South Killingholme village is located south-west of the oil refinery – it is small in both area and population – the church of St Denys dates from the Middle Ages, and adjacent are the remains of two moated sites, formerly belonging to the Booth family who were lords of the manor and patrons of the living of Killingholme until Victorian times.

The drain outfall, harbour and port of North Killingholme Haven is in the northernmost corner of the parish on the Humber banks.

Much of the remainder of the parishes land is in agricultural use, with regular enclosed fields drained by man made channels.

A branch line for the Immingham Dock (formerly the Humber Commercial Railway) runs through the parish near the southern boundary, and also serves the oil refinery via sidings.

[7] The church of St Denys dates at the earliest to the Norman period, with a 12th-century priest's door, as well as the arch at the base of the tower.

The church was built mainly of limestone and ironstone, with brick, chalk, flint and rubble work, and some ashlar dressing.

[12][13][note 2] The site of the deserted medieval village of Holtham (TA 1477 1675) may lie approximately halfway between North and South Killingholme.

Additionally a pier for fuelling Royal Navy ships was constructed c. 1912;[26] and a seaplane base opened nearby in 1914 and closed 1919.

(See RAF North Killingholme) Much of the airfield was built during the Second World War including the three concrete runways, and hangars, storehouses and offices.

[32][33] In the post Second World War period much of the land near the Humber north-west of Grimsby was developed for heavy or large scale industrial use.

[34] The village was relatively unchanged by these developments, though the number of dwellings had roughly doubled by the beginning of the 1970s, mainly scattered detached and semi-detached houses.

[35] In 1992 Powergen constructed a 900 MW combined cycle gas fired powerstation north of the Lindsey Oil Refinery,[36] known as Killingholme B power station.