Hemswell | |
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All Saints Church, Hemswell |
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Hemswell shown within Lincolnshire | |
Population | 309 (2001) |
OS grid reference | SK930909 |
• London | 130 mi (210 km) S |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Gainsborough |
Postcode district | DN21 |
Police | Lincolnshire |
Fire | Lincolnshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
EU Parliament | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Hemswell is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated just north of the A631 on the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, 2 miles (3 km) west from Caenby Corner and 7 miles (11 km) east from Gainsborough. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 309.
In Domesday Hemswell is written as “Helmeswelle”, a settlement of 37 households, which before 1086 was under the lordship of Earl Edwin.
Aerial photographs have shown ancient medieval settlement on the edge of the village, and 18th-century enclosure maps indicate a larger village area than now exists and the site of a medieval church. earthworks have been defined through crop markings and hollow ways, ditched enclosures, embankments and foundations of buildings that indicate the existence of crofts.
Hemswell Grade II* listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints. Originating in the 13th century it was partially rebuilt in 1764, when a new tower was added, and in 1858, when the rest of the church was replaced. An internal Early English three-bay north arcade remains, as does a 13th-century Decorated sedilia on the south wall of the chancel. The font bears the arms of the Monson family. A further listed church, St Edmund’s on Spital-in-the-Street Road, is a converted 16th-century quarter sessions court house.