Eastoft

Coordinates: 53°38′11″N 0°47′04″W / 53.636307°N 0.784424°W / 53.636307; -0.784424

Eastoft is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated within the Isle of Axholme, 3 miles (5 km) north-east from Crowle, and on the A161 road.

The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 378.

History

The etymology of the name is disputed. Mills notes that the place name was written as Eschetoft around 1170, and suggests an Old Scandinavian origin, with the name formed from eski and toft. On this basis, it would mean "Homestead, house or curtilage where ash trees are growing". North Lincolnshire Council derive the name from toft, a homestead with an enclosure, and the fact that it was located to the east of Crowle. On this basis, it would be "Homestead with enclosure to the east of Crowle.Toft is sometimes associated with tree names. Similar place names in Normandy include Ectot-l'Auber and Ectot-lès-Baons (Eschetoth, Esketoth 1074).

The earliest known record of Eastoft dates from 1164, when there was a dispute between the Vicar of Adlingfleet and the abbot of Selby. Both claimed rights to the tithes from Reedness and Eastoft, and the dispute was settled when the Archbishop of York intervened, and ruled that the vicar of Adlingfleet should receive the tithes during his lifetime, but that he should make a payment of 40 shillings each year to the Abbey at Selby.