Blankney 1892

Whites Directory

Whites directories are a valuable source of information about locations in England during the 19th century.  Although they give a description of the location, unlike the census, they are not comprehensive, tending to give only a list of landowners and tradespeople. They are nevertheless indispensable as a research tool. This extract is taken from Whites 1892 Directory of Lincolnshire

See also other Whites entries for the Metheringham Area

BLANKNEY is a pleasant village, built chiefly in the Tudor style, on a woody plain on the eastern side of Lincoln Heath, 10 miles S.E. of Lincoln and N. of Sleaford, and 7 E. of Navenby, on the Lincoln and Grantham branch of the G.N. Railway. It is in the Parts of Kesteven, Sleaford union, county court district, and petty sessional division, Langoe wapentake, Longogoby rural deanery, and Lincoln archdeaconry. It had 627 inhabitants in 1891, and comprises about 6000 acres of land extending 11 miles in length, from the Green Man Inn (formerly a posting-house, now a farmhouse only), on the Lincoln and Sleaford road, eastward to the River Witham, though it is only about a mile in breadth. Its rateable value is £7194. It includes the hamlet of Linwood (700 acres, belonging to the exors. of the late E. G. Binks), 3 miles E.; Barf, 2 miles E.; the scattered farms of Blankey and Linwood Droves, on the fen, from 3½ to 6 miles E.; and Blankney Dales, on the west bank of the Witham, 7 miles E. by N. of the village. Blankney Hall, a large and handsome mansion, with a well-wooded lawn, is the seat of the Right Hon. Henry Chaplin, M.P. for the Sleaford Division of Lincolnshire, the lord of the manor, owner of most of the soil, and patron of the benefice.
The Church (St. Oswald), an Early English rebuilding of a still older church of the same period, comprises nave, aisles, chancel, and tower (rebuilt about sixty years ago), and south porch. It was restored in 1880, at a cost of about £3000, towards which Mr. Chaplin contributed £1000. The Chaplin aisle contains a beautiful memorial sculpture, life-size, of the late Lady Florence Chaplin, in kneeling posture, executed by the late J. E. Boehm, R.A. The east window has been filled with stained glass by the rector, parishioners, and their friends. The organ is the gift of the late Lady Florence Chaplin, and the lectern of the Duchess of Sutherland, her mother. The altar-cloth and frontal is the gift and work of the Countess Radnor and Mrs. Cecil Chaplin ; the service-book for altar, with cover and book-markers, the gift and work of the Countess Radnor. Besides the above, there are other gifts from various ladies and gentlemen. The register dates from 1553. The rectory, which was valued in K.B. at £16 10s.7d., and now at £750, is in the incumbency of the Rev. John Otter Stephens, M.A., who has 325 acres of glebe and a rectory house, in the Tudor style, a quarter of a mile west of the church, erected in 1881, at the expense of the rector. The National School, established in 1821, by the Chaplin family, is in the Elizabethan style. The Kennels of the Blankney Hunt, consisting of 30 couples, are in this parish. Major Tempest is master, and Ben Capell, huntsman. A notable thoroughbred Stud is kept here, comprising the famous horses, Galopin and Friars' Balsam. A Court of Foresters was established here in 1840, and has about 160 members.
Post Office at Mrs. Eliza Sharpe's. Letters arrive at 7.30 a.m., and are despatched at 5.30 p.m., via Lincoln. Metheringham is the nearest Money Order and Telegraph Office.

Those marked 1 should be addressed Martin, Lincoln; those 2 Stixwould Ferry, Lincoln ; those 3 Martin Dales, Lincoln ; 4 Metheringham, Lincoln; and 5 Navenby Lincoln; the word Blankney should not be used.

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