WAINFLEET-ALL SAINTS, a small town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Spilsby district, Lincoln. The town stands on the river Steeping, 3¾ miles W by N of the river's month, 3¾ SE of Firsby r. station, and 7¾ SE of Spilsby: has been supposed, by some antiquaries, to occupy the site of a Roman station; sent a member to parliament in the time of Edward III.; was the birth-place of Bishop Patten, William of Waynflete, founder of Magdalen college, Oxford; was once a considerable sea-port, but suffered decline of its commerce by the partial silting-up of the reach of river between it and the sea; consists chiefly of one street, with a central market place; has undergone considerable recent improvement; and has a post-office‡ under Boston, a banking office, a church of 1820, two Methodist chapels, a grammar-school founded by Bishop Patten in 1484, national schools of 1857, a literary institution, charities £15, a weekly market on Saturday, and four annual fairs. The parish comprises 1,598 acres. Real property, £6,490; of which £100 are in gasworks. Pop., 1,392. Houses, 302. The manor is held, under the Duchy of Lancaster, byB. Reynardson, Esq. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £322. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The old church stood about 1½ mile from the town; and a national school of 1859, used as a chapel of ease, is now there.—The sub-district contains 7 parishes. Acres, 37,673. Pop., 5,502. Houses, 1,172.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))