[Transcription © SA Whittle-Bruce 2002]

William White's History,Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire 1842

Blankney, is a pleasant village, on a woody plain, on the eastern side of Lincoln Heath, 10 miles S.E. by S. of Lincoln, and N. of Sleaford; and has in its parish 640 souls, and about 6300 acres of land, extending 11 miles in length, from the Green Man Inn, on the Lincoln and Sleaford road, eastward, to the Witham, though it is only about a mile in breadth. It includes the hamlet of Linwood, (700 acres, belonging to Miss Bury,) 3 miles E.; Barf, 2 miles E.; the scattered farms of Blankney and Linwood Droves, on the fen, from 3 1/2 to 6 miles E.; and Blankney Dales, on the west bank of the Witham, 7 miles E. by N. of the village. Blankney Hall, a large and handsome modern mansion, with a well-wooded lawn, is the seat of Charles Chaplin, Esq., the lord of the manor, owner of most of the soil, and patron of the rectory, which is valued in K.B. at £16. 10s. 7d., and now at £821, in the incumbency of the Rev. Edward Chaplin, who has a commodious Rectory House. The Church (St. Oswald) is a neat Gothic fabric, with an embattled tower. Under the chancel, is the vault of the Chaplin family. At the Green Man Inn, the Lincoln Club, consisting of the most distinguished gentlemen of the county, was established about 1741. The busts of the principal members, with their armorial ensigns, were placed in the club room, which was built by a late Mr. Chaplin. Mrs Chaplin pays for the education of 22 poor girls, and there is in the village a National School, established 20 years ago, by the Chaplin family.