Blankney

Description and Travel

This village and parish is ten miles north of Sleaford and ten miles southeast of Lincoln. The parish is a long, narrow structure, one mile wide and 11 miles long, running east to west. The east end of the parish is the River Witham. The parishes of Temple Bruer, Scopwick and Martin lie to the south and Metheringham to the north. Linwood, 3 miles east of the village is a hamlet in the parish, as is Barf or Barff. The parish covers some 6,800 acres of Fen and black moorland.

Modern-day visitors to Blankney often come for the golf. If you are planning a visit:

• While there, visit the 106 acre Metheringham Delph nature preserve on the northeast corner of the parish. This former "drain" was left to silt up and has become a wildlife refuge.
  
  
• The A15 trunk road skims the west edge of the parish, but the B1188 passes through the heart of the village as it makes it way north to Metheringham which is just a mile north where the B1188 crosses the B1202.
  
  
• Photographs of the village are available at: Blankney Picture Gallery.
  
  
• Visit our touring page for more sources.
  
  

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Census

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

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Church History

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Oswald.
  
  
• The church was rebuilt in 1820 and again in 1879-80.
  
  
• The church seats about 150.
  
  
• There is a photograph of St. Oswald's Church on the Wendy Parkinson Church Photos web site.
  
  
• Here is a photo of St. Oswald's Church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  

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Church Records

• Anglican parish register entries start in 1558.
  
  
• We have a handful of ROSSINGTON entries in our parish register extract file. Your additions would be welcome.
  
  
• The Lincolnshire FHS has published several marriage indexes and a burial index for the Graffoe Deanery to make your search easier.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Blankney was in the Billinghay sub-district of the Sleaford Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
  
  

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History

• The parish was long a haven for fox hunting. A "Court of Foresters" (Foxhunters) was established here in 1840 and met at the Tally Ho Inn. They had about 160 members. The parish also housed the "Kennels of the Blankney Hunt," consisting of some 50 couples.
  
  
• In the late 1800's, there was a Blankney Station three-quarters of a mile north of the village on the Spalding to Donacaster branch of the Great Northern and Great Eastern railways.
  
  
• In 1940 the escort destroyer Blankney, "L30" hull number, was launched. She served with distinction during the war and was broken up in 1959.
  
  

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Manors

• Blankney Hall was the seat of the CHAPLIN family, who bought the property in 1719. It was an impressive estate, unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1945.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is TF 0660.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
  
  
• For a map, click on MultiMap.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Names, Geographical

• The name Blankney is Old English Blanca+n+eg, or "Island of a man called Blanca". In the 1086 Domesday book, the village is given as Blachene and in 1157 appears as Blancaneia.
  [A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
  
  

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Names, Personal

• Here's a partial list of surnames found in White's 1871 Directory: ATKIN, BAKER, BAVIN, BLOW, BOTT, BRIDGES, CARTWRIGHT, CHALLANS, CHAMBERS, CHAPLIN, COTTINGHAM, ETCHELLS, FLETCHER, GILBERT, GRAVES, GREENHAM, HAIRE, HAWTIN, KNOTT, LILL, PAWLEY, PEARS, PEARSON, POTTERTON, ROSSINGTON, SHARPE, SMITH, SUMPTER and TYLER.
  
  
• Kelley's 1913 Directory lists these surnames: BAILEY, CAPELL, CARTWRIGHT, CHALLANS, CLEAVER, COOK, DAULTON, FAULKNER, FLETCHER, FLINTHAM, GILBERT, GODSON, GOOSE, HOUGHTON, HUTCHINSON, JOLLY, LILL, LILLEY, MALTBY, OVERTON, ROSSINGTON, SEWELL, SHARPE, SMITH, TREFFRY, WEST, WILKINSON, WILLOWS and YOUNG.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was in the second division of the ancient Langoe Wapentake in the North Kesteven division of the county, in the parts of Kesteven.
  
  
• For today's governance, see the North Kesteven District Council.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Sleaford Poor Law Union.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• A National School was built here in 1821 by the CHAPLIN family. It was apparently abandoned when the new school was opened.
  
  
• A Public Elementary School was built here in 1848 for 100 children. Average attendance in 1913 was 41.
  
  
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
  
  

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