Tetford 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.

History

Tetford is listed as "Tesforde" 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 ...

'', with a mill, probably on the site of the present 17th-century watermill near the centre of the village. The parish contains traces of ancient encampments thought to be from Saxon times. It is reputed to be the site where Raengeires, a Briton, defeated the Saxon general Horsa in a great battle. In 1841 the parish was noted for its fertiliser production made from burnt limestone. The Edward Richardson Community Primary School was founded through a 1714 bequest from Edward Richardson of a cottage and about of land towards teaching the poor children of Tetford and Salmonby. In 1821 a National School was built and enlarged in 1897 and 1899. For many years Tetford was the home of Methodist preacher Charles Richardson, known as the 'Lincolnshire Thrasher'. Richardson was an uneducated farm labourer who late in life discovered a gift for evangelistic preaching and was invited to preach throughout England. He was inspired by a 'time of refreshing' at Tetford starting at Christmas 1826 when a chapel congregation enjoyed a service 'like a little Pentecost' which continued until 3 am. After this they went to Mr Riggall's house and 'such a baptism of the Holy Spirit was bestowed upon him as he had never received before.' A biography of Richardson, 'The Peasant Preacher', went through at least four editions. The White Hart Inn, parts of which date from the 16th century, was once the meeting place of the Tetford Club for local gentry, whose members included

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

from nearby Somersby. TetfordFlood1

During the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland on 14 June; East Riding of Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and English Midlan ...

the village was affected with East Road and West Road being flooded, causing the north of the village to be cut off from the south.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches south west to Mareham on the Hill with a total population at the 2011 Census of 2,196.

Geography

Tetford is in 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 ...

, a designated

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 ...

, running 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 ...

in the north, to

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 ...

in the south. The village is north-east from Horncastle, south from

and north-west from

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 ...

. It is in a shallow valley, at the bottom of a high ridge on which runs the

Bluestone Heath Road The Bluestone Heath Road is an ancient route and ridgeway across the Lincolnshire Wolds in Lincolnshire, England. The surviving parts are somewhat fragmented in places, but many still bear the name. Route The route begins at Candlesby and run ...

. The parish covers about . The

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrarily chosen meridian (geography), meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. On a spheroid, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian ...

passes just to the east of Tetford.

Community

Village amenities include the Edward Richardson Community Primary School, the White Hart Inn public house, and a doctor's surgery.

Church

A place of worship has stood on the site of the Church of St Mary for over 900 years. The present building erected in the 14th century is built of local greenstone and had a tower added in the 15th century. Outside the north-east of the

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 ...

is a headstone to two gypsies, Tyso Boswell and Edward Hearn, killed by lightning on the eve of Horncastle Fair in 1831. Inside the church is a tablet, high up to on the right-hand side of the main area of worship, to Captain Edward Dymoke who was the champion of George II. The inscription reads: "To the Memory of Captain Edward Dymoke, cousin of Lewis Dymoke of Scrivelsby. Champion to King George 2nd. Interred March 5th 1739 also of John Dymoke Gent, nephew of the above. Interred July 23rd. 1748. Also of Mrs. Jane Dymoke his wife, Interred July 27th. 1745." Above the tablet is displayed a Roundhead helmet, breast and back plates. Perhaps associated with the site of the Battle of Winceby 1643 in which Cromwell nearly lost his life. Winceby being 6 miles south of Tetford. The church was restored in 1910 and seats about 250.

Tetford & Salmonby Scarecrow Festival

Tetford and its neighbour

Salmonby __NOTOC__ Salmonby is a village in the civil parish of Tetford, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from Horncastle, south from Louth and north-west from Spilsby. Salmonby lies within the Lincol ...

hold an annual

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...

Festival. Households build scarecrows and display them outside their houses during May every year. The scarecrows are modelled on TV and films persons, historic figures, contemporary figures and fictional icons. The Festival is largely dedicated to raising funds for the 14th-century church, however, part of the proceeds of the weekend are shared with other local charitable organisations in the village. The Scarecrow Trail is just over long.

References

External links

*
East Lindsey District Council website

The Edward Richardson Primary School

Salmonby and Tetford Scarecrow Festival
{{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District