Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Part 9

At what date this old Hall fell into decay we have no means of knowing.

The turf which now covers its foundations has at some time been levelled, and beyond slight indications of walls in the central of the three enclosures, the moats alone survive to shew its extent. The writer is in possession of an interesting relic, an old pistol of curious workmanship, which was found near the place by Mr. Atkinson, of the farm adjoining, in digging a ditch. The peculiar make of the weapon would seem to indicate that it was of the date of about Charles I.; {129} in which case we may suppose that the Hall was at that time occupied as a residence, and the pistol, being of French manufacture and rather handsomely chased, may have belonged to the wealthy occupant of the mansion; or, perhaps more likely, may have been part of the accoutrements of a cavalier of rank in the Royalist army, which, after their defeat at the battle of Winceby, near Horncastle, Oct. 11, 1643, was dispersed over the whole of this neighbourhood; and a fugitive officer may have sought shelter and hospitality at the High-Hall.

It is not a little remarkable that there should have been these two Halls, so near to each other and within the one parish; but they represent to us the lay, and the ecclesiastical, powers that were.

There were, also, other large, moated, ancient residences in our immediate neighbourhood, but in this chapter I confine myself to the two situated in Woodhall. The others will claim attention hereafter.

CHAPTER IX. ARCHaeOLOGY-_continued_.

It was stated in the preceding chapter, that, besides the two ancient moated mansions in the parish of Woodhall, there described, there are other remains of a like character in our immediate neighbourhood. I will first mention a residence, the site of which I have not been able definitely to fix, but it would probably be somewhere near the Manor House of Woodhall Spa. I have before me a copy of a will preserved at the Probate Office, Lincoln, {131} which begins thus:-"The 6th of Dec., 1608, I, Edmund Sherard of Bracken-End, in the parish of Woodhall, and county of Lincoln, gente., sicke in bodye, but of perfect memorie, do will," &c. We may pause here to notice that the name "Bracken-End" would seem to imply that the residence stood at an extreme point of what is now "Bracken" wood, and, as the position would naturally be viewed in its geographical relation to the centre of the parish, either to the Woodhall by the parish church, or to the manorial High Hall, this point, we may a.s.sume, would be on the far, or south, side of Bracken wood, as the present Manor House is. In a similar manner a row of houses in Kirkstead, from their outlying situation, are called "Town-end." In an old doc.u.ment, in Latin (Reg. III., D. & C.D. 153), mention is made of "Willelmus Howeson de Howeson-end"; and the residence of Lord Braybrooke, in Cambridgeshire, is named Audley End. There are known to have been a succession of buildings on the site of the present Woodhall Manor House, and we can hardly doubt that the residence here referred to as "Bracken-end" also stood there.

The will is of further interest as shewing the testator's connection and dealings with members of families of position once, or still, well known in the neighbourhood or county.

His first bequest is (that which is the common lot of us all) "my bodye to the earth whence it came." He then goes on to bequeath certain sums "To Susanna my weif . . . To Elizabeth Sherard my daughter . . . To my sonne Robert . . . To the child my weif is conceaved with . . . The portions to be payde when my son Robert is xxj. years of age, and my daughters' portions when they are xx., or shall marrie. My executur to keepe and maintaine my children," &c. He then wills that, in accordance with "an arbitrament between Sir John Meares, of Awbrowy (Aukborough), in the county of Lincoln, knight," and another, "with the consent of Willm.

Sherard, of Lope-thorpe, in the parish of North Witham, knight, on the one partie, and I, the said Edmund Sherard, of the other partie . . .

that the said William Sherard shall be accomptable . . . every yeare, of the goods and chattles of John Sherard, late of Lincoln, gent., deceased"

. . . and, "I desire my said brother William Sherard, knight, . . . that he should discharge the same accordinglie to the benefit of my weif and children. Item, that Robert Thomson, my Father-in-law, shall have all my sheepe in Bracken End, which I bought of him, and owe for only fourty of them; that he shall paye to my wief for them vs. iiijd. (5s. 4d.) apeece." He then mentions as "debts dewe":-"John Ingrum of Bucknall for sheepe of lord Willoughbie xijli.; Edward Skipwith of Ketsby, gent, for lx. sheep xxvvijli.; and if he refuse the sheepe, to pay to my executrix xls., which the Testator payde for sommering them: Edward Skipwith to be accomptable for the wool of the sayde sheepe for this last year, but (_i.e._, except) for vli. he hath payde in parts thereof." "The Lord Clinton oweth for 1000 kiddes. Thomas Brownloe, servant of lord Willoughbie of Knaith, oweth for monev lent him, lvs."-Prob. at Lincoln 9 Jan. 16089.

On these various items we may remark that, from the figures here given, 60 sheep cost 27 pounds, or 9 shillings each, of the money of that date, and for the "sommering" of them was paid 8d. each. In the first case his father-in-law was only able to pay 5s. 4d. each, because the testator still owed him for 40 of them.

The Lord Clinton named as owing for "1000 kiddes" would at that time be residing at Tattershall Castle, which was one of his princ.i.p.al residences, Sempringham being another (Camden's "Britannia," p. 478). We here have the thoroughly Lincolnshire word "kid" for f.a.ggot. {133} The name "Lope-thorpe" for the residence of the testator's brother, Sir William Sherard, is a variation from Lobthorpe. A moat and fish ponds still mark the site of Lobthorpe Hall in North Witham, and there are several monuments in the church of Sir Brownlow Sherard and other members of the family. As there is no mention of the burial of this Edmund Sherard, Gent., of Bracken-end, in the Woodhall parish register, he was doubtless also interred at North Witham.

The "Sir John Meares of Aukborough" mentioned as a party to the "arbitrament" was a member of a very old Lincolnshire family, whose chief seat was Kirton near Boston, Sir John being lord of that manor; and there are several monuments of the family in the church there. Sir Thomas Meares, of Meres, was M.P. for Lincoln in eleven Parliaments, and was knighted at Whitehall in 1660 by Charles II.; and another Thomas Meeres was Member for the county in three Parlaiments temp. Henry VI. The "Edward Skipwith, of Ketsby, Gent.," also mentioned, is again a scion of one of our very old county families, their chief seat in this neighbourhood having been South Ormsby, to which Ketsby is attached. The church there has a bra.s.s of Sir William Skipwith, Knight, his wife (who was a Dymoke) and children. Among the "Lincolnshire Gentry" of 1634 named in a list preserved in the library of the Herald's College, are Robert Sherard of Gautby, and John Sherard; Robert Meeres of Kirton, and Anthony Meeres of Bonby; Edward Skipwith of Legbourne, Edward Skipwith of Grantham, and Samuel Skipwith of Utterby.

In the person, then, of this former squire of Bracken-end in Woodhall, we have an individual belonging to a family of knightly rank, his friends being members of some of our oldest county aristocracy, and his transactions connected with such Lords paramount as the Baron Willoughby of Knaith and Lord Clinton of Tattershall. I may add that the family is now represented by Lord Sherard of Leitrim, in the Peerage of Ireland, who is connected by marriage with the Reeves of Leadenham, the Whichcotes, and other good Lincolnshire families.

I now proceed to mention a few more of the ancient moated mansions in our neighbourhood. It was mentioned in the last chapter that, besides two portions of the land of the parish of Woodhall being given by Baron Brito, son of Eudo of Tattershall, to the Abbey of Kirkstead, the rectory of that benefice was also in the gift of the Abbot. In like manner the Abbot held lands in Thimbleby, erected a gallows there on which, at different times, several persons were hanged; and he owned the advowson of that benefice; and the present rectory house of that parish, built about 1840, stands on the site of a former residence, which was guarded by a moat. Within this enclosure there is still an ancient well, lined with Spilsby sandstone, of which the church, like most in the neighbourhood, is also built. This well has been said to be "Roman,"

{134} but, without venturing to give it so early a date, we may, perhaps, safely say that it belonged to the lesser religious house formerly there existing, as a dependency of the Abbey of Kirkstead. There was, however, a Roman well found a few years ago, at Horncastle, within the old Roman castle walls, at the spot where the National Schools now stand.

Similarly, the Abbot of Kirkstead was patron of the benefice of Wispington, another neighbouring parish, by the gift (about 1400) of another and later descendant of Eudo of Tattershall, who owned a moiety of this parish, the Bishop of Durham holding the other moiety; and, accordingly, here again there are extensive moats, ponds, and mounds, indicating a former large, and strongly protected, residence. Portions of this still form parts of a farmhouse (Mr. Evison's), and the farm buildings on the same premises, as well as of those now occupied by Mr.

Gaunt, whose very name carries us back to the days of the great Norman magnate, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, scarcely less powerful than his ancestor, Gilbert de Gaunt, to whom the Conqueror gave no less than 113 manors; but to John belonged the peculiar distinction of being father of Henry IV., the only sovereign born in our county. This mansion was for some generations the property of a family of substance, named Phillips. The head of this family, in the reign of Elizabeth, is mentioned among those patriotic individuals who subscribed his 25 towards the cost of the Fleet which was intended to repel the Spanish Armada. One of this family, Phillips Glover, who was sheriff for the county in 1727, had a daughter Laura, who married Mr. Robert Vyner, of Eathorpe, Warwickshire, whose family are now amongst our greatest landowners, and draw an almost princely revenue from the Liverpool docks.

We now pa.s.s on to another neighbouring moated mansion. About 2 miles from Woodhall Spa to the east, and only separated from Woodhall parish by a green lane, is White-Hall wood; on the opposite, northern, side of this lane being the High-Hall wood, already mentioned. Both these woods take their names from the old residences contiguous to them. The visitor to Woodhall Spa, if a pedestrian, leaving the road from Woodhall Spa to Horncastle, in that part of it called "Short lane," because it is so long; after pa.s.sing the two small woods, called Roughton Scrubs, on his right hand, and just before reaching the slight ascent near Martin bridge, may take to a cart-track, on the left or north side of the road, through a wood, crossing the railway, which here runs almost close to the road; pursuing this track through the wood some 200 yards, and then, turning slightly to the left in a north-westerly direction through two small gra.s.s fields, he will find, in an angle on the north side of the wood, a moated enclosure, between 75 and 80 yards square, shewing slight irregularities of the ground, on its northern side, indicating the site of a former building. Outside the moat are traces of another enclosure; a large depression shews where there was probably a "stew pond" for carp and tench; and the channel of a d.y.k.e is seen running north-west till it joins a small ditch, which may probably, at one time, have been a feeder to one of two streams already mentioned as being near the High Hall remains, and named "Odd's beck." I may say here, once for all, that the moats and ponds of these large establishments were a matter of considerable importance and care. They were protected from injury by the Acts, 3 Ed. I. and 5 Eliz., c. 21 (Treatise on Old Game Laws, 1725).

"The fish-stews were scientifically cultivated, and so arranged that they could be drained at will. When the water was run off from one, the fish were transferred to the next. Oats, barley, and rye gra.s.s were then grown in it; when these were reaped it was re-stocked with fish. The ponds were thus sweetened and a supply of food introduced; suitable weeds were also grown on the margin, and each pond, or moat, was treated in the same way in rotation."-"Nature and Woodcraft," by J. Watson.

Nothing now exists of this former mansion above ground, but the moats and mounds cover an area of more than two acres, shewing that it was a large residence. It is in Martin parish. Within the writer's recollection there were marigolds and other flowers still growing about the spot, survivals from the quondam hall garth, or garden. This was the home of a branch of the Fynes, or Fiennes Clinton, family, whose head, Edward, Lord Clinton and Saye, Lord High Admiral of England, was created Earl of Lincoln by Queen Elizabeth in 1572; the present head of the family being the Duke of Newcastle, whose creation dates from 1756.

The connection of this great family with our neighbourhood came about in this wise. The line of Lord Treasurer Cromwell having become extinct, Henry VII., in 1487, granted the manor and other estates to his mother, Margaret, Countess of Richmond, and in the following year entailed them on the Duke of Richmond. The Duke died without issue; and Henry VIII., in 1520, granted them to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. On the death of the two infant sons of the Duke, surviving their father only a short time, the estates again reverted to the Sovereign; and in 1551 Edwd. VI.

granted them to Edward Lord Clinton and Saye, afterwards, as we have said, Earl of Lincoln. These estates included that of the dissolved Abbey of Kirkstead, and other properties in this neighbourhood; and among them the White Hall and its appurtenances. When the earldom of Lincoln, through a marriage, became absorbed in the Dukedom of Newcastle, several of these estates remained with junior branches of the Clinton, or Fiennes, family. Of the particular branch residing at White Hall, probably the most distinguished member was one whose monumental tablet is still in Roughton church; the ministrations of which church they would seem, judging by entries in the registers, to have attended, in preference to the church of Martin, in which parish the estate was situated. The lengthy inscription on this tablet is as follows:-"Here lies the body of Norreys Fynes, Esq., Grandson to Sir Henry Clinton, commonly called Fynes, 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 had by his much-beloved and only Wife Elizabeth, who lies by him, Twelve children, of which Four Sons and Two Daughters were living at his decease, which happened on the 10th of January 17356 in the 75th year of his age. From the Revolution he always liv'd a Non-juror, {137} which rendered him incapable of any other Publick Employment (tho' by his Great Ability and Known Courage equal to the most Difficult and Dangerous) than that of being Steward to two great Familys, wherein he distinguish'd himself during his service of 40 year a most Faithful and Prudent manager, of a most Virtuous and Religious Life.

His paternal estate he left without any addition to his son Kendal his next heir. His eldest son Charles was buried here the 26th August 1722, aged 36 years, whose Pleasant Disposition adorn'd by many virtues which he acquired by his Studys in Oxford made his death much lamented by all his Acquaintance." Possibly, as being a Non-juror, he may have thought it best not to attend public worship in his own parish church at Martin, and so have gone, with his family, to the church of Roughton, where, as an "outener," he would be asked no questions. I find in connection with his family the following notices in the Roughton Registers, the spelling of which would certainly shew that the writer was not a "Beauclerk":-"1722 Mr. Charles fines burried Augst ye 26. 1722"; "Madame Elizabeth fines was buered May ye 29, 1730" This was the "only and much loved wife" of Norreys Fynes, and the t.i.tle "Madame" was a recognition of her superior rank. "Norreys Fynes Esq. was buried ye 10th January 1736/7" This entry was evidently so correctly made by the Rector himself; as also was probably the next one, "Dormer Fynes ye sonn of Kendall Fynes Esq. and Frances his wife was baptized Nov. 10. 1737."

"Cendal (Kendal) fins, the son of Norreys fins was buried June the twenty foorst, 1740." (Note the Lincolnshire p.r.o.nunciation "foorst"). "Francis Fynes, widow of Kendall Fynes buried May 13. 1752."

I mentioned in a previous chapter the very bad condition of the roads about here; and there is a still lingering tradition that the last of the Fynes residing at White Hall used to drive about in a waggon drawn by bullocks. This estate, with some other land, of which the writer has been "shooting tenant" for more than a score of years, is still in the hands of "the Fiennes Clinton Trustees"; but there are Fynes, still in the flesh, living in our midst at Woodhall, who, though treading a humbler walk in life, are not altogether unworthy of their high ancestry.

{138}

There is another old moated residence, of considerable historic interest, which next claims our attention. Within a mile westward of the Wood Hall, by the church, and closely contiguous to the north-west boundary of the Woodhall estate, stands Poolham Hall, an old-fashioned, but comfortable and substantially-built, stucco-coated and slated farmhouse.

It now, along with the small manor, belongs to Dr. Byron, residing in London, who bought it a few years ago from Mr. Christopher Turnor, of Stoke Rochford and Panton Hall, in this county. At the back of the Hall, at the south-west corner of what is now the kitchen garden, and close to the enclosing moat, are the remains of a small chapel, consisting of an end wall and part of a side wall, each with a narrow window; there are fragments of larger stones bearing traces of sculpture, and, within recollection, there was also a tombstone with the date 1527, and a font.

{139} The house was, doubtless, formerly much larger than it is now.

Like the other similar residences which I have described, Poolham Hall has close by it a running stream, called Monk's d.y.k.e, which unites with some of the other becks already named, and ultimately flows into the Witham. The chief interest in this old place lies in the distant past; it has gone through a varied series of vicissitudes, and witnessed some stirring scenes. Weir, in his "History of Horncastle" (ed. 1820, p. 58), under the head of Edlington, says briefly of Poolham, "anciently called Polum, it formed part of the Barony of Gilbert de Gaunt, until about the 35th year of Edward I., when Robert de Barkeworth died seised of it; and it appears to have been the residence of Walter de Barkeworth, who died in 1374, and was buried in the cloister of Lincoln Cathedral. Afterwards it was the residence of the family of Thimbleby, a branch of the Thimblebys of Irnham, who probably built the present house about the time of Henry VIII. In the reign of Elizabeth the Saviles of Howley possessed it; and in 1600 Sir John Savile, Knight, sold it to George Bolles, citizen of London, whose descendant, Sir John Bolles, Baronet, conveyed it to Sir Edmund Turnor, Knight, of Stoke Rochford." Of the above families, I have not been able to find very much about the Barkworths, who took their name doubtless from East Barkwith, where they had property. But Gocelyn de Barkworth, and after him William de Barkworth, are named in an a.s.size Roll (4 Ed. II., 1311) as having possessions in Tetford. In 3 Ed. III. (A.D. 1329), William de Barkworth and his wife "fflorianora" were plaintiffs in a land dispute with Robert de Hanay and Alice his wife; whereby "1 messuage, 1 carucate of land, 9 acres of meadow, 1 acre of 'more,' and the moiety of 1 messuage and 1 mill, with appurtenances in Normanby, Claxby, and Ussylby, were quitclaimed to William and fflorianora, and fflorianora's heirs." I may add, as to the item here named "1 mill," that a mill in those days was a property of some value; all the dependents of the lord of the manor were obliged to have their corn, for man or beast, ground in it; and no other mill was allowed in the neighbourhood where one was already established. It is recorded by Beckman that "a certain Abbot wished to erect a mill, which was objected to by a neighbouring proprietor, who contended that the wind of the whole district belonged to him. The monks complained to the bishop, who gave them permission to build, affirming that the wind of the whole diocese was episcopal property." (Oliver's "Rel., Houses," p. 76 note 9.) In 1351 William de Barkworth, "lord of Polume," presented to the moiety of the chapelry (of Poolham); and in 1369 Thomas de Thymelby presented to it. And from this time the Thimblebyes take the place of the Barkworths. These Thimblebyes, whose name is variously spelt Thimelby, Thymbylbye, and even (as in Domesday Book) Stimblebi, and Stinblebi, were a numerous and influential race. Their chief residence was Irnham Park, near Grantham, which was acquired about 1510 by Richard Thimbleby, on his marriage with the heiress of G.o.dfrey Hilton, whose ancestor, Sir Geoffrey Hilton, Knight, had obtained it in 1419, by his marriage with an heiress of the Luterels, several of whom were called to Parliament, as Barons, in the 13th century. This was one of fifteen manors given by William the Conqueror to Ralph Paganel; and with the heiress of his family it pa.s.sed, by marriage, to Sir Andrew Luterel, Knight. The Thymblebyes would seem to have taken their patronymic from the village of that name (part of which now forms a portion of the Woodhall Spa parish), as the earlier members of the family we find designated as Thomas de Thymelby. Nicholas de Thymelby, and so forth.

Besides land in Thimbleby they owned many other estates. For instance, in the Court of Wards Inquisitions (3, 4, and 5 Edward VI., vol. v., 91), we find that Matthew Thimbleby "of Polom," who married Anne, daughter of Sir Robert Hussey, about 1521, died "seised of the manors of Polome, Farfford, Ruckelyond, Somersby, Parish-fee, in Horncastle, Edlynton, Thymylby, and Tydd St. Mary; also of lands in Horsyngton, Styxwolde, Blankney, Buckland (_i.e._ Woodhall), and Flette: and of the advowsons of Tetforde, Farefford, Rucklonde, and Somersbye." This Matthew Thimbleby's wealthy "gra.s.s widow" married again, Sir Robert Savile, Knight, who (according to Chancery Inquisition, post mortem, 28 Eliz., 1st part, No.

116) "died seised of the manors of Poolham, Horsington, Stixwolde, Edlington, Tetford, Farforth, Somersby, and Ruckland."

Before quitting the Thimblebyes, we have one more incident to name in connection with them. In 1581, one of them, residing at Poolham, was imprisoned in Lincoln Castle for refusing to attend the new Reformed Services and Communion. His wife greatly desired to see him, and was allowed her request by Thomas Cooper, Bishop of Lincoln. She was near her confinement, but, as her name was among a list of those not favourable to the Reformation, she was treated rather roughly, and detained by force in her husband's cell. This brought on premature labour, and in the hour of her weakness she was denied the a.s.sistance of a matron. It is said that a speedy death ended her sufferings; her husband also dying in prison.-"The Church under Elizabeth," by Dr. F. G.

Lee, vol. ii., p. 60. It is further recorded of this same Bishop, that he summoned Sir Robert Dymoke to Lincoln for examination as to his supposed Papist tendencies, and on Sir Robert excusing himself on the score of ill health, the Bishop came in person to Scrivelsby and carried him forcibly to Lincoln, and cast him into prison, where he presently died. It is not a little curious that one, who, as a doughty knight, at three coronations threw down his gauntlet and challenged the world on his Sovereign's behalf, should have succ.u.mbed to a stiff-necked prelate. The account of this is given in Lodge's "Scrivelsby, the Home of the Champions," pp. 77, 78.

We now come to the Saviles. They were a wealthy and distinguished Yorkshire family, now represented by the Earls of Mexborough. Sir Robert disposed of some of the property in this neighbourhood, which he had acquired by his marriage with the widow Thimbleby, but he retained Poolham, and made the Hall his headquarters. {142a} The Saviles may have been hot-blooded, for they had not been located long at Poolham before they became embroiled with their neighbours. The manners of the times were somewhat rough, and we here give a sample or two. The autocrat of the neighbourhood at that time was Henry Fiennes Clinton, second Earl of Lincoln, who was apparently inclined to ride roughshod over everyone who came in his way; the object of his life seems to have been to quarrel, and to keep in a state of irritation the county from which he derived his t.i.tle. It is said that Denzil Hollis, "living much at Irby, used to confront the Earl of Lincoln, who was a great tyrant among the gentry of Lincolnshire, and to carry business against him, in spite of his teeth."

{142b} But stout old Denzil died in 1590, and, this check withdrawn, the Earl's conduct increased in violence. {142c} Lodge, {142d} in his records, mentions one Roger Fullshaw of Waddingworth (near Horncastle), who, in 1596, prayed for protection against the most horrible outrages committed by the Earl, and says that his conduct savoured of insanity.

Before he succeeded to the earldom, and consequently when he had not yet so much power to oppress, he committed the following aggressions on the Saviles of Poolham. We must premise that Sir Robert Savile, though a knight of good estate, and though his descendants became Earls of Suss.e.x, was, nevertheless, a natural son of Sir Henry Savile, by Margaret Barkston, "his Ladie's gentlewoman," {143a} which, as will be seen, was not forgotten by the high-born Clinton. These occurrences took place in 1578. They were neighbours, and jealous of trespa.s.s; and, on the 13th of June, Lord Clinton, "with 7 men with cross-bowes and long-bowes bent,"

forced himself into the parlour at Poolham Hall, and, after threatening words, struck Sheffield Savile, the son, on the head. The elder Savile says that he prevented his son from noticing the outrage, an unusual degree of forbearance under the circ.u.mstances; but there had evidently been some previous misunderstanding, and possibly young Savile had been in the wrong. On the 25th of June following, Lord Clinton, hearing Sir Robert's hounds hunting in Mr. Welby's wood, {143b} although it was no concern of his, seized five of them, and then sent a letter to Sir Robert, threatening that he would hang them before his house; and, in fact, did hang them, as Sir Robert says, "upon my own tree within my own ground."

Another violent proceeding is described in a letter of the Earl's friend.

Mr. Metham {143c} had been previously entertaining Lord Clinton at Metham, and was now on a return visit to Tattershall; and, as he relates, "It pleased him (Lord Clinton) to carrye me with my companye through his park (still surviving in the name "Tattershall park") unto the chase, where his meaning was to have made sport with hounds and greyhounds (i.e., badger hounds), and leading me by, into the meadows, he shewed me certain of the great deer of the chase, such as he kept rather for show than to be hunted." These would be the red deer (cervus elaphus) still existing then on Hatfield chase, in the northwest of the county, in considerable numbers. The deer broke away into Mr. Welby's woods, and "thence, as my lord affirmed, with an oath, into the mouths of the Saviles." Lord Clinton's attendants followed the hounds, Lord Clinton himself not doing so; but, in pa.s.sing along a lane, he encountered some of the Savile followers, "in number 20 or 24, the more part having swords, bucklers, and daggers, some pyked staves, one a cross-bowe with an arrowe, another a long bowe and arrows." While words were being exchanged "ould Mr. Savile" came up, and the following characteristic dialogue ensued. "My Lord Clinton, yf thou be a man, light, and fight with me." "With thee, b.a.s.t.a.r.dlye knave," quoth my lord, "I will deal with thee well enough, and teach thee, knave, thy duty." Upon which words Mr. Savile called my lord "a cowardly knave." Challenges pa.s.sed between them, and with Sheffield Savile, who, withdrawing, as he says, Lord Clinton by the arm, called out after him, "You a lord, you are a kitchen boy." Sir Robert, after their departure, having got hold of one of Lord Clinton's dogs, meant, Metham says, "to use it with like courtesy as my lord has done his." Lord Clinton then approached Poolham Hall, and a challenge pa.s.sed, through John Savile, to fight six to six, "which by good entreaty was stayed." Savile says, {144} in his narrative, that the followers of Lord Clinton were entertained at Horncastle, the same day, with a buck; and getting hold of an unfortunate tailor, some ten or twelve of them drew their swords and sore wounded him, saying he should "have that, and more, for his master's sake, Mr. Sheffield Savile."

The Lansdown MSS. give details of other violent proceedings of Lord Clinton towards the Saviles; how he over-ran the lands of Poolham with 60 men, armed with guns, cross-bows, and long bows; how he ill-treated their servants sent to Tattershall on domestic errands; incited the neighbours to send challenges to them; how he tried to entice into his park the younger Saviles, and laid ambushes for them; and various other proceedings which he would not for a moment have tolerated in anyone else. It redounds, indeed, to the credit of the Saviles that Poolham was not made the scene of retaliation and bloodshed. {145}

In 1600 Sir John Savile sold Poolham to George Bolles, Esq. Of the Bolles family I have been able to find but scanty mention. Among Lincolnshire Gentry who supplied demy-lances and light horse, at the Louth Sessions, March, 15867, Charles Bolles is named as "Captaine,"

furnishing "ij. horse"; and Richard Bolles "ij launces" and "ij horse"; while Richard Bowles, which is probably the same name, is mentioned along with Sir Willm. Skipwith, Mr. Willm. Fitzwilliam, and Mr. Andrewe Gedney, Sir William's son-in-law, as the officials who presided at the "Spittle Sessions," _i.e._, at Spittal in the Street, near Kirton in Lindsey.

The last of this family to occupy Poolham was Sir John Bolles, Bart., who conveyed it to Sir Edmund Turnor of Stoke Rochford. Sir John Bolles is connected with the pretty and interesting legend and ballad of "The Green Lady of Thorpe Hall," which was his chief residence. The ballad is among Percy's "Reliques," and records how, while serving in Spain, the knight made captive a n.o.ble Spanish lady, who fell in love with her captor; but he had to check and chill her advances, in this language:-

"Courteous ladye, leave this fancy, Here comes all that breeds the strife; I in England have already A sweet woman to my wife."

To which, after craving pardon for her offence, she replies,

"Commend me to thy lovely lady, Bear to her this chain of gold; And these bracelets for a token: Grieving that I was so bold.

All my jewels, in like sort, take thou with thee, They are fitting for thy wife but not for me."

The tradition, confirmed in recent years in correspondence by connections of the family (see notes to ballad, "The Spanish Lady's Love," vol. ii., p. 144, ed. 1848) affirms that, on Sir John leaving Spain for home, the lady "sent as presents to his wife, a profusion of jewellery and other valuables," with a portrait of herself dressed in green. Hence she was named "the Green Lady." It was said that she haunted Thorpe Hall, that her apparition was occasionally seen, and that it was long the custom to have a plate laid for her at this table at mealtime. That this story does not belong entirely to the region of fiction is proved by the fact, known to the writer, and, doubtless, to many others, that a lady in this neighbourhood possesses, and at times wears on her person, one article from the "Green Lady's" gift of jewellery.

We have one more moated mansion in our neighbourhood which should here be mentioned, viz., Halstead, or Hawstead, Hall, in the adjoining parish of Stixwould. This is the one instance, out of the several old residences I have mentioned, in which there still remains a substantial building above-ground. Doubtless the Hall, originally, was considerably larger than it is at present, since, at different periods, it has been occupied by members of leading county families; and I find, from a note, that the first Earl of Shaftesbury, who married a sister of Lord Coventry, at one time owner of Stixwould, used to visit here, and accommodation was found for himself and a large retinue. Foundations of further buildings have been found at odd times. The present Hall is a two-storied structure; the rooms not large, but lofty, their height on the ground floor being over 10ft., and on the upper floor more than 13ft.; with s.p.a.cious attics above for stores. The walls are very substantial, being 2ft. thick; while the windows, with their ma.s.sive Ancaster mullions, would further indicate a much larger building. Outside the now dry bed of the moat stands a lofty building, at present used as stables and barn, which has stoneframed windows, the walls being of brick, smaller than the present-day bricks, and resembling those of Tattershall Castle and the Tower on the Moor, and, doubtless, made close at hand, where there is still a brickyard. The walls are relieved by diamond-shaped patterns, of black brick, those in the upper part being smaller than those below.

{146} A very fine mantelpiece, formerly in Halstead Hall, is now at Denton House, near Grantham, the seat of Sir William Earle Welby Gregory, Bart., who is the present head of the family. It is after the fashion of the famous mantelpieces of Tattershall Castle. In recent times Halstead Hall has been chiefly known for the great robbery which occurred there on Feb. 2nd, 1829, and which has been related in Chapter II. of this volume.

But, though no connected account of its early owners or occupants can be given, some interesting details have been brought together by the Rev. J.

A. Penny, Vicar of Wispington, and formerly of Stixwould, which are given, with a sketch of the Hall, in "Lincolnshire Notes & Queries" (vol.

iii., pp. 3337). The estate was the property of Richard Welby of Moulton, being named in his will, 1465. He left it to a son "Morys,"

from whom it pa.s.sed to a brother Roger, and from one of his sons came the Welbys of Halstead. The will of one of them is preserved among the "Lincoln Wills (1st series) proved 18 August, 1524," wherein he desired "to be buried in the Church of Stixwolde before the image of our Lady."

In 1561, March 21, the representative of the Halstead branch of this one of our leading county families was granted the crest of "an armed arm, the hand charnell (_i.e._, flesh-coloured) yssvinge out of a cloud, azure, in a flame of fire"; and the arms are sable, a fess, between three fleur-de-lis, argent, with six quarterings. He, Richard Welby, was in that year Sheriff for the county.

In 1588, Vincent Welby is named in the list of gentry who subscribed 25 each to the loan for repelling the expected Spanish Armada, and at the muster at Horncastle, in 15867, he furnished "ij horse," as also did his relative Mr. Welby of Gouphill (Goxhill) at "Castor." The first entry of the Welbys in the Stixwould Registers was "Ann Welbie, christened May 28," 1547; the last was in 1598. After them Halstead Hall was owned by a family of the name of Evington, one of whom, Richard, left "iiijli xs to be paid yearlie, at the discretion of my executors, to the poor of Stixwolde, on the 25 March and 29 Sept." After them it was occupied by the Townshends. Of this family there are two notices in the parish register:-"Mr. George Townshend Esqr died att Halstead and was buryed att Waddingworth on Wensdaie night the 13th of Februarie 1627." The other is, "Mr. Kirkland Snawden and Mrs. Francis Townshend married the 25th of December, being Christmas daie 1628." Notice the Lincolnshire p.r.o.nunciation Snawden for Snowden. No reason is given for the unusual burial by night; and special attention is drawn to the marriage of the widow, by the sketch in the margin of a hand with outstretched fingers.

This Kirkland Snowden was a grandson of a Bishop of Carlisle, his father being the Bishop's son, and Vicar of Horncastle. They had a daughter Abigail, who married a Dymoke, from whom the present Dymokes are descended. This is one of two instances of a daughter of a Vicar of Horncastle marrying a Dymoke, since in the present century Miss Madeley, the only daughter of Dr. Clement Madeley, Vicar, married the late champion, Rev. John Dymoke. After these it was held by the Gibbons, of which family there are also a few entries in the registers. Another owner was Sir John Coventry, who was a.s.saulted for using offensive language about King Charles II., asking in Parliament "whether the king's pleasure lay in the men or women players" at the theatres. He wounded several of his a.s.sailants, but had his own nose cut to the bone; in consequence of which "The Coventry Act" was pa.s.sed in 1671, making it felony to maim or disfigure a person, and refusing to allow the king to pardon the offenders. A later owner was Sir William Kite, Bart., who ran through a large fortune, and sold Halstead and Stixwould to Lord Anson, the distinguished navigator, and Lord High Admiral of England; some of whose exploits are recorded in "Anson's Voyage Round the World," by Benjamin Robins. In 1778 the property was sold to Edmund Turnor, Esq., and is still held by his descendants. This old house is well worth a visit; and visitors are courteously received by the family who now reside there.

I now propose to invite the visitor to Woodhall Spa to accompany me in thought (as not a few have done in person) to some of the places of interest, churches, or ruins, in the neighbourhood, as it may add a zest to his perambulations to know something about them. The descriptions will probably be brief, leaving a margin to be filled in by his own personal observation, thus affording him a motive for further enquiry, and an aim and object for the rambles, which may conduce to his health in the expansion alike of mind and of lung. Woodhall does not lie within what may be called the architectural zone of Lincolnshire. In the south, south-east, and south-west of the county, parish after parish possesses a large church, often beyond the requirements of the population, and of great and varied architectural beauty. There is probably no district in England so rich in fine edifices. Much of the land was at one time held by powerful Norman knights and barons, whose energies were often spent in internecine feuds. The mediaeval creed impressed them with the belief that their deeds of violence could be atoned for by the erection of costly churches for the worship, by others, of that G.o.d whom they themselves little honoured. Interested ecclesiastics fostered this feeling, {149a} which also fell in with the "Ora pro n.o.bis" yearning of their own b.r.e.a.s.t.s, when suffering from what an old writer has called "the ayen-bite of Inwyt," {149b} or, in modern parlance, "remorse of conscience." But if, judged by the scale of expiation, made in endowment and embodied in stone, these high-handed lords would seem to have been sinners above their more ordinary fellows, we must at least gratefully allow that they have left to us of the present day a goodly heritage, which even our modern vastly increased wealth has not enabled us to emulate. These fine churches, in our neighbourhood may be said to terminate at Coningsby and Tattershall.

In the villages immediately near us, and for several miles northward and eastward, the churches are small; yet several of them have features of considerable interest. Let us turn our steps northward. The road takes us in sight of a column, or obelisk, surmounted by a bust of the first Duke of Wellington. The history of this is told by the inscription on the pedestal: "Waterloo Wood was raised from acorns sown immediately after the memorable battle of Waterloo, when victory was achieved by the great Captain of the age, his Grace the Duke of Wellington, commanding the British forces, against the French armies commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, the 18th June, 1815, which momentous victory gave general peace to Europe. This monument was erected by R. E. (Richard Elmhirst) 1844." The bust faces to the north-east, in the direction of West Ashby, where Colonel Elmhirst resided. The property some years ago pa.s.sed, by sale, into other hands. At about three miles distance from Woodhall we reach the small but well-built village of Stixwould (in Domesday Book, Stigesuuald, Stigeswalt, Stigeswalde). As to the name Stixwould, anyone, without being a wag, might well say, and with some apparent reason, "What more natural combination than these two syllables?" We naturally, in primitive life, go to the "wald," or wood, for our sticks. Was not the liberty to gather "kindling," as we now call it, a valued privilege, even like the parallel right of "turbage"-to cut peat-for the domestic hearth?

The "sticks-wood" would be the resort of many a serf and villain, for purposes lawful, or the reverse. But, unfortunately, the most apparently obvious explanation is not necessarily the correct one. Whether the first part of this name has a reference to a staked-out ford on the Witham, corresponding to the "wath," or ford, at Kirkstead, or whether it is from the old Norse "stigt," a path, as some suggest, is uncertain.

Streatfeild says, "The swampy locality would favour the idea of 'stakes'"

("Lincolnshire and the Danes," pp. 1478). I may here notice that the old name of Dublin (Dubh-lynn, _i.e._ the black water) was Athcleath, or "the ford of the hurdles," which seems a parallel instance ("The Vikings of Western Christendom," by C. F. Keary, p. 83, n. 3). The latter half of the name would seem to refer to the woods of the district; and visitors may see a very fine specimen of an ancient oak in the garden of the Abbey Farm at the farther end of the village; also a fine one at Halstead Hall, to the east of the village; and there are several more in the fields, relics, doubtless, of ancient woods. The church was rebuilt in 1831, not a favourable period in church restoration, but on the whole Mr. Padley, the architect, did his work fairly well, although some spoliation was perpetrated, stained gla.s.s being taken away from the windows; and the panels of the pulpit in Lea church are said to have been also taken from here. Some notes, still preserved in vol. ii. (p. 87) of Willson's Collection (architect and surveyor, of Lincoln) would seem to imply that the former church was finer than the present. He says, "Stixwould church, s.p.a.cious, and has been elegant, and is full of curious remnants; style Ed. IV. or Henry VII.; tower very handsome; . . . The interior has been very beautiful-lofty pointed arches, roof of nave and south aisle supported on rich carved figures of angels with shields; windows full of remnants of beautiful gla.s.s; old oak desks and benches carved . . . curious font . . . upper end of south aisle inclosed in two screens of oak . . . exquisitely rich and elegant. This is called the little choir, and belongs to Halstead Hall . . . both aisles have had altars. Base and pillar of churchyard cross remain." He also mentions a curiously-carved stone in the churchyard in front of the tower, "like a clock face," with unusual inscription; which the present writer has also seen there; but it is now removed to Lincoln. {151a}