Humberston

Coordinates: 53°31′41″N 0°01′30″W / 53.52807°N 0.02489°W / 53.52807; -0.02489

Humberston is a village and civil parish south of Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire, England.

Boundary and population

The village's boundary with Cleethorpes runs along North Sea Lane and Humberston Road. Its population in the 2001 census was 5,384, increasing to 5,634 at the 2011 Census. The Prime Meridian runs east of Humberston, through the Thorpe Park caravan site.

History

The Danes landed at the site of the village in 870. Humberston (or Humberstone, as the village was first known) takes its name from a large boulder, the "Humber Stone", which was deposited on the site of the former Midfield Farm during the last Ice Age. The boulder may be seen at the entrance to the village library, near St Peter's Church. The boulder at the entrance to the former library was discovered in the winter of 1956/7 while deep ploughing was taking place on the big field at Midfield Farm. two years later it was moved to Wendover Paddock in the village, and when the new library was built it was moved there. There is no evidence whatsoever that this is the actual stone from which the village gets its name, but it was described by Professor H H Swinnerton and Sir William Pugh of Hull University as a glacial boulder of Scottish origin of the type from which the village may have got its name. The "e" at the end of the name was later dropped to avoid confusion with a place with the same name.