Scopwick

Scopwick
Lincolnshire
Church of the Holy Cross, Scopwick
Location
Grid reference:	TF068580
Location:	53°6’31"N, 0°24’18"W
Data
Population:	815  (2011)
Post town:	Lincoln
Postcode:	LN4
Local Government
Council:	North Kesteven
Parliamentary constituency:	Sleaford and North Hykeham

Scopwick is a small village in Kesteven, the south-western part of Lincolnshire. It stands six miles south of Lincoln. The village main road runs parallel to a narrow stream.

The wider civil parish inludes Kirkby Green, a hamlet to the east of Scopwick, and at the 2011 census this parish had a recorded population of 815.

The name Scopwick comes from Old English: sceap wic simply means 'sheep farm'.

The village cemetery includes a War Graves site for airmen from RAF Coleby Grange and RAF Digby (originally RAF Scopwick), and includes that of the young Second World War poet and aviator John Gillespie Magee.

Part of the brick tower of Scopwick Tower Mill, which was built in 1827 and fell into disuse around 1912, remains standing.

History

Bronze Age burials and barrows have been found in Scopwick. There is evidence of a Roman settlement in the form of coins, pottery, burials and a dwelling. A Saxon coin found in the village depicts King Offa and has been dated to 757-796 AD.

The village appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Scapeuic and Scapewic.

Geography and wildlife

A limestone stream runs through the village toward Kirkby Green and terminates near the railway. Wildfowl on the stream include moorhen and mallard, and in the stream grow water mint and hart's tongue fern. Around Scopwick Hall there is a small deciduous woodland. To the northwest of the village is a quarry.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Scopwick)

• Scopwick Village
• Scopwick Tower Mill
• John Gillespie Magee's grave
• Whites 1842 Lincolnshire entry for Scopwick