Allington (East and West)

Description and Travel

Allington is one of those odd birds in the parish tree. The civil parish of Allington includes the two ecclesiastical parishes of East Allington and West Allington. In ancient times, West Allington was an ecclesiastical parish and East Allington was a chapelry (chapel of ease) of nearby Sedgebrook parish. East Allington was separated from the parish of Sedgebrook on 18 October 1872 and united with West Allington.

To further confuse things, East Allington is south and slightly west of West Allington. East Allington is north of Sedgebrook parish and West Allington is south of Long Bennington and Foston parishes. Just east of East Allington is Bottesford in Leicestershire. The two parishes cover about 2,100 acres of land.

The village of Allington lies mostly in West Allington and partly in East Allington parish. It sits 4.5 miles northwest of Grantham and ten miles southeast from Newark. A little to the south of the village is an ancient Chalybeate spring called Saltwell. If you plan to visit:

• Take either the A52 trunk road west out of Grantham and turn north at Sedgebrook or take the A1 trunk road north as it passes Grantham and turn south at Foston.
  
  
• Visit our touring page for more sources.
  
  

Top

Census

• The parish was in the Bennington sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

Top

Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and stands near Allington Hall. It is of Norman origin.
  
  
• The Anglican parish church in East Allington is dedicated to St. Andrew and was built before 1550. It was fully restored in 1855. For at least a century it operated as a chapel of ease under Sedgebrook parish.
  
  
• There is a photograph of Holy Trinity Church on the Wendy Parkinson Church Photos web site.
  
  
• Here is a photograph Holy Trinity Church supplied by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  
  

Top

Church Records

• Parish registers for both churches exist from 1559, but many East Allington baptisms and marriages appear in the Sedgebrook parish register.
  
  
• The LFHS has published several marriage indexes and a burial index for the Grantham Deanery to make your search easier.
  
  
• Both parishes have their marriages recorded in Boyd's Marriage Index covering 1651 - 1812 and Pallot's marriage Index for 1790 - 1812.
  
  
• The NE Lincolnshire Library has "Phillimore Lincolnshire Parish Registers, Marriages", Volume 2, containing West Allington, 1559 - 1812.
  
  
• Parish registers are on file at the Society of Genealogists, covering 1559 - 1812 for both parishes.
  
  
• We have a partial parish register extract. Your additions to this are welcome.
  
  
• The Primitive Methodists had a small chapel here in East Allington, built in 1858. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

Top

Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Bennington Sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.
  
  

Top

History

• The two parishes held a joint feast on Old Michaelmas Day.
  
  
• Sewstern Road is an old drove road (cattle or sheep driving) from ancient times. It is now Longmoor Lane through the villages of Sedgebrook and Allington and meets the A1 at Foston. It is likely that the drove road originally took a more westerly route.
  
  
• "Allington: the story of a Linconshire village," by Brenda Pask, 1990, Ingelow Press Ltd., Boston, Lincolnshire, 48 pages, ISBN 09516-8880-4. A copy is at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
  
  

Top

Land and Property

• In 1871, the principal landowner was John Earle WELBY, owner of two-thirds of the land. The remainder was in the hands of the HOYES and other families.
  
  
• In 1913, the principal landowner was Mrs. WELBY.
  
  

Top

Manors

• Allington Hall was a handsome stone mansion, residence of John Earle WELBY in 1871. There is a farm house in the village that is said to be the original ancient manor house.
  
  

Top

Maps

• The national grid reference is SK 8540.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #247 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

Top

Names, Geographical

• Allington is a common name across England. The name derives from the Old English aetheling+tun, meaning "farmstead of the princes". It was rendered as Adelingetone in the 1086 Domesday Book.
  [A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
  
  

Top

Names, Personal

• These surnames were taken from the 1872 White's Directory: AUCKLAND, BROUGHTON, BUTTERS, BUTTRESS, CAUNT, CLAY, EMINSON, FRENCH, HANDLEY, HARRISON, HOYES, MUXLOW, LOVITT, NEALE, SCRIMSHAW, SCRIMSHIRE, STOWKES, WELBY and WINTER.
  
  
• These surnames were taken from the 1913 Kelly's Directory: AUCKLAND, BRIGGS, BURTON, BUTTERS, CRAGG, DOUBLEDAY, GOLDSMITH, HANDLEY, HARDY, IRWIN, KENWORTH, MUXLOW, NAYLOR, NOBES, PARTRIDGE, PIDD, SELBY, VOCE, WELBY, WILKINSON and WING.
  
  

Top

Politics and Governance

• The parishes were normally in the ancient Loveden Wapentake in the South Kesteven division of the county, parts of Kesteven. They have also been in the Winnibriggs and Threo wapentake.
  
  
• For today's local governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.
  
  

Top

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• The two parishes traditionally tended their poor as one township. Two charities provided a small annual gift for the poor, 40 shillings left by the Reverend BRADSHAW and 10 shillings left by the Reverend John CANN.
  
  
• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Newark Poor Law Union.
  
  

Top

Population

Top

Schools

• A National School was built here in 1848 by the lord of the manor, John Earle WELBY.
  
  
• A new Public Elementary School was built in 1906 by the estate of John Earle WELBY, who died in 1905. The school was designed to hold 80 children.
  
  
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
  
  

Top

Return to the Alphabetical Index

© 2002 EnglandGenWeb Project