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Wilsford is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. It lies 4 miles (6.4 km) west-south-west of Sleaford, and 7 miles (11 km) northeast from Grantham. According to the 2001 UK census the village had a population of 392. Located off Ermine Street, the parish of Ancaster lies to the northwest and Rauceby to the northeast. The parish covers about 2,900 acres (12 km2) and includes the eastern edge of the village of Ancaster. The ancient hamlet of Hanbeck is part of the parish, now only a farm. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary. There is a deserted medieval village to the west of the village towards Ancaster. Wilsford belonged to the historical wapentake of Winnibriggs and Threo. GENUKI has more information about Wilsford. Wikipedia also notes that Wilsford was the location of Wilsford Priory, but the article includes no facts. Victoria County History - Lincolnshire A History of the County of Lincoln: Volume 2 describes it as a small Benedictine institution founded during the reign of Stephen (1135-1154) which owed its allegiance to a monastery in France. The latest year given in the description was 1387. [edit] Research TipsLincolnshire is very low-lying and land had to be drained for agriculture to be successful. The larger drainage channels, many of which are parallel to each other, became boundaries between parishes. Many parishes are long and thin for this reason. There is much fenland in Lincolnshire, particularly in the Boston and Horncastle areas. Fenlands tended to be extraparochial before the mid 1850s, and although many sections were identified with names and given the title "civil parish", little information has been found about them. Many appear to be abolished in 1906, but the parish which adopts them is not given in A Vision of Britain through Time. Note the WR category Lincolnshire Fenland Settlements which is an attempt to organize them into one list. From 1889 until 1974 Lincolnshire was divided into three administrative counties: Parts of Holland, Parts of Kesteven and Parts of Lindsey. These formal names do not fit with modern grammatical usage, but that is what they were, nonetheless. In 1974 the northern section of Lindsey, along with the East Riding of Yorkshire, became the short-lived county of Humberside. In 1996 Humberside was abolished and the area previously in Lincolnshire was made into the two "unitary authorities" of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The remainder of Lincolnshire was divided into "non-metropolitan districts" or "district municipalities" in 1974. Towns, villages and parishes are all listed under Lincolnshire, but the present-day districts are also given so that places in this large county can more easily be located and linked to their wider neighbourhoods. See the WR placepage Lincolnshire, England and the smaller divisions for further explanation.
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