Vaudey Abbey

South Kesteven was a rural district in Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven in England from 1931 to 1974. It was formed under a County Review Order in 1931, by the merger of the Bourne Rural District and the Uffington Rural District. It continued in existence until 1974, when it was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972, going on to form part of a larger South Kesteven non-metropolitan district.

Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England 4 miles (6.4 km) north-west of Bourne on the A151. It lies within a 3,000 acre (12 km2) park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown. While Grimsthorpe is not a castle in the strict sense of the word, its character is massive and martial – the towers and outlying pavilions recalling the bastions of a great fortress in classical dress. Grimsthorpe has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516. The present owner is Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, granddaughter of Nancy Astor, who died at Grimsthorpe in 1964.

Grimsthorpe is a hamlet in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A151 road, and 3 miles (5 km) north-west from Bourne. Grimsthorpe falls within the civil parish of Edenham, which is governed by Edenham Grimsthorpe Elsthorpe & Scottlethorpe Parish Council.Grimsthorpe Castle is 500 yards (460 m) to the west.John Marius Wilson's 1870 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Grimsthorpe as: a hamlet in Edenham parish, Lincoln; on the river Glen, 1½ mile W of Edenham village. Pop., 135. Grimsthorpe Park was the seat once of the Duke of Ancaster, afterwards of Lord Gwyder; is now the seat of Lord Willoughby d'Eresby; was built partly in the time of Henry III., but principally by the Duke of Suffolk, to entertain Henry VIII.; is a large, irregular, but magnificent structure; and stands in an ornate park, about 16 miles in circuit. A Cistertian abbey, founded about 1451, by the Earl of Albemarle, and called Vallis Dei, or, vulgarly, Vaudy, formerly stood in the park, about a mile from the castle.Vaudey Abbey was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1147, dissolved in 1536. The Abbey and its commercial quarries became part of Grimsthorpe Park. The park itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book.The majority of employment in the village is in agriculture, at Grimsthorpe Castle, or at the Black Horse public house.

Swinstead is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 5 miles (8.0 km) west from Bourne, 9 miles (14.5 km) north from Stamford and 11 miles (17.7 km) south-east from Grantham. It is a village of just over 100 households, the population of the civil parish being measured at 234 in the 2011 census. Swinstead parish church is dedicated to St Mary. The village's last public house closed in 2008, and the nearest amenities are 2 miles (3.2 km) away at Corby Glen. Adjacent villages include Creeton, Swayfield and Grimsthorpe. England international footballer Beaumont Jarrett was vicar of Swinstead from 1883 to 1895.In William Shakespeare's King John, King John stayed in "Swinsted Abbey", but it is Swineshead Abbey that he stayed: this confusion was common in late-sixteenth century texts, for Swinstead is about 25 miles from Swineshead.

Edenham railway station was a station in Edenham, Lincolnshire. It was the terminus of a four-mile branch line from the Great Northern Railway at Little Bytham. The line was built and operated by the Edenham & Little Bytham Railway (E&LBR). It was opened on 8 December 1857. The station closed to passengers on 17 October 1871. Freight traffic continued until about 1884, when the line closed.

Bourne was a rural district in Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven from 1894 to 1931. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Bourne rural sanitary district. In 1931, under a County Review Order, it was abolished, with its area going to form part of the new South Kesteven Rural District.

Edenham ( EDD-ən-əm) is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Bourne, and on the A151 road. While the civil parish is called 'Edenham', the parish council is called Edenham, Grimsthorpe, Elsthorpe & Scottlethorpe Parish Council. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 291.

Scottlethorpe is a village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north-west from Bourne, and on the A151 road. The village is within the civil parish of Edenham; the local area is part of the Grimsthorpe Castle estate. The modern settlement is a series of cottages and a small terrace of houses extending along Scottlethorpe Lane between the modern village of Edenham and the site of the medieval chapel. Scottlethorpe is mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Scachertorp" within the Beltisloe wapentake, and consisting of 3 households and 1.3 ploughlands. In 1086 the Lord of the Manor and Tenant-in-chief became Robert of Tosny.There were medieval chapels in the area, one at Scottlethorpe, and others wider afield. The remains of the 12th-century chapel at Scottlethorpe survived as part of a barn at Manor Farm. However, the barn doorway might have come not from the chapel, but from Vaudey Abbey, The doorway was moved into Edenham church in 1967.

Counthorpe is a hamlet in the civil parish of Counthorpe and Creeton in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It adjoins the hamlet of Creeton and lies 5 miles (8 km) south-west from Bourne and 3 miles (5 km) south from Corby Glen, and on the River Glen. In the Domesday account Counthorpe is written as "Cudetorp". Before the Conquest lordship was held by Earl Morcar; after, Drogo de la Beuvrière became Tenant-in-chief.Counthorpe shares the Grade I listed Anglican parish church at Creeton, dedicated to St Peter. The church is of late Decorated style. A restoration of 1851 discovered the arches and piers of a former Norman aisle. The church holds a chained bible from 1611. Two examples of Saxon crosses stand in the churchyard, with 20 stone coffins considered to mark the interment of Cistercian monks of Vallis Dei abbey in the neighbouring parish of Edenham.Counthorpe was formerly a hamlet of Castle Bytham and had, up to the 16th century, its own parochial chapel, but was annexed to Creeton in 1860.Counthorpe is recorded in the 1872 White's Directory as a small village in the parish of Castle Bytham, but which, for ecclesiastical purposes, became on 30 June 1860 united with Creeton. The village was 2 miles (3 km) from Little Bytham railway station. At this time Counthope was a township of 78 people in about 130 acres (0.5 km2) of land divided between three farms; a farmer of one of these, at Counthorpe Lodge, was also a grazier.

Elsthorpe is a hamlet in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west from the town of Bourne, and in the civil parish of Edenham. Elsthorpe lies less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the earthworks of the Elsthorpe deserted medieval village (DMV). These, on a hill ridge, consist of a sunken road, sites of buildings, and fish ponds.

South Kesteven is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England, forming part of the traditional Kesteven division of the county. Its council is based in Grantham. The district also includes the towns of Bourne, Market Deeping and Stamford, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The neighbouring districts are North Kesteven, South Holland, Peterborough, North Northamptonshire, Rutland, Melton and Newark and Sherwood.

Grantham and Stamford is a constituency in Lincolnshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Gareth Davies, a Conservative.Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency will be subject to major boundary changes, with Stamford being included in the re-established Rutland and Stamford constituency. The seat will be renamed Grantham and Bourne, to be first contested at the next general election.