on the e ...
. Rain falling to the east of the High Street drains into the River Bain, which runs south via Horncastle and into the Witham at Dogdyke. The Witham flows into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
at
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 ...
.


Geology

The bedrock geology of the parish is also complex, as the parish lies on the boundary where clays and mudstones of the Central Lincolnshire Vale meet the chalk of the Wolds. The bedrock changes three times under the parish, specifically in the area between the village and the High Street. From west to east, the bedrock changes from
Kimmeridge Clay The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. This rock formation (geology), form ...
to
Spilsby Sandstone The Spilsby Sandstone is a geologic formation in England. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in England See also * Lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in E ...
to
Claxby Ironstone The Claxby Ironstone is a geological formation in England. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in England See also * Lists of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in ...
to Tealby Mudstone, covered in places with superficial deposits of sand and gravel. The chalk bedrocks of the Wolds start a mile further on, but outside the parish, east of the River Bain. There are old quarries in the parish, none of them currently active. Clay was excavated at the brickworks close to the railway station in middle of the 19th century; however the brickworks had gone on the 1906 map. A sand pit is shown on the 1887 OS map at the end of Moors Lane; it is labelled as ‘old sand pit’ on the 1906 map. Similarly a gravel pit close to Low Belmont Farm on the 1887 map is also labelled old gravel pit on the 1906 map. A gravel pit adjacent to Gravel Pit cottages (south east of Poplar Farm) appears to be very small on the 1887 map and much larger on the 1906 and subsequent maps. However, there is no trace of it on the 1978 OS map. In 2013, exploratory
oil well An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas m ...
s were proposed in the River Bain valley at Biscathorpe, 700m north east of the parish boundary. However, in 2019, despite drilling to a depth of 2133m, no oil had been found and the well was capped.


Demography

According to the 2011 census, the population of South Willingham Civil Parish totals 160 people (86 men and 74 women) in 78 households. All households described their
ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...
as
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, and of the population of 160, 97 (61%) people stated their religion as
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 50 (31%) as no religion, the remaining 13 (8%) not stating a preference. The various censuses show that the population of South Willingham increased rapidly in the early 19th century and peaked in the 1850s at 341. Since then, there has been a slow decline in population numbers until the mid-20th century. Since then the village population has held reasonably steady, and in the 2011 Census it stood at 160. The number of households follow a similar, but delayed, curve. However, the number of households have increased again since the middle of the 20th century to the current high of 78. South Willingham Population and Households ''taken from Census records''


Economy

There are eight farms labelled as such in the parish; Grange Farm, Inn Farm, Church Farm, Corner Farm, Poplar Farm, North Walk Farm, South Walk Farm and Low Belmont Farm. However, three of those farms are no longer operating in the agricultural sector. At least one of the cottages in the village is let as a holiday home. A brickworks existed east of Benniworth Road and south of the railway. Maps show that it included a quarry, for the clay used. Census records between 1841 and 1891 show that up to seven people were occupied making bricks and tiles, reducing to one person in 1891. It is not known if the brickworks existed before 1841. The buildings marked as ‘brick yard’ on the 1887 OS Map are not shown on the 1906 map. Piper Sports Cars were manufactured by Emmbrook Engineering from a large brick and asbestos industrial shed in the railway station yard. The kit cars used
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
bodies with Triumph and Ford components and were made in the village between June 1973 and the mid-1970s. The company had to diversify as a result of an economic downturn, and by using their fibreglass expertise, started to produce corner baths and shower trays, trading as Marenda-Lindsey Ltd. That company ceased trading in 2016. The building is now used by
welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...
and
steel fabrication Metal fabrication is the creation of metal structures by cutting, bending and assembling processes. It is a value-added process involving the creation of machines, parts, and structures from various raw materials. Typically, a fabrication shop ...
company. The village is home to many small businesses. At the end of 2019 these included photographer, accountant, architect,
stone mason In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...
, decorator,
Dog breeder Dog breeding is the practice of mating selected dogs with the intention of maintaining or producing specific qualities and characteristics. When dogs reproduce without such human intervention, their offspring's characteristics are determined by ...
and groomer,
training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
consultancy and a company selling
parquet floor Parquet (; French for "a small compartment") is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect in flooring. Parquet patterns are often entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges—but may contain curves. T ...
ing.


Culture and community

South Willingham
Parish Hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church architecture, church, generally for community and Charitable organization, charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the ...
was gifted to the village in 1922 by Lord Heneage, according to the plaque at its entrance. The hall is used for social and public events, and meetings, such as coffee mornings and film nights, and groups for art, dance, and history. During the summer it is used as a refreshment stop for cyclists. South Willingham Parish Council meet at the hall which is used as the local
polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English, British English and Canadian English although a polling place is the building and polling station is the specific ...
. St Martin's
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 ...
church is part of the c.1976-established Parish of the Barkwith Group, which incorporates the further six surrounding churches and former ecclesiastical parishes of
East Barkwith East Barkwith is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A157, and approximately north-east from the city of Lincoln, The parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and is a Grade ...
,
West Barkwith West Barkwith is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A157 road and about north-east from Wragby. The population is included in the civil parish of Benniworth. West Barkwith ...
, East Torrington,
West Torrington West Torrington is a small hamlet in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the edge of Bleasby Moor and north from Wragby. The 2001 Census recorded a West Torrington population of 69, increasing to 128 at the 20 ...
,
Sixhills Sixhills is a village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about south-east from Market Rasen. It lies just south of the A631 between Market Rasen and Ludford. It is in the civil parish of North Willingham. The Church of A ...
, and Hainton. A
service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...
at South Willingham is usually held on the first Sunday of each month. A
carol service Most churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland hold carol services in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The service usually consists of hymns about Christmas and readings from the gospels telling the Christmas story. Many candles are lit around ...
is held every year. The village's two Methodist Chapels and school have now been converted to dwellings. The village has a newsletter, distributed quarterly.


Public services

Mains water is supplied by
Anglian Water Anglian Water Services Limited is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly ...
. Of the 34 dwellings listed in the 1957 sale document, only two were not connected to mains water at that time. Prior to connection, communal and private
pumps A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of applications such ...
and
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s supplied water. The 1887 OS Map shows the sites of communal hand pumps; one on Donington Road opposite Corner Farm, and another on Barkwith Road where the driveway of ‘Wurzel Patch’ is now. 7 of the 34 dwellings listed in the 1957 sale document are recorded as having their own water hand pumps. Wells and pumps in the village extracted water from the underlying Kimmeridge Clay which includes layers of
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
and
ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...
. In some cases this resulted in water that was "ferruginous and smelt offensively". The village does not have mains sewerage; each property is connected to its own septic tank. Surface water drainage has been installed under some roads in the village and channels surface water from roadside
gullies A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or both, which erodes soil to a sharp angle, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to t ...
and some field drains into nearby water courses. The village has never been connected to mains Town or Natural Gas. However, major
National Transmission System The United Kingdom's National Transmission System (NTS) is the network of gas pipelines that supply gas to about forty power stations and large industrial users from natural gas terminals situated on the coast, and to gas distribution companies ...
gas pipelines pass to the west of the parish and south of the parish on their way to
Hatton Hatton may refer to: Places England * Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish * Hatton, Derbyshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, Lincolnshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Houn ...
compressor station. Electricity is supplied by
Western Power Distribution Western Power Distribution is a trade name formerly used by four electricity distribution companies in the United Kingdom: WPD South West (operating in South West England), WPD South Wales (in South Wales) and WPD Midlands (two companies, in t ...
on
three-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...
poles with aerial connections to dwellings. Of the 34 dwellings listed in the 1957 sale document, only two were not connected to the electricity supply at that time. South Willingham is connected to the Burgh on Bain telephone exchange—part of the Louth/ Alford/
Spilsby Spilsby is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16 road (England), A16, east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, north-east of Boston ...
01507 dialling code—on the A157 and High Street junction. There was a telegraph office at the railway station until it closed in 1951. A
telephone kiosk A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
is at the centre of the village close to the north wall of Woodbine Cottage on Station Road; the telephone inside was removed in 2018; the empty kiosk is still awaiting its new use. Next to the kiosk is a pole-mounted
post box A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English), is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intend ...
which was installed in 2005; the previous box was built into the front wall of the village shop and post office. Mobile phone signal coverage varies with provider. O2 provide a high strength 4G and 3G signal over 95% of the parish, with masts at West Barkwith and Belmont.
Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
4G is low strength, whilst their 3G is high over most of the parish except the village. Three's mast is at West Barkwith. Likewise EE 3G is high strength over most of the parish except the village, and 4G is high strength to the east of the parish and low to the west, including the village. Their masts are at West Barkwith and Belmont.
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
3G and 4G is high strength over most of the parish except the village. The Vodafone mast is at Belmont. 5G is not available in the parish from any provider.
Fibre Optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...
cable was installed to a cabinet in the village in June 2018. Before that, broadband download speeds in the village were recorded between 1.8 Mbit/s and 8.1 Mbit/s. Broadband capability was added to Burgh on Bain telephone exchange on 18 May 2005. There is no cable TV available in the parish, but like the rest of country,
subscription TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but ...
is available by satellite or multiple providers on the internet.
FreeView Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...
digital TV, as part of the
BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, sometimes abbreviated to BBC Yorks & Lincs, is the name for the BBC's twelfth English Region, based in Kingston upon Hull and created from the division of the former BBC North region, based in Leeds (now known ...
and
ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
franchise regions, is transmitted from the Belmont TV mast.


Landmarks

The parish has six Grade II and one Grade II*
listed buildings 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 Buildings in South Willingham, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire"
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 17 November 2019
These include the church, two thatched cottages in the village centre, two other cottages and two farm houses. South Willingham's
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 Martin, and is Grade II* listed. The church, built of greenstone, was rebuilt between 1835 and 1838, but the
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 tower and
screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing or ''silkscreening'', a printing method * Big screen, a nickname for motion pictures * Split screen (filmmaking), showing two or more images side by side * Stochastic screening and Halftone ...
remain. The tower houses a clock and three bells, the largest of which is dated 1612; the clock mechanism was made by J W Benson of Ludgate Hill in London. The clock was repaired and refurbished in 2016, and is still chiming the hours in 2021. In 1964 '' Pevsner'' noted a 1571
paten A paten or diskos is a small plate used for the celebration of the Eucharist (as in a mass). It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Wes ...
cover by John Morley.Cox, J. Charles (1916) ''Lincolnshire'' p. 334; Methuen & Co. LtdPevsner, Nikolaus; Harris, John; ''The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire'' pp. 372, 373; Penguin, (1964); revised by Nicholas Antram (1989), Yale University Press. The graveyard surrounds the church on three sides and has over 140 marked graves, the earliest of which is dated 1802. The
Belmont transmitting station The Belmont transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility next to the B1225, west of the village of Donington on Bain in the civil parish of South Willingham, near Market Rasen and Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth in Lincol ...
is sited close to the High Street. At in height, it is the second tallest structure in the UK and 14th in the European Union. It was constructed in 1965 and broadcasts digital television and both analogue and digital radio to Lincolnshire, eastern
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, northern parts of
Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
and some parts of
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
.


Transport

Roads through the village are
minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...
, with passing places. They run north to
Hainton Hainton is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A157 road, west from Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth and south-east from Market Rasen. Hainton is listed in the Domesday Book of 108 ...
, west to
East Barkwith East Barkwith is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A157, and approximately north-east from the city of Lincoln, The parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and is a Grade ...
, south to
Benniworth Benniworth is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated just west of the B1225 road, and west from Louth. According to the 2001 Census, the village had a population of 175, incre ...
and east to Belmont and
Donington on Bain Donington on Bain is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is approximately south-west from Louth and north from Horncastle, and is on the east bank of the River Bain, and in the Li ...
. The A157 Lincoln to Louth road passes to the north, outside of the civil parish. A
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
trackway, later adopted by the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
, now the B1225 road, running north–south along the western edge of the Wolds from
Caistor Caistor is a town and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. As its name implies, it was originally a Roman Empire, Roman castrum or fortress. It lies at the north-west edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, on the Vikin ...
to
Baumber Baumber ( ) is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north-west from Horncastle, Lincolnshire, Horncastle, and at the junction of the B1225 and the A158 road, A158 roads. ...
passes through the eastern half of the parish, and a mile away from the village. It is known as the High Street and marked on modern OS Maps as such. An
unmetalled A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, ho ...
road known as Moors Lane runs east from a junction with Hainton Road on the northern boundary of the village. South Willingham railway station closed in the 1950s. It was on the Great Northern Railway branch line from
Bardney Bardney is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 1,643 at the 2001 census increasing to 1,848 (including Southrey) at the 2011 census. The village sits on the e ...
to Louth. It is south of the village centre on the Benniworth Road. The station included one
platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...
, two sidings and a
signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...
. The branch was mostly single track and crossed the Benniworth Road on an arched underbridge, now demolished. East of the station (just over the parish boundary in
Benniworth Benniworth is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated just west of the B1225 road, and west from Louth. According to the 2001 Census, the village had a population of 175, incre ...
) the railway passed under the High Street in a long tunnel, known as South Willingham Tunnel. The tunnel is also known as Benniworth Tunnel or High Street Tunnel, however
GEOGIS Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
, the British Rail track and structures database calls it South Willingham Tunnel. The tunnel and its approach cuttings are now a
SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
. The station opened in December 1876 and closed in November 1951 to passengers and December 1958 to goods traffic. There is a bus stop with a timber shelter in the centre of the village at the junction of Station Road and Barkwith Road. It is used by the Stagecoach Lincolnshire number 50 Louth to
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
bus service which has 6 buses daily in each direction. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Lincoln, and 24 minutes to get to Louth using this service. Two further demand responsive services are provided for the parish by
Lincolnshire InterConnect Lincolnshire InterConnect is a rural bus network in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. A number of ''InterConnect''-branded interurban bus routes with fixed timetables are complemented by demand-responsive, flexible ''CallCo ...
, with connection to villages between and around Louth, Market Rasen and
Wragby Wragby ( ) is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated at the junction of the A157 and A158 roads, and approximately north-west from Horncastle and about north-east of L ...
."South Willingham"
Bus Times. Retrieved 18 November 2019


References


External links

*
"South Willingham"
Genuki GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...
. Retrieved 28 June 2011 {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District