Caistor Canal, opened in 1797, was entirely within the parish of South Kelsey. It ran from the river Ancholme in an easterly direction through South Kelsey village to Moortown.

The bed of the canal has been retained as a main drainage channel and five of its six locks survive with fixed sluices.

This modern photograph is of the canal bank close to Willow Lock, the first lock below South Kelsey towards the Ancholme.

Chris Padley, 2010

South Kelsey lies 4.5 miles south east of Caistor.

The manor of South Kelsey was held by the Hansard and Ayscough families in the Middle Ages.

The Protestant martyr Anne Ayscough or Askew lived in the village for a time.

postcard published by C. Dannatt, Post Office, South Kelsey

This cottage is situated on the banks of the Caistor Canal in South Kelsey, but no more is known about exact location or its occupiers.

It appears to be of mud-and-stud construction.

Mill Lock is named after the watermill built here a few years before the closure of Caistor Canal in about 1880.

The mill was at the south-east corner of the lock, towards the rear-centre of this photograph.

A twentieth century bridge spans the centre of the lock.

Caistor Canal terminated at Moortown (in the parish of South Kelsey), 3 miles short of Caistor, and a number of businesses were set up here.

This brick warehouse, now converted for residential use, was probably built shortly after the canal was opened in 1797.

A watermill was built alongside the first lock of Caistor Canal above (to the east of) the village some time between 1850 and 1870.

The mill was built on the south side of the lock, with the mill dam replacing the upper gates and the wheel mounted over the lock chamber.

The mill was demolished around the time of the First World War.

Lincolnshire Mills Group, unknown date

A large Tudor house here belonged to the Ayscoughs.

It was surrounded by a moat (which still encloses grounds to the south of the hall) and its front was flanked by octagonal turrets.

More details about this house and its owners can be found in T R Leach's book, 'Lincolnshire Country Houses and their Families: Part 1', published by SLHA.  Buy a copy.

A large Tudor house was built here, surrounded by a moat.

The Hansards were the first to live here followed by the Ayscough family who were resposible for the Tudor building.

The octagonal south-east tower, of brick with stone quoins, is the main survivor from that period.

The present farmhouse dates from c.1620.

Hugh S Martineau, c.1980

The nave and apse of St Mary's date from 1795 though the windows were "gothicised" in 1853, probably by Butterfield.

Locked with no obvious means of access.

Mark Acton, 2014

St Mary's in South Kelsey has a well-worn ironstone tower of the early fourteenth-century.

The rather plain font in St Mary's consists of a hemispherical bowl on an octagonal base.

May 2016

The tall nave without aisles dates form 1795 and the rebuilding by William Porden*.

May 2016

* William Porden (1755-1822) worked for bothe the Earl Grosvenor and the Prince Regent. There is no record of other work by him in Lincolnshire.

This cross-legged effigy is of Sir Robert Hansard who died in 1313.

There are also brasses to other members of the Hansard family.

May 2016

The wall-mounted board bear the Royal Arms of George IV.

May 2016

This neat building on the east side of Caistor Road was first used by the Free Methodists who later became United Methodists.

The last service was held here in December 1967 and it was subsequently converted into a dwelling.

May 2016

South Kelsey's Wesleyan Methodists opened this chapel in 1877 and added a Sunday schoolroom in 1894.

August 2018

A second view of the chapel on Brigg Road from the north-west.

August 2018