South Somercotes

The Library at Louth will prove useful in your research.

Peter WOOD has a photograph of St. Peter and part of its burial ground on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2019.

• The parish was in the Saltfleet sub-district of the Louth Registration District.
   
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter.
   
• The church was originally constructed about 1200.
   
• The spire was added to the tower circa 1450.
   
• The church underwent extensive repairs in 1866 and again in 1896.
   
• The church seats 240.
   
• The church is a Grade I listed building with British Heritage.
   
• There is a photograph of Saint Peter's church on the Wendy PARKINSON Church Photos web site.
   
• Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Peter's Church on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2006.
   
• J. HANNAN-BRIGGS has a striking view of the church tower also on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2012.
   
• The church has been nicknamed the "Queen of the Marsh" and its tower and spire have long been a navigation aide for local fishermen and boaters.
   
• The church no longer has weekly services and it is in the hands of the Churches Conservation Trust.

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1558.
   
• We have the beginnings of a Parish Register Extract in a text file. Your additions are welcome.
   
• The Lincolnshire FHS has published several Marriage indexes and a Burial index for the Louthesk Deanery to make your search easier.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here in 1869 to replace a small one they erected in 1813. There was also a Free Methodist chapel built in 1854, replaced in 1872.
   
• For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
   
• CHRIS ? has a photograph of the Old Methodist Chapel on Geo-graph, taken in 2006.
   
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.

• The parish was in the Saltfleet sub-district of the Louth Registration District.
   
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.

South Somercotes is a village and a parish 8 miles northeast of Louth. The parish covers almost 2,600 acres and includes the hamlet of Scupholme.

If you are planning a visit:

• Billingsgate is a hamlet just north of the village.
   
• Steven FAREHAM has a photograph of Billingsgate on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2015.
   
• See our touring page for visitor services.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from South Somercotes to another place.

• It's not something you see in every village. Chris ? has a photograph of the chicken house just north of the village on Geo-graph, taken in December, 2012.
   
• The parish had a Public House around 1900 called the "Blue Bell." It is now considered a "lost pub". The Anchor Inn appears to have opened just before 1900. These are the names associated with the Blue Bell in various directories:

• See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference TF416938 (Lat/Lon: 53.421994, 0.129403), South Somercotes which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• In the churchyard is a cross erected in memory of the 5 men of the parish who fell in World War I. It has a crusader's sword carved on the face.
   
• Charles has a photograph of the War Memorial for us (Charles retains the copyright):
   

Ian S. has a closeup of the plaque at the base of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2013.

The names on the War Memorial are:

1. Harold Isaac Dunham
2. Joseph Edcar Dunham
3. Richard Hoodless Sinderson
4. Arthur Birkett Smith
5. Arthur Wilson

Micahel GARLICK has a photograph of the Frederick Freshney memorial on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2016.

• This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• The parish was in the Marsh division of the ancient Louth Eske Wapentake in the East Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
   
• For today's district governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Louth petty session hearings.
   
• In 1620 John LOWRIE left a yearly rent-charge of 10 shillings for the poor.
   
• After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish was part of the Louth Poor Law Union.
   

Year	Inhabitants
1801	284
1831	320
1871	455
1881	435
1891	415
1911	314

• A Church School was built here in 1846 and enlarged in 1871 to hold 120 children. At that time, each child paid a pence per week to attend.
   
• See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.