Roughton
Roughton is both a village and a parish in the Wold hills, 4.5 miles south of Horncastle and 102 miles north of London. Dalderby parish lies to the north-east, Kirkby on Bain parish to the south and Haltham parish across the River Bain to the south-east. The parish covered about 1,020 acres in 1815 (part of this was a fen allotment in Wildmore Fen).
Roughton village overlooks the vale of the River Bain to the east as it travels south from Horncastle. On OS maps, the river appears as the "Horncastle Canal". If you are planning a visit:
- Take the B1191 south out of Horncastle or east out of Woodhill Spa. Turn south toward the village when you see the signs.
- There are camping and caravan park areas southwest of the village.
- See our touring page for visitor services.
- The parish was in the Tattershall sub-district of the Horncastle Registration District.
- The North Lincolnshire Library holds a copy of the parish 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 / 642 |
| 1851 |
H.O. 107 / 2108 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2370 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3384 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2600 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret.
- The church was thoroughly restored in 1870.
- The church seats 100 persons.
- The church is Grade II listed with English Heritage.
- A photograph of St. Margaret's Church is at the Wendy PARKINSON English Church Photographs site.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Margaret's Church on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2005.
- Here is a photo of Saint Margaret's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- Parish register entries start in 1564, but Bishop's transcripts reputedly go back another three years to 1561.
- The LFHS has published several marriage and burial indexes for the Horncastle Deanery to make your search easier.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a small chapel here, built in 1834. That chapel was converted into a parochial school around 1860. 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 in the Tattershall sub-district of the Horncastle Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
- In 1842, the chief landowners were Sir J. H. HAWLEY, lord of the manor, H. F. CLINTON, H. DYMOKE and several smaller proprietors.
- In 1872, the chief landowners were Sir J. H. HAWLEY, lord of the manor, John DYMOKE, the executors of H. F. CLINTON, and several smaller proprietors.
- In 1882, the chief landowners were Sir Henry James HAWLEY, lord of the manor, Lady DYMOKE, the executors of H. F. CLINTON, the executors of Henry Lionel DYMOKE and several smaller proprietors.
- In 1900, the chief landowners were Sir Henry Michael HAWLEY, baronet and lord of the manor, Sir Francis Houlton HARTWELL, baronet, and several smaller proprietors.
- In 1913, the chief landowners were Sir H. C. W. HAWLEY, baronet and lord of the manor, Lady Emma J. Houlton HARTWELL and several smaller proprietors.
- Roughton Hall is a Grade 2 historic building on Moor Lane. It was built in the 18th century of red brick.
- Roughton Hall is mentioned as a residence in the 19th century dirctories, but no description or history is provided.
- In 1882, Mrs. Martha Mary THACKERAY is the resident of the Hall. In the early 1900's, Frederick George HAYWARD, J.P., was the resident.
- The national grid reference is TF 2465.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #273 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The parish's Roll of Honour, posted inside St. Margaret's Church, is online for your review.
There is one Commonwealth War Grave in St. Margaret's churchyard from World War I:
- H. HOLLAND, lance corp., 5th Btn. Lincs Regt., age 28, died 10 Jan. 1917. Son of George HOLLAND.
- The name derives from the Old English ruh+ton or Old Scandinavian and Old English combined rugr+ton, meaning either "rough farm" or "rye farm". It appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book as Rocstune.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991].
- Locals pronounce the name as "ru-tan".
- White's 1842 Directory lists the following names in the parish: John CORDEN, Rev. John DYMOKE, John HOLMES, Thomas HOULDEN, William KIRTON, Abraham LONGSTAFF, Elizabeth RICHARDSON and William WILSON.
- White's 1872 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: BIRD, BLADES, CARDEN, COOK, HARRISON, JOWSEY, KIRTON, PAWSON, PRIESTLEY, SPURRIER, TYLER, UPSAL, VAMPLEW and WILLAMET.
- White's 1882 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: BIRD, BLADES, CARDEN, GEISTHORPE, HARRISON, KENT, LANGSTALL, MASSEY, PAWSON, PRIESTLEY, SPURRIER, THACKERAY, TYLER, UPSAL and WOULD.
- Kelly's 1900 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: BIRD, FELTS, FLETCHER, GELSTHORPE, HARRISON, HAYWARD, HUTCHINSON, MASSEY, PRIESTLEY, RASEN, SCHENEK, SPURRIER and WARRENDER.
- Kelly's 1913 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: BUTCHER, ELVIN, GRIFFIN, HARRISON, HAYWARD, HUTCHINSON, LEGGITT, PARKER, PRIESTLEY, SCHENEK, SPURRIER and WARRENDER.
- 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 Horncastle Soke in the East Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
- In April, 1936, this Civil Parish gained 448 acres when the Civil Parish of Dalderby was abolished.
- For today's district governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.
- The Roughton Parish Council minute books for 1990 through 1999 are stored in the National Archives.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Horncastle petty session hearings.
- Martha CHAMBERLAYN left 10 Shillings per year in 1702 as an annual grant to the parish poor.
- As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Horncastle Poor Law Union.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
110 |
| 1811 |
106 |
| 1821 |
110 |
| 1831 |
118 |
| 1841 |
146 |
| 1851 |
166 |
| 1871 |
166 |
| 1881 |
151 |
| 1891 |
137 |
| 1911 |
118 |
- The Wesleyan Chapel was converted to a school around 1860 and was enlarged in 1872 to meet the requirements of the "Elementary Education Act" of 1870. Another enlargement took place in 1879. In 1882, about 80 children attended, including students from Dalderby, Haltham and Martin parishes.
- The school was closed in 1946 due to declining enrollments.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 11-May-2015
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