Kesteven


The Parts of Kesteven are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration, along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland.

Etymology

The name Kesteven is first attested in the late tenth century Latin translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by Æthelweard, in the form Ceoftefne. The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chetsteven and from 1185 as Ketsteuene. The first part of the name comes from the Common Brittonic word *ceto-, still found in Modern Welsh as coed. The second element is the Old Norse word stefna. The name, therefore, means "meeting place at Coed, i.e. the wood".

Administrative areas

Wapentakes and Sokes

Historically, Lincolnshire was divided into wapentakes, hundreds and sokes. The following made up Kesteven:
The three parts were given separate elected county councils in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888, and recognised as administrative counties. Kesteven lies in the south-west of Lincolnshire. It includes the towns of:
Under the Local Government Act 1894 Kesteven was divided into a number of rural district and urban districts based on earlier sanitary districts:
  • Bourne Rural District
  • Branston Rural District
  • Grantham Rural District
  • Claypole Rural District
  • Sleaford Rural District
  • Uffington Rural District
The urban districts and boroughs were:
  • Bourne
  • Bracebridge
  • Grantham
  • Ruskington
  • Sleaford
  • Stamford
Bourne Urban District was abolished in 1920, with Bourne becoming a parish in Bourne Rural District. Bracebridge became part of the county borough of Lincoln that same year, becoming associated with the Parts of Lindsey.

Local Government Act 1929

The rural districts were re-organised by a County Review Order in 1929, to create four new districts named after points of the compass:
  • East Kesteven Rural District
  • North Kesteven Rural District
  • South Kesteven Rural District
  • West Kesteven Rural District

    Local Government Act 1972

These separate county councils were abolished in 1974 and Lincolnshire had a single county council for the first time, although the names of the Parts survive in some of the names of district councils. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the four rural districts in Kesteven, along with the boroughs and urban district, merged into two district councils: