South Kelsey
- The parish was in the Caistor sub-district of the Caistor Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 638 |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107 / 2114 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2393 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3421 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3280 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2622 |
| 1901 |
R.G. 13 / 3098 |
- In 1083, Roger POICTEVIN founded a priory here in a place called Wenghale, as a cell to the abbey of Seez in Normandy. It was dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
- South Kelsey was originally two ecclesiastical parishes; St. Mary and St. Nicholas. St. Nicholos church fell into disuse, apparently around 1800.
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Mary.
- Portions of St. Mary's Church have been dated to 1250.
- The church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1795. Many of the stones were from the church of St. Nicholas, then removed.
- The church was renovated in 1854.
- The church was restored in 1889.
- The church seats 300.
- A photograph of St. Mary's church is at the Wendy Parkinson English Church Photographs site.
- Here is a photo of St. Mary's Church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
- The Diocese of Lincoln declared St. Nicholas redundant. In 1982 the building was demolished and the site added to the churchyard.
- The churchyard of St. Nicholas is still used as a burial ground. A mortuary chapel exists on the grounds.
- The Anglican parish register, including entries from St. Nicholas church, dates from 1559.
- The Lincolnshire FHS has published several marriage indexes and a burial index for the Westwold Deanery to make your search easier.
- In the 1800's the Wesleyan Methodists, free Methodists and Primitive Methodists all had chapels. 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 Caistor sub-district of the Caistor Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
This village and parish are 5.5 miles southwest of Caistor and 8 miles southeast of Brigg. North Kesley parish sits to the north and Waddingham parish to the west. The parish covers more than 4,100 acres and includes the hamlets of Moortown and North End.
If you are planning a visit:
- By automobile, take the B1205 west out of Caistor. This road bisects the village.
- Visit our touring page for visitor services.
- The old manor house here was gone by 1900, leaving just traces of the moat.
- For centuries the manor here belonged to the ancient family of HANSARD of Walworth, but in the 16th century it passed into the posession of Sir Francis AYSCOUGH through marriage.
- Moortown House was the residence of the SKIPWORTH family about a century ago. It then passed to the BOYNTON family.
- The national grid reference is TA 0498.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The parish was in the north division of the ancient Walshcroft Wapentake in the West Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
- Both Kelly's 1900 and 1913 Directories of Lincolnshire places the parish, perhaps erroneously, in the East Lindsey division of the county.
- The Common Land was enclosed here in 1797.
- After the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act reforms, the parish became part of the Caistor Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
449 |
| 1811 |
537 |
| 1821 |
623 |
| 1831 |
632 |
| 1851 |
623 |
| 1871 |
620 |
| 1891 |
583 |
| 1911 |
487 |
| 1951 |
473 |
- The Free School was erected by Lady Mary Ayscough in 1712 and rebuilt in 1812. It was later restored in 1879 and converted to a National School.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
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[Last updated: 12-August-2008 - Louis R. Mills]
