Of this parish, ecclesiastically annexed to High Toynton, little can be said. The name was anciently written Maringes,[183a]or Marun[183b]; the former probably from the low “marish,” or marsh, “ings,”i.e.meadows, the suffix being the Saxon “ham,” a homestead. It lies about two miles south-east from Horncastle, connected with High Toynton by footpath, and bridle road, across the fields barely a mile in length, but for carriages a detour of more than double that distance has to be made.
This parish, like High Toynton and West Ashby, is in the soke of Horncastle. InDomesday Bookit is stated that the manor comprised 3 carucates, or about 360 acres of land, with 21 soc-men and 11 bordars,[183c]who had fourcarucates, or about 480 acres; there were further 60 acres of meadow, and, what no longer exists, 300 acres of underwood; which was a very large proportion, considering that in Scrivelsby, now a well wooded estate, closely adjoining, there were at that time only six acres of underwood.
Sir Lionel Dymoke, a scion of the Scrivelsby family, once resided in this parish. His will, dated 15th April, 1512, is a good specimen of the orthography of the period. The following are portions of it: “I leon Dymoke of maryng of the hill in the Countie of lincolne knyght being of good and hoole mynde make and ordigne my testament and Last will in forme following | First I bequeathe my soule to almyghty god and to the blessid virgine his mother seint Mary and to all the holy Company of heven | And forasmoch as no man is certeine of the houre of dethe nor what place he shall die in and nothyng so certeine as dethe | and for as moch as I by the kyngℓ pleasure shall goo in hys warrys in the parties by yonde the see | Therefore my body to be buryed where it shall please almyghty god | Also that I will that my Executours for the helth of my soule in as hasty tyme as they may after my deceas paye or do to be paid all and singler my detts . . . Also I bequethe and gyve to the Church warke of Maryng of al halowes vjs viijd and to the highe aulter there for tythes and oblacions forgoten xxd and to seint Jamys gild of maryng xxd . . . Also I gyve and bequethe to the Convent of the black Freris of Boston for a trentall[184a]to be song for me and all Christen Soules xs,” &c., &c. On 17th August, 1519 (when he was apparently on his death bed), witnesses certify that he added a codicil to be annexed, “saying these words in his mother tongue. I will that Sr John Heron knyght have my landes in nethertynton whether I lyve or dye . . . and if my wif or myne executōs thynk there be any thyng expressed in my wille oute of goode ordre I will it be reformed by Anne my wif as she and they thynke most pleasure to god profytt for my soule.”[184b]
As to the owners of the demesne nothing further is told us; but since in Testa de Nevill, already quoted, it is stated that “the churches of Horncastre, Askeby, Upper Thinton, Maringes, &c., are of the gift of the Lord.” Gerard de Rhodes was, doubtless, at one time, the common Lord of all those manors, as well as his descendant Ralph de Rhodes. Mr. Weir states that the manor at a later period belonged to Edward Marsh, Esquire, of Hundle House, in the county of Lincoln; by a descendant of whom it was sold to William Hudson, Esquire, of Gray’s Inn. In 1659 it was sold to one Duncombe, of whom it was purchased in 1688 by Sir Edmund Turnor, of Stoke Rochford, Knight; in whose family it still continues. Other proprietors are Richard Ward, Esq., and Dr. Parkinson.
InDomesday Bookthere is mention of “a church and priest,” the latter, therefore, being doubtless resident in the parish; although for many years there has been no residence for an incumbent. In 1830 the benefice was held, with High Toynton, by the Rev. E. R. H. G. Palmer, a relative of Viscount Halifax, who resided in Horncastle; in 1863 by the Rev. Isaac Hall, who did the same; and it was not till 1869 that a residence was erected at High Toynton for the united benefices.
Of the church, All Saints, we can only say that it stands in a good position, on high ground; that its walls are substantial, but that its style is of the meanest; it having been rebuilt in the early part of the 19th century (1813); and beyond a piscina, now in the north wall, it has no features of interest; having wooden-framed windows, square painted pews, walls whitewashed within and without, and a flat ceiling. It greatly needs renovation, being now almost a solitary representative, in the neighbourhood, of that very worst period of architectural decadence. With fairly good sandstone in the present walls, and probably more in the foundations of an earlier church, to be exhumed, and an abundancein situnot far away, restoration, or even re-erection, might be effected, at a moderate outlay.
The one bell hangs in a shabby bell turret. While repairs were being carried out in 1813 two nobles of Edward IV., two angels of Henry VII., and several silver coins of different reigns, contained in a leathern purse, were found concealed in the wall.[185a]
Low Toynton lies about a mile from Horncastle to the north-east. It is approached through rich meadows, watered by the river Waring.[185b]The Rector is the Rev. J. W. Bayldon, M.A., of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Overseers, G. E. Read and W. Scholey. LettersviaHorncastle arrive at 8.30.
The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a small structure with no pretention to architectural beauty, and almost entirely covered with ivy. It was rebuilt in 1811, a period when architectural taste was at its lowest ebb, and barbarisms in stone, brick, and mortar were very generally perpetrated. It was re-seated in 1863, during the incumbency of the Rev. E. M. Chapman. It consists of chancel, nave, vestry, and open belfry containing one bell. The chancel arch is the only remnant of a former Norman structure. The font is apparently a 14th century one, almost a replica of that in Huttoft Church, which is engraved inLincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii, p. 225. The bowl is octagonal, its faces filled with figures representing the Holy Trinity, the virgin and child, and the 12 apostles. The bowl is joined to the shaft by angelic figures round the lower part of it. The octagonal shaft has figures of St. Paul, Mary Magdalen, a bishop with chalice, another with scourge, and other subjects much mutilated, at the base are the winged lion, ox, man, and eagle, emblematical of the evangelists. The walls of the church are relieved by some coloured designs, and borders of ecclesiastical patterns, running round the windows, &c., originally executed by that genuine artist the late Rev. C. P. Terrot, Vicar of Wispington. These decorations have been recently (1898) renewed by Mr. C. Hensman, of Horncastle, when the church was thoroughly repaired, both inside and out; new panelling placed in the nave, and a new window in the vestry; and in the following year (1899) a new harmonium was purchased from Messrs. Chappell and Co., London.
The east window is filled with modern coloured glass, the subjects being the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion, and the Ascension. On the sill of the east window are placed, over the communion table, two handsomely carvedold oak candlesticks, presented by the Rev. C. P. Terrot. On the north wall of the nave there is a small oval brass tablet, which was found in 1888, face downwards in the vestry floor. It bears the following inscription: “Here lyeth the body of Edward Rolleston, Esquir, who departed this life the 23rd of July, in the thirtey-fourth year of his age; interr’d underneath this place the 4th of August, A.D. 1687.” As 12 days elapsed between death and burial it is probable that he died abroad. The manor and whole parish, except the glebe, still belongs to the Rolleston family; the benefice being in the patronage of the Earl of Ancaster.
In the floor of the chancel are two memorial slabs, one of the Rev. R. Spranger, D.C.L., late Rector of Low Toynton and Creeton, who enlarged the rectory house, and was a munificent benefactor to the neighbourhood. Among other good deeds he built the bridge over the river Waring, on the road from Low Toynton to Horncastle.[186]He was a member of a family of some distinction; had a residence in London, as well as his rectory here; he was popularly said to drive the handsomest pair of horses in London; and there exists a portrait in oil of an ancestor, Chancellor Spranger, in one of the great galleries in Florence. Dr. Spranger was an intimate friend of J. Keble, the author ofThe Christian Year, and his son the Rev. Robert J. Spranger, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, spent the greater part of his life in Mr. Keble’s parish, Hursley, Hants, as a voluntary assistant in his clerical work.
The companion slab marks the last resting place of another rector, the Rev. J. Hutchinson, who died in 1788. His history is singular. Although well educated, he enlisted as a private in the army for foreign service; a commission however was subsequently obtained for him by his friends. He presently became attached to a lady who refused to marry a soldier. He then determined to take holy orders. Chance threw him in the way of a party of gentlemen at Manchester, one of them being the agent of Lord Willoughby. The latter stated that he had it in power, at that moment, to bestow a benefice, and that he would give it to anyone who could solve for him a particular problem. Mr. Hutchinson succeeded in doing this, and was eventually appointed Rector of Low Toynton. He held it, however, only 18 months, dying at an early age. Whether he married the lady is not stated.
In the List of Institutions to Benefices, preserved at Lincoln, it is recorded that in 1562 Michael West, Clerk, was appointed Rector of Nether Toynton and Vicar of Upper Toynton, by Richard Bertie, Esq., ancestor of the Earl of Ancaster. This must have been by some private arrangement with the Bishop of Carlisle, who was patron of High Toynton; the Berties (as the Willoughbies are now) being only patrons of Low Toynton. From Liber Regis we learn that the Earl of Lindsey appointed to the benefice in 1692, the Duke of Ancaster in 1778, Sir Peter Burrell and Lady Willoughby d’ Eresby in 1783.
The register dates from 1585. Under date 1717, Feb. 2nd, occurs the following entry: “Robert Willy, of Upper Toynton, did penance in the parish church of Lower Toynton, for the heinous and great sin of adultery.” A note in the baptismal register states that on July 18th, 1818, Bishop George (Tomline) confirmed at Horncastle 683 candidates, among them being five from Low Toynton. Confirmations were not held so frequently then as they now are. In this parish Mr. Thomas Gibson, Vicar of Horncastle, when turned out of his preferment by the Puritans, lived for some “two years but poorly, teaching a few pupils.”
Little is known of the early history of this parish or of its proprietors. In a Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 11 Henry VII., No. 123, taken at Partney, after the death of Isabella, wife of Richard Sapcote, Knight, the said Isabella is declared by the jurors to have died seized of the Manor of Nether Toynton, and of the advowson; and Joan, wife of William Nevill, of Rolleston, Notts., and others are declared to be daughters and heirs of the said Isabella; she herself being kinswoman and heir of William Plesington, son of Henry Plesington, Knight.[187a]
In a list of Lincolnshire names contained in the visitation of 1665–6, by William Dugdale, Esq., are Agnes Goodrick, daughter of Robert Goodrick, of Toynton, and Bridget and Elizabeth Rolston, daughters of Edward Rolston, of Toynton.[187b]
St. Peter’s Church, Low Toynton
By a Chancery Inquisition of 38 Henry VIII. (1546), it was found that Thomas Dymoke, Esq., was seized of land in Over Toynton, Nether Toynton, Maring-upon the-Hill, and other parishes; and by an Inquisition of 36 Elizabeth, it was found that Robert Dymock, Esq., was seized of the Manors of ffuletby and Belchforde, and lands in Horncastle, Nether Tointon and Upper Tointon, and several other parishes. He died without issue 13th Sept., 1594, and his only sister, Anne, widow of Charles Bolle, of Haugh, succeeded to his property in Nether Toynton and elsewhere; and thus the connection of the Dymokes with Low Toynton ceased.[187c]
There is rather a curious feature in the following record. By a Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 24 Henry VII., No. 61, it is found that HumphreyConyngsby, Sergeant at Law, and others, instituted a suit on behalf of William Stavely, and others, by which he recovered to them, among other properties, “the advowson of Nether Taunton, and the rent of 4½ quarters of salt, in Nether Taunton, Over Taunton, and other parishes.”
We now find another ancient name connected with this parish. The Newcomens (originally Le Newcomen, or the newcomer) of Saltfleetby, were one of our oldest Lincolnshire families. They are named in Yorke’s “Union of Honour,” and their pedigrees given in four Lincolnshire Visitations. The number of branches into which the race spread is remarkable.[188a]Andrew Newcomen lived in the time of Richard I., resident at Saltfleetby, where the headquarters of the family continued for many generations. Robert Newcomen (1304) married Alice, daughter of Sir William Somercotes, Knight. His son, also Robert, married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Hardingshall, Knight. Another Robert (1452) married Joane, daughter of Robert Craycroft, of Craycroft Hall. A daughter Katharine, of Brian Newcomen, married (1559) George Bolle, of Haugh, a family already mentioned as, a few years later, connected with Low Toynton. In 1540 we find Richard Newcomen residing at Nether Toynton. By his will, dated 3rd Sept., 1540, he requests that he may be buried in the church of St. Peter, Nether Toynton. He appoints the right worshipful Edward Dymoke, supervisor. His grandson, Samuel Newcomen, of Nether Toynton, married Frances, daughter of Thomas Massingberd, of Braytoft Hall, M.P. for Calais (1552). This branch of the family seems to have died out in the person of Thomas Newcomen (1592);[188b]but other branches spread over the neighbourhood, and were established at Bag Enderby, East Kirkby, Withern, and other places, and flourished throughout the 17th century. Another Newcomen early in the 18th century married a daughter of Sir Robert Barkham, Bart.
A renewal of connection with Low Toynton was made when the widow of Nicholas Newcomen married, circa 1700, the Honble. Charles Bertie, son of Robert, 4th Earl of Lindsey, patron of the benefice of Nether Toynton. Arthur Bocher, Esq., of Low Toynton, was in the Lincolnshire Rebellion of 1536, being brother-in-law of Thomas Moygne, one of the leaders in the movement.
Thus the parish of Low Toynton has had residents, proprietors, and rectors, to whom its present inhabitants may look back with some degree of pride and pleasure, although “their place now knoweth them no more.”
This village stands on the west bank of the river Bain, about 4 miles to the south of Horncastle. It is bounded on the north by Thornton and Martin, on the east by Haltham and Dalderby, on the south by Kirkby-on-Bain, and on the west by Kirkstead, Kirkby, and Woodhall. The area is 1020 acres, rateable value £945, population 137, entirely agricultural. The soil is loam, on kimeridge clay, with “Bain terrace” gravel deposits.
The nearest railway stations are at Horncastle and Woodhall Spa, each about four miles distant. There is an award and map of Haltham and Roughton in the parish, and a copy at the County Council office, Lincoln. Threeroads meet in the middle of the village, one from Horncastle, one to Woodhall Spa and Kirkstead, one to Kirkby-on-Bain, Coningsby and Tattershall.
Sir Henry Hawley, Bart., of Tumby Lawn, in the adjoining parish of Kirkby, is Lord of the Manor, but Lady Hartwell (daughter of the late Sir Henry Dymoke, the King’s Champion), and the executors of the Clinton family (now Clinton Baker) and the Rector own most of the soil; there being a few small proprietors. Roughton Hall, the property of Lady Hartwell, is occupied by F. G. Hayward, Esq.
The register dates from 1564. Peculiar entries are those of 43 burials for the years 1631–2, including those of the Rector and his two daughters, who died within a few days of each other; this was from the visitation called “The Plague,” or the “Black Death.” For some years before 1657 only civil marriages were valid in law, and Judge Filkin is named in the register as marrying the Rector of Roughton, John Barcroft, to Ann Coulen. In 1707 Mary Would is named as overseer of the parish, it being very unusual at that period for women to hold office. Another entry, in the overseer’s book, needs an explanation. “Simon Grant, for 1 day’s work of bages, 2s. 6d.;” and again, “Simon flint, for 1 day’s work of bages, 2s. 6d.” “Bage” was the turf, cut for burning; in this case being cut from the “church moor,” for the church fire. It was severe labour, often producing rupture of the labourer’s body, hence the high pay.
There is a charity named the “Chamerlayne Dole,” of 10s., given yearly to the poor, left by Martha Chamerlayn in 1702. It is a charge upon a cottage and garden owned by Mr. T. Jackson, of Horncastle.
The National School was established about 1860, in a building erected in 1834 as a Wesleyan Chapel. It was enlarged in 1872 and 1879. It is supported by a voluntary rate.
The Church, St. Margaret’s, is of no architectural beauty, being built of brick and sandstone. It consists of nave and chancel, with castellated tower, having one bell, also castellated parapets at the north and south corners of the east chancel wall. The font is Norman, circular, with circular pediment, having an old oak octagonal cover, cupola shaped, plain except slight carving round the rim. The fabric was newly roofed in 1870, when it was fitted with good open benches, the chancel paved with encaustic tiles, and the windows partly filled with stained glass; there are fragments of a former carved rood screen, the pulpit being of plain old oak.
In the chancel is a lengthy inscription, commemorative of Norreys Fynes; Esq., of Whitehall, in the adjoining parish of Martin. He was grandson of Sir Henry Clinton, eldest son of Henry, Earl of Lincoln, by his second wife, daughter of Sir Richard Morrison, and mother of Francis, Lord Norreys, afterwards Earl of Berkshire. He was a non-juror. He died January 10th, 1735–6, aged 74. There is a murial tablet to the memory of the Rev. Arthur Rockliffe, who died in 1798; another to Charles Pilkington, Esq., who died in 1798, and Abigail, his wife, who died in 1817.
The benefice is a discharged rectory, united to that of Haltham in 1741, and now held by the Rev. H. Spurrier, the patron being his son the Rev. H. C. M. Spurrier. The two benefices together are valued at £450 a year. There is a good rectory house. The church plate is modern. The village feast was discontinued about 50 years ago.
Peculiar field names are the Low Ings, Bottom Slabs, Carr Bottom,Church Moor, Honey Hole, Wong, Well-syke, Long Sand, Madam Clay, Sewer Close.[190a]
As to the early history of Roughton,Domesday Bookgives it among the possessions of William the Conqueror, and also as belonging to Robert Despenser, his powerful steward, who probably held it under the king. A Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 22 Richard II., No. 13, A.D. 1399, shows that Ralph de Cromwell, jointly with his wife Matilda, held the adjoining Manor of Tumby, with appurtenances in Roughton and elsewhere. While another Inquisition of 13 Henry VII., No. 34, shows that the said Matilda died, “seised in fee tail of the same lands.”[190b]
In the reign of Elizabeth a family of Eastwoods resided here, since the name of Andrew Eastwood, of Roughton, appears in the list (published by T. C. Noble) of those gentry who contributed £25 to the Armada Fund. Other documents shew that at different periods the hall has been occupied by members of various county families, as Fynes (already named), Wichcote, Heneage, Dymoke, Pilkington, and Beaumont.
The register has the following entries, probably written by an illiterate parish clerk, “An the wife of Will. Hennag, was buered ye 9 of Feberery, 1729.” “Madame Elizabeth fines was buered May ye 29, 1730.”
Gervase Holles gives the following arms as existing in the church in his day.
Fenestra Australis Cancelli.
G. 3 lyons passant gardant, or . . .
England
Verry a fesse G. fretty, or . . .
Marmyon
Argent, a plaine crosse B. . . .
Or, a lyon rampant purpure. . . .
Lacy
Chequy or and G., a chiefe ermyne . . .
Tateshall
In Campanili.
Arg. a sword sheathed proper, a buckler appt., with girdle wrapped, hilte pomel, and neuf or. . .[190c]
This village is distant from Horncastle between four and five miles in a southerly direction, lying on the east side of the river Bain. It is bounded on the north by Dalderby and Scrivelsby, on the south by Kirkby and its hamlet of Fulsby, on the east by Scrivelsby, Wood Enderby and Wilksby, and on the west by Roughton. The area is 2380 acres, rateable value £1198. The soil is loam, with kimeridge clay below, and gravel deposits. Population 121, mainly agricultural.
The main roads lead to Dalderby, Scrivelsby, and Horncastle, to Kirkby, Mareham-le-Fen, Coningsby, and Tattershall, and to Wood Enderby, Wilksby, and Revesby. The nearest railway station is at Horncastle.
The Lord of the Manor was formerly the Champion Dymoke of Scrivelsby Court, but the late Rev. John Dymoke sold his estate in this parish, and themanor is now the property of Sir H. M. Hawley, Bart., of Tumby Lawn, in the adjoining parish of Kirkby; W. H. Trafford, Esq., owning the remainder, except 150 acres of glebe.
The benefice was united to that of Roughton in 1741, the two being now of the yearly value of £450, and held by the Rev. H. Spurrier. The patron is the rector’s eldest son, the Rev. H. C. M. Spurrier. There is an award and map of Haltham and Roughton, of date 1775. A village feast is held on St. Benedict’s Day (March 21), he being the patron saint of the church.
There are some peculiar field names; as the Far, Middle, and Near Redlands, arable; the Top and Lower Brock-holes (brock meaning a badger), arable; the Black Sands, pasture; the Top and Low Malingars, arable; the East, West, and South High Rimes, arable; the Pingle, meadow; the Croft, pasture; the Oaks, pasture; Wood Close Meadow, the Old Cow Pasture.
The register dates from 1561, and contains an entry for the year 1684: “This yeare plague in Haltham.”[191]There is a charity, the interest of £5, left by John Dymoke, Esq., of Haltham, who in 1634 is named among the Heralds’ List of Gentry, for yearly distribution by the overseers among the poor. The children attend the school at Roughton.
The church is one of the most interesting in the neighbourhood. The chancel was restored and an open roof put up in 1881, at a cost of £250. The nave was restored in 1891, at a cost of £300. The sanctuary was paved with Minton tiles by the late Lady Dymoke. The most remarkable feature is a semi-circular tympanum over the door in the south porch, which is of early Norman, or possibly Saxon date. It has sculptured on it in somewhat rude fashion a Maltese cross within a circle, a second circle running through the limbs of the cross, a square with three-quarter circles at its corners, and semicircles midway of each side, which form the extremities of another cross, and between the limbs are roundels. Below is a figure resembling a fish, also four rows of triangles, and other complicated devices. The east window is a very fine flamboyant one, of date about 1350. Some of the sittings have very old rudely-carved poppy heads of oak. There are very fine carved oak canopies over two long pews in the north aisle, for the Champion Dymokes and their servants. There is a piscina with two fronts in the south wall of the chancel, and a series of three stone sedilia, in the north wall is an aumbrey. There is an incised slab to one of the Dymokes. The tower has three bells, and the bell chamber is closed by ancient boarding, on which are the ten commandments in old characters, and very curious Royal Arms of Charles I. The church plate consists of pewter paten, silver flagon and chalice, with date 1764, given by Mr. John Dickinson.
In the village there is an old hostel, partly of the Tudor style, with pointed gable ends, projecting upper storey, and constructed externally of brick and woodwork.
As to the early history of this parish little is definitely known. According toDomesday Bookit was among the possessions of the Conqueror, and his steward, Robert Dispenser, held it under him. Probably like other parishes in the soke of Horncastle, the manor was held by Gerbald d’ Escald, his grandson Gerard de Rhodes, his son Ralph de Rhodes, sold by him to the Bishop of Carlisle, &c. Of the ownership of Ralph de Rhodes we have evidence in a Feet of Fines, Lincoln, 9 Henry III., No. 52, containing an agreement betweenHenry del Ortiary and Sabina his wife, on the one hand, and Ralph de Rhodes, on the other hand, in which the former parties recognise the right of the said Ralph to certain lands in Haltham, Wood Enderby, Moorby, and other parishes in the soke.[192a]
Of other families of distinction once connected with this parish we have indications in the arms which Gervase Holles found in the church windows in his time (circa 1630, temp. Chas. I.), which we give here.
In Fenestris Cancelli.
Verry a fesse G. fretty, d’or . . .
Marmyon
G. a cross sarcely, arg. . . .
Beke
Sa. 2 lyons passant, arg. crowned, or . . .
Dymoke
Or, a lyon rampant, double queue, sa . . .
Welles
Sa. 3 flowres de lize betw. 6 crosse crosslets, fitchy, arg. . . .
G. 3 bars ermyne . . .
Kirketon
Barry of 6, or and sa. . . .
Fenestræ Boreales.
B. a lyon’s head erased betw. 6 crosses, botony, arg. . . .
Touthby
Arg. 2 bars G. a border, sa. . . .
Dymoke, each lyon charged sur l’ espale with an annulet . . .
Dymoke
Ermyne on a bend G. a cinquefoil, or . . .
G. crosse crucilly fitchy, a lyon rampant, arg . . .
La Warre
Or, a lyon rampant, double queue, sa. . . .
Welles
Fenestræ Australes.
G. 3 water-bougets, arg. . . .
Ros
Or on fesse G. 3 plates . . .
Huntingfield
Quarterly or and G. a border sa. bezanty . . .
Rochfort
Rochfort with a garbe in the 2nd quarter, arg. . . .
Rochfort
Rochfort with an annulet in the 2nd quarter, arg. . . .
Rochfort
Or, a manche G. . . .
Hastings
G. a bend ermyne . . .
Ry
Rochfort with an eagle displayed in the 2nd quarter, arg. . . .
Rochfort
Arg. fretty of 6 pieces G. a canton ermyne . . .
In Fenestra Borealis Navis.
G. crosse crucilly fitchy, a lyon rampant, arg. . . .
La Warre
Arg. on a bend, G. 3 gryphons heads erased, or . . .
In Campanili.
Joh’es Staines W. Jo.[192b]
Mareham-le-Fen lies about six miles south from Horncastle, and five miles eastward of Tattershall station, with a population of more than 800. LettersviaBoston arrive by mail cart at 7.30 a.m. This is the seat of a considerable industry, carried on by Mr. Titus Kime, as a grower of greatly improved varities of potatoes, agricultural seed, and, latterly on a large scale, of bulbs of different kinds, in which he seems likely to compete with the Dutch trade.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Helen, is a fine structure of oolite stone, probably one of the largest in the neighbourhood, except the collegiate church of Tattershall. It consists of tower, nave, north and south aisles, south porch and chancel. The body of the church was restored in 1873, and re-opened on June 13th of that year, at a cost of more than £2,000, by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., Lord of the Manor; the then rector, the Rev. W. Sharpe restoring the chancel, and the parishioners and other friends the tower. The latter consists of three tiers, having a small square window in the southand north walls below, with a two-light floriated window on the west. In the tier above are two-light windows on all four faces. At the summit it has battlements and four tall pinnacles. There are three bells, the date of the largest being 1627. The body of the church is also battlemented, and has pinnacles, the westernmost of these having the figures, within a niche, of St. George and the dragon.
The south porch has an early English doorway within, the outer one being modern. In the moulding above the inner doorway is a curiously crowned head, probably representing the Empress Helena, the patron saint; other curious devices running down the moulding on each side. To the right of the inner doorway are initials M.S., date 1681. The font has a large octagonal bowl, with heads at the angles, and elaborate trefoil devices on the faces; the shaft is plain, octagonal, the pediment a stone cross.
St. Helen’s Church, Mareham-Le-Fen
Both aisles have four lofty bays, with early English columns. In the north aisle is one three-light perpendicular trefoiled window, in its western wall; in the north wall, on each side of the north door, is a three-light perpendicular window, with mullions interlacing; and to the east a four-light round-headed trefoiled window. Over the north door is a tablet, with a Latin inscription, commemorative of the Rev. H. Sheppard, a former rector, who died 24th Jan., 1764, aged 62. Beneath it is a cherub with outspread wings. In the wall, east of the north door, is a tablet bearing the inscription: “This church was relighted in memory of Francis Thorpe, who lost his life, by an accident, while working in the church near this spot, 22nd Sept., 1892.” The south aisle, at the west end, has a three-light broad interlaced window. In the south wall, west of the porch, is a low doorway, now filled in, with step at its base, probably formerly leading to a parvis, or priest’s chamber. East of theporch are two round-headed three-light trefoiled perpendicular windows. In the chancel the east window, of coloured glass, is lofty, with three lights, and six trefoils above. The subjects are divided into upper and lower rows; the upper are the Ascension in the centre, with the Resurrection to the left, and to the right the disciples grouped round the virgin; the lower are the Crucifixion in the centre, Christ bearing His cross to the left, and the entombment to the right. This window was by Lavers, Barrand and Westlake; it was given in memory of the late Mr. Joseph Corbett, by his son, C. J. Corbett, Architect, of Imber Court, Surrey.
The reredos has three compartments; the central device is a cross, with rays of glory, and the monogram I.H.S.; on the right and left are doubly pointed, crocheted, arches; the device in the northernmost being a crown of thorns, with the three nails, surrounded by a circle; next to it three interlaced circles; on the south side interlaced triangles, and a plain cross. The east wall, up to the height of the reredos, is faced with alabaster.
In the south wall of the chancel is a wide stone seat, and above it a two-light trefoiled window. In the north chancel wall is a trefoiled credence table. There is a tablet to the memory of William Goodenough, formerly rector, Archdeacon of Carlisle (the benefice formerly being in the patronage of the Bishops of Carlisle), who died 13th Dec., 1854; and commemorating his wife Mary Anne, daughter of Dr. Samuel Goodenough, Bishop of Carlisle; she dying 3rd Jan., 1847, aged 75. The memorial was erected by their only surviving child, Mrs. Hawkins.
The choir sittings are of carved modern oak; the pulpit is also of the same, on a stone base, and the lectern. The chancel arch is lofty, the modern side columns having richly carved capitals. Some of the stones of the original arch were found built into the chimney of a cottage near at hand. The sittings in the nave, and the roof timbers, are of pitch pine. The base of the tower forms a roomy vestry.
In the churchyard is the lower part of the shaft of a cross, standing on an octagonal base. Opposite the east end of the south aisle is a tombstone in memory of James Roberts, “who sailed round the world in company with Sir Joseph Banks, in the years 1768–71, on board H.M.S. the Endeavour, Lieut. James Cook, Commander,” attending him “also on other voyages.”[194a]The tomb of Archdeacon Goodenough is on the north-east side of the church. Within a few feet of the south buttress of the tower is a fragment of an old tombstone, shewing part of a foliated cross on both sides, and the monogram I.H.S., in old characters, probably Saxon; Mareham being one of the 222 parishes in the county which had a church in Saxon times[194b]
Gervase Holles (temp. Chas. I.) gives the following arms and inscriptions, as existing in the church in his time. In the east window:
Empaled
Arg’ a crosse sa.
Arg. on a crosse G. a bezant.
Arg, a crosse sa.
Empaled
Quarterly arg. and G., on the 1st and 4th quarters a popinjay vert. membred and beked G.
In the western window on the left of the tower:
Orate pro a’ia Joh’is Tott, Agnet, et Helene, uxorum ejus, & specialiter pro Andrea Tott, Artium Baccalaureo, qui istam fenestram lapidari, necnon vitreari fecit.
Orate pro a’ia Joh’is Tott, Agnet, et Helene, uxorum ejus, & specialiter pro Andrea Tott, Artium Baccalaureo, qui istam fenestram lapidari, necnon vitreari fecit.
Over the buttress, on the east side:
Quarterly Ufford and Beke . . .
Quarterly Ufford and Beke . . .
Willoughby
Willoughby
3 crosses portate . . .
3 crosses portate . . .
2 chevrons between 3 roses . . .
2 chevrons between 3 roses . . .
A crosse . . .
A crosse . . .
A lyon passant . . .
A lyon passant . . .
“Domus mea domus orationis vocabitur, 1591.”[195a]
“Domus mea domus orationis vocabitur, 1591.”[195a]
The register dates from 1558. An entry records that on 22nd Nov., 1685, a “Briefe was read and published, for Saresden in Oxfordshire, for loss valued at £1,449. Granted June 14th, 1686.” Another entry, under date 23rd Nov., 1685, is as follows: “Thomas Eresby of Revvesby maketh oath yt Theodosie, his daughter, who was buried in the churchyard upon Sunday last, was wound and wrapped up in woollen only, according to the late Act of Parliament, in yt case made.” In explanation of this it may be stated that in 1677 British and Irish woollens were prohibited in France, which injured the woollen trade very much; and in the next year (1678) in order to encourage the trade at home, it was enacted by 29 Charles II., c. 3, that all persons, except those who died of the plague, should be buried in wool, under a penalty of £5.[195b]Another entry states that a collection was made, the amount not known, to afford relief, after the great fire in London, Sept., 1666.
The rectory, adjoining the church, stands in a large, well wooded garden. It is a good substantial residence, rebuilt by Archdeacon Goodenough in 1818–19, and much improved in 1855. In the entrance hall are two old prints of the church and rectory before their restoration, dated 1785. They were presented to the late rector, Rev. W. Sharpe, by Alfred Cobbett, Esq., and they are preserved as heirlooms by the rectors for the time being. The Rev. F. J. Williamson is the present rector, late of Lydgate. The Bishop of Manchester is patron of the benefice; the patronage of this, and several other benefices in this neighbourhood, formerly held by the Bishops of Carlisle, being transferred to the See of Manchester some years after its creation, in 1848.
The national school, built in 1840, is endowed with nearly an acre of land, given by Archdeacon Goodenough; it was considerably enlarged by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., in 1877. Some of the inhabitants are entitled to the benefits of the almshouses at Revesby. There is a navigable drain from the Witham, passing near the village, affording communication with New Bolingbroke and Boston. A former part of the parish is now included in the district of Wildmoor Fen.
In Liber Regis this parish is named “Marrow, alias Marym, alias Mareham in le Fen.” It is called inDomesday BookMeringe (or the sea-ing,i.e.sea-meadow). Another form was Marum; the Revesby Charters, Nos. 47 and 48, mention a piece of land, near the boundary of Marum, called “Mare Furlong,” and the grass (Psamma arenaria) which now grows on the sea banks is commonly called Marrum grass. All these names probably refer to the marish (Latin, mariscum), or marsh, character of the locality, caused by its proximity to the sea (le mer), which then came much nearer than it does now, and frequently flooded the land.
The manor was given by the Conqueror to the powerful Norman, Robert Despenser, who, as his name implies, was the King’s High Steward. He was the ancestor of the Despensers, Earls of Gloucester, and he held 15 manors inLincolnshire alone, besides 17 in Leicestershire, and several in other counties. Much of the land of this parish was at a later period given to Revesby Abbey, and at the dissolution of the monasteries some of this was granted by Henry VIII, to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.[196a]In later times it became, by purchase, the property of Mr. Joseph Banks, M.P. for Grimsby, born in 1681, and eventually came to his distinguished descendant, Sir Joseph Banks; and on his death some of the Mareham land passed to the ancestors of the present Sir Henry M. Hawley. Other proprietors are now Major Gape, Messrs. J. R. Chapman, Joseph Lake, and other smaller owners.
Among the Lincolnshire gentry called upon (with the Massingberds, Heneages, and many others) to furnish “launces and light horse,” in the 16th century, when the Spanish armada was expected, was one “John May of Mairing,” who failed to present himself at the muster in 1584, but in 1586 supplied “one light horse.”[196b]
In Notes on Low Toynton mention is made of the old family of Newcomen, originally “of Salaby,”i.e.Saltfleetby, where many generations of them were buried, from the time of Richard I. They married into influential and titled families, in various parts of the county. Charles Newcomen lived at Hagnaby in 1634, and bought land in Revesby. A Newcomen lived in Mareham in the 17th century. They were connected, by marriage, with the family of Sir Joseph Banks, as Mr. Banks, grandfather of Sir Joseph, had a house in Lincoln, the adjoining one being occupied by Newcomen Wallis, Esq., and Mr. Banks married Catherine the widow of Mr. Wallis (see the Banks monument in Revesby church, north aisle), whose mother was daughter and co-heir of Nicholas Newcomen, Esq.[196c]
We here give a few old records in connection with this parish in the past. The Court Roll of Mareham-le-Fen (preserved among the documents of the Listers of Burwell) for 2 Elizabeth, shows that, at that date (A.D. 1559), Thomas Glenham, Esq. (variously written Glemham), had the Manor of Mareham. In the 23rd Elizabeth it is recorded that Charles Glenham, Esq., by his lawful attorney, Francis Colby, of Glenham Parva, Esq., granted leases for seven years to divers tenants in Mareham. Thomas owned also the Manors of Calceby, Belchford, Oxcomb, and Burwell; these he sold to Sir Matthew Lister, afterwards of Burwell. He married Amye, daughter of Sir Henry Parker.[196d]
In a suit, instituted 29th May, 1239, between William de Bavent, plaintiff, and Walter, Bishop of Carlisle, defendant, regarding the advowson of the church of “Merum,” the said William “quit claimed” all his right to the said advowson, to the bishop and his heirs for ever; and in return for this the bishop gave him 10 marks. In the old record, Testa de Nevill, folio 556 (circa 1326), Walter de Bavent held certain lands in Marum, “by service of falconry,”i.e.by providing yearly, in lieu of rent, one “gay goss-hawk,” or more, for the use of the Lord of the Manor.[196e]
Robert de Weston, Rector of Marum, by his will, dated 3rd March, 1389, requested that he might be buried in Marum Church. He bequeathed to the Mendicant Friars of Boston 6s. 8d. “to remember me in their masses,” toLady Margaret Hawteyn, Nun of Ormsby, 10s.; to Trinity College, Cambridge, a book called “Johannes in Collectario,” to every fellow there 2s., and every scholar 1s. Among other bequests are to Mgr. Eudo la Zouch “12 cocliaria nova de argento” (i.e.12 new spoons of silver); to “John Geune my clerk a missal of the new use of sarum”, and “masses for souls of Walter ffelsted, William Stel, and James de Medringham. Executors, Eudo la Zouch, John ffoston my chaplin, &c., the residue of my goods to be sold, as quickly as possible, communi pretio, so that the purchasers may be bound to pray for my soul.”
William Leych, parson of Mareham, by will dated 11th Aug, 1556, requests that he may be buried “in the quire of St. Helen.” “To my brother Robert Leych 12 silver spoons, to Sir John Richardson 6 great books, containing the holle course of the bybyll, and a repetorii, and a concordance”; to Sir John Morland “Opera Chrisostomi & Sancti Thomas, & Haymo super epistolas sauli”; to Mr. Lancelot Sawkeld “Deane of Carlyle 20s., praying him to cause a dirige and masses to be said for me . . . I make Mr. Arthur Dymok and Mr. Robert Dymok supervisors.”
Wesleyan Chapel, Mareham-le-Fen
Henry Ayscough, of Blyborough, by will dated 19 Oct., 1611, left lands in Mareham-le-Fen, and the Manor of Tumby, and other lands, to his grandsons.In connection with this we may mention that the late Sir Henry James Hawley married, as his first wife, Elizabeth Askew, a descendant of the same family. The Ayscoughs (or Askews) were a distinguished Lincolnshire and Yorkshire family, and have still numerous representatives.[198a]
Here is another record of the same family. By will, dated 15th April, 1612, Walter Ayscoughe, of Mareham-le-Fen, left to his wife Bridget £20 annuity, and other property, for her life; then to his sons Henry and Walter, and two daughters Margaret and Elizabeth; also 12d. to the same; and 5s. to Nicholas Cressey, gent, supervisor, witness Clynton Ayscoughe; proved at Horncastle, 2nd May, 1613. To this family belonged Anne Askew the martyr, who was the younger daughter of Sir William Ayscough, Bart., of Stallingborough. Their property eventually came to the late Ascoghe Boucherett, of South Willingham.
Next we find one of the old family of Newcomen, already referred to, “Edward Newcomen of Mareham-le-Fenne, by will, proved at Horncastle, 1st July, 1614,” leaving to his daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, £10 each, the same to his son Robert, and the residue to his wife; the personality being £120 3s. 8d., a vastly larger sum in those days than now.
Another will is that of Annie Elie, widow, of Mareham-le-Fen, dated 13th July, 1616, in which she desires “to be buried in the church,” so that she was probably some one of importance. She leaves everything to her son-in-law John Wymberley, and her daughter Susan Wymberley.[198b]
Among the deeds and charters of Revesby Abbey, privately printed by the Right Hon. E. Stanhope a few years ago, No. 24 gives, among the witnesses to a deed of gift, the name of Eda, wife of Richard, Priest of Mareham (temp. Henry II., or Richard I). Hence it is evident that celibacy was not strictly enforced on the clergy at that period.[198c]Among the witnesses to other deeds are Robert, Priest of Marum, and Richard, Priest of Marum, A.D. 1172. The deed of gift of certain lands to Revesby Abbey (No. 29), by a certain John, is stamped with a round seal, having an equestrian figure, and the legend Sigillum Johannis de Maringe. By another deed William, son of John of Maring, gives certain lands; the seal bearing a lion and dog, or fox “contourné regardant,”[198d]the legend of this is Sigill. Will. de Marige.
With these records and associations with the past, the parish of Mareham may surely be said to have a history on which its people may well look back with interest and satisfaction.
Moorby lies about 4½ miles from Horncastle, and about 1½ miles beyond Scrivelsby, in a south-easterly direction. LettersviaBoston arrive at 9.30.
The registers date from 1561, but contain no entries of any particular interest. The church, dedicated to All Saints, has undergone several transformations. This was one of the 222 parishes which possessed a church before the Norman conquest, and it still contains a fragment (to be noticed later on) which is apparently of Saxon origin. Both Weir in his History (1828), and Saunders (1834) agree in stating that in the early part of the 19th century the church was “totally destitute of interest.”The Gazetteerof 1863 describes it vaguely as a “Gothic structure.” It was rebuilt in 1864, from designs by Mr. James Fowler, Architect, of Louth, at a cost of £1,100, defrayed by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., Lord of the Manor; and was further repaired in 1891, by public subscription. It consists of nave, chancel, vestry, north porch, and small square tower at the north-west angle, with low spire containing one bell. It is built chiefly of brick with facings of Ancaster stone.
In the north wall of the nave are a couple of two-light windows, in the Perpendicular style; in the south wall are three two-light windows; all these having bands of red and black brick alternately. In the west wall are two single-light lancet windows, with an ox-eye window above. In the chancel there is a small lancet window in the north wall, and a square aumbrey. The east end has a three-light plain lancet window; beneath which is a stone reredos, having three compartments filled with encaustic tiles, having, as their designs, in the centre a cross in gilt, and Alpha and Omega, within ox-eyes, on either side. In the south wall in front of the vestry is a lancet-shaped doorway, and, west of it, an arcade of two lancet apertures, supported by four columns of serpentine. Within the vestry is a two-light lancet window; and let into the eastern wall is a small slab, having four grotesque figures, one blowing a kind of bagpipe, the others dancing. This is said to have been a portion of a “minstrel pillar,” it is apparently Saxon, and is probably a relic from the original fabric. The chancel arch is of red and black bricks, in alternate bands, the capitals nicely carved in stone, supported by small serpentine columns. The pulpit is of Caen stone, having a cross within a circle on the front panel, and one serpentine column. The chancel choir stalls are of good modern oak; the sittings in the nave and the roof being of pitch pine.
The font is the most remarkable feature of the church. It has a large square bowl; the device on the east side is a skeleton being drawn from the tomb by two angels, doubtless emblematic of the “death unto sin and new birth unto righteousness,” accomplished in baptism. On the north face is the virgin and child, with the sun and moon in the corners above. On the south side is a figure in long vestment, apparently sitting on an altar, much defaced. On the west are six figures, much defaced, in the attitude of prayer. At the four angles are quatrefoiled niches, having at their bases, alternately, a crowned head and a mitre. This may have been of the 14th century. The shaft is square and modern, with columns at the angles.
The communion plate is modern, except the paten, which bears the inscription “Matthew Sympson, M.A., instituted Rector of Moorby, Feb. 28, 1705, collated Prebendary of Lincoln, June 25, 1718, Rector of Wenington, May 29, 1728.” The present Rector is the Rev. R. C. Oake, late Vicar of Broughton, Manchester. The rectory of Moorby is consolidated with the vicarage of Wood Enderby.
By deed dated Nov. 24th, 1855, the guardians of the poor, by consent of the ratepayers, gave certain land in Moorby for the site of a parish school to the minister, churchwardens, and overseers, and their successors; and morerecently a school district has been formed for the parishes of Moorby, Wood Enderby, Claxby, and Wilksby; the school, which was built in 1855, being enlarged in 1872, to provide the accommodation required by this union.
Moorby was one of the “thousand four hundred and forty-two manors” which William the Conqueror took as his own portion, when he divided the lands of England among his Norman followers. Being in the Soke of Horncastle, it was doubtless granted, along with that manor, and those of West Ashby, High Toynton, and several others, to Adelias or Alice de Cundi, daughter of William de Cheney, Lord of Caenby ann Glentham, and wife of Roger de Cundi. As she took part against King Stephen, in favour of the Empress Maud, he took the property from her; but eventually restored it to her, on condition that she should demolish her castle at Horncastle; this however was only for life, the estates again reverting to the crown. Henry II. made a grant of them to Gerbald le Escald, a Fleming noble, who was succeeded by his grandson and heir, Gerard de Rhodes. His son, Ralph de Rhodes, in the reign of Henry III., sold the manors to Walter Mauclerke, Bishop of Carlisle, and until recently the patronage of Moorby benefice belonged to the Bishops of Carlisle. After the creation of the See of Manchester, the patronage, with that of High Toynton, Mareham-le-Fen, &c., was transferred to the Bishops of Manchester.
Domesday Book, describing the soke of the Manor of Horncastle, says “In Morebi there are 3 carucates of land (or about 360 acres). There are 6 soc-men, and 10 bordars, who have 4 carucates (or 480 acres). There is a church and a priest (evidently a resident; of whom, according to Sir Henry Ellis, there were only 130 in the country), and 240 acres of meadow and 6 acres of underwood.” In the old record, Testa de Nevill (circa 1326–1328), the benefice of “Morby” is said to be “of the gift of the lord the king,”i.e.Edward II. or III. The original charters of Henry III., granting these manors to the Bishops of Carlisle, were confirmed by Henry VI.; but in course of time they passed to the Brandons, and to various other proprietors, until the ancestor of Sir Joseph Banks became lessee of the Manor of Horncastle, and also acquired the Manor of Moorby; to which James Banks Stanhope, Esq., and the late Right Hon. Edward Stanhope succeeded; although T. Elsey, the Artindale family, and the trustees of Bardney school, own portions of the parish.
In the year 1554 (Aug. 6th) Thomas Bewley, Clerk, was admitted to this benefice by Robert, Bishop of Carlisle, it being “vacant by deprivation.” This was the 2nd year of the reign of Queen Mary, of ill memory. Doubtless the offence of the ejected predecessor was that he was married, which was contrary to the papistic ideas, revived in that brief reign. Numbers of beneficed clergy were deprived at that time for this offence.
A few old records of some interest are preserved connected with Moorby, of which we give two or three samples here. First we have a family of the name of Moreby, of whom more than one mention is made. Roger Moreby, by will dated Saturday after the Feast of St. Botolph, 1394, commends his soul to St. Mary and all the saints; he requests that his body may be buried in Croyland parish church; he leaves 40s. to be given to the poor on the day of his burial, and money to provide torches and wax for the church, and the altars of St. Katharine, St. John the Baptist, and Holy Trinity; he bequeaths £10 of silver to his wife, and other items. Again, by will dated the Feast of St. Thomas the apostle, 1368, Gervase de Wylleford bequeaths 100s. to John Moreby his cousin.
The family of Ayscough, formerly so widely represented in the county, were connected with Moorby. By will, dated 16th Nov., 1601, Henry Ascoughe, Gent., desires to be buried in the parish church of “Morebie,” leaving to his sister “Elizabeth Aiscoughe (his) hereditaments in Morebie for life, then to go to his brother Matthew.” His sister is also to have lands which he had leased to Sir Henry Glenham, Knight.[201a]He further leaves to her, as executrix, “£10 to be good and to my poor sister Margarette.” To his brother Simon he bequeaths “the best apparrell of my bodie, with riding furniture, and my baie gelding, rapier, dagger, and pistol,” and further bequests. The testator was son of Christopher Ayscough, of Bliborough, and married, apparently without issue, Margaret, daughter of Symon Battell, of Denham, Suffolk.
Like the not very distant Wildmore Fen, in which it now has a modern allotment of 14 acres of glebe land. The name of Moorby tells of its condition at the time when it acquired that designation, which means the “by,”i.e.“byre,” or farmstead on the moor.[201b]The moorland has now entirely disappeared under the plough, and only young plantations represent its former wild, woodland character.
Wood Enderby lies about four miles south by east from Horncastle. LettersviaBoston arrive at 10.30 a.m.
The church, dedicated to St. Benedict, consists of nave, north aisle, and chancel, a low tower, with graceful broach spire, containing one bell, and small vestry. It is built of a warm-tinted green sandstone, with free stone dressings; the style of its architecture is a combination of the early English and Decorated periods. It was almost entirely rebuilt in 1860, at a cost of about £1,000. The south door, which is in the tower, has an Early English arch of five mouldings. There is a plain trefoiled window above in the tower; the lower part of the spire having two lancet windows, with a circle above them, and a small single-light window on each side, half way up. In the west wall of the tower is a three-light window, with two trefoils and a quatrefoil above. This is filled with coloured glass, having the texts “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them,” and “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” There are similar windows, but without coloured glass, in all four faces of the tower. At the north-west angle of the tower is a staircase turret. Within the south door, against the west wall, is an old stone coffin, with broken lid, ornamented with an incised floriated cross; this was discovered at the time of the restoration.
The arcade of the north aisle is of three bays, being part of the old church, in Early English style, with plain arches, supported on one octagonal pier and one shafted pier, with dog-tooth ornament, the former having foliage on the capital. In the north wall of the nave are three square-headed windows of three lights, with trefoils above, the glass being plain, except a border of red, purple, and yellow. In the south wall are three two-light windows, with trefoil and circle above; the glass being modern, with various coloured scripture texts.
The sittings are of deal, with plain poppy-heads. The pulpit is of modern oak, of five panels, each panel being divided into two trefoiled arched partitions; the central panel having a trefoil above, and below it a square piece of carved old oak, representing Elijah blessing the cruse of oil for the widow of Zarephath. The vestry, at the east end of the north aisle, has one small trefoiled window. The tower and the spire were added at the restoration. The chancel has a decorated east window of three lights, with three quatrefoils above. It is filled with modern coloured glass, the subjects being, in the centre the Saviour risen from the tomb, on the left an angel seated at the tomb, and on the right the Magdalen. There is an inscription, “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. John xx, 17.”
The north and south chancel walls have each one two-light trefoiled window, with quatrefoil above; plain glass, except the coloured band. In the south wall is a curious square projecting Norman piscina, with fluted basin, and fluted sides. In the north wall is an arched sepulchral recess. The chancel arch is plain Early English. The roof, like the sittings, is of pitch pine. The font has a plain octagonal large bowl of Barnack stone, its upper rim being modern, the shaft plain quadrilateral, with plain square columns at the angles; base and pediment octagonal.
The register dates from 1561. It begins with the note “The Register booke of Woodenderbye, containing herein ye names of all such as have been married, burried, and christened, from Michaelmas 1561, to Michaelmas 1562.” The first five or six entries are illegible, and the others contain nothing of special interest. The benefice, a vicarage, is consolidated with the rectory of Moorby, and is now held by the Rev. R. C. Oake.
As the name of Moorby indicated the character of the locality in former times, when that name was first acquired, so Wood Enderby means the “bye,”i.e.“byre,” or farmstead “at the end of the wood,” as it borders on what was once the forest tract of “Tumby Chase”; Haltham wood, near at hand, being a relic of that former wild region.[202]
W. H. Trafford, Esq., is Lord of the Manor. The Hon. Mr. Stanhope owns a large part of the land; and portions belong to the Rev. G. Ward, and other smaller owners. The late Miss Trafford Southwell founded an infant school in the village; the older children attending the Moorby school. The poor parishioners receive 6d. each at Christmas, left by an unknown donor, out of the farm now owned by Rev. G. Ward, of Mavis Enderby.
The ancient history of Wood Enderby is much the same as that of Moorby. It was one of the minor demesnes, within the Soke of Horncastle, and attached to that manor; as were also West Ashby, High Toynton, Mareham-on-the-Hill, and other parishes. It would thus also be among the estates of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and when his main line became extinct, and the property was divided among collateral branches, Wood Enderby, with Wilksby and Revesby, fell to the share of Mr. John Carsey, or Kersey; his wife, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lovell, Knight, being grand-daughter of Margaret, sister and co-heir of the Duke of Suffolk. He owned the propertyfrom 1552 to 1575, and he and his son Francis jointly sold it to Thomas Cecil, Lord Treasurer Burleigh. He held it from 1575 to 1598, when it passed in succession to the 1st and 2nd Earls of Exeter, and to Elizabeth, Lady Howard, wife of the Earl of Berkshire, in 1640, and so in 1658 to Henry Howard; in 1663 to his cousin Craven Howard, who built the former residence at Revesby; and, after his death, the property was sold by the daughters of Henry Howard to the Banks family; whence the manor has descended to the present proprietors of Revesby.
The manor, like that of Moorby and other parishes already named, would at one time belong to the Bishops of Carlisle, and they were till recently patrons of the benefice; the patronage, within late years, being transferred to the Bishops of Manchester, after the creation of that See in 1848.
At an earlier date, being an appendage to the Manor of Horncastle, this demesne would be owned at one period by Gerard and Ralph de Rhodes; and this is shewn by the following records among the Final Concords, date 3rd Feb., 1224–5, whereby an agreement was arrived at between Henry del Ortiay and Sabina his wife, on the one part, and Ralph de Rhodes on the other part, as to certain lands in Moorby, Enderby, Horncastle, and other parishes, that the said Henry and Sabina should recognise the said lands as belonging to the said Ralph; he, on his part, granting to them other lands there, specially designated, they rendering to him “therefor by the year, one pair of gilt spurs, at Easter, for all service and exaction.”[203a]This agreement was settled “at the court of the Lord the King at Westminster on the morrow of the purification of the blessed Mary, in the 9th year of King Henry III.[203b]
In the old records, Testa de Nevill (circa 1326–28), it is stated that “the churches of Horncastre, Askeby (West Ashby), Upper Thinton (High Toynton), of Meringes (Mareham-on-the-Hill), and of Hinderby (Wood Enderby), are of the gift of the lord; and Osbert, the parson, holds them of King Richard.”
InDomesday Bookit is stated that at the time of the Conqueror, there were “400 acres of wood pasturage” in the parish, a sufficient reason for its designation. Like Moorby, it was among the manors seized by the Conqueror, for his portion of the plunder taken from our Saxon forefathers. In Saxon times the Thane, Siward, had land here; which was given by the Conqueror to his steward, Robert Despenser, brother of the Earl Montgomery.[203c]