Fosdyke (or Fossdyke)
Fosdyke is both a village and parish almost 100 miles north of London, near the mouth of the River Welland, where that river empties into The Wash. The parish lies about 6 miles north-west of Holbeach and about 8 miles south of Boston. The parish is bounded on the north by Kirton parish, to the west by Algarkirk parish and by the River Welland on the south. The area is flat fenland, drained by many small canals and covers over 2,000 acres.
The "sea bank" protects the village from high water on the River Welland. A Fosdyke Fen also exists near Holland Fen on the River Witham to the north. If you are planning a visit:
- The village is about two miles off the A16 trunk road. Take the A17 trunk road toward Holbeach and it passes along the south edge of Fosdyke village before crossing over the Fosdyke Bridge.
- For a bus schedule from nearby cities, check the Bus, Coach and Train page on this site.
- Local coach hires are available at Cropley Brothers, School Lane, Fosdyke, Boston, PE20 2BU.
- Fosdyke is a local archeology site.
- Bicycling and bird watching are popular local pastimes. And, the village hosts a local National Council Metal Detecting chapter.
- Fosdyke is one of the villages included in Michael J. Elsden's book, "Aspects of Spalding Villages," priced about £20.
- Visit our touring page for more sources.
- Fosdyke Cemetery is administered from the cemetery office at Boston. The small village cemetery dates from 1952, and is located in Bell Lane, Fosdyke, within the Borough of Boston.
- The parish was in the Kirton sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 607 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2331 & 2340 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3334 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3213 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2570 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
- The church was built in 1812, then rebuilt in 1871. This is the third church known to have existed at this site.
- The church seats about 350 people.
- There is a photo of the church at Wendy Parkinson's site.
- Here is a photo of All Saints Church, taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
- Parish registers exist from 1559.
- The LFHS has published several marriage indexes for the Holland West Deanery to make your search easier.
- The Primitive Methodists also had a chapel in Fosdyke. The original was built in 1826 and was replaced in 1861. Check our Non-Conformist Church Records page for resources.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Kirton sub-district of the Boston Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July 1837.
- In ancient times, Fosdyke often served as a port for Boston and the surrounding area. The land was hard loam and made good cattle pasture.
- In 1812, construction started on a beautiful English Oak bridge to cross the Welland and it was finished in 1815. It was replaced in 1911 by a new iron bridge.
- A small Coast Guard station was established here prior to 1900, manned by one officer and two men.
- In recent history, the 1963 winter was very severe. 8mm film of a ship trapped in the ice near Fosdyke Bridge is at: LincsFilm.
- The national grid reference is TF 3233.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #249 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
Inside All Saints church is this War Memorial:
In memory of our glorious dead 1914-1918
J. Ashton
F.S. Bett
J.W. Bosnell
J. Buck
A.E. Burks
W. Hallam
G. Higgins
J.S. Johnson
H.E. Kitchen
G.A. Lane
G. Lineham
J.W. Nicholls
E. Royce
G.E. Smith
J.W. Smith
E.M. Thompson
F.H. Thompson
Their name liveth for evermore
In memory of those who died 1939-1945 War
N. Blakeley
T. Burdall
J. Mudd
W. Sands
J. Smith
W. Suckling
L. Sutherill
T. Snaith
- Pronounced "Fozdike" by the locals, the village is first recorded as Fotesdic in 1183, literally meaning "ditch of a man named Fotr". There is also a Fossdyke Canal between the city of Lincoln and the River Trent.
A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991.
- The parish was in the ancient Kirton Wapentake in the parts of Holland.
- In December of 1880, the Fosdyke Fen allotment, with 123 inhabitants, was transferred to Brothertoft parish.
- For today's district governance, visit the local Boston Borough Council.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Kirton and Skirbeck petty session hearings.
- In 1684, Ann WADDINGHAM donated four tenements and a half acre of land for the poor here.
- Another house and garden were donated by a Mr. LADDINGTON.
- Around 1813, Sir Thomas MIDDLECOTT donated an almshouse for the poor of this parish and Algarkirk, endowing it with 98 acres of land. Four of the ten beds were allocated to Fosdyke parish poor.
- BERIDGE's charity donated about £20 for coal for the poor.
- After the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, this parish became part of the Boston Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1831 |
401 |
| 1871 |
631 |
| 1881 |
477 |
| 1891 |
433 |
| 1911 |
449 |
| 1991 |
486 |
- The first school was erected in Fosdyke in 1867 by the Reverend Basil BERIDGE.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 9-February-2015
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