St Andrew's Church, Billingborough

Billingborough is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Bourne and 10 miles south of Sleaford, and on the B1177 between Horbling and Pointon just south of the A52.

Billingborough and Horbling railway station was a station serving the villages of Billingborough, Horbling and Threekingham, Lincolnshire on the Great Northern Railway Bourne and Sleaford railway. It opened in 1872 and closed to passengers in 1930. The section from Bourne to Billingborough remained open for goods until 1964.

Sempringham is a village in the civil parish of Pointon and Sempringham, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south from the A52 road, 12 miles (19 km) east from Grantham and 8 miles (13 km) north from Bourne. The hamlet is on the western edge of the Lincolnshire Fens, the closest village being Billingborough, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the north on the B1177 road. Sempringham is noted as the home of Gilbert of Sempringham, the son of the lord of the manor. Gilbert is the only English Saint to have founded a monastic order, the Gilbertines. In 1921 the parish had a population of 112. On 1 April 1931 the parish was abolished to form "Pointon and Sempringham".Sempringham consists of a church and a holy well, with other houses east from the church scattered along the B1177 between Pointon and Billingborough. The church stands at an altitude of about 52 feet (16 m), on land rising out of flat fenland. Pointon is the chief township of the civil parish, which includes Millthorpe and the fens of Pointon, Neslam and Aslackby, and a part of Hundred Fen at Gosberton Clough. Formerly, Birthorpe, now part of Billingborough, was included in the parish. The parish church is a Grade I listed building, dedicated to Saint Andrew and dating from 1170. It was restored and the chancel rebuilt in 1868-69 by Edward Browning.Sempringham is noted in the Domesday account as "Stepingeham" in the Aveland Hundred of Kesteven. In 1086 the manor consisted of 35 households, 8 villagers, 2 smallholders and 14 freemen, with 4.3 ploughlands, a meadow of 11 acres (0.045 km2) and woodland of 7 acres (0.028 km2). In 1066 Earl Morcar was Lord of the Manor, which was transferred to Jocelyn, son of Lambert in 1086, with Tenant-in-chief as Alfred of Lincoln.In the early 17th century, Sempringham was a centre of the Puritan movement in Lincolnshire. Samuel Skelton, curate of Sempringham, sailed to Massachusetts Bay in 1628 with the first group of Puritan settlers, who landed in Salem. Another member of the Sempringham congregation at the time was the young Anne Dudley, later Anne Bradstreet, the colony's first published poet.

Horbling is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the B1177, 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Sleaford, 14.5 miles (23 km) north-east of Grantham and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of Billingborough. Village population recorded in the 2001 census was 397 in 162 households.

Pointon and Sempringham is a civil parish in the English county of Lincolnshire. Forming part of the non-metropolitan district of South Kesteven its main populated places are Sempringham, Pointon and Millthorpe. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 532.

Birthorpe is a hamlet in the civil parish of Billingborough, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated less than 1 mile (2 km) west from Billingborough and the B1177 Pointon Road, and 2 miles (3 km) east from Folkingham. Birthorpe was formerly in the parish of Semperingham, in 1866 Birthorpe became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1931 the parish was abolished and merged with Billingborough. In 1921 the parish had a population of 46.Birthorpe is regarded as a shrunken medieval village. The Manor House and farm house are listed buildings.There was a substantial manor here well before 1300: the family who owned it took their name from the village. The most notable family member was Roger de Birthorpe (died c.1345), who had a distinguished career as a judge in Ireland, becoming Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1327. Roger was a somewhat controversial figure, who fled to Ireland after being outlawed for his part in a private war with Sempringham Priory, but eventually received a royal pardon. Birthorpe passed to the Deyncourt family before 1343.

Pointon is a village in the civil parish of Pointon and Sempringham, in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. In 2021 the parish of "Pointon and Sempringham" has a population of 533. The majority of the parish's population live in Pointon. It is situated 7 miles (11.3 km) north of Bourne. Pointon is part of the ecclesiastical parish of Pointon and Sempringham. Christchurch, in Pinfold Lane, Pointon, is a 'tin tabernacle' of wood and corrugated iron; it was erected in 1893 as a chapel of ease. The parish church, dedicated to Saint Andrew, is in Sempringham. In 1885, a Kelly's Directory noted Pointon as being in the then parish of Sempringham-cum-Pointon and Birthorpe, with St Andrew's church "situated on an eminence, overlooking the Fen district, about half a mile from any residence now existing". A 1916 Lincolnshire guidebook noted: "The parish church (St Andrew) stands on a hill nearly 1 m. from its principal hamlet of Pointon".St Gilbert of Sempringham C of E Primary School, on West Road, dates from 1863. Pointon was formerly a chapelry in the parish of Sempringham, in 1866 Pointon became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1931 the parish was abolished to form "Pointon and Sempringham". In 1921 the parish had a population of 405.

Sempringham Priory was a priory in Lincolnshire, England, located in the medieval hamlet of Sempringham, to the northwest of Pointon. Today, all that remains of the priory is a marking on the ground where the walls stood and a square, which are identifiable only in aerial photos of the vicinity. However, the parish church of St Andrew's, built around 1100 AD, is witness to the priory standing alone in a field away from the main road.The priory was built by Gilbert of Sempringham, the only English saint to have founded a monastic order. The priory's religious accentuation as an important religious pilgrimage site began when St Gilbert established the Gilbertine Order in 1131 by inducting "seven maidens" who were his pupils. Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, helped in establishing the religious buildings to the north of St Andrew's Church as a protected area.St Gilbert died at Sempringham in 1189 and was buried in the priory church. He was canonised on 13 October 1202, for the many miracles noted at his tomb in the priory. His name is prefixed to the Sempringham Priori, which is known as "St Gilbert Sempringham Priory," and is thus a well-visited pilgrimage centre. The priory, which functioned as a dual community made up of canons and nuns, was dissolved in 1538. The Clinton family, who took possession of the priory, demolished it completely without leaving any trace of it on the ground. They built a mansion from the building material they extracted from the demolished structure.

Stow Fair was an English medieval fair inaugurated in 1233 and held at Stow Green Hill in Lincolnshire.The Prior of Sempringham was granted permission in 1268 to hold this annual fair, from 23 to 25 June, confirming an earlier charter. The fair continued until living memory, being run as a horse fair until 1954. It seems likely that earlier fairs were held on the same days, one of which is the feast day of St Ætheldreda, long associated with the site. Historian Graham Platts' view is that there should be scepticism over a belief that the fair developed from earlier summer solstice rites.The North Kesteven Council has erected an information board at the site, with historical text and a photograph of the horse fair in 1908.

Swaton is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the B1394 road, less than 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north from the A52 road, and 6 miles (9.7 km) south-east of Sleaford. Swaton Fen lies to the east. The Swaton Eau river rises to the west and runs through the village until it joins the South Forty-Foot Drain. Before the draining of the Fens the Swaton Eau was navigable and a large inland port existed close to the current bridge. The Roman Car Dyke runs to the east of the village. Roman brick pits remain. The name comes from "Suavetone" or "Swaffa’s Farmstead".The cruciform Church of St Michael is a Grade I listed building. Nichola de la Haye, a lady who served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire for King John, died in Swaton on 20 November 1230.In 1240 William II Longespée and his wife Idonea, Nichola's granddaughter, applied for and were granted a royal charter to run a Friday market in the village. This grant was unsuccessfully challenged by residents of Folkingham and Sleaford who feared it would damage their own Saturday and Monday markets.Swaton Vintage Day is held each June. The village also hosts the annual World Egg Throwing competition. Egg throwing in this village started c. 1322 when the new Abbot of Swaton, controlling all poultry in the village, used them to provide eggs as alms to those that attended church. When the Eau was in flood these were hurled over the swollen river to waiting peasants.

Bridgend Priory was a monastic house in Horbling, Lincolnshire, England. The priory was founded around 1199 by Godwin the Rich of Lincoln, a benefactor to the Gilbertine Order of Sempringham Priory. At Bridgend he gave the chapel of Saint Saviour and lands and tenements for the maintenance of a house for canons, and bound them to keep in repair the causeway through the fens called Holland Bridge and the bridges over it as far as the dike near Donington, which the canons found a heavy burden, and often complaints were made about the state of repair. In 1333 the prior appeared before Parliament and claimed their property was barely enough for the maintenance of the canons, and the repair of the causeway was only a secondary concern to them. It is unlikely that there were ever more than three or four canons and a few lay brothers at this priory. In 1356 Edward III granted the right of holding a weekly market in Bridgend and of a yearly fair on the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, and a year later granted another fair on the Feast of Saint Luke. In February 1445 a fire devastated the church and monastic buildings, and Alnwick Bishop of Lincoln issued an indulgence of forty days to all who should contribute before Michaelmas to the relief of the priory. At the dissolution the house had become a cell of Sempringham, and was surrendered as part of the possessions of it in September 1538.Stones from the priory were used to build nearby Priory Farm.

Threekingham (sometimes Threckingham or Tricengham) is a village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 233. It is situated on the A52 Grantham to Boston road, 6 miles (10 km) south from Sleaford, and close to the A15 Threekingham Bar roundabout. Mareham Lane, the Roman Road aligned with King Street, crosses the A15 at Threekingham.