Records, Historical And Antiquarian, Of Parishes Round Horncastle - free ebook by J. Conway (James Conway) Walter

Records, HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN, OF Parishes Round Horncastle.

BY J. CONWAY WALTER, Author of “ Records of Woodhall Spa ,” “ The Ayscoughs ,” “ Literæ Laureatæ ,” &amp;c. Ancient Chrismatory, see page 38 Ancient Chrismatory, see page 38. Horncastle : W. K. Morton , High Street , 1904....

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PREFACE.

In perusing the following pages, readers, who may be specially interested in some one particular parish with which they are connected, may in certain cases be disappointed on not finding such parish here described, as they have previously seen it, along with the others, in the columns of the “Horncastle News,” where these ‘Records’ first appeared. This may arise from one of two causes:— (1) The volume published in 1899, entitled “Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood” (which was very favou

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CORRIGENDA. [0]

Page 1, line 23, for moot-free read moot-tree. „ 3, line 11, for Creœceur read Creveceur. „ 8, line 24, for Sharford read Snarford. „ 14, line 13, for resident read residence. „ 18, line 20, for Ascham read Acham. „ 19, line 9, for Anjon read Anjou. „ 30, foot-note, for Anjon read Anjou. „ 31, line 36, for Stukley read Stukeley. „ 41, line 24, Richard, King, omit comma . „ 44, line 28, Emperor of Constantine, omit of. „ 45, line 18, for Improprietor read Impropriator. „ 50, line 1, for Mabysshen

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Ashby Puerorum

is situated about five miles from Horncastle in an eastern direction, lying between Somersby on the north-east, Greetham nearly west, and Hagworthingham almost south. It includes the hamlets of Stainsby and Holbeck. The register dates from 1627. Letters, via Horncastle, arrive at 10 a.m. At Tetford is the nearest money order and telegraph office, although there is in the village an office where postal orders and stamps can be obtained. The principal owners of land are Earl Manvers, the repr

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Asterby.

Asterby is situated about 6½ miles from Horncastle in a north-easterly direction, being approached by the road to Scamblesby and Louth, but diverging from that road northward shortly before reaching Scamblesby. The Rector is the Rev. J. Graham, J.P., who has a substantial residence, erected at a cost of £1,200 in 1863, and standing on the slope of a hill in good grounds. Letters, viâ Lincoln, arrive at 10 a.m. Not much can be gathered of the early history of this parish. It is named in Domesd

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Baumber.

Baumber, or Bamburgh, lies on the old Roman road, from Horncastle to Lincoln, about 4 miles to the north-west from the former place, and half-a-mile from the point where another Roman road furcates northward for Caistor; it is thus somewhat interestingly connected with the three ancient Roman stations, Lindum, Banovallum, and Caistor (Castrum). Its own name, in the older form, Bam-burg doubtless means the “Burg,” or fort, on the Bain; as it stands on high ground above the valley of the Bain, an

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Belchford.

Belchford is one of our largest villages, lying at a distance of about 5 miles from Horncastle, in a north-east direction, and buried in a valley among the wolds. It was anciently among the possessions of the Conqueror’s nephew, Ivo Tailebois, which he acquired by his marriage with the Lady Lucia, the wealthy heiress of the Thorolds. Tithes and territory here were assigned by her to the Abbey of Croyland, as well as to its cell, the branch Priory of Spalding. There were two mills here, valued

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Bolingbroke, Old.

Bolingbroke, to which is now added the epithet “old,” to distinguish it from the modern creation, New Bolingbroke, near Revesby, lies distant about seven miles, in an easterly direction from Horncastle, and about four miles westward from Spilsby, in a kind of cul-de-sac , formed by steep hills on three sides. As to the meaning of the name, whether its commonly accepted derivation from the brook, the spring-head of which, as Camden says (Britannia, p. 471), is in low ground hard by, be correct,

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Edlington.

This is a pleasant, small village, about 2½ miles from Horncastle, the chief approach to it being by the so-called “Ramper,” the great Roman road, connecting the two Roman fortresses, Lindum and Banovallum (Lincoln and Horncastle), and still one of the best roads in the county. The Park of Edlington, now the property of the Hassard Short family, is a pleasantly undulating enclosure, adorned with some very fine trees; although of late some £3,000 worth, chiefly of outlying timber, has been conve

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Mavis Enderby.

Mavis Enderby is nearly 8 miles from Horncastle, in an easterly direction, the road passing through High Toynton, skirting Scrafield, and through Winceby, and Lusby, and being part of the old Roman road from Doncaster to Wainfleet. It is about 3 miles west by north of Spilsby, where is the nearest telegraph office; the nearest money order office being at Raithby. Letters, via Spilsby, arrive at 7.30 a.m. The village is prettily situated on a slope of the wolds, the houses clustering about the

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Fulletby.

Fulletby lies about 3½ miles from Horncastle, in a north-east by north direction, on the road to Belchford. Letters, via Horncastle, arrive at 10 a.m. The nearest Money Order Office is at Belchford, the nearest Telegraph Office at Tetford, or Horncastle. We do not know very much of the ancient history of this parish. In Domesday Book it is stated (“Lands of the Bishop of Durham”) that the Saxons, Siward and Edric, had there two carucates (or about 240 acres) and six oxgangs of land, rateable

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Goulceby.

Goulceby lies in a northerly direction, about 7 miles from Horncastle, some two miles further on than Scamblesby, and barely a mile west of Asterby, to which parish it is now ecclesiastically annexed; the joint value of the two benefices, the former a vicarage and the latter a rectory, being about £380 a year, now held by the Rev. J. Graham, J.P., who resides at Asterby. Goulceby was probably, in Saxon times, the more important of the two places, since it was one of the 222 parishes in the coun

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Greetham.

Greetham is distant about 3½ miles from Horncastle, in an easterly direction, lying just beyond the parish of High Toynton, south of Fulletby, west of Ashby Puerorum and north of Winceby. The village is chiefly situated on a cross-road running north and south (and probably Roman) which unites the road from Horncastle to Tetford with that from Horncastle to Hagworthingham and Spilsby. The nearest money order and telegraph office is at Horncastle, whence the letters arrive at 9.20. a.m. The pop

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Hagworthingham.

Hagworthingham is a considerable village, at a distance of 6 miles east of Horncastle, and 4½ north-west of Spilsby, on the road from Horncastle, via High Toynton and Greetham, to Partney. Letters via Spilsby, arrive about 9 a.m. It has its own Post Office, Money Order Office, and Savings Bank; the nearest telegraph office being at Spilsby. Of this parish there are several notices in Domesday Book. It is described as comprising six manors. These were owned, at the date of the Norman Conques

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Hameringham.

Hameringham is about 4 miles from Horncastle, in a south-east direction, the road passing through Mareham-on-the-Hill. The marriage register dates from 1744, those for burials and baptisms from 1777. Letters, via Horncastle, arrive at 10 a.m. We know little of the early history of this village; it is not named in Domesday Book, but in a list of military tenures, of the reign of Henry I. about A.D. 1108, the “Hundred of Hamringeheim” is mentioned, and “Count Richard,” probably the Norman Earl o

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Hareby.

Hareby is situated about 7 miles, in an easterly direction from Horncastle, is about 1 mile west of Bolingbroke, and 4½ miles from Spilsby. From the first place it is approached by the old Roman road from Horncastle to Waynflete, as far as the cross-roads at Lusby, turning to the right for half-a-mile and then to the left. It is a small parish, of less than 40 inhabitants, and comprising about 740 acres. Letters, via Spilsby, arrive at 8.30 a.m. The nearest money order office is at Bolingbro

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Hatton.

Hatton lies about 7½ miles from Horncastle, to the north-west, and about 4 miles south-east of Wragby; being about ½ a mile eastward of the high road between those two places. Letters, via Wragby, the nearest money order and telegraph office, arrive at 10 a.m. The register dates from 1552. There are also entries relating to this parish, from 1695 to 1799, in the Baumber register. The name Hatton, as a parallel to Hatcliffe, Hatfield, Hatfield Chase, &amp;c., doubtless means a “ton,” i.e.

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Hemingby.

This parish lies 4 miles north by west from Horncastle, on the river Bain. Letters, via Horncastle, which is the nearest money order office, arrive at 9.30. The Incumbent is the Rev. E. S. Bengough, who has a commodious Rectory. The register dates from 1579. The Church is dedicated to St. Margaret. A previous structure, erected in nondescript, “Grecian,” style, in 1771 (a period when so many of the churches in the neighbourhood were re-modelled in the worst taste), consisting of nave, chance

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Kirkby-on-Bain.

Kirkby-on-Bain is a village larger than most of those in the immediate neighbourhood, situated on the river Bain, between 4 and 5 miles from Horncastle, in a southerly direction, about 4 miles north-east of Tattershall, and rather less south-east of Woodhall Spa, where are the nearest railway station, money order, and telegraph office, there being a post office in the village. It was a saying of one of our chief archæologists, that “anciently every local name had its meaning”; and we may extract

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Kirkby, East.

East Kirkby is situated just below the steep slope of the Wolds, near their southern extremity, between 7 and 8 miles south south-east of Horncastle, 6 miles south-west from Spilsby, and 9 miles north-east from Tattershall. From Horncastle it is approached viâ Scrivelsby and Moorby. It is contiguous, on the east, to Revesby. This in one of the 220 odd parishes in the county which possessed a church before the Norman Conquest. At that period it seems to have been united with Revesby, since in

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Lusby.

Lusby (called in Domesday Book Lodeby and Luzebi), is distant from Horncastle about 6 miles, in an easterly direction, being 1 mile beyond Winceby. Prior to the Norman Conquest, the Saxon Thane, Tonna, held lands here, as well as in other parishes in the neighbourhood, his property here being 3 carucates, or about 360 acres (Domesday). Other owners of land were Almer, and his brother John, and his son Mauger. These, at the Conquest, were mostly superseded by Normans. William the Conqueror ga

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Miningsby.

Miningsby is situated about 7 miles from Horncastle in a south-easterly direction, and is approached by way of Mareham-on-the-Hill and Hameringham. It is seven miles from Spilsby westward, and 9 miles north-east of Tattershall Station. Letters, via Boston, arrive at 9 a.m. The nearest money order and telegraph office is at East Kirkby. In the time of the Conqueror, this manor belonged to his nephew, Ivo Taillebois, through his marriage with the Lady Lucia, the rich heiress of the Saxon Thorol

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Oxcombe.

This parish is situated about 7 miles, in a north-easterly direction from Horncastle, and about the same distance south-west from Louth. It is interesting to notice that in the name of this parish we have one of the few survivals in the county of its former British inhabitants. The old writer, William Camden, Clarenceaux King of Arms, in his “Remaines concerning Britain,” p. 116, A.D. 1657, says “Combe, a word in use both in France and England, for a valley between high hills.” It is, in fact

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Raithby.

Raithby is situated about 2 miles from Spilsby and about 9 miles from Horncastle, on the main road between the two towns, via Hagworthingham. It is within the ancient soke of Bolingbroke, and an appanage of the Duchy of Lancaster. There is a post and money order office, and letters, via Spilsby, arrive at 7.5 a.m., and depart at 5.40 p.m. The nearest telegraph office is at Spilsby. Not much of the early history of this parish is to be found. As is stated in the notes on Mavis Enderby, these

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Ranby.

Ranby is situated on the old Roman road to Caistor, northward, rather more than 7 miles from Horncastle. The vicar, the Rev. G. S. Lee, resides at Benniworth, rather more than 3 miles distant, of which he is rector. Letters, via Lincoln, arrive at 10.30. Ranby is probably a contraction of Ravenby; as we have near Louth, two parishes, Ravendale, east and west, and the hamlet of Raventhorpe, in the north of the county, in the parish of Appleby, near Brigg. Ravendale is contracted into the patr

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Revesby.

Revesby is situated about 7½ miles from Horncastle, in a south-easterly direction; some 12 miles north-west from Boston, 8 miles south-west from Spilsby, and about 7 miles East, from the nearest railway station at Tattershall. Letters, via Boston, arrive at 7 a.m. The nearest telegraph office is at Mareham-le-Fen. One derivation of the name Revesby is from a Danish word meaning a “fox,” the Danes certainly at one time settled extensively in this neighbourhood, and “by” is a very common Danish

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Salmonby.

Salmonby is distant from Horncastle about five miles, in an easterly direction, on the road to Tetford, which it adjoins. The register dates from 1558, and contains some curious entries. One is as follows:—“Helena More, centesimo decimo ætatis anno, et undecimo die mensis Junii, Anno Dom. 1638 fato succubuit, et die duo decimo dicti mensis sepulta est 1638,” i.e. , Helena More succumbed to her fate in the 110th year of her age, and on the 11th day of the month of June, A.D. 1638, and was burie

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Scamblesby.

This rather straggling village is pleasantly situated about 6 miles north-east of Horncastle, in a basin of the Wolds, between the steep hill on the west, by which it is approached from Horncastle and West Ashby, by the old turnpike road to Louth, and the still steeper hill of Cawkwell, a mile further to the east, Louth-ward. In the centre of this basin, which is watered by a small tributary of the river Bain, rising near at hand, is an almost circular prominence, like the boss of a shield, on

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Sotby.

Sotby, also in Liber Regis, called Saltby, lies to the west of Ranby, about 2 miles to the north-west of Great Stourton, and is about 8 miles north-north-west from Horncastle. Letters, via Wragby, arrive at 9.30 a.m. This manor, in the reign of the Conqueror, was granted by him to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Baieux, [182] along with many other demesnes, as mentioned more fully in the account of Ranby. Ralph the vassal of Odo is mentioned in Domesday Book, as holding “4 carucates,” or 480

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Stixwould.

This parish is situated about 6 miles westward of Horncastle; the village being less than a mile from the Stixwould station, on the loop line of the Great Northern Railway, between Boston and Lincoln. The parish is bounded on the west by the river Witham, on the north by Horsington, and on the east and south by Woodhall and Edlington. In Domesday book the name takes the form of Stigeswald, or Stigeswalt. The origin of this name can only be a matter of conjecture, but the following, as not bei

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Stourton.

Stourton, called Stourton Magna, or Great Stourton, to distinguish it from Stourton Parva, the hamlet included in Baumber, is rather more than a mile, northward, beyond Baumber, and five miles from Horncastle. This was formerly the property, a sheep-walk, of the Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Mary, of Tupholme, founded by Robert de Nova Villa or Nevill, in the twentieth year of Henry III. (“Liber Regis,” Bacon’s ed. 1786, p. 424). Dugdale states that he held the lands of the king in capite , f

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Tetford.

Tetford, which adjoins Belchford, lies to the north-east of Horncastle, at a distance of about 7 miles; though a village with a population under 500, it almost aspires to the rank of a small town, as it possesses more than one street; has several shops, and a number of fair residences. Letters via Horncastle, arrive at 10 a.m. At the date of Domesday Book, it was one of the limited number of parishes which then possessed a church. Saxon thanes, by name Elmer, Arnwi and Britrod, held lands her

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Waddingworth.

Waddingworth is a small village, about 6 miles from Horncastle, in a north-westerly direction, between Gautby and Wispington. The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is now in a very dilapidated condition. The rectory is held at the present time (1904) by the Rev. L. Dewhurst, along with that of Gautby, where he has a fairly commodious house, with permission from the Bishop to hold only occasional services at Waddingworth Church, as that at Gautby is almost equally convenient for the people of

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Winceby.

Winceby is situated about five miles south-east of Horncastle, on the way to Old Bolingbroke. It is approached by a good road, but leading up and down hills so steep as to render travelling slow, either for man or beast. The village itself stands on high ground commanding very extensive views; the church of West Keal being a conspicuous object to the east; the lofty tower of Boston looming in the distance, southward, many miles away; Tattershall Castle and Church, the churches of Coningsby, He

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Wispington.

Wispington is situated about 4 miles from Horncastle, in a north-westerly direction; adjoining Edlington on the east, Baumber on the north, Waddingworth on the west, and Horsington and Edlington on the south. Letters arrive from Horncastle at 9 a.m. The nearest money order office is at Horncastle, and telegraph office at Baumber. Like two of the parishes just mentioned as contiguous, the name of Wispington contains the Anglo-Saxon patronymic “ing.” A Saxon settler named Uisp, or Wisp, probabl

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