Holywell (or Hollywell)

Description and Travel

Holywell is a village, a township and a parish which lies just east of the A1 trunk road, south of Castle Bytham and just 7 miles north of Stamford. County Rutland forms the west and south border of the parish. The small hamlet of Aunby lies in the parish.

There isn't much left of the village these days. If you are planning a visit:

• Check our touring page for Lincolnshire.
  
  

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Census

• The parish was in the Corby sub-district of the Bourne 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 was dedicated to St. Wilfrid.
  
  
• The small church was of Norman origin.
  
  
• For centuries, Holywell was only a chapelry of Castle Bytham.
  
  
• A chapel was built here during the reign of Queen Anne, apparently from the stones of a Norman church in Aunby which proceeded it.
  
  
• The church was restored in 1863-64.
  
  
• The chapel seats 84.
  
  
• The Diocese of Lincoln declared this church redundant in February, 1981. It was gifted as a private chapel.
  
  

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Church Records

• Holywell parish registers exist from 1558.
  
  
• The LFHS has published several indexes (marriage and burial) for the Beltisloe Deanery to make your search easier.
  
  
• Kelly's 1900 Direcotry of Lincolnshire places this parish in the Deanery of Ness.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• The parish was in the Corby sub-district of the Bourne Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
  
  

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Manors

• Holywell Hall, a stone mansion in a wooded park, was the seat of Col. Charles BIRCH-REYNARDSON, lord of the manor, in 1900.
  
  

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Maps

• The National Grid Reference coordinates are SK 9916.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Names, Geographical

• We can presume that the name derives from the Old English for "Holy Well." A medicinal spring rises in the parish.
  
  

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Politics and Governance

• The parish was in the ancient Beltisloe Wapentake in the South Kesteven district in the parts of Kesteven.
  
  
• Before it became a civil parish, Holywell was a township and chapelry in Careby parish.
  
  
• For today's local governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.
  
  
• The civil parish was dissolved in 1931.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Bourne Poor Law Union.
  
  
• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Bourne petty session courts.
  
  

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Population

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Schools

• The children of this parish attended school in Careby parish.
  
  
• See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.
  
  

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