Benington parish has a population of 569,[1] increasing to 580 at the 2011 Census.[2] It is one of eighteen parishes which, together with Boston, form the borough. Local government has been arranged in this way since the reorganisation of 1 April 1974, which resulted from the Local Government Act 1972. The parish forms part of the Coastal electoral ward. Hitherto, the parish had formed part of Boston Rural District, in the Parts of Holland. Holland was one of the three divisions (formally known as parts) of the traditional county of Lincolnshire. Since the Local Government Act of 1888, Holland had been in most respects, a county in itself.
The name derives from Old English meaning "Bennas farm or settlement".
The parish church is a Grade I listed building dedicated to All Saints and dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, although it was restored in 1873 by James Fowler of Louth. It has a 14th-century font.[3] It closed as a church in 2003 (with its last service in 2001) and was boarded up.[4] In 2015, the Benington Community Heritage Trust received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund,[5] and as at early 2021 it is being refurbished for use as a community centre "The Beonna at All Saints"[6] (named after Beonna,[7] an eighth century king of East Anglia).
Purril's Almshouses date from the 15th century, although rebuilt in 1728, and are Grade II listed.[8]
