Scothern is a small village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from the county town of Lincoln, and has approximately 900 inhabitants. At the 2011 census the population had reduced to 860. The neighbouring villages of Sudbrooke, Dunholme, Nettleham and Welton have been redeveloped over recent years, with the addition of new housing estates. Scothern, however, remains substantially unchanged, the only development other than the odd infill house over the last 35 years being the Juniper Drive/Alders development of around 35 houses in the early 1990s. After changes in the planning laws following a change of government in 2010, the preparatory work for a neighbourhood development plan was commenced by the Parish Council in 2012 with a view to protecting the village against unplanned, uncontrolled development. The work was halted by the Parish Council in 2013 after a change of Clerk and Chair, as a result of which some further development has been approved by West Lindsey District Council. Realising their mistake, the Parish Council has now restarted the neighbourhood development plan process. Scothern is an ecclesiastical parish in the Diocese of Lincoln. The parish church on Church Street, dedicated to St Germain, is a Grade II* listed building. There is a village war memorial, dedicated to the soldiers from the village who died in the World Wars. Scothern can trace its name at least as far back as the fifteenth century, when it was listed in church records as Sconethorne, an early reference to the local scone, made from local wheat flour and saffron. Up to the mid seventeenth century an annual festival took place on the village green to celebrate the scone, and Scothern's then links with the saffron growing areas of Essex,. Since that time, which coincides with the time at which the Marfleet family left the area, following the great famine of 1624, the festival has ceased to be observed. A crocus symbol can still be seen high up in the tower of the church. Scothern's primary school is Ellison Boulters Academy, to which pupils travel from the neighbouring villages of Sudbrooke and Langworth. The village cricket club, formed in 1965, has teams competing at all youth levels. Two Senior sides on Saturday and a Sunday side compete in county league and cup competitions, while two midweek sides compete in the Lincoln and District Midweek League. Scothern Players amateur dramatics society typically perform twice a year. There is a small garden centre, with a tea room, in the village, but the shop and post office closed inMarch 1999. The local St Lukes nursing home holds up to 30 patients. Scothern's public house, the Bottle and Glass, was featured in The Telegraph in March 2008, when Prince William visited the pub for cider and a pie with his friends from the Red Arrows. Recent developments at the pub, and possible redevelopment of land currently occupied by the parish church, has caused local concern, and a consideration that the village could become a conservation Area.
