Croft
- The parish was in the Wainfleet sub-district of the Spilsby Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3390 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
- The church is built of freestone.
- The church appears to date from the early 15th century, but may have originated in the early 12th century.
- The embattled western tower was restored in 1857.
- The church seats 500.
- There is a photograph of All Saints Church on the Wendy Parkinson web site under "more Lincolnshire".
- Here is a photo of the church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
- The Anglican parish registers date from 1562. Kelly's 1900 Directory tells us 1548.
- The parish lies in the Calcewaith & Candleshoe Deanery.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here, erected in 1845 and replaced in 1888. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Wainfleet Sub-district of the Spilsby Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Croft is both a village and a parish that lie on the North Sea near the end of the A52 trunk road, almost two miles northeast of Wainfleet. Skegness parish lies to the northeast and Wainfleet St. Mary parish to the south, across the Steeping River. The parish includes the hamlets of Gibraltar and SeaCroft, as well as the Havenhouse Railway Station. The parish encompasses 5,525 acres.
If you are planning a visit, see:
- The A52 trunk road passes just south of the village.
- Gribralter Point, now a National Nature Preserve, is at the mouth of Wainfleet harbour. It is a popular spot for birdwatching and family outings.
- See our touring page for visitor services.
- An embanked road, supposed to have been constructed by the Romans, runs through the parish.
- The national grid reference is TF 5061.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey #274 Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The name Croft is from the Old English croft, or "a small enclosed field". The name is unchanged in the 1086 Domesday book.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991].
- The parish was in the ancient Candleshoe Wapentake in the East Lindsey district and parts of Lindsey.
- Kelly's 1900 Directory of Lincolnshire places the parish, perhaps erroneously, in the South Lindsey division of the county.
- For today's governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.
- The poor had the interest on £60 left by Samuel WILLIAMSON and Robert CHANTRY, distributed annually.
- In 1585, John DROPE left two cottages and three acres of land to two poor families in the parish.
- Three additional cottages were built by the parish.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, the parish became part of the Spilsby Poor Law Union.
- In 1884, Proctor's Charity, left by Joseph PROCTOR, produced £60 per year, which was distributed semi-annually to the poor of the parish.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
379 |
| 1831 |
546 |
| 1871 |
858 |
| 1891 |
635 |
| 1911 |
670 |
- A parochial school was built in the village in 1844.
- Out in Croft Marsh, a National School was built in 1860 to hold 100 children. Its use as a school ended after 1900 and before 1912.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
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[Last updated: 7-April-2009 - Louis R. Mills]
