Welcome to Kirton in Lindsey – take a look around….
Kirton in Lindsey is a historic rural market town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England.
The town is situated half on top, and half on the side of part of Lincoln Cliff making for some unique geography, challenging hills and views stretching across the Trent Valley to South Yorkshire.
Kirton in Lindsey appears in the Domesday Book as ‘Chirchetone’. The modern meaning is ‘town of the church’ and this, along with the agricultural history of the town, is commemorated in ‘Grandad’s Plough’, a statue at the top of Traingate.
Kirton in Lindsey can be traced back to Roman times. It has always been an important local centre. Its medieval Market Place is still the heart of the town now over looked by the Diamond Jubilee Town Hall. There are now independent shops along the High Street and in the historic Market Place which has limited car parking available. Here you will also find the Town Hall, built in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
An aerodrome was built close to the town in 1916 at Manton. A larger aerodrome was opened during the Second World War in May 1940. Many Defiant and Spitfire Squadrons rested here for a short time. Subsequently the aerodrome became an Army base housing the Northumberland Fusiliers and other regiments. In 2004 it was returned to RAF control and became the home of No.1 Air Control Centre (1ACC). Former RAF Kirton in Lindsey is situated between the B1400 and B1398 at the top of the ridge to the south-east of the town, it closed at the end of March 2012. A memorial to the site is located at the junction of the roads and a detailed information board is located near the town War Memorial on North Cliff Road.
Kirton in Lindsey's church has played an important part in the layout of the town, leading to it often being known as a 'town of two halves'. The bottom half of the town is a fascinating maze of narrow, winding streets twisting around the church building. The church is part of a local ecumenical partnership and is known as St Andrew’s United Church. Whilst it remains a traditional Anglican parish church, worship and mission are shared with Kirton in Lindsey’s Methodist and Baptist churches and people of all Christian traditions worship and work together in the one place. The nearby former Baptist church is now used as the Church Halls and is a valued community space.
The 19th century saw the rise and fall of a gasworks, an ironworks, a lime works and a number of quarries mining differing stones and clays suitable for building stone and for making bricks. Many of Kirton in Lindsey's remaining older buildings are made from local limestone and fired brick, giving the town the look it has today. Aside from this, the town's economy was historically mainly agricultural with at least four windmills.
One iconic remaining feature of the town is Mount Pleasant Windmill, situated along North Cliff Road.
In 1849 the railway came to Kirton in Lindsey which still provides a daily passenger service Monday to Friday. The railway station is found along Station Road on the outskirts of the town, from the platform you can see the grand Victorian ‘castellated’ tunnel entrance.
Sporting facilities are provided at KLASSIC Park at Ings Road, opened in 2013. The area includes a large field and pavilion and is a Charity in its own right, formed by local residents who wanted to provide sporting opportunities in the town. A large play area is located the town Green, off King Edward Street.
Kirton in Lindsey is primarily now a commuter town with a number of small local shops and services centred around the Market Place and along High Street. There are also a number of businesses throughout the town. There are a number of historic and listed buildings and the town is steeped in history and it is a fascinating rural town to find out more about. Information about some of these is available on the Tourist Information boards in the middle of the Market Place.
Link to our 2023 town map developed in conjunction with The Kirton in Lindsey Society.
Welcome to Kirton in Lindsey take a look around...
Kirton in Lindsey Community Information.
For information about the wealth of groups and activities which happen in the town, please see www.kirtoninlindsey.com a central point for information about our town which was developed with grant funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Kirton in Lindsey Town Council in 2024.