| Kirton | |
St Peter and St Paul, Kirton |
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Kirton
Kirton shown within Lincolnshire |
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| Population | 4,019 |
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| OS grid reference | TF304385 |
| District | Boston |
| Shire county | Lincolnshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BOSTON |
| Postcode district | PE20 |
| Dialling code | 01205 |
| Police | Lincolnshire |
| Fire | Lincolnshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Boston and Skegness |
| List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire | |
Kirton, or Kirton in Holland is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Boston, in Lincolnshire, England.
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Kirton is on the A16, B1397 and B1192 south of Boston, near Frampton and Sutterton. Several satellite villages and hamlets take their name from Kirton, including Kirton Holme, Kirton End, Kirton Fen, Kirton Skeldyke, and Kirton Marsh. Until 1970, the village had the Kirton railway station.
Local governance of the village was reorganised on 1 April 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. Kirton parish forms its own electoral ward.
Kirton falls within the drainage area of the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board.[1]
Kirton was the seat of Lincolnshire's first Saxon kings, later becoming a market town.[2]
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 historic county boundaries of Lincolnshire. Since the Local Government Act of 1888, Holland had been in most respects, a county in itself.
The parish church is dedicated to St Peter & St Paul.[3] The transepts had double aisles like those of Algarkirk[4] and Spalding[5] but in 1804 the central tower and transepts were pulled down and the chancel shortened, the architect (Hayward) using gunpowder to remove the tower. Rebuilding was completed by 1809. In 1900 a restoration of the church was undertaken by architect Hodgson Fowler.[6]
In 1624 Thomas Middleworth was empowered by Act of Parliament to found a Free Grammar School. From 1773 the (head) master Rev. Charles Wildbar, and later his son by the same name, were discovered to have been expropriating school income for their own use. The scandal wasn't addressed until 1851. Under a scheme of the Endowed School Act the school was ranked as a "second-grade" Grammar School.[6]
The village now has a secondary modern school: the Middlecott School.
The Kirton Research Centre, which was closed in 2009 by the University of Warwick, is nearby. Ownership of the 120-acre (0.49 km2) station was transferred from DEFRA to the University of Warwick in April 2004 and became part of Horticulture Research International. However in August 2008, the University decided to close the station[7] as it was making a £280,000 loss each year. It researched cut flowers and broccoli.[8]