A History of Horncastle Part 23

In this "b.u.t.ts" field rises a spring, which is the source of a small runnel, called "Daubeny's Beck." This bearing westward, for some distance forms the boundary between the parishes of Thimbleby and Langton, then flowing through Woodhall falls into the "Monk's Beck," at Poolham. The name "Daubeny" is doubtless a corruption of D' Albini. The D' Albinis held the Barony, and built the castle of Belvoir, and had other large possessions in this county and elsewhere; the name is not uncommon as a field name, &c. There is a field in Langton called "Daubeny's (_i.e._ D' Albini's) Walk."

In the grounds of Mr. W. A. Crowder, further to the east, near the Lincoln "Ramper," as the highway is locally called, there was found, a few years ago, a so-called "Roman" tomb, somewhat rudely constructed of blocks of Spilsby sandstone. Within it was a human skeleton, with bones of a dog, a sword, and the head of a spear. In connection with this, we may also mention, that in the Rectory grounds there is an ancient well, of great depth, lined also with Spilsby sandstone, and said to be Roman; which in the immediate proximity of the Cornucastrum, or Roman fort of Banovallum, would not seem to be at all improbable.

An old parish book of Thimbleby, recently shown to the writer, proves the care which was taken by the parish officials, before the present poor law system was established, to secure the comfort and maintenance of poorer parishioners.

At a parish meeting, Nov. 1st, 1819, Thomas Kemp, Churchwarden, in the chair, it was ordered that John Sharp's daughter was to have a gown and pettycoat, worsted for two pairs of stockings, and one blue ap.r.o.n. Four boys were to have two smocks each, and eight old people a strike of coals each per week. At another meeting Margaret Day was to have worsted for two pairs of socks for her two boys, herself to spin it; and one pair of shoes for her daughter. Robert Kemp, and his son Richard, in order to find them work were to be paid 2s. per day, to "gether" stones for the parish.

Again, Maria Day's shoes were to be mended; Mary Atkin to have a pair of blankets, and her chamber window put in and thatched. Benj. Benton one pair of shoes, Willm. Adkin a waistcoat. Mary King's family four shirts, two pairs of shoes, three frocks, three petticoats, and three dabs (_i.e._ pinafores). A pair of breeches for George Skipworth; Willm.

Skipworth to have a spade.

Again, Mr. Thos. Kemp was "to be allowed 20 for the use of the poor-house, to be insured for 200 by the parish, and, when given up to be left in the same state."

At a meeting on 7th August, 1820, Robert Dixon in the chair, it was ordered that all paupers receiving a.s.sistance should regularly attend Divine Service, and on their non-attendance the a.s.sistance should be stopped. Mary Todd was to receive her money (which had been stopped) having given satisfaction to the vestry for not attending the church.

Mary Hobbins' boy to be put to school. "To get the Lord's Prayer, and the 'I believe,' put in the church at the parish expense."

At a meeting held 27th August, 1830, Thomas Kemp in the chair, it was agreed that 75 be borrowed of Mr. Thos. Kemp, to pay Mrs. Farmer's expenses to America, to be repaid by the parish, 30s. weekly, with legal interest. Church rates are now among the "has beens," but in 1843 a rate was pa.s.sed of "1d. in the pound for the support of the church, and 10d.

in the pound for the highway repairs."

In the churchyard, along the south side of the church, are a group of gravestones of the Kemp family. Eastward are several of the Marshall family, formerly numerous here, and in the neighbourhood, holding a respectable position, but now extinct. {175} There are also a number of tombs of the Todd family, respectable small farmers, resident in the parish, from the first notice of a burial, June 24th, 1738, down to recent years. The Tebbuts and Dixons were also resident, as tenants or small owners, for many years.

Among the marriage registers, which date from 1695, is the following note: "March 23, 1779, a marriage was attempted to be solemnized; but the intended bridegroom, to the great surprise of the congregation a.s.sembled, remaining away, the ceremony, &c. . . ." The rest is illegible.

We have now to speak of the church. The present edifice stands on the site of a former 14th century church, which, judging by the remains that have been found, must have been of much larger dimensions, and consisted of nave, two aisles, chancel, and bell tower; the total breadth having been 52-ft. Several fragments of stained gla.s.s have, at various times, been found in digging graves, showing that this early church, like several others in the neighbourhood, had good coloured windows. This was taken down in 1744, and from the materials remaining a small fabric was erected in its place, consisting of nave and apsed chancel, with no pretensions whatever to architectural beauty. This (as has been generally the case with badly constructed edifices of that period) became also, in turn, so decayed that the present Rector, on entering on the benefice, decided to rebuild the church once more; and in 1879 the present structure was completed at a cost of over 1,000, in the best early Decorated style.

It consists of nave, chancel, organ chamber on the south, and an octagonal bell turret, designed by the late Mr. James Fowler, the Architect, and containing one small modern bell, graven with the date and initials of W. Carey, Churchwarden in 1744, {176a} who demolished the old church. The nave has three two-light windows, of the decorated style, in the north and south walls; there is a square-headed two-light window in the organ chamber; the chancel has a single-light window in the north and south walls, with a good east window of three lights, trefoiled, and with a triangle of trefoils above. In the north wall is a credence recess, and in the south wall are two stone sedilia. The tiles within the chancel rails are copied from ancient tiles, which were found some years ago, at Revesby Abbey. In the west front, over the door, is a large two-light window, and above it a clock, the only village church clock in the neighbourhood, by Smith of Derby. Within the west doorway, let into the north wall of the tower bas.e.m.e.nt, is a fragment of an old battlement, having a shield in the centre, probably a relic from the original church.

The font is modern, having a plain octagonal bowl, shaft, and pediment.

The roof is of pitch pine, the timbers being supported by plain corbels.

The lectern, chancel stalls, and communion table are of good modern oak

Used as a stile in the south fence of the churchyard is a large slab, on which, above ground, is the matrix of a former bra.s.s, representing one figure, with a broad transverse bar for an inscription, and connecting it with other figures, which are now below the ground. {176b}

The church plate includes an interesting paten, presented to the church in 1837, by the mother of the late Rector, but bearing hall-marks of 17278, with the letter M and a five-pointed star below. The chalice is still more interesting, as it bears an old Lincoln hall-mark, of date about 1570; there are only eight other known examples of this period in the county.

The rectory is a commodious house, built in 1839, doubtless on the site of the former monastic grange; it stands in an extensive garden, embowered among trees of goodly growth. A fine oil painting at the present time adorns the entrance hall. It is reputed to be by Spagnoletto, and was formerly in the monastery of St. Jerome, in Lisbon.

Its size is 5-ft. by 4-ft., the subject being St. Jerome translating the Vulgate scriptures.

WEST ASHBY.

This parish, like High Toynton, Mareham-on-the-Hill and Wood Enderby, was formerly a hamlet of Horncastle, of which it adjoins the northern boundary. We find them all coupled together in an extract from the Testa de Nevill [folio 348 (556), quoted _Lincs. Notes & Queries_, vol. iii, p.

215] as follows: "The church of Horncastre, and of Askeby, and of Upper Thinton, and of Meringes, and of Hinderby, are of the gift of the Lord,"

_i.e._ the Lord of the Manor. In _Domesday Book_ it is called Aschebi.

Queen Editha, wife of Edward the Confessor, who owned various lands in this neighbourhood, was Lady of this Manor, as well as that of Horncastle. She held here six carucates of land (or about 720 acres), besides which there were 45 soc-men, 5 villeins, and 13 bordars, with eight carucates (or about 960 acres), and 500 acres of meadow and pasture. (_Domesday_, "Soke of Horncastle.")

[Picture: The Manor House, West Ashby]

_Domesday_ also mentions that the Saxon thane, Chetelburn, who had property in Coningsby, Keal, Candlesby, Friskney, and other places in the county, had at Ashby "a mill worth 12s. yearly," a very considerable sum in those days. The manor was afterwards held by the Conqueror himself (_Domesday_, "Property of the King"); and it would seem, although there is no direct evidence of it, that he bestowed the manor on one of his chief favourites, Ranulph de Paga.n.a.ll, who received from his sovereign extensive grants in the counties of Somerset, Devon, York, Northampton, and Lincoln, {177} including all the lands formerly held by the Saxon Merleswain, in this county and elsewhere. Ranulph Paga.n.a.ll founded (A.D.

1089) the Priory of the Holy Trinity in York, said to have been built on the site of a former Roman heathen temple; one of his family, Helias Pagnall, being subsequently Prior of this inst.i.tution, and Canon of Selby. When the present Church of the Holy Trinity was restored in 1904, among other ancient monuments, was found the slab of the tomb of Ralph Ranulph, which is still preserved in the church, along with sculptures commemorative of St. Benedict, St. Martin of Tours, Prior Helias, and others. {178a}

Ranulph, by charter of that date, endowed the abbey with two-thirds of the t.i.thes of Ashby; which was further confirmed by charters of 1100, 1125, and 1179. This Ranulph Paga.n.a.ll was Sheriff of Yorkshire. The last known representative of his family was William Paga.n.a.ll, summoned to Parliament as a Baron in the reign of Edward III. Dugdale states {178b} that the Priory of the Holy Trinity was made, by its founder, a dependency or cell of the greater monastery (marmonstier) of the above, St. Martin in Touraine; and by the Inquisition, taken at York, 34 Ed. I., it was found that he claimed no portion of the temporalities of the Priory, beyond the right to place an official there, during the vacancy of the priorate, as temporary custodian. The name Paga.n.a.ll became in later times softened into Paynell; they were at one time Lords of Bampton.

At a later period the manor of Ashby, probably with that of Horncastle, belonged to Gerard de Rhodes and his descendant, Ralph; since in a Charter Roll of 14 Henry III. (pt. i, M. 12), we find that King's confirmation of a grant, made by the said Ralph, to Walter, Bishop of Carlisle, of "the manor of Horncastle, with the soke, and the advowsons of the churches, and all other things pertaining to the same in all places," evidently including the churches of the hamlets as well as that of the town. Among the witnesses to this are Gervase, Archdeacon of Carlisle; and Henry de Capella; the latter name being noticeable because, as will be seen below, Ashby was called "Capella." {178c}

The Abbey of Kirkstead had a grange in Ashby, which after the dissolution of the monasteries, was granted in the 5th year of Edward VI., to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Lord High Treasurer of England; this is now part of the Ashby Thorpe estate. {178d} In 1820 this was the property of Mr.

Joseph Rinder. It is now partly owned by the Booth family, and partly by the Smedley trustees.

The parish is still divided into Far Thorpe, Church Thorpe, and Middle Thorpe. Far Thorpe included the farms held by the late Mr. Griffin and Mr. Addison. Mr. Wattam's house, which is moated, was the old Midthorpe Hall. As being a hamlet of Horncastle, the benefice was formerly called Ashby "Capella," or the Ashby Chapelry; and like Horncastle, Wood Enderby, High Toynton, and Mareham is given in "Liber Regis" as in the patronage of the Bishop of Carlisle. Until recently it was a perpetual curacy, in value about 50 a year; but about 30 years ago, on the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of certain episcopal lands, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners endowed it to the extent of 300 a year, and built a substantial vicarage. The patronage is now with the Lord Chancellor by exchange with Kirk Oswald, c.u.mberland.

The church, All Saints, is of considerable size, being one of the largest village churches in the neighbourhood, mainly in the Perpendicular style, and substantially built, consisting of tower, nave, and chancel, the two latter of the same elevation throughout. The tower has three old bells, and a peal of eight tubular bells. Gervase Holles gives the inscriptions on the bells as being:

1. Sit nomen Domini benedictum.

2. Intonat e caelis vox campana Michaelis.

3. Sum rosa pulsata Mundi Maria vocata.

One of these was, some years ago, re-cast; and now bears the inscription "voco ad templum, date 1759."

The main features of the church are as follows: the porch arch is semi-circular, Norman, the west window in the tower is unusually high, 12-ft. by 4-ft. in width, of three lights. The north aisle has four bays. The nave, in the south wall, has two three-light windows, the western one perpendicular and having pointed arch, the eastern square headed. In the north wall there is a three-light debased decorated window. In the west wall of the north aisle is a two-light window of coloured gla.s.s, in memory of Augustus Elmhirst; and in its eastern wall is a three-light memorial window to his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Jane Ruck Keene. In the south wall of the chancel are two late four-centre two-light windows; and in the north wall a three-light flamboyant window.

Gervase Holles mentions a north chancel window having "sa. a crosse between 4 cinquefoyles arg. . . .," {179} but this has disappeared. The east window is modern, with three lights. A new window was erected, in 1907, in the north aisle (corresponding to a window inserted in 1905, in memory of General and Mrs. Elmhirst), by Mr. H. R. Elmhirst, to the memory of his late wife, Lilian Frances, nee Hatfeild; the artists were Powell and Sons; the subject Faith, Hope and Love represented by three figures.

[Picture: All Saints' Church, West Ashby]

The communion table has a very handsome cover, with red frontal, elaborately embroidered with old Roman work. A carved wooden reredos has recently been presented by Col. and Mrs. Stack. On a tablet on the north wall is an elaborate inscription, in memory of Lieutenant Richard Calthrop, who was killed at the siege of Algiers; erected by his mother and 10 surviving brothers and sisters; who are said to have lived to the remarkable average age of 85 years. There are various tablets commemorative of the families of Rockliffe, Drewry, Pierce and Elmhirst.

There is a north door, as well as south, to the nave. The font is a plain octagonal one, perpendicular in style.

The church was restored and reseated in 1873; the tower being renovated in memory of Mrs. Barnard, otherwise known as "Claribel," a well-known musical composer, connected with the Elmhirst family. It is lofty and ma.s.sive, surmounted by four high pinnacles and large gurgoyles at the angles.

The register dates from 1561. {180a} The communion plate consists of a cup, with inscription "Ashby Chappell, 1758;" a paten presented by "Elizabeth Pierce, Christmas Day, 1841," and flagon, given by the same, in 1859. She was the wife of the Vicar of that day, the Rev. W. M.

Pierce, and an auth.o.r.ess. In the churchyard are the tombstones of John Thistlewood and his wife; he was brother of the Cato Street conspirator, and died at Louth, having formerly resided at Ashby and Wispington.

The late William Elmhirst, Esq., bought the lands here formerly belonging to the Bishops of Carlisle, and erected a handsome and substantial residence, in well-wooded grounds; which in later years pa.s.sed by purchase to the Booth family, by whom it, and the estates attached, are now owned. It is at present occupied by Dr. and Mrs. Newstead. The Elmhirsts are at present represented by H. R. Elmhirst, Esq., son of the late General Charles Elmhirst, C.B., who resides at The Grove.

HIGH TOYNTON.

High Toynton is situated about 1 miles from Horncastle, in an easterly direction, on the road to Partney and Spilsby. It would seem to have been formerly, like West Ashby, an appendage to the Manor of Horncastle.

The old record {180b} says (as already quoted under West Ashby) "The church of Horncastre, and of Askeby, and of Upper Thinton, and of Maringes (Mareham), and of Hinderby, are of the gift of the lord," _i.e._ the Lord of the Manor. As thus not being a separate manor, it is barely more than mentioned in _Domesday Book_, where it is called Todintune, and Tedingtone. Queen Editha, wife of Edward the Confessor, would be Lady of the Manor; but William the Conqueror took possession and held lands here, in demesne, with tenants and dependants.

That the manor afterwards, along with that of Horncastle, became the property of Gerard de Rhodes, is shewn by the following peculiar circ.u.mstances. In a Feet of Fines, at Lincoln, 9 Henry III., No. 52, it is recorded that an agreement was arranged in the King's Court at Westminster, (3 Feb., A.D. 12245), between Henry del Ortiay and Sabina his wife, plaintiffs, and Ralph de Rhodes, a descendant of Gerard, defendant, whereby certain lands in Upper Tynton, Mareham, and other places, were recognized by the plaintiffs as the property of Ralph de Rhodes; they receiving, in lieu thereof, 100 acres of land, and 11 acres of meadow, with appurtenances, all in Upper Tynton. These lands are further specified by name, as 24 acres next Graham (_i.e._ Greetham), 12 acres in culture called "Hethoten acre" (_i.e._ Heath of ten acres), 9 acres of land in "Pesew.a.n.g" (_i.e._ Peas-field), 5 acres in "s.e.x acre,"

7 acres in Leir-mew.a.n.g (or low mead-field), 4 acres in culture of Lange landes, 6 acres in Whetew.a.n.g (_i.e._ wheat-field), and 10 acres in Kruncew.a.n.g (_qy._ crown's-field?); and further plots not specially named.

The peculiar feature however of their tenure was, that they and their heirs were "to have and to hold the said lands for ever . . . rendering therefor by the year one pair of gilt spurs, or 6d., at Easter, for all service and exaction."

[Picture: St. John the Baptist's Church, High Toynton]