Firsby
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with Firsby near RotherhamRotherhamRotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
or East FirsbyEast and West FirsbyEast Firsby and West Firsby are two hamlets located about north of the city of Lincoln, in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire. England, set in the hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
and West FirsbyEast and West FirsbyEast Firsby and West Firsby are two hamlets located about north of the city of Lincoln, in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire. England, set in the hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
that are located north of Lincoln.
Firsby is a small rural linear village
Linear village
In geography, a linear village, or linear settlement, is a small to medium-sized settlement that is formed around a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Wraysbury, a village in Berkshire, is one of the longest villages in England....
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England, 36 miles (58 kilometres) east from the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
, 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) south east of the nearest market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Spilsby
Spilsby
Spilsby is a market town and civil parish in Lincolnshire. England. The town is situated adjacent to the main A16 Trunk Road at the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds north of the Fenlands, east of the county town of Lincoln, north east of Boston and north west from Skegness.The town has...
and 8 miles (12.9 kilometres) inland from the holiday resort town of Skegness
Skegness
Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
.
The village lies on the northern side of the waterway today known as the Steeping River, which is the lower element of the River Lymn that sources in the Lincolnshire Wolds
Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
. Today a quiet rural village Firsby was once the location of one of the busiest railway stations on the East Coast of England.
At the last census in 2001 the population of the village was recorded as 276.
Early history
Historically Firsby belonged to the WoldLincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
division of the Wapentake of Candleshoe and was in a part of ancient Lindsey
Lindsey
Lindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...
.
In his History of the County of Lincolnshire written in 1834, historian Thomas Allen records "Firsby is an obscure place on the north side of the River Limb (sic) between Wainfleet and Spilsby, being five miles distant from each".
Allen further comments that "Firsby's St Andrew's Church is an ancient crumbling edifice in a state of great decay. The single aisled church is thatched and in front of the porch is a bare pillar of stone that may have at one time held a sundial". Prior to the Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
the church belonged to the Abbey at Bardney
Bardney
Bardney is a village and Civil Parish east of Lincoln, sitting on the north side of the River Witham in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-The village:...
and was presented to the village by the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
Lord of the Manor Sir Gilbert de Gaunt (1048-1094). The rectory
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
was valued in 1834 at £12 0s 7d (£12.03). The original Norman church was demolished and a new church building erected in 1856 on the same site.
There were once two public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s in the village although both have been long closed. One of the public houses had its own brewery, and the other serviced the busy railways and doubled as the Railway Hotel. There are several mentions in old records of a third drinking establishment around 1852, Whyley's Beerhouse, that stood adjacent to Firsby railway station
Firsby railway station
Firsby railway station was a busy station in Firsby, Lincolnshire which closed in 1970 as a result of the Beeching Axe. Firsby served as a main line station and a terminus for two branch lines, one to the seaside resort of Skegness and one to the market town of Spilsby.Firsby station was located in...
. The long forgotten beer houses were introduced by the 1830 Beer Act which permitted anybody to open a licensed beer and cider house in their front room for a licence fee of two guineas, but they were not permitted to sell spirits or fortified wines. Many beer houses went on to develop as full public houses to sell a full range of drinks and still exist; by 1885 those that hadn't become pubs had all died out.
At the beginning of the 20th century the village had a football team, which played its fixtures on the local field behind the Railway Hotel, with a clubhouse and changing rooms next to the field. A long closed village hall was situated beside the main Spilsby
Spilsby
Spilsby is a market town and civil parish in Lincolnshire. England. The town is situated adjacent to the main A16 Trunk Road at the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds north of the Fenlands, east of the county town of Lincoln, north east of Boston and north west from Skegness.The town has...
to Wainfleet
Wainfleet, Lincolnshire
Wainfleet All Saints is an ancient port and market town on the east coast of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the B1195 between Spilsby and Boston. The town stands on the small rivers Steeping and Limb that form Wainfleet Haven. The town is close to Skegness, Boston, Spilsby, the Lincolnshire...
road.
Railway connections
The railway station at Firsby opened in 1848 and was a substantial structure for a country station, totally unlike the majority of small isolated rural halts. The station had three platforms each two hundred metres long and covered with buildings, booking offices, several waiting rooms (male, female and general), restaurants, toilets, baggage and goods halls, crew rooms, staff canteen and several railway offices. The main line tracks were crossed by a substantial passenger footbridge and most of the station was covered by an ornate cast-iron and glass canopy normally only seen at main city stations. The station also had signal boxes, water towers, extensive goods sidings and engine repair sheds.Firsby was a junction for the Skegness line and the Spilsby line on their short branches from the main GNR London to Cleethorpes railway. During the summer months holiday passenger traffic from all over the country alighting at Firsby for the connection to Skegness was substantial with hundreds and sometimes thousands of passengers passing through the station at a weekend, and the platforms would be teeming with families and their luggage. In the Victorian era most holidaymakers travelled by train and Firsby was one of the busiest stations on the east coast main line. The station was the major employer in the area and between the station master and his assistants, ticket office staffs, ticket inspectors, signalmen, porters, catering staffs, drivers, firemen, guards and track maintenance staff for three separate railway companies, several hundred people worked at or from Firsby station on a regular daily basis.
Between 1943 and 1958 Firsby station was kept busy as the nearest railhead staging point for RAF and later USAF
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
airmen travelling to and from the nearby RAF Spilsby
RAF Spilsby
-Units and aircraft based at Spilsby:-References:*Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 -External links:*...
airfield at Great Steeping.
The line was closed down in 1970 due to the Beeching axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
cuts, and the majority of the station and the platforms were demolished. Only the most southerly section of the station building remains and is now a private residence. With the old east coast main line between Firsby and Cleethorpes removed a new direct link to Skegness was installed at the junction a few hundred metres south of the old Firsby station. Although the station is long gone many locals still remember the station master calling out "Skegness passengers, Over the bridge for Skegness!"
Firsby to Spilsby Railway
A small local railway company built a branch line from Firsby junction to SpilsbySpilsby
Spilsby is a market town and civil parish in Lincolnshire. England. The town is situated adjacent to the main A16 Trunk Road at the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds north of the Fenlands, east of the county town of Lincoln, north east of Boston and north west from Skegness.The town has...
and it opened on 1 May 1868. The branch was just over four miles long and connected Spilsby to the King's Cross, London to Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes is a town and unparished area in North East Lincolnshire, England, situated on the estuary of the Humber. It has a population of 31,853 and is a seaside resort.- History :...
main line. The only other railway station on the branch line was Halton Holegate Halt. The necessary parliamentary permission had been obtained by an Act in July 1865 which incorporated The Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company with an authorised capital of £20,000 and loans of £8,333 for the construction of the four-mile-long single-track branch.
Construction of the railway began in March 1867 with the ceremonial cutting of the first turf performed by local rector, the Reverend Rawnsley who was standing in for the railway company's chairman Lord Willoughby de Eresby the 25th Baron
Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster
Sir Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 6th Baronet, 1st Earl of Ancaster PC , known as 2nd Baron Aveland from 1867 to 1888 and as 25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby from 1888 to 1892, was a British Liberal politician and court official.Born Gilbert Henry Heathcote, he was the son of Gilbert...
. The railway was expected to be opened quickly but disputes with the contractors arose over the quality of their work and several lengths of track had to be replaced. With these problems finally fixed the official opening took place. Initial traffic levels and income were promising, however by 1885 rail traffic had slumped badly leading to the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
buying out the Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company for £20,000 through an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
on 25 July 1890.
In 1920 there was a major accident when the Spilsby engine was derailed and passengers had to be taken on by road. When the locomotive was returned to the tracks it managed to reach Firsby in a record eight and a half minutes instead of the normal thirteen minutes. Unfortunately, just a few days later, the train ran hard into the buffers of another stationary train at Firsby and several passengers were badly shaken. A 71 year old local businessman, Mr. Welch, died the following day from the delayed effects of the accident.
Falling usage caused passenger services to be suspended in 1939 just as the Second World War started and they were never reinstated. A goods train service for grain, potatoes, livestock and other agricultural products continued through Firsby for almost another twenty years. Goods including petrol, paraffin and coal continued into Spilsby via the rail link up to its final closure on 30 November 1958. The Spilsby station building has been demolished but other buildings still stand and in recent years have been used by an agricultural suppliers as a shop and store with new sections added. Between Firsby and Spilsby most of the old track route can still be seen in aerial photographs, marked by the avenue of trees and bushes, with only 5% ploughed out into fields.
Parish
Firsby is governed by the Firsby group Parish Council that covers the villages of:- BratoftBratoftBratoft is a small hamlet in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies 6 miles east of Spilsby and 2 miles west of Burgh Le Marsh, and south of the A158....
- Firsby
- Great Steeping
- Irby in the MarshIrby in the MarshIrby in the Marsh is a settlement approximately 5 miles north of Wainfleet All Saints, with a population of 135 inhabitants.The village lies on the B1195 east of Spilsby...
- Little SteepingLittle SteepingLittle Steeping is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district, about three miles from the town of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England.The parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew, and is a Grade II* listed building...
The current chairman is Mr Richard Kidd of Irby in the Marsh, whilst the vice chairman is Mr Robert Heane of Great Steeping
District
Firsby falls within East Lindsey District Council and is represented by Pauline Cooper (Conservative).County Council
Firsby's county councillor to Lincoln County Council is Neil Cooper (Conservative)Westminster
Firsby falls within the Louth and Horncastle constituency and the serving MP is Peter Tapsell (Conservative).Europe
The Euro MPs for the area are:• Roger Helmer
Roger Helmer
Roger Helmer is a British politician and a Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region. He has described himself as a eurosceptic and is a supporter of the Better Off Out campaign. He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999 as a Conservative Party...
(Conservative)
• Bill Newton Dunn
Bill Newton Dunn
William "Bill" Newton Dunn is a British politician. He is a Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands for the Liberal Democrats.-Early life:...
(Liberal Democrat)
• Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk is an English former politician, former independent Member of the European Parliament, and former television presenter, best known for his daytime talk show Kilroy. He has been a university lecturer and Labour Party Member of Parliament...
(Independent)
• Christopher Heaton-Harris (Conservative)
• Glenis Willmott
Glenis Willmott
Glenis Willmott is a British politician, currently leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party and Labour member of the European Parliament for East Midlands....
(Labour)
• Derek Clark
Derek Clark
Derek Roland Clark is a British politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region. He is a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party, first elected in 2004, and subsequently re-elected in 2009.He is a retired science teacher.-External links:**...
(UK Independence Party - UKIP)
Geography
Firsby stands on the northern side of the waterway today known as the River Steeping, which is the lower element of the River LymnRiver Lymn
The River Lymn is a river in Lincolnshire, England. It rises in the Wolds on the eastern slope of Castcliffe Hill in Fulletby parish. It flows south-eastwards to the Lincolnshire Marsh, where it becomes known as the Steeping River on the boundary of Great Steeping parish...
, and to the east of the Lincolnshire Wolds
Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
on a tract of flat fenland
Fenland
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens"...
, bounded by Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
Deeps and the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. It is within eight miles inland from the holiday centre of Skegness
Skegness
Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
, on what many consider is the best part of the Lincolnshire coast
Lincolnshire coast
The coast of Lincolnshire runs for more than down the North Sea coast of eastern England, from the estuary of the Humber to the marshlands of the Wash, where it meets Norfolk...
.
The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys underlain by calcareous chalk, green limestone and sandstone rock, laid down in the Cretaceous period under a shallow warm sea. The characteristic open valleys of the Wolds were created during the last ice age through the action of glaciation and meltwater. Geographically, the Lincolnshire Wolds are a continuation of the Yorkshire Wolds
Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in northeastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie....
which run up through the East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
, the Wolds as a whole having been bisected by the tremendous erosive power of the waters of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
.
The fenlands that stretch down as far as Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
are former wetlands consisted both of peat bogs and tidal silt marshes which were virtually all drained by the end of the 19th century when Firsby had its longest period of growth. The former peat fens and silt marshes provided a rich loamy soil that was ideal for the growing of cereal and vegetable crops and gave Lincolnshire its reputation as being the 'bread basket' of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The resulting flat lands also made an ideal environment for the later mechanisation of farming in the mid 20th century. Firsby has always been an agriculturally based village with a dark and rich loamy soil over a heavy clay subsoil.
Demography
The population in 1834 was recorded as 142. By 1921 that had risen to 231 and has remained reasonably constant ever since.The 2001 census recorded the following information for Firsby:
Population: 276
52.5% male and 47.5% female. Average age 39.8
18.4% are single and never married, 64.2% married with the remainder split between separated, divorced or widowed.
98.9% are white and 1.1% of mixed race. There are no Asian, Indian or Chinese residents
83% declared a Christian religion, 1.1% Buddhist and 15.9% stated no religion
57% are employed, 18.7% retired, 2.6% unemployed and the remainder are disabled, full time carers or students.
Education
There are no schools in the village. School bus transport is provided by Lincolnshire Education Authority.Most primary school children attend Great Steeping Primary School, a mixed sex rural primary school which has approximately 115 pupils with 67 boys and 48 girls.
Secondary school age pupils can attend:
- King Edward VI Humanities CollegeKing Edward VI Humanities CollegeKing Edward VI Humanities College, is a coeducational bi-lateral secondary school, sixth form college and specialist Humanities College located in Spilsby, Lincolnshire for children between the ages of eleven and eighteen....
in Spilsby, a coeducational bi-lateral secondary schoolPartially selective school (England)In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997....
, sixth form collegeSixth form collegeA sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
and specialist Humanities CollegeSpecialist schoolThe specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
for children between the ages of eleven and eighteen. - St Clement's College (formerly known as the Earl of Scarborough High School), a secondary modern on Burgh Le Marsh Road, Skegness.
- Skegness Grammar SchoolSkegness Grammar SchoolThe Skegness Grammar School is a selective grammar school, a sixth form centre and a specialist school with two disciplines, firstly as a sport college and since 2006 also a mathematics and computing college, located in Skegness Lincolnshire for children aged between eleven and eighteen...
on Vernon Road, Skegness.
Religious sites
Firsby Grade II listed Anglican church is dedicated to St Andrew. It is constructed of limestone ashlarAshlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
, and was rebuilt in 1856 by architect G E Street at a cost of £850.
Firsby Methodist Church, a Wesleyan chapel built in 1838, is on Fendyke Road. The village hall was built in 1922.
Notable people
- Bishop WarburtonWilliam WarburtonWilliam Warburton was an English critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759.-Life:He was born at Newark, where his father, who belonged to an old Cheshire family, was town clerk. William was educated at Oakham and Newark grammar schools, and in 1714 he was articled to Mr Kirke, an...
, rector of Firsby-cum-Steeping Magna (1730–1756).
See also
External links
- "Firsby", genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2011