Torksey
Torksey is a village, a township and parish which sits on the western edge of the Wolds about 146 miles north of London, seven miles south of Gainsborough and nine miles west of Lincoln. The Fossdyke Canal passes just south of the village and connects to the River Trent, which is the western boundary of the parish. Marton parish is to the north and Fenton parish to the south.
The parish contains three ancient townships: Torksey, Hardwick and Brampton. Hardwick is a district of scattered farms about 3 miles south-east of Torskey village on the east side of the Fossdyke Canal. Brampton is an area one mile north-east of Torskey village, known in the 19th century for its fine pottery and porcelain called "Torskey Ware". "Torksey Ware" has been found from the 12th century on. Brampton is shown on some maps as a separate parish, but the website author has found no record of this. If you are planning a visit:
- The village can be accessed off of the A156 trunk road south of Gainsborough. The A156 runs through the village itself.
- Bus service is provided via route 357 of the Linconshire Road Car's service between Lincoln and Gainsborough.
- There is a Protected Roadside Verge on the north side of the road into the village, maintained by the Lincolnshire Trust. Bird watching is a rewarding activity for visitors in the area.
- A popular pasttime for visitors is fishing in the Trent or playing golf on the local links.
- Some people pass the time by watching the boat traffic pass through Torksey Lock. Richard CROFT has a photograph of Torksey Lock on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2005.
- Maurice PULLIN provides a photograph and history of Torksey Lock on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2002.
- Visit our touring page for more sources.
- The parish was in the Marton sub-district of the Gainsborough 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 / 647 |
1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2411 |
1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3449 |
1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2637 |
- The Anglican Church is dedicated to Saint Peter.
- The church has an ancient origin and was partly rebuilt in 1821 and restored in 1895. The existing church has a font of Norman origin.
- Evidence of two earlier Saxon churches have been found on the south side of the village.
- The parish once was the site of the Foss Nunnery of the order of Saint Benedict, endowed about 1218 by King Henry III. There is a monument in St. Peter's churchyard to Margaret de Winton, prioress of the nunnery.
- King John founded an Augustine priory here, dedicated to Saint Leonard.
- There is a photo of St. Peter's Church at Wendy PARKINSON's site.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Peter's Church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2005.
- Mr. CROFT has a photograph of the church interior on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2009.
- Here is a photo of St. Peter's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- The Anglican parish registers exist from 1575.
- The North Lincolnshire Library holds a copy of the parish register entries for baptisms 1575-1890, burials 1653-1977 and marriages 1575-1980.
- The parish lies in the Corringham Deanery, for which there are Deanery marriage indexes.
- The Wesleyan Methodists had a small chapel here in Hardwick prior to 1913 and a larger chapel in Torskey as well. For more on these chapels and their records, check our Non-Conformist Church Records page for additional resources.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Marton sub-district of the Gainsborough Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July 1837.
- Torskey is reported in White's Directory as being the Roman station, Tiovulfingacester, built at the entrance of the Fossdyke to secure navigation and as a storehouse for grain.
- The old Roman/Saxon town of Torskey is believed to have been south of the present village.
- During the Saxon Heptarchy, Torskey was an important site. It is said that Paulinus baptised the Lindisians here in the presence of Edwin, King of Northumbria.
- Torskey is listed in the Domesday Book as a "borough town".
- It isn't clear who started the Fossdyke Canal between the River Trent and the city of Lincoln. It may have been Roman work or Saxon or even earlier. Some scholars date the work as a Roman project completed in 120AD. In 1121 it was made navigable again enhancing the status of Torksey as a port. The canal became a major route in the Middle Ages for transport of wool from the midland counties. It remained an important waterway link into the middle 1800s, after which much cargo was transported by rail.
- The parish had a station on the Retford and Lincoln branch of the Great Central railway.
- Look at the history of Torksey Castle for more information.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of Torksey Castle on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2008.
- The parish is the ancient seat of the JERMYN family.
- In 1881, all the township of Torksey was owned by the Hon. R. C. H. CUST. Alexander HUNTER owned most of the land in Hardwick township.
- In 1900 and 1913, the chief landowners in the parish were the Misses CUST of the Isle of Wight.
- The BBC tells us: Torksey Hall was built in the middle of the sixteenth century, by the wealthy JERMYN family of Suffolk, some say as a gift to an elder son, or maybe as a convenient resting place on the road to York. Whatever the reason for its building, it was to be a home for less than one hundred years before it was almost totally destroyed. The West front and part of the kitchen range is all that remains of this once impressive country house; yes, house, for it never was a Castle, nor could it have coped particularly well with any sort of attack. Maybe it was so named because of the angular projecting towers still evident today, or the crow stepped gables capping it off, giving it that crenellated 'castley' look. The Hall was constructed along the line of an earlier flood bank, close to the river but not as close as it appears today. In modern times, this area is prone to flooding every winter, the present one included. The hall was destroyed by military action during the English Civil War in the summer of 1645.
- The national grid reference is SK 8478.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer 271 map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- In 873 AD, the Danes wintered at Torskey, and were visited there by Burhred, King of Mercia, who purchased from them a short peace. These invaders settled in Lincoln and Stamford, among two of the five principal towns which they occupied, and they were not expelled until the year 941 in the reign of Edmund the Elder.
- In World War II, a fuel depot in Torksey supplied most of the fuel for the RAF in Lincolnshire.
- The name Torksey is from the Old English Turecr+eg, or "Island of a man called Turec". In the 1086 Domesday Book, the village is given as Torchesey. It's Latinised name has been rendered as Torchasium and the Saxon as Turkesige.
A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991.
- Kelly's 1900 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: ABRAHAM, AUCKLAND, BAXTER, BINGHAM, BURDALL, DAWBER, DAWSON, DENMAN, DICKINSON, GILBY, GOURLEY, HOPKINSON, LAMING, LANGLEY, LISTER, OLIVER, SAXBY, SEMPERS, SIKES, TOMLINSON, TOULE, TURNBULL, WALLACE and WILDSMITH.
- Kelly's 1913 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: AUCKLAND, BAXTER, BOWE, BURDALL, BURTON, CADE, COTTINGHAM, DAVENPORT, DENBY, DENMAN, DICKINSON, ENGLISH, GILBY, GOURLEY, HESSELL, HODCHKIN, LAMING, LANGLEY, MALTBY, MATTHEWS, PEACOCK, SCARBOROUGH, TOMLINSON, TOULE, TURNBULL and WILDSMITH.
- This place was both an ancient township and an ancient parish in Lincoln county and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
- The village of Torksey lay in the ancient Lawress Wapentake in the West Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
- Brampton was in the Well Wapentake.
- Today's district governance is provided by the West Lindsey District Council.
- The common fields at Brampton were enclosed in 1778.
- Local charities in 1913 amounted to £4 yearly left by Mr. MAKINS of Treswell.
- After the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Gainsborough Union Workhouse.
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Lincoln (Lindsey) petty session hearings.
Year |
Inhabitants |
1801 |
329 |
1831 |
404 |
1841 |
615 |
1851 |
438 |
1861 |
379 |
1871 |
203 |
1881 |
160 |
1891 |
195 |
1901 |
202 |
1911 |
183 |
1991 |
506 |
- A Public Elementary School was built here in 1870 in the Hardwick township, founded by C. H. CUST. In 1913 it had 50 students attending.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 19-April-2015
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