Hemswell

Hemswell

All Saints Church, Hemswell
Hemswell
 Hemswell shown within Lincolnshire
Population 309 (2001)
OS grid referenceSK930909
   – London 130 mi (210 km)  S
DistrictWest Lindsey
Shire countyLincolnshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Gainsborough
Postcode district DN21
Police Lincolnshire
Fire Lincolnshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK ParliamentGainsborough
List of places
UK
England
Lincolnshire

Coordinates: 53°24′26″N 0°36′07″W / 53.407168°N 0.601896°W / 53.407168; -0.601896

Hemswell is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated just north of the A631 on the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, 2 miles (3 km) west from Caenby Corner and 7 miles (11 km) east from Gainsborough. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 309.

In Domesday Hemswell is written as “Helmeswelle”,[1] a settlement of 37 households,[2] which before 1086 was under the lordship of Earl Edwin.[3]

Aerial photographs have shown ancient medieval settlement on the edge of the village, and 18th-century enclosure maps indicate a larger village area than now exists and the site of a medieval church. earthworks have been defined through crop markings and hollow ways, ditched enclosures, embankments and foundations of buildings that indicate the existence of crofts.[4]

Maypole on Maypole Lane, Hemswell

Hemswell Grade II* listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.[5] Originating in the 13th century it was partially rebuilt in 1764, when a new tower was added, and in 1858, when the rest of the church was replaced. An internal Early English three-bay north arcade remains, as does a 13th-century Decorated sedilia on the south wall of the chancel.[6] The font bears the arms of the Monson family.[7] A further listed church, St Edmund’s on Spital-in-the-Street Road, is a converted 16th-century quarter sessions court house.[8]

Opposite the churchyard is a 19th-century maypole of wood and wrought iron with painted red white and blue stripes.[6][9] It is one of the oldest in England, and danced round each May Day during the village May Day Fete. On Church Street is the listed early 19th-century Post Office,[10] now non-operational, and Manor Farmhouse, originally 17th-century.[11] On Spital-in-the-Street Road is the early 17th-century Spital Almshouse, now a cottage, and its barn, previously a hospice.[12][13]

RAF Hemswell was located just outside the village from 1937 until it closed in 1967. The site and buildings were subsequently redeveloped into a private trading estate which became the new civil parish of Hemswell Cliff.

References

  1. ↑ Hemswell, The National Archives. Retrieved 15 October 2011
  2. ↑ Lincolnshire, Page 6, Domesdaymap.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2011
  3. ↑ Earl Edwin, Domesdaymap.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2011
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Hemswell Medieval Settlement Earthworks (1033406)". PastScape. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Church of All Saints (1166242)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  6. 1 2 Pevsner, Nikolaus; Harris, John; The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire p. 273; Penguin, (1964); revised by Nicholas Antram in 1989, Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09620-8
  7. ↑ Cox, J. Charles (1916) Lincolnshire p. 165; Methuen & Co. Ltd.
  8. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Edmund (1063353)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Historic England. "Maypole, Church Street (1063352)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Historic England. "The Old Post Office, Church Street (1166218)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Historic England. "Manor Farmhouse (1359852)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  12. ↑ Historic England. "Spital Almshouse (1308942)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  13. ↑ Historic England. "Barn at Spital Almshouse (1359815)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
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