Silk Willoughby

Quarrington is a village and former civil parish, now part of the civil parish of Sleaford, in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The old village and its church lie approximately 1 miles (2 km) south-west from the centre of Sleaford. Suburban housing developments at New Quarrington and Quarrington Hill effectively link the two settlements. Bypassed by the A15, it is connected to Lincoln and Peterborough, as well as Newark and King's Lynn (via the A17). At the 2011 census, Quarrington and Mareham ward, which incorporates most of the settlement, had an estimated population of 7,046. Quarrington was a rural community during the early and middle Anglo-Saxon period while mills along the River Slea in the Middle Ages gave the village its likely alternative name of Millthorpe. The Bishop of Lincoln and Ramsey Abbey held manors in Quarrington after the Norman Conquest, but the Carre family of Sleaford were the principal land-owners between 1559 and 1683, when its estate passed by marriage to the Marquesses of Bristol. Although the growth of Victorian Sleaford saw the town encroach into the parish's boundaries, the old village remained a small cluster of farm buildings and cottages for much of its history. The sale of most of the surrounding farmland by successive Marquesses of Bristol in the late 20th century led to the rapid development of residential estates on Quarrington Hill and in New Quarrington which have engulfed the original settlement. Low crime rates, affordable housing, high standards of living and access to good schools have attracted home-buyers to the area, contributing to a sharp rise in the population. The medieval St Botolph's Church, a grade II* listed building, lies at the heart of the old village and remains a hub for the Anglican community. The village's primary school serves local children, who continue their secondary education in one of Sleaford's three secondary schools. The nearest railway station on the Grantham to Skegness and Peterborough to Lincoln lines is in Sleaford. In the 19th century, the most common employment was in agriculture and more than half of the village's population were farm labourers. By 2011, most residents were employed in the wholesale and retail trades, public administration and defence, human health and social work, and manufacturing.

St Botolph's Church is an Anglican church in Quarrington in Lincolnshire, England. The area has been settled since at least the Anglo-Saxon period, and a church existed at Quarrington by the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, when it formed part of Ramsey Abbey's fee. It was granted to Haverholme Priory in 1165, and the Abbey claimed the right to present the rector in the 13th century. It was then taken ownership of by the Bishop of Lincoln during the English Reformation in the early 16th century, and then passed to Robert Carre and his descendants after Carre acquired a manor at Quarrington. With capacity for 124 people, the church serves the ecclesiastic parish of Quarrington with Old Sleaford. Recognised for its age and tracery, the church has been designated a grade II* listed building. It has a tower and spire with a nave and north aisle ending at a chancel at the east end. The oldest parts of the building date to the 13th century, although substantial rebuilding took place over the following century. Renovations followed, and the local architect Charles Kirk the Younger carried out restoration work in 1862–63, when he added the chancel in his parents' memory. The high interior's three bays of arcading correspond to the three windows in the nave's south wall and the north aisle wall; those on the south wall are unusual for the hexagons and trefoils in the reticulated designs.

Aswarby and Swarby is a civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Aswarby (pronounced locally as "as-r-bee") is the ecclesiastical parish formed in 1850 from the two ancient parishes of Asarby and Swarby. The civil parish of Asarby and Swarby also includes Crofton. The parish therefore consists of both Aswarby and Swarby. The village of Aswarby and Swarby lies 3.5 miles (6 km) from Sleaford, the closest town to it, and 14 miles (23 km) from Grantham. The nearest station to Aswarby and Swarby is that of Rauceby, approximately 8 miles (13 km) north from the village. Aswarby should not be confused with Aswardby, which is also in Lincolnshire, but about 35 miles (56 km) North-East of Aswarby. Aswarby (St. Denis), is a parish in the union of Sleaford, wapentake of Aswardhurn, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Folkingham.

Swarby is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Aswarby and Swarby, in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, approximately 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest of Sleaford, 900 yards (820 m) west of the A15 road and 1 mile (1.6 km) to the northwest of Aswarby. In 1921 the parish had a population of 141. On 1 April 1931 the parish was abolished to form "Aswarby and Swarby".The village name is Scandinavian in origin, and comes from the Old Norse for a farmstead or village of a person named 'Svarri'.The parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and All Saints and is a Grade II* listed building dating from the 13th century. It was restored in 1886 and the south aisle dates from the same time. The west tower is 15th-century. On the north wall of the chancel is a rectangular ashlar wall plaque to Anthony Williams who died in 1681.Swarby CE School was built in 1859, and closed in 1971.A tornado swept through the village on 28 June 2012. It uprooted many trees, lifted a trampoline hundreds of feet and caused a garage roof to collapse while removing tiles from houses.

Rauceby Hospital, originally called Kesteven County Asylum, is a now-defunct mental institution in the parish of Quarrington, Lincolnshire, England. Originally opened in 1902, the main hospital building was closed in 1997 and the site has since been redeveloped.

Sleaford Castle is a medieval castle in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England. Built by the Bishop of Lincoln in the early 1120s, it was habitable as late as 1555 but fell into disrepair during the latter half of the 16th century. Two English monarchs are known to have stayed at the castle, King John and Henry VIII.

Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington to the south-west, Holdingham to the north and Old Sleaford to the east. The town is on the edge of the fertile Fenlands, 11 miles (18 kilometres) north-east of Grantham, 16 mi (26 km) west of Boston, and 17 mi (27 km) south of Lincoln. Its population of 17,671 at the 2011 Census made it the largest settlement in the North Kesteven district; it is the district's administrative centre. Bypassed by the A17 and the A15, it is linked to Lincoln, Newark, Peterborough, Grantham and King's Lynn. The first settlement formed in the Iron Age where a prehistoric track crossed the River Slea. It was a tribal centre and home to a mint for the Corieltauvi in the 1st centuries BC and AD. Evidence of Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement has been found. During the period of Danelaw, the area was actively populated. There are not only many names of places in the area that end in -by or -thorpe, but also the -gate ending of streets in Sleaford itself (North Gate, Eastgate, Westgate, South Gate and Watergate). All these bear witness to a population with a profoundly Scandinavian origin. The medieval records differentiate between Old and New Sleaford, the latter emerging by the 12th century around the present-day market place and St Denys' Church; Sleaford Castle was also built at that time for the Bishops of Lincoln, who owned the manor. Granted the right to hold a market in the mid-12th century, New Sleaford developed into a market town and became locally important in the wool trade, while Old Sleaford declined. From the 16th century, the landowning Carre family kept tight control over the town – it grew little in the early modern period. The manor passed from the Carre family to the Hervey family by the marriage of Isabella Carre to John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol in 1688. The town's common land and fields were legally enclosed by 1794, giving ownership mostly to the Hervey family. This coincided with canalisation of the Slea. The Sleaford Navigation brought economic growth until it was superseded by the railways in the mid-1850s. In the 20th century, the sale of farmland around Sleaford led to the development of large housing estates. Sleaford was mainly an agricultural town until the 20th century with a cattle market. Seed companies such as Hubbard and Phillips and Sharpes International were established in the late 19th century. The arrival of the railway made the town favourable for malting, but the industry has since declined. In 2011, the commonest occupations were in wholesale and retail trading, health and social care, public administration, defence and manufacturing. Regeneration of the town centre has helped to regenerate the earlier industrial areas, including construction of the National Centre for Craft & Design (The Hub) on an old wharf.

London Road is a cricket ground in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. It is the home of Sleaford Cricket Club and an occasional venue for Lincolnshire County Cricket Club. The ground was established in 1851, when Sleaford played an All-England Eleven. In 1860 and 1864, two first-class matches were played on the ground in the North v South fixtures. The first Minor Counties Championship match played on the ground was in 1912 between Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. To date the ground has hosted 45 Minor Counties matches.The first List-A match played on the ground came in 1983 NatWest Trophy between Lincolnshire and Surrey. From 1983 to 2002, the ground hosted five List-A matches, the last of which came in the 2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy between Lincolnshire and Glamorgan.

Sleaford railway station serves the town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the Peterborough–Lincoln line. The station is 21 miles (34 km) south of Lincoln Central. The station is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway who provide all rail services.

Sleaford Islamic Centre, also known as Sleaford Mosque, is a mosque in the town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, England.

The Playhouse is a theatre in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England. It is a Grade II listed Georgian building dating from 1820. The building became a school in the 1850s, and after serving several other purposes reopened as a theatre in 2000.

Westholme House is a historic building in the English market town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, set in 32 acres of parkland and school grounds. Built around 1849 in the style of a French Gothic mansion by Charles Kirk for his business partner Thomas Parry, it was privately owned until the 1940s, when Kesteven County Council acquired the house and its grounds. It subsequently served as the county library and part of Sleaford Secondary Modern School (later St George's Academy). The stone house follows an asymmetrical layout and incorporates a range of Gothic elements in its design. In 1974, it was recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, recognising it as of "special interest".