Bitchfield

The Library at Grantham will prove useful in your research.

J. HANNAN-BRIGGS has a photograph of St. Mary Magdalene and the churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2012.

• The parish was in the Colsterworth sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
   
• In 1890, as a result of the Poor Law Union reorganisation, the parish was placed in the Grantham South sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
   
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:

• The Anglican parish church was dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalen.
   
• The 1086 Domesday Book tells us that there was a church here before the Conquest.
   
• The church was built in the 10th century and enlarged in the 12th century.
   
• The church was restored in 1873.
   
• The church spire was struck by lightning in 1947, and the upper half repaired early the next year.
   
• The church seats only about 100 people.
   
• There is a photograph of St. Mary Magdalen's Church on the Wendy PARKINSON web site under "Still more Lincolnshire".
   
• Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2006.
   
• Here is a photograph St. Mary's Church supplied by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
   

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1674.
   
• The Lincolnshire FHS has published several marriage indexes and a burial index for the Beltisloe Deanery to make your search easier.
   
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.

• The parish was in the Colsterworth sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
   
• In 1890, as a result of the Poor Law Union reorganisation, the parish was placed in the Grantham South sub-district of the Grantham Registration District.
   
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.

Bitchfield is a village and a parish on the River Glen, 3 miles north of Corby and 8 miles southeast of Grantham. The parish covered 1,357 acres.

If you are planning a visit, see:

• By automobile, take the A52 trunk road east out of Grantham and turn right (south) onto the B1176 arterial road. Bitchfield is about six miles along that road.
   
• The West Glen River separates Lower Bitchfield (and the church) from Bitchfield village in its passage south.
   
• Robert HARVEY has a photograph of the West Glen River on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2019, from Dark Lane.
   
• See our touring page for visitor services.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Bitchfield to another place.

The Crown Inn Public House is a Grade II structure with English Heritage. It sits on the Main Road west of the village center. It was built in the 17th century and modernised in the 19th century.

• Bitchfield House is a relatively modern manor house. In 1882 it was occupied by Mr. Joseph GRUMMITT.

• See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK988287 (Lat/Lon: 52.846751, -0.534431), Bitchfield which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• The name Bitchfield is from the Old English Bill's+feld, or "Bill's field". In the 1086 Domesday Book the village is given as Billesfelt.
  ["A Dictionary of English Place-Names," A. D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1991]

• This place was an ancient parish in Lincolnshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the ancient Beltisloe Wapentake in the South Kesteven district and in the parts of Kesteven.
   
• Robert HARVEY has a photograph of Bitchfield Village Hall on Geo-grah, taken in May, 2015.
   
• Bitchfield was abolished as a Civil Parish in 1931 and the land incorporated into surrounding parishes.
   
• For today's district governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Spittlegate petty sessional hearings.
   
• As a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Grantham Poor Law Union.

Year	Inhabitants
1801	95
1841	160
1851	209
1861	159
1871	169
1881	167
1891	161
1901	101
1911	97
1921	95

• A School Board of 7 members, was formed on 16 November, 1875. The "Bitchfield United District" covered Bassingthorpe, Bitchfield and Boothby Pagnall parishes.
   
• A Board School was built in 1877 to hold up to 109 children.
   
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.