Scartho
suburban village in North East Lincolnshire, England, UK
Scartho (locally ) is a suburban village in the southern part of Grimsby, in the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire, in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England. Scartho's population is approximately 11,000. Up until the end of the Second World War it was a village; subsequent post-war expansion on the greenfield areas between Scartho and Grimsby has resulted in the village becoming an outer suburb. Its population has increased through recent urban developments such as Scartho Top.
History
Etymology
Like 'Grimsby' the etymology of the word Scartho can be traced back to having Old Norse origin, more than likely due to the ancestry of the surrounding area. In A Dictionary of British Place Names, A. D. Mills identifies the elements skarth or skafr and the ending haugr to give the meaning as 'Mound near a gap' or a mound 'frequented by cormorants'.
11th century
The earliest surviving written reference to Scartho is in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it shares an entry with the adjoining parishes of Laceby and Bradley. The three parishes were under the lordship of Swein, Erik brother of Tosti, and Tosti brother of Erik, in 1066, and after the Norman invasion by Odo of Bayeux, a half-brother of William the Conqueror.
The church, dedicated to Saint Giles, retains a tower that dates to the Anglo Saxon period, although there have been more recent changes, including the removal of the north wall for an extension as recently as the 1950s. Walter Johnson in Byways in British Archaeology considers the tower to date from the period of church building in the 1042 to 1066 reign of Edward the Confessor and disagrees with 19th-century suggestions that the stonework shows signs of scorch marks from having been torched during earlier Viking raids.
The public source identifies “Scartho” as suburban village in North East Lincolnshire, England, UK. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Scartho, suburban and village.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Scartho”, the useful work is to connect “suburban village in North East Lincolnshire, England, UK” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7430546. Authority coordinates are 53.540, -0.093. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1086, 1066 and 1042.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Scartho”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Scartho primary sources, Scartho archive and Scartho research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Scartho”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Scartho” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.