Wilsford, Lincolnshire
| Wilsford | |
| Lincolnshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's, Wilsford | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TF005435 |
| Location: | 52°58’46"N, 0°30’8"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 400 (2011) |
| Post town: | Grantham |
| Postcode: | NG32 |
| Dialling code: | 01400 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | North Kesteven |
Wilsford is a village in Lincolnshire, within that county's south-western part, Kesteven. The population of the wider parish was just 400 at the 2011 census.
Geography
Wilsford is to be found four miles west of Sleaford, and seven miles north-east of Grantham. Some 22 acres of the north-eastern part of the village, along Main Street, form a mainly residential conservation area.[1]
The village stands just off the route of the major Roman road known as Ermine Street. The parish of Ancaster lies to the north-west and Rauceby to the north-east. The parish covers about 2,900 acres and includes the eastern edge of the village of Ancaster.
The Grantham to Skegness Line passes close to the north of the village, running alongside the A153 road and crosses the road at a level crossing close to the east. The A153 used to go through the village along Main Street.
Name
The name 'Wilsford' seems to contains the Old English personal name Wifel, hence Wifel's ford'.[2]
Wilsford appears in the Domesday survey of 1086 as Wivelesforde.[3]
History
The earliest archaeological evidence of Wilsford consists of Bronze Age and Iron Age artefacts. Some Romano-British building remains and possibly a cemetery with seven stone coffins to the north of the village. A Roman carved stone relief of a male figure was found at Slate House Farm, west of the village. The ancient hamlet of Hanbeck was part of the parish, but now contains only a farmhouse built in 1847 with modern farm buildings. In the Middle Ages it included a Benedictine priory.
Wilsford Hall, built in 1649 and enlarged in 1776, was demolished in 1918.
The inclosure act covering the village was passed in 1774. The village school and schoolhouse built in 1857 have been converted into a private house.[1]
The parish church is dedicated to St Mary. The village public house is the Plough Inn in Main Street.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Wilsford, Lincolnshire) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wilsford Conservation Area
- ↑ Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. ISBN 0198691033
- ↑ National Archives: E 31/2/2/8231
