Harpswell is both a parish and a small village about eight miles east of Gainsborough and nine miles north of Lincoln. The parish itself is bordered on the north by Hemswell parish, to the east by Springthorpe and Heapham parishes and to the south by Glentworth parish. The parish covers about 2,150 acres.

Harpswell village sits at the intersection of two main roads. A small branch of the River Eau passes just to the west of the village.

Names, Geographical

The name Harpswell comes from the Old English Hearpe+wella or Hearpere+wella for "spring or stream of the harp or harp player". The name appears in the 1086 Domesday Book as Herpeswella. The name is recorded in some records as Harpperswell. A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991.

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