The stories behind Lincolnshire’s silliest and most unusual place names

From Fanny Hands Lane to Creampoke Crescent, Bitchfield, and Tongue End, Lincolnshire has its fair share of unusual and silly place names.

It could feel unique living in one of these places or streets – or the jokes might just be annoying.

Some have stories behind them, while others cause a chuckle or just stand out for being different.

We have compiled a list of 20 from around the county.

Fanny Hands Lane

Fanny Hands Lane in Ludford. | Photo: Google Street View

Fanny Hands Lane is located in Ludford near Market Rasen.

It reportedly got its name when land owner John Hands married a girl called Frances. In those days a lot of people called Frances were known as Fanny, so John named the street after his wife.

Bitchfield

Bitchfield is a small village near Grantham in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire.

It is said to consist of two groups of buildings connected by Dark Lane, known as Bitchfield and Lower Bitchfield – collectively called Bitchfield. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Billesfelt’ .

Both Bitchfield and Lower Bitchfield are sometimes described as “shrunken” rather than deserted medieval villages.

Basic Slag Road

Basic Slag Road is said to be in Scunthorpe Steelworks and measures approximately 1,461 metres long.

Barff Meadow

It might make you feel sick to read that there is a Barff Meadow located in Glentham near Market Rasen.

Tongue End

A photo captured 22 years ago near to Tongue End in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Rex Needle

Tongue End is a small village in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire and around six miles from Spalding.

The village is said to comprise of Victorian red-brick farmworkers’ cottages and early 20th-century council houses.

Its name is said to refer to the shape of the land between the rivers Glen and Bourne Eau.

North & South Cockerington

North Cockerington is a village in East Lindsey and around three miles from Louth.

The village is said to have no shops or public houses.

It was formerly known as Cockerington St Mary, distinguishing it from Cockerington St Leonard, now South Cockerington.

In the parish church in South Cockerington is a 15th-century font and an alabaster monument to Sir Adrian Scrope who died in 1623.

Breakneck Lane

Breakneck Lane is located in Louth and walkers have reported hearing a phantom horse on the street.

“Many years ago a horseman was galloping through this way and was thrown and flung at great force against the the high wall, breaking his neck, hence the name,” according to a YouTube video by Sean McNeaney`s History and Folklore.

He added: “For many years it was said that the ghostly renactment of the fatal journey could be heard in the form of galloping hooves.”

The Glory Hole

Glory Hole in Lincoln, linking with Water Lane. | Photo: Richard Croft

The Glory Hole is the name given by generations of boaters to the High Bridge in Lincoln.

Its small crooked arch sets a limit on the size of boats which can successfully navigate the Witham.

In the medieval period, the bridge opening was also called called the ‘Murder Hole’ for it was said that bodies thrown into the Witham would wash ashore at this spot.

New York

You wouldn’t be taking a bite out of the Big Apple if you visited the lesser-known New York.

New York in Lincolnshire is a hamlet in the East Lindsey District of the county. It is in the parish of Wildmore in the Lincolnshire Fens on the B1192 near Coningsby.

A Methodist church was built in the New York in 1872 and is said to have been purchased at auction by a private buyer in July 2011.

‘Fatty bum bum’

A side street on Westcroft Drive has been humorously titled “fatty bum bum” on Google Maps.

In the summer of 2021 a driveway near Lincoln was given a rather amusing name.

The driveway which has three houses alongside it on Westcroft Drive in Saxilby is officially part of that street. At the time of publication of our story, the three houses were unofficially situated on ‘Fatty bum bum’, but it was unclear as to how and why it was given that name.

Belchford

You may not want to have too many fizzy drinks before visiting the village of Belchford in East Lindsey, which is surrounded by steep hills and deep valleys.

The village is situated around four miles north of Horncastle and its history dates back to the Romans and Vikings. In 1536, during the Reformation, the vicar of Belchford was said to have been hanged, drawn and quartered for treason after leading a rebellion against the crown.

It has also hosted the Belchford Downhill Challenge, a competition for gravity powered soapbox carts, sidecar outfits and bicycles that race down a half mile course on a steep closed public road at up to 50mph.

Cock Hill

In the town of Burgh le Marsh in East Lindsey, there is a large earthen mound near the parish St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church.

Excavations in the 1930s are said to have found Saxon burial remains there and there is a dip in the top of the mound. Some researchers suggest that it was a site for cockfighting.

To this day the mound is known as Cock Hill.

Muckton

Muckton is a village in the Lincolnshire Wolds, a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but this place sounds too ‘dirty’ to be situated there.

Muckton is lies between the A16 and A157 roads around five miles from Louth and is in the civil parish of Burwell.

It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Muchetune” and is listed as having nine households, with Ansgot of Burwell as Lord of the Manor.

Creampoke Crescent is in the village of Hemswell Cliff near Gainsborough. | Photo: Google Street View

Creampoke Crescent is in the village of Hemswell Cliff near Gainsborough and is said to measure approximately 152 metres long, while Holton cum Beckering, a small village in West Lindsey, may cause a few chuckles.

However, it might be difficult to meet people at No Man’s Friend Farm in Revesby.

Thompson’s Bottom is a hamlet which includes a farmstead and it is located in the district of North Kesteven, 10 miles south from Lincoln.

Butt Lane in Walcott near Lincoln is naturally near the ‘bottom’ of the list too, 19th to be precise, but it felt only natural to end with the hamlet of Twenty, which is located around three miles from Bourne in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire.

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