Scothern
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scothern is a small, relatively unspoiled, village in West Lindsey, 6 miles NE of Lincoln, England, with approximately 750 inhabitants.
Scothern can trace its name at least as far back as the fifteenth century, when it was listed in church records as Sconethorne, an early reference to the local scone, made from local wheatflour and saffron. Up to the mid seventeenth century an annual festival took place on the village green to celebrate the scone, and Scothern's then links with the saffron growing areas of Essex, (notably Saffron Walden). Since that time, which coincides with the time at which the Marfleet family (from whom the original Saffron recipe derived) left the area, following the great famine of 1624, the festival has ceased to be observed. A crocus symbol can still be seen high up in the tower of the church.
Its church is known throughout the local area as being a place of great healing and regeneration, with people claiming to have been cured of various cancers after having prayed there, as well one case of AIDS.[citation needed]
There is a war memorial, dedicated to the soldiers from the village who died in the World Wars.
It also has a pub, "The Bottle and Glass", as well as a large primary school Ellison Boulters school, to which pupils travel from the neighbouring villages of Sudbrooke and Langworth. The village is also home to a growing cricket club, the current club formed in 1965 has teams competing at all youth levels. Senior sides on Saturday and Sunday compete in county league and cup competitions, while two midweek sides compete in the Lincoln and District Midweek League.
Scothern has a coffee shop called 'The Gardeners Retreat', with a small garden centre ('Scothern Nurseries') around it. People came to the garden centre from as far away as Nettleham and Lincoln in the heady days of the 1980s and 1990s, attracted by its low prices at the time, but the coffee shop is now the main attraction.
The village was previously home to a shop and Post Office in Orchard Close, but this closed in March 1999. There is a nursing home called St. Lukes which is regularly home to up to 30 patients. Scothern is also, according to the National Farmers Union Poultry Forum magazine, home to the smallest battery hen farm in northern England, which houses only 12 chickens.
Scothern also has a healthy and thriving amateur dramatics society known as Scothern Players (see website below). They put on roughly one performance each year and tickets are alway in demand with every production selling out for 5 or 6 nights.
Scothern briefly made the national newspapers in March 2008 when Prince William visited the Bottle and Glass pub for cider and a pie with his friends from the Red Arrows.
