Crowland (Croyland)
- The parish was head of the Crowland sub-district of the Peterborough Registration District.
- We have a handful of 1901 census surnames in a text file. Your additions are welcome.
- In 1831 the village was a small market town.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
Regis. District |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 606 |
Lincolnshire |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107 / 1747 |
Northamptonshire |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 968 & 969 |
Northamptonshire |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 1520 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 1597 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 1232 |
- This section has been moved to another page due to size. Church History includes several photographs of Crowland Abbey.
- Anglican parish registers exist from 1639, although bishop's transcripts go back to 1561.
- We have the beginning of a Parish Register extract in a text file. Your additions are welcome.
- Free Reg. has the following online: Baptisms 1796-1973; Marriages 1742-1871; Burials 1791-1812
- The Peterborough Library has a copy of the Crowland Registers on microfiche.
- We have a list of the Pepper family and mourners from 1936-43 funerals.
- Over 5,400 burials for the parish are recorded in the Nat'l Burial Index (NBI) for the period of 1813 to 1900.
- Crowland is in the West Elloe Deanery for which several indexes have been published.
- The hamlet of Nene Terrace had a small Wesleyan Methodist chapel, built here in 1868. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was head of the Crowland sub-district of the Peterborough Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Crowland (also Croyland) is both a village and parish. About as far south in Lincolnshire as one can get, it is 10 miles south of Spalding, a few miles east of Market Deeping in the Fens area and 86 miles north of London, just east of the A15 trunk road and north of the A47. Deeping Fen parish lies to the northwest. The River Welland runs along the eastern boundary. The area is flat fenland and tends to swamp. Nene Terrace is a small hamlet in the parish, 2 miles south of the village of Crowland. Engine is another hamlet 2 miles south of Crowland village. The parish is large, covering over 12,500 acres, and includes the hamlet of Postland.
If you are planning a visit:
- The Crowland Ponds at TF 2210 are part of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.
- Kate JEWELL has a photograph of the Village Sign on Geo-graph, depicting the Crowland Abbey, taken in May, 2007.
- Michael TROLOVE has a photograph of a Mounting Block on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2009. Now how many places have you seen a place to easily mount your charger?
- Use our touring page for area resources.
In 827, Egbert, King of Wessex, defeated Wiglaf, King of Mercia, who fled to Croyland, where he was concealed for three months. By the mediation of its abbot, Siward, Wiglaf was restored to his kingdom on paying homage and becoming tributary to Egbert.
Early in the year 870 the Danes burned Crowland Abbey and made a general massacre of its inhabitants.
At the dissolution of the abbey in 1538, there were 37 monks at the abbey.
Crowland village had a market every Thursday.
In the 1800's an annual fair was held on September 4th and another on June 28th.
From White's 1872 Lincolnshire:
"The Abbey at Crowland was founded by Ethelbald, King of Mercia in 716, for the reception of the black monks. It was dedicated to St Mary, St Bartholomew and St Guthlac. The Abbey was rebuilt many times and was of great splendour, until the dissolution of the monasteries. The parish church was formed from the north aisle of the old Abbey. The Wesleyans have two chapels, a large one rebuilt in 1831, and one on the Thorney road, built in 1868. The Primitive and Free Church Methodists have each a chapel, the former rebuilt in 1862, the other erected in 1854."
In 1911, the following appeared in a local newspaper:
MILL FIRE, Nov 1911, Crowland, Lincs
"GunpowderPlot - Old Mill set on fire. The juvenile portion of the town celebrated "Guy Fawkes" in a lively way on Saturday evening. Quite early, reports were heard and several fires were lighted in the streets. Adults joined later in the festivities and a raid was made on a newly appointed young constable, who earlier in the week had offended in the execution of his duty, by making an arrest. The climax was reached by setting fire to an old windmill on the Postland road, which though it had been standing idle for nearly twenty years, lovers of the past are sorry to see it demolished, and see an old landmark pass into oblivion. The mill was the property of the Rector of Crowland and although a reward has been offered, up to the present the culprit or culprits have not been traced."
In 1947, there was a great flood in the area and the Crowland Abbey Alarm bell was rung for the first time since 1880. Floodwaters were not too deep and finding a place even a few feet above the surrounding land prevented one from getting wet feet.
David HITCHBORNE has a photograph of the Trinity Bridge on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2004. Where else could you find the "fork in the road" at the crown of a bridge?
Top
- The national grid reference is TF 2310.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #235 map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2007.
There is a photograph of the memorial and the names on them at the Roll of Honour site.
In the parish churchyard there is one Commonwealth War Grave from World War II:
- John Charles Wilfred SMITH, srgt., RAF Vol. Rsrv., age 19, died 18 Nov. 1944. Son of Walter and Hannah of Thorney, CAM.
- The name Crowland is Old English for "land at the river bend". In the 8th century the name is given as Cruwland and in the 1086 Domesday Book as Croiland.
A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991
- This place was an ancient parish in Lincolnshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the ancient Elloe Wapentake in the South Holland district in the parts of Holland.
- You can contact the Crowland Parish Council regarding civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed or funded to help you with family history searches.
- For today's district governance, visit the South Holland District Council site.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Elloe (Spalding) petty session hearings.
- In 1612, Roger WALKER bequeathed a house and 4 acres of land for the relief of the parish poor.
- In 1684, James BROWN left the rent charge on 11 acres of land for the poor.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Peterborough Union Workhouse.
- In 1904, The "Crowland Clothing Club" distributed up to £200 worth of clothing among the destitute poor.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
1,425 |
| 1831 |
2,268 |
| 1841 |
2,978 |
| 1851 |
3,183 |
| 1861 |
3,148 |
| 1871 |
3,168 |
| 1881 |
2,929 |
| 1891 |
2,800 |
| 1901 |
2,747 |
| 1911 |
2,683 |
| 1971 |
2,856 |
- Postland Road School was built in 1857 to seat 200 girls. This was an infants school in the 1940s and 1950s.
- South View Road School was erected in 1877 to seat 320 children.
- St. Guthlac's Secondary School was constructed in the 1960s [Vanda Turner]. The school has its own web site, but no history is evident. The school is for 11 to 16 year-old co-eds. Address: Postland Road, Crowland, Peterborough PE6 0JA, tele: 01733 210413.
- To research school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 29-September-2013
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