Lincolnshire is a ceremonial county on the east coast of England and the second largest in the country by area. It covers 2,693 square miles (6,976 km2) and held an estimated 1,096,600 residents in 2021, across Lincolnshire County Council’s seven districts and the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.
Lincoln is the county town. Grimsby and Scunthorpe are the largest towns in the north. The county is mostly rural, grows a large share of England’s vegetables, and has more miles of coast, fen and wold than any other in the East Midlands.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Regions | East Midlands; Yorkshire and the Humber (north) |
| Area | 2,693 sq mi (6,976 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 1,096,557 (ONS estimate) |
| Population (2011 census) | 1,042,019 |
| County town | Lincoln |
| Councils | Lincolnshire County Council, 7 districts, 2 unitary authorities |
| Highest point | Normanby Top, 168 m |
| Postcode areas | LN, with parts of DN, NG and PE |
The seven county districts are Boston, East Lindsey, City of Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Holland, South Kesteven and West Lindsey. North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire have been unitary authorities since 1996.
Towns and Villages in Lincolnshire
The GeoNames gazetteer records 926 named settlements across the ceremonial county. The list below covers the 250 towns and larger villages with a recorded population; the rest are hamlets and farmsteads, many of them single-street fen and wold settlements.
- Alford
- Alkborough
- Allington
- Alvingham
- Ancaster
- Anwick
- Appleby
- Ashby cum Fenby
- Aslackby
- Bardney
- Barkston
- Barnetby le Wold
- Barrow upon Humber
- Barrowby
- Barton upon Humber
- Bassingham
- Baston
- Belchford
- Belton
- Bicker
- Billingborough
- Billinghay
- Binbrook
- Blyton
- Bonby
- Boston
- Bourne
- Bracebridge Heath
- Branston
- Brant Broughton
- Brigg
- Brookenby
- Broughton
- Burgh le Marsh
- Burringham
- Burton
- Burton upon Stather
- Burwell
- Butterwick
- Caistor
- Canwick
- Carlby
- Carlton le Moorland
- Castle Bytham
- Caythorpe
- Chapel Saint Leonards
- Claypole
- Cleethorpes
- Colsterworth
- Coningsby
- Corby Glen
- Corringham
- Cowbit
- Cranwell
- Crowland
- Crowle
- Digby
- Donington
- Donington on Bain
- Dorrington
- Dowsby
- Dunholme
- Dunston
- Eagle
- East Barkwith
- East Halton
- East Keal
- East Kirkby
- Eastoft
- Elsham
- Epworth
- Ewerby
- Faldingworth
- Fillingham
- Fishtoft
- Fleet
- Folkingham
- Fosdyke
- Fotherby
- Freiston
- Frithville
- Fulbeck
- Fulstow
- Gainsborough
- Gedney
- Gedney Hill
- Glentham
- Gosberton
- Goulceby
- Goxhill
- Grainthorpe
- Grantham
- Grasby
- Great Gonerby
- Great Limber
- Great Ponton
- Greatford
- Grimsby
- Gunness
- Habrough
- Hagworthingham
- Halton Holegate
- Harlaxton
- Harmston
- Haxey
- Healing
- Heapham
- Heckington
- Heighington
- Helpringham
- Hemswell
- Hibaldstow
- Hogsthorpe
- Holbeach
- Holbeach Clough
- Holton le Clay
- Horncastle
- Howsham
- Humberston
- Huttoft
- Immingham
- Ingoldmells
- Ingoldsby
- Keadby
- Keelby
- Kexby
- Kirmington
- Kirton
- Kirton in Lindsey
- Laceby
- Langtoft
- Langworth
- Laughton
- Leadenham
- Leasingham
- Legbourne
- Leverton
- Lincoln
- Long Bennington
- Louth
- Luddington
- Ludford Parva
- Lutton
- Mablethorpe
- Maltby le Marsh
- Manby
- Mareham le Fen
- Market Deeping
- Market Rasen
- Marston
- Martin
- Messingham
- Metheringham
- Middle Rasen
- Moulton Chapel
- Mumby
- Navenby
- Nettleham
- Nettleton
- New Bolingbroke
- New Holland
- Newton on Trent
- Nocton
- Normanton
- North Kelsey
- North Kyme
- North Scarle
- North Somercotes
- North Thoresby
- Northorpe
- Old Bolingbroke
- Old Leake
- Osbournby
- Owston Ferry
- Pinchbeck
- Pointon
- Quadring
- Redbourne
- Reepham
- Rippingale
- Ropsley
- Ruskington
- Saltfleet
- Saxby All Saints
- Saxilby
- Scamblesby
- Scawby
- Scopwick
- Scothern
- Scotter
- Scunthorpe
- Sedgebrook
- Sibsey
- Silk Willoughby
- Skegness
- Skellingthorpe
- Sleaford
- South Cockerington
- South Ferriby
- South Kelsey
- South Kyme
- South Witham
- Southrey
- Spalding
- Spilsby
- Spridlington
- Stallingborough
- Stamford
- Stickford
- Stickney
- Stow
- Sudbrooke
- Sutterton
- Sutton Bridge
- Swaton
- Swayfield
- Swinderby
- Swineshead
- Tallington
- Tetford
- Tetney
- Thorpe on the Hill
- Thurlby
- Timberland
- Toynton All Saints
- Ulceby
- Utterby
- Waddingham
- Waddington
- Wainfleet All Saints
- Walcott
- Waltham
- Washingborough
- Welbourn
- West Butterwick
- West Keal
- Whaplode
- Willingham
- Willoughton
- Wilsford
- Winteringham
- Winterton
- Withern
- Woodhall Spa
- Wootton
- Worlaby
- Wragby
- Wrangle
- Wrawby
- Wroot
Geography
Lincolnshire has four distinct landscapes. The Lincolnshire Wolds, a National Landscape, are a chalk ridge running north-west from Spilsby to the Humber, rising to 168 metres at Normanby Top. West of them the Lincoln Cliff, a narrow limestone escarpment, carries the city of Lincoln and runs south towards Grantham.
The south is Fenland: flat, drained, below sea level in places, and among the most productive arable soil in Europe. The Isle of Axholme in the north-west is a separate drained island of higher ground between the Trent and the Don.
The coast runs from the Humber estuary at Cleethorpes south past Mablethorpe and Skegness to The Wash. Much of it is sand, dune and saltmarsh behind sea defences. The main rivers are the Witham through Lincoln and Boston, the Welland through Spalding, the Trent in the west and the Ancholme in the north.
Neighbours are East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire to the west, Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire to the south-west, Cambridgeshire to the south and Norfolk across The Wash.
Demographics
The 2011 census counted 1,042,019 people across the three council areas. ONS estimated about 1,096,600 by mid-2021. Growth was concentrated in the Lincolnshire County Council area, while North East Lincolnshire lost residents over the decade.
At the 2021 census Lincoln’s built-up area held 104,565 people, Grimsby 85,911 and Scunthorpe 81,286. Boston, Grantham, Cleethorpes, Spalding and Skegness follow, each between about 25,000 and 45,000.
Density is low outside the three main towns, at roughly 160 people per square kilometre for the ceremonial county as a whole. Boston has one of the highest shares of residents born in eastern Europe of any district in England, a result of agricultural and food-processing recruitment after 2004.
Economy and Local Life
Farming and food dominate. Fen and silt soils around Boston, Spalding and Holbeach grow a large share of England’s field vegetables, potatoes, brassicas and salad, and Spalding is the centre of the cut-flower and bulb trade.
Grimsby remains the country’s main seafood processing centre, handling fish landed elsewhere as well as its own. Grimsby Traditional Smoked Fish holds protected geographical status. Scunthorpe is a steel town, with the integrated works among the last blast furnace sites in Britain.
The Humber ports carry the freight. Immingham handles more tonnage than any other UK port, mostly bulk fuels and containers, and Grimsby has become the operations and maintenance base for the North Sea offshore wind farms, including Hornsea.
The Royal Air Force is a large local employer. Coningsby, Waddington and Cranwell are all working stations, and the county’s wartime bomber airfields earned it the name Bomber County. Skegness, Mablethorpe and Cleethorpes take the summer tourist trade.
History
Lincoln began as Lindum Colonia, a Roman legionary fortress converted to a settlement for veterans. The Newport Arch still carries traffic and is the only Roman gateway in Britain still used by vehicles.
Lincoln and Stamford were two of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, and Scandinavian place-name endings run across the county. Lincoln Cathedral, completed with its central spire around 1311, is generally reckoned to have been the tallest building in the world until the spire fell in 1548. Lincoln Castle holds one of four surviving 1215 copies of Magna Carta.
Drainage transformed the south. Dutch engineers under Cornelius Vermuyden cut the main channels in the seventeenth century, turning peat marsh into arable land and setting off riots among commoners who lost grazing.
Isaac Newton was born at Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham in 1642 and worked there during the plague years. Margaret Thatcher was born above a Grantham grocer’s shop in 1925. The first tanks were built in Lincoln by William Foster and Company in 1915 and 1916.
Getting There
The A1 runs down the western edge through Grantham and Stamford. The M180 and A180 serve the Humber bank, and the A46, A15, A16, A17 and A52 link Lincoln, Boston, Skegness and Spalding. The Humber Bridge carries the A15 to Hull.
Grantham and Stamford sit on the East Coast Main Line, with London reached from Grantham in about 70 minutes. Lincoln has direct LNER services to London and links to Nottingham, Sheffield and Peterborough. TransPennine trains run to Cleethorpes via Grimsby and Scunthorpe.
Humberside Airport at Kirmington handles offshore helicopter traffic and some scheduled flights. East Midlands and Leeds Bradford are the nearest larger airports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest town in Lincolnshire?
Lincoln, with 104,565 people in its built-up area at the 2021 census, followed by Grimsby (85,911) and Scunthorpe (81,286).
How many towns and villages are there in Lincolnshire?
The GeoNames gazetteer lists 926 named settlements, of which 250 have a recorded population.
Which councils cover Lincolnshire?
Lincolnshire County Council and seven districts cover the south and centre. North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are separate unitary authorities.
Which postcode areas cover Lincolnshire?
LN covers most of the county, with DN in the north, PE in the south and NG on the western edge.
Is Lincolnshire the biggest county in England?
It is the second largest ceremonial county by area, after North Yorkshire.
What is Lincolnshire known for?
Arable and vegetable farming, the Fens, Lincoln Cathedral, RAF stations, and the seafood industry at Grimsby.