Langton by Partney (or Langton by Spilsby)
Langton by Partney (Langton by Spilsby) is both a village and a parish that lies about 4 miles north of Spilsby and 9 miles east of Horncastle. Partney parish is immediately to the south and Driby parish to the north. The parish covers some 1,300 acres, most of which is sandy loam and chalk.
The village sits in a valley between the A158 as it travels east from Horncastle and the A16 trunk road that goes north from Spilsby.
If you are planning a visit:
- The parish was in the Spilsby sub-district of the Spilsby Registration District.
- The North Lincolnshire Library holds copies of the census returns for 1841 and 1881.
- 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 / 639 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2375 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3393A |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2603 |
- There was a Christian church here before the Norman Conquest.
- An older Anglican church, dedicated to St. Peter, burned down several centuries ago.
- The present Anglican parish church was built in 1725 to replace the church above and was rededicated to Saints Peter and Paul. It has been rated as one of the best 1000 churches in all of England in Simon Jenkin's book, "England's Thousand Best Churches." It has a remarkable oak interior with three-decker pulpit.
- The church seats about 150.
- Here is a photo of Saints Peter and Paul Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- Parish registers date from 1558.
- The LFHS has published several indexes for the Bolingbroke Deanery to make your search easier.
- We have some local burials that are not in the NBI on our Church Register text file.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Spilsby sub-district of the Spilsby Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
- There are three barrows a short distance from the village known as "Spellow Hills", one of which yielded a quantity of human bones.
- Langton Hall was destroyed by fire first in 1405. It was rebuilt in the 1550s.
- The Elizabethan manor lasted until about 1817 when it too was destroyed by fire.
- D. H. Hamilton advises: "The Elizabethan Langton Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1817 has recently been located N.E. of the church. It appears to have been in the form of a 60 foot square (Langton resident's discovery)."
- Bennet Rothes LANGTON erected a new Langton Hall in 1866-67. It was built of brick with stone dressings in the Elizabethan style and stood a little north of the village. D. H. Hamilton reports that it was demolished around 1960 and other sources cite the same time frame.
- Langton Old Hall was the 1900 residence of Meaburn STANILAND.
- The national grid reference is TF 3970.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The name Langton is very common in England and occurs several times in Lincolnshire. It derives from the Old English lang+tun, for "long farmstead or estate".
["A Dictionary of English Place-Names," A. D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 1991]
- Dr. William LANGTON, president of Magdalen College, Oxford, in the reign of James I, and Bennet LANGTON esq., associate of Dr. JOHNSON, were both natives of this parish.
- This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The parish was in the ancient Hill Wapentake (Hill Hundred) in the parts of Lindsey.
- For today's district governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.
- Some 19th century directories list the parish as being in the South Lindsey division of the county.
- In April, 1935, the parish gained 477 acres when Sutterby Civil Parish was abolished.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
132 |
| 1831 |
230 |
| 1851 |
190 |
| 1871 |
223 |
| 1881 |
219 |
| 1891 |
177 |
| 1911 |
168 |
- A public elementary school was built here in 1849 and was attended by about 30 children in the early 20th century.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 7-October-2015
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