Fishtoft | |
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St Guthlacs church, Fishtoft |
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Fishtoft shown within Lincolnshire | |
Population | 6,835 (2011) |
OS grid reference | TF361423 |
• London | 100 mi (160 km) S |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Boston |
Postcode district | PE21 |
Police | Lincolnshire |
Fire | Lincolnshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
EU Parliament | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Fishtoft is one of eighteen parishes which, together with Boston, form the Borough of Boston in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Local government has been arranged in this way since the reorganization of 1 April 1974, which resulted from the Local Government Act 1972. This parish forms an electoral ward in itself. Hitherto, the parish had formed part of Boston Rural District, in the Parts of Holland. Holland was one of the three divisions (formally known as parts) of the traditional county of Lincolnshire. Since the Local Government Act of 1888, Holland had been in most respects, a county in itself. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 6,835.
The origin of the place-name is from the Old Norse wordtoft meaning a building site or a curtilage. The addition of Fish in the 15th century may be a family name or may indicate a connection with fishing. The place-name appears as Toft in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as Fishtoft in 1416.
The parish lies along the north-east side of The Haven and accommodates the Pilgrim Fathers Memorial at Scotia Creek.
Fishtoft comprises three aspects - open countryside, the village of Fishtoft, and suburban overspill from Boston. The fields along Burton Croft Road are bounded by dykes which are a home to water voles (an endangered species in the United Kingdom - Fishtoft is one of only 181 sites where voles can still be found). Fishtoft has a school, an Anglican church, a shop (at Hawthron Tree Corner), and football and cricket clubs.
The parish church is dedicated to the Saxon saint St Guthlac. The stonework contains traces of Norman work. There is a reference to the church in the Domesday Book.