Kesteven

The Parts of Kesteven (/ˈkɛstəvən/ or /kəˈstiːvən/) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland.

The name Kesteven is first attested in the late tenth century Latin translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by Æthelweard, in the form Ceoftefne (agreed by scholars to be a scribal error for Ceostefne). The name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chetsteven and from 1185 as Ketsteuene. The first part of the name comes from the Common Brittonic word *ceto- ("woodland"), still found in Modern Welsh as coed. The second element is the Old Norse word stefna ("meeting place"). The name, therefore, means "meeting place at Coed, i.e. the wood".

Historically, Lincolnshire was divided into wapentakes, hundreds and sokes. The following made up Kesteven:

The three parts were given separate elected county councils in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888, and recognised as administrative counties. Kesteven lies in the south-west of Lincolnshire. It includes the towns of:

Under the Local Government Act 1894 Kesteven was divided into a number of rural district and urban districts based on earlier sanitary districts:

The urban districts and boroughs were:

Bourne Urban District was abolished in 1920, with Bourne becoming a parish in Bourne Rural District. Bracebridge became part of the county borough of Lincoln that same year, becoming associated with the Parts of Lindsey.

The rural districts were re-organised by a County Review Order in 1929, to create four new districts named after points of the compass: