north side of Hambleton Hill, and the East Coast Main Line at Shire House to the west. North are the Barkston South railway junctions, unused since 2004, either side of Westfield Farm. The boundary follows the north edge of Hurn Wood to meet Marston. Northwards it crosses the Grantham Avoiding Line at Sand Lane, then the East Coast Main Line, and follows the Viking Way eastwards to meet Hougham and the Witham south of Frinkley Plantation. At Far Hill, it leaves the Viking Way, passing north through Old Gorse Wood to the west of the former Barkston Gorse Farm and Frinkley Lane. Eastwards it touches Carlton Scroop and at the hilltop Honington at Spellar Wood, following its southern edge.] To the south-west it crosses Frinkley Lane, the Viking Way, Hough Road along the southern edge of Grove Plantations, and the Grantham–Sleaford railway line. It crosses the A607 at the A153 junction and Minnetts Wood north of Heath Farm, tops Honington Heath to meet Ancaster, and runs across RAF Barkston Heath. Along Ermine Street (B6403 road) it meets Wilsford and North Kesteven, and is briefly the South Kesteven boundary. At the southern edge of Barkston Heath, it follows Heath Lane westward and meets Syston. At this point a track passes through Minnett's Wood along Minnett's Hill. Community The ecclesiastical parish of Barkston belongs to the Barkston and Hough group in the Deanery of Loveden and Diocese of Lincoln. The incumbent since 2013 is Rev. Stuart Hadley. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, a philanthropist bishop from whom the legends and customs of Santa Claus derive. It includes a Norman window, a 14th-century spire and 15th-century porch. The Methodist Chapel in West Street was built as a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in 1832. It closed in 2002, but the congregation continued to meet in the village hall as part of the Grantham and Vale of Belvoir Circuit until 2013. The village pub is The Stag in Church Street, which also serves "locally sourced" food. A mobile library calls once a month, a mobile fish and chip van every Thursday, and a mobile greengrocer every Friday. There is a petrol station with a shop on the main road. Adjacent to it is a hand car wash and a mechanic's garage. Barkston has Girl Guide and Brownie troops, and a mother-and-toddler group. A produce show is held every summer. The village