Belleau, Lincolnshire

Belleau
Church of St John the Baptist, Belleau
Belleau is located in Lincolnshire
Belleau
Belleau
Location within Lincolnshire
OS grid referenceTF402786
• London120 mi (190 km) S
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAlford
Postcode districtLN13
PoliceLincolnshire
FireLincolnshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Lincolnshire
53°17′09″N 0°06′07″E / 53.285948°N 0.101837°E / 53.285948; 0.101837

Belleau is a hamlet and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Louth, and 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Alford. The parish of Belleau includes the hamlet of Claythorpe.

According to the census of 2001, the population of Belleau in that year was eighteen, living in eight households.[1] At the time of the 2011 census, the population remained fewer than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Authorpe.

The name of the village is taken from the spring of the rivulet Eau which rises there.[2]

The Grade II listed parish church of Belleau is dedicated to St John the Baptist.[3] The church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1862. Near the church are the remains of an old manor house, the former home of the Earls of Lindsey.[2][4] Other Bellau listed buildings are a pigeoncote[5] and barn[6] at Manor Farm.

A notable Belleau resident was the Puritan leader Henry Vane the Younger.[7] Vane bought the Belleau estate after his marriage to Frances, the daughter of Sir Christopher Wray. Roger Williams, the founder of the American state of Rhode Island, dedicated one of his books to Frances after he came to stay at Belleau; he shared an interest in religious liberty with Vane.[8] Vane employed the radical clergyman John Wheelwright as a chaplain.

England international footballer Beaumont Jarrett was Rector of Belleau from 1895 to his death in 1905.[9]

  1. ^ "Neighbourhood statistics". 2001 census. Office for national statistics. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b Cox, J. Charles (1916) Lincolnshire pp. 58–59; Methuen & Co. Ltd
  3. ^ Historic England. "Church of St John the Baptist (1063630)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Bellau", Genuki.org.uk; retrieved 28 June 2011
  5. ^ Historic England. "Pigeoncote at Manor Farm (1063631)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  6. ^ Historic England. "Barn at Manor Farm (1063632)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Three Giants of American History in One Lincolnshire Hamlet: Vane, Williams and Wheelwright". 15 April 2017.
  8. ^ J Adamson and H Folland, Sir Henry Vane, Boston, 1973, p.120
  9. ^ "Beaumont Jarrett (JRT873BG)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.