Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Part 8

{120a}

A Parliament was also held in Lincoln by Edward II., and another, in his first year, by Edward III.

In 1352 the staple of wool was removed from Flanders to England; and Lincoln, with Westminster, Chichester, Canterbury, Bristol, and Hull, was made a staple town {120b} for that commodity.

John, of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III., resided in Lincoln Castle.

His son, "Henry of Bolingbroke," afterwards Henry IV., was the only king born in this county. John of Gaunt married Catherine Swynford, sister of Chaucer the poet. She and a daughter were interred in the Cathedral, on the south side of the altar steps. The royalty of Lincoln Castle was shewn by a shield over a doorway, bearing the arms of England and France, quarterly, which were shewn in Buck's engraving, date 1727.

In the year 1386 Richard II. visited Lincoln and held a Court in the Episcopal Palace. He granted to the Mayor and his successors the privilege of having a sword carried before them in civic processions.

Henry VI. visited Lincoln and held a Court at the Bishop's Palace in 1440.

Henry VII. visited Lincoln in 1486, and was right royally entertained.

On the dissolution of monasteries {120c} by Henry VIII., Lincoln became the headquarters of 60,000 insurgents, who, by the subsequent "Pilgrimage of Grace," made their protest against the spoliation, A.D. 1536.

In 1541 Henry VIII. made a progress to York, and, although he had called Lincolnshire one of "the most brute and beastly shires in the realm," he, on his way, visited Lincoln in great state. It is recorded that he found in the Cathedral Treasury 2,621 ozs. of gold and 4,285 ozs. of silver, besides jewels of great value.

On the commencement of the Civil Wars between Charles I. and his Parliament, the King came to Lincoln, where he received a.s.surances of support from the Corporation and princ.i.p.al inhabitants. He convened there a meeting of the n.o.bles, knights, gentry, and freeholders of the county. Lincoln Castle was taken by the troops of Cromwell, under the Earl of Manchester, in the year 1644.

James I. visited Lincoln A.D. 1617, hunted wild deer on Lincoln Heath, touched 50 persons for "the King's evil," attended service in the Cathedral, and c.o.c.kfighting at "The Sign of the George." {121a}

In 1695 William of Orange visited Lincoln, but it is on record that, being entertained the day before by Sir John Brownlow, at Belton, "the king was exceeding merry there, and drank very freely, which was the occasion, when he came to Lincoln, he could take nothing but a porringer of milk." {121b} In Lincolnshire phrase, he had been "very fresh."

Reviewing these historic items, I think we may say, with the historian Freeman, that Lincoln "kept up its continuous being, as a place of note and importance, through Roman, English, Danish, and Norman Conquests,"

and that it has a record of which we may fairly be proud, as meriting the praise which old Alexander Necham, in his treatise "De divina Sapientia,"

bestowed upon it,"

Lindisiae columen Lincolnia, sive columna, Munifica felix gente, repleta bonis.

I have said little of the Cathedral. That is, indeed, too large a subject. The visitor must see it for himself. I have referred to the opinion of Mr. Ruskin. His exact words, written at the time of the opening of the School of Art, to the Mayor, were these: "I have always held, and am prepared against all comers to maintain, that the Cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British islands, worth any two other cathedrals we have got." {121c} Viewed in the distance, from the neighbourhood of Woodhall Spa, its three towers seem to coalesce into one, almost of pyramidal form, to crown the hill on which it stands. That form was once more lofty, and more pointed, for each of the three towers had a spire. An entry in the Minster Archives records the fall of the largest-ruina magnae pyramidis-in 1547. In 1808 the two other lesser spires were taken down, not without strong remonstrances and much skirmishing in the public papers and elsewhere, as to the propriety of the act. The Lincoln people proved themselves more law-abiding than they had been on a previous occasion, for when, in 1726, the Chapter had decided to remove them, there was a very considerable riot, called "The Religious Mob," of which an amusing account was found among some MS.

"_Tuesday night_, _Sept._ 20, 1726, _a mob was raised in Lincoln to hinder the puling down the_ 2 _west End spirs of the Cathedrall_, _which was then began to be puled down it was computed ther was aBout_ 4 _or_ 500 _men_. _On Wednesday following by orders of the Marsters of the Church sent an order to the Mayor and Aldermen desiering them to send a Belman through the town with this cry_, _whereas there as Been a Tumult for this_ 2 _or_ 3 _Long Day_, _upon puling the_ 2 _west end Spirs of the Cauthed Church of Lincoln_, _this is to give satisfaction that they have made a stop' and that the spirs shall be repaired again with all speed_."

On hearing this important proclamation "the mob with one accord gave a great shout and said 'G.o.d bless the King.'"

The emeute terminated with no more serious results than some headaches the next day, as the beer barrels in the Chancellor's cellars were broached and drained to the last drop by the exultant crowd. {122}

An interesting feature of Lincoln is the ancient "Jew's House," situated on the left hand of "the street which is called strait," on the "Steep Hill." The Jews of old, notwithstanding the scorn with which they were often treated, were persons of no small consideration to almost all ranks, from the Sovereign downwards. Their almost instinctive propensity for ama.s.sing wealth gave them a powerful lever for moving any who were in need of the moneylender; and there were few who were not. Through them, and sometimes through them alone, the sovereign could indirectly break the power of his unruly barons, and, naturally, in a city of commerce such as Lincoln was, as well as the not unfrequent seat of Parliament, and the residence of powerful members of the n.o.bility, the Jews were an important element in the population. Among the "Pipe Rolls" of the "Public Records," there are frequent mentions of them; the famous Aaron and his kinsfolk figuring largely among them. I here give a few brief extracts taken from those Rolls (31 Henry I. [11301]-1 John [11991200]).

William of the Isle renders count of the ferm of Lincolnshire . . . and (cr.) by payment of King's Writ to Aaron the Jew, 29 8s. l0d. . . . owes 12 4s. 9d. He renders count of the same debt in the treasury 2 6s. 9d.

new money, for 2 4s. 9d. blank money, and 10 in two tallies, and is quits.-12 Hen. II., Rot. i. mem. i. Linc.

The Sheriff accounts for the ferm of the counties, And (cr.) by payment by King's writ to Aaron of Lincoln and Ysaac Jew 80.-22 Hen. II., Dorset and Somerset.

Benedict brother of Aaron, and Benedict son of Isaach, and Benedict son of Jaocb render count of 6 for one mark of gold to be quits of the pledges of Isaac son of Comitissa.-25 Hen. II., City of Lincoln.

The following looks very like Jews leaguing together to "Jew" a fellow Jew:-Brun the Jew owes 400 of the fine he made with the King at his transfretation; but they ought to be required from Aaron of Lincoln, and Ysaac, and Abraham, son of Rabbi, and Ysaac of Colchester, his sureties, who have acknowledged that they received those 400 from his chattels.-28 Hen. II., Lond. and Midd.

Benedict, brother of Aaron, renders count of 6 for one mark of gold, to have in peace his mortgage of Barewe (_i.e._, Barrow). Abraham, son of Aaron, owes 6 for one mark of gold to have his debts (settled).-29 Hen.

II., Linc.

Brun the Jew renders count of 1,000 out of the 2,000 marks of the fine he made with the King, and of which Aaron of Lincoln has to answer for 500 marks.-30 Hen. II., Lond.

The following again looks suspiciously like a bit of Jewish sharp practice:-Jacob, sister's son of Aaron, and Benedict his son, owe one mark of gold, because they kept back the charters of Benedict of the Bail, which had been acquitted.-31 Hen. II., Linc.

Accordingly, as a succeeding entry, we find that:-Benedict of the Bail owes 4 bezants, for him, and for fat Mana.s.ses, and Vives son of Deulcresse, and Josoe, son of Samuel, to have their charters from Benedict, son of Jacob, and from Jacob, sister's son of Aaron.-31 Hen.

II., Linc.

But, after all, honesty is the best policy, as shewn in the result of crafty dealing, in the following:-Benedict, son of Aaron, owes 20 marks for right to 4 8s. 8d., against Meus the Jew of Lincoln; where Benedict has to pay more than three times the amount of the debt to obtain it.

The following seems to point to a playful practical joke:-Jacob, Aaron's sister's son, renders count of 20 marks, for an amerciament, for taking off a priest's cap, and for the deed of Gerard de Sailby.-33 Hen. II., Linc.

Aaron Jew, of Lincoln, Abraham son of Rabbi, and Isaac of Colchester, owe 400 of the chattels of Brun the Jew, which they received in old money, of the fine which he made with the King at his crossing over the straits (otherwise called his "transfretation").-1 Ric. I., Lond. and Weston.

Of the debts of Aaron of Lincoln, 430 are named, amounting to about 1,500, a very large sum in those days.-Rolls, 35 Ric. I.

Here again we have a case of Jewish trickery:-Ursell, son of Pulcella, owes 5 marks because he did not give up to Ysaac his debt, and Matathias the Jew owes half a mark because he has confessed what he previously denied.-3 Ric. I., Linc.

In the time of Richard I. anti-semitic feeling ran high. In a Roll, 3 Ric. I., Chent (Kent), we find:-The town of Ospringe owes 20 marks because it did not make a hue and cry for a slain Jew. In another, 4 Ric. I., we find:-Richard Malebysse renders count for 20 marks, for having his land again, which had been seized in the hand of the king on account of the slaughter of Jews at York. William de Percy, Knight, Roger de Ripun, and Alan Malekuke owe 5 marks for the same. In Lincoln, however, it has been generally supposed that the Jews escaped violent treatment, but in a Roll, 3 Ric. I., Linc., there is a list of 80 names of men of the city fined, as "amerciament for a.s.sault on the Jews."

There are several more mentions of transactions of Lincoln Jews, but these will suffice.-"Archaeol. Review," Vol. ii., No. vi., pp. 398410.

There were at one time 52 churches in Lincoln besides the Cathedral; now they number 15. There were also in the city 14 monasteries. Honorius, the fifth Archbishop of Canterbury, was consecrated by Paulinus in Lincoln, in 627.

Services in some of the churches have been held somewhat irregularly even in this cathedral city, for in answer to queries from the Bishop in 1743, it was found that in St. Bennet's there was divine service once a month, and twice on the greater festivals. St. Mark's had services on the three greater festivals, and four times a year besides. St. Martin's had services four or five times a year, St. Mary le Wigford once every Sunday. An epitaph in the churchyard of the last-named church, on an old tombstone, a specimen of Lindocolline wit, runs as follows:-

Here lies one-believe it, if you can- Who, though an attorney, was an honest man. {125}

We have only to add that when Remigius of Fecamp, the first Norman Bishop, presided over the See of Lincoln, his diocese was far the largest in England, extending from the Humber to the Thames, and embracing no less than eight counties. It was reduced to something like its present dimensions on the appointment of Bishop Kaye in 1827; except that, since then, a portion has been taken off and included in the new Diocese of Southwell. Truly our bishops were princes in those olden times.

Yet, interesting as Lincoln is, to the archaeologist one thing is lacking, viz., a fitting museum, wherein to bring together, tabulate, and conserve the many precious relics of the past, which are now scattered about in private hands, and liable to all sorts of accidents. When we visit such collections as those in the museums at Newcastle or Nottingham-even the limited and crowded, but very interesting, one at Peterborough, and, above all the very fine collection (especially of Roman antiquities) at York-we are tempted to exclaim, with a sigh of regret, "O! si sic omnes!"

At Lincoln, colossal fortunes have been, made in the old "staple city,"

now vastly grown, and growing, in its trade; will not some one, or more, of her wealthy sons come forward, and build, and endow, a museum worthy of the place, and while there are yet so many priceless treasures available to enrich it? The Corporation, indeed, have, in the year of grace 1904, commenced at last a movement toward establishing a county museum, but no site is yet secured for it. A few objects, chiefly of Natural History, are already placed for safety in the Castle, till better accommodation can be provided.

We now return to some remains, possessing considerable antiquarian interest, in our neighbourhood, within easy reach for the visitor to Woodhall Spa, and belonging to a period later than that of the Briton, or Roman, or even the Saxon and the Dane; when, as the poet says:-

Another language spread from coast to coast, Only perchance some melancholy stream, Or some indignant hills old names preserve, When laws, and creeds, and people, all are lost.

The name Woodhall implies the existence, at one time, of a hall in a wood, and that of sufficient importance to give its name to the whole demesne. {126a} Of such a building we have the traces.

The reader of these pages will have learnt that Woodhall Spa is but a modern creation, in what was, not long ago, an outlying corner of the parish from which it gets its name. The original village of Woodhall, comprising a few scattered farmhouses and cottages near the church, is distant some four miles from the Spa. The church will be more fully described in another chapter; it is here merely referred to as a landmark in connection with this "hall." Immediately adjoining the churchyard, on the south and south-east, are a farmhouse and buildings of no great age; but directly south of these, and within 150 yards of the church, is the site of the ancient Wood-Hall. There is the hollow of a former moat, enclosing an area of about 120 feet by 90 feet, and beyond this can be traced the channel of a dike, which would seem to have connected the moat with a small, but limpid, stream, {126b} locally called, by the Norse term, "beck," which rises in the gravel, some mile and a half distant eastward, in the parish of Thornton, not far from Langton hill; and which, pa.s.sing Woodhall, finds its way, by Poolham and Stixwould, into the Witham. Covering a s.p.a.ce of some two acres, there are mounds, beneath which, doubtless, was the _debris_ of what must, in their day, have been extensive buildings. They are dotted about with gnarled hawthorns of considerable antiquity; but otherwise the wood is now conspicuous only by its absence.

Mr. Denton says ("England in the 15th Century," p. 252, Bell & Sons, 1888), "the ancient hall or manor house was usually moated for the purpose of defence," in times which were apt to be lawless; and in the case of the "Moated Grange" connected with a greater religious house, there was the further advantage of the ready supply of fish for the restricted diet of the monks, amongst whom, except for sick members, animal food was prohibited.

I have said that the Wood-Hall, or Hall in the Wood, must have been sufficiently important to give its name to the demesne. It may be doubted, however, whether the name Woodhall has always applied to the whole parish, now so called. In Camden's "Britannia," written about 1586, Gibson's Edition being 1695, although the names of all the adjoining parishes appear in his map, that of Woodhall is absent, {127} and in its place we find "Buckland." This latter name still survives in "Buckland lane," given in the Award Map, in the north of the parish, and near to which, within the writer's memory, there remained a tract of waste, and wild woodland. This name, therefore, is interesting, as indicating the former presence of the wild deer in our neighbourhood. It is, as it were, the still uneffaced "slot" of the roaming stag,-a footprint in the sand of time, still visible. And, since this Buckland lane leads to nowhere beyond itself, we may well imagine it to have been a sort of _cul-de-sac_, a sylvan retreat, in which especially the antlered herds did congregate from the larger wood of the Manor Hall; and, in connection with this, we may notice that, not far from this lane, there still remain two woods, named Dar-wood, which may be taken, by an easy transition, to represent Deer-wood; further indicating the wild forest character of the demesne. Buckland lane terminates at a small enclosure, now known, for some unrecorded reason, as "America," the sole plot of land, besides the churchyard, remaining in the parish attached to the church. The modern inc.u.mbent may indulge his fancy by supposing that, notwithstanding the strict monastic rule, this bit of church land may, in the olden day, occasionally have furnished a "fatte buck" for the table of the lordly Abbot of Kirkstead. {128a} In the Liber Regis, or King's Book, issued by Commissioners under Henry VIII., the benefice is called Wood Hall; but it would seem, from what has been given above, that it was not until a later period that the whole Civil Parish became known by that name. There is nothing to show who were the occupants of this Wood Hall, but, until the Reformation, they probably held it in fee from the Abbots of Kirkstead. One little evidence of the connection with the great religious house survived, till within the last few years, in the Holy Thistle (Carduus Maria.n.u.s), which grew in an adjoining field, as it also did about the ruin of Kirkstead Abbey, but it is now, it is believed, extinct. The monks found an innocent recreation in gardening, but they are gone, and even their plants have followed them.

In this same parish, and within two miles of this old Wood Hall, are the traces of another similar ancient establishment, viz., High-hall. We have already stated that Brito, son of Eudo, the Norman Baron of Tattershall, gave to the Abbots of Kirkstead two portions of the parish of Woodhall, which would seem to imply that he retained the third portion for himself. {128b} In that case this residence of the superior Lord of the Manor might naturally be distinguished from the Wood Hall by the t.i.tle of the High Hall; and the traces of it which remain indicate that it was on a larger scale than the former. The position is in the second field northward from the road called "'Sandy lane," which is the boundary between the Woodhall Spa Civil district and Old Woodhall, and just outside, westward, the present High-hall Wood, which formerly extended further than it now does, so as completely to shelter this hall from the north and east. There are traces of three moated enclosures, from 70 yards to 100 yards in length east and west, and from 40 yards to 60 yards in width, covering an area of some three acres. Here, also, as at Woodhall, the moats, for the sake of fresh water, are connected by a channel with a running stream near at hand, though now at this point only small, named Reed's Beck, which rises within the High-Hall Wood.