Algarkirk

Algarkirk
Village and civil parish
Ss Peter and Paul Church, Algarkirk
Algarkirk is located in Lincolnshire
Algarkirk
Algarkirk
Location within Lincolnshire
Population386 (2011)
OS grid referenceTF291352
• London95 mi (153 km) S
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBoston
Postcode districtPE20
Dialling code01205
PoliceLincolnshire
FireLincolnshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Lincolnshire
52°53′N 0°05′W / 52.89°N 00.08°W / 52.89; -00.08

Algarkirk (/ˈældʒərkɜːrk/ AL-jər-kurk) is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 6 miles (9.7 km) south-south-west from Boston and near the A16 road. It has a population of 406,[1] falling to 386 at the 2011 census.[2] An alternative village spelling is 'Algakirk'.[citation needed]

History

Before the Roman conquest the area was home to the Coritani; after Roman departure it became part of the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Mercia.[3] Algarkirk has been claimed to be named after Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, a son of Lady Godiva;[4] he is reputedly buried in the graveyard[5] of the parish church of St Peter and St Paul. The "kirk" element of the name comes from the Old English "circe" meaning church, which was later replaced by the Old Norse "kirk".[6]

The 9th-century church itself is Early English and Norman with a double-aisle transept and a font of Purbeck marble. Under the tower are kneeling brass effigies of Nicholas Robertson (d. 1498), Merchant of the Staple of Calais, and his two wives Alice and Isabella. In 1492, he and Isabella glazed the church clerestorey.[7] The church was heavily restored in 1851.[4]

Middlecott's Hospital, Algarkirk Almshouses

Hitherto, the parish had formed part of Boston Rural District, in the Parts of Holland. Holland was one of the three divisions (formally known as parts) of the traditional county of Lincolnshire. Since the Local Government Act of 1888, Holland had been, in most respects, a county in itself until the creation of Lincolnshire County Council in April 1974 by the combination of Holland, Lindsey (except for those areas transferred to Humberside) and Kesteven County Councils.

The Algarkirk Woad mill closed down after the 1932 crop. The mill owner was Mr George Nussey Snr.[8]

Geography

The bypass was built by Amey Construction, to take two years from February 1990. It was 5.5 miles long, and cost £8,961,439.[9] The bypass opened on 29 October 1991.[10]

Demography

The population was recorded as 386 in the 2011 Census,[1] a drop from 406 on the 2001 Census.[2]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1881 520—    
1891 469−9.8%
1901 423−9.8%
1911 485+14.7%
1921 590+21.6%
YearPop.±%
1931 593+0.5%
1951 560−5.6%
1961 534−4.6%
2001 406−24.0%
2011 386−4.9%
Source: [1][2]

Geography

The village was once served by Algarkirk and Sutterton railway station on the now-closed line connecting Boston and Spalding. The A16 has been rebuilt on the former railway, so Algarkirk village lies between this and the old road, now the B1397. The Boston-Algarkirk Diversion opened in October 1991. The village primary school, the Fourfields school, is shared with Sutterton.

The village lies hard against the parish boundary with Sutterton, so that the two parish churches are six or seven hundred metres apart. While most of the parishes in Holland are more or less long and narrow so as to include both saltmarsh and fen, this was originally achieved in Algarkirk by having a detached fen about 12 kilometres away, in Holland Fen. This is now part of Amber Hill parish and ward.

It constitutes part of Five Villages electoral ward, one of eighteen rural wards in the borough, each comprising one or more parishes.

References

  1. ^ a b c Census 2001
  2. ^ a b c "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Algarkirk" Genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2011
  4. ^ a b Cox, J. Charles (1916); Lincolnshire pp.42, 43; Methuen & Co. Ltd.
  5. ^ "Algarkirk" UK Genealogy Archives. Retrieved 25 April 2011
  6. ^ "Algarkirk". Institute for Name Studies. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 18 September 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ Hegbin-Barnes, Penny (1996); The medieval stained glass of the county of Lincolnshire p. 350 Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-726156-6
  8. ^ Norman T.Wills (1979). Woad in the Fens. N.T.Wills.
  9. ^ Lincolnshire Echo Thursday 8 February 1990, page 3
  10. ^ Spalding Guardian Friday 15 November 1991, page 5

Further reading