James Conway Walter

“ A gap now occurs in our history, which can only be filled in, for a time, by conjecture. On the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the possessions of Kirkstead Abbey were granted by him to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; on whose death without issue, they reverted to the sovereign, and were re-granted to the Earl of Lincoln, of the Fiennes Clinton family, subsequently Dukes of Newcastle. ”

“ The interior of the nave has a massive heavy roof of beams somewhat rudely cut, with traces of former colouring.
The four western bays of the arcade are Early English, with low arches, the easternmost bay seems to have been added at a later date, the arch higher and wider. The moulding between two of the north arches terminates in a head, on each side of which an evil spirit is whispering. Another terminal is the head of a woman wearing the "branks," or "scold's bridle." On the south side of the chancel arch is a rood loft staircase turret, of which both the lower and upper door remain. ”

“ The roof of the chancel is apsidal, externally, as well as the nave, covered with modern house tiles. Internally the nave has a flat ceiling of deal boards. The pulpit and seats are painted wainscot; there is a small modern oak reading desk, and a lectern to match it. The chancel arch is a plain semicircle, but on its eastern side has a pointed Early English arch. The chancel rails are of modern oak, slightly carved; and there is a deal credence table. The 14th century font has a massive octagonal bowl, with large trefoils in each face, and grotesquely carved heads at the angles ”

“ Accordingly in an old document of the early 14th century, we find that John de Halghton, Bishop of Carlisle, gave consent for William de Foletby to convey certain lands in Thimelby, Langton, and Horncastle, to the Abbot and Convent of Kirkstead, to provide two monks, to celebrate daily services for the souls of the faithful deceased. ”

“ The rectory of Moorby is consolidated with the vicarage of Wood Enderby.
By deed dated Nov. 24th, 1855, the guardians of the poor, by consent of the ratepayers, gave certain land in Moorby for the site of a parish school to the minister, churchwardens, and overseers, and their successors; and more recently a school district has been formed for the parishes of Moorby, Wood Enderby, Claxby, and Wilksby; the school, which was built in 1855, being enlarged in 1872, to provide the accommodation required by this union. ”

“ There is an award and map of Haltham and Roughton in the parish, and a copy at the County Council office, Lincoln. Three roads meet in the middle of the village, one from Horncastle, one to Woodhall Spa and Kirkstead, one to Kirkby-on-Bain, Coningsby and Tattershall.
Sir Henry Hawley, Bart., of Tumby Lawn, in the adjoining parish of Kirkby, is Lord of the Manor, but Lady Hartwell (daughter of the late Sir Henry Dymoke, the King's Champion) , and the executors of the Clinton family (now Clinton Baker) and the Rector own most of the soil; there being a few small proprietors. ”

“ As 12 days elapsed between death and burial it is probable that he died abroad. The manor and whole parish, except the glebe, still belongs to the Rolleston family; the benefice being in the patronage of the Earl of Ancaster.
In the floor of the chancel are two memorial slabs, one of the Rev. R. Spranger, D.C.L., late Rector of Low Toynton and Creeton, who enlarged the rectory house, and was a munificent benefactor to the neighbourhood. Among other good deeds he built the bridge over the river Waring, on the road from Low Toynton to Horncastle. ”

“ The sittings are of deal, with plain poppy-heads. The pulpit is of modern oak, of five panels, each panel being divided into two trefoiled arched partitions; the central panel having a trefoil above, and below it a square piece of carved old oak, representing Elijah blessing the cruse of oil for the widow of Zarephath. The vestry, at the east end of the north aisle, has one small trefoiled window. The tower and the spire were added at the restoration. The chancel has a decorated east window of three lights, with three quatrefoils above. ”

“ Thus the parish of Low Toynton has had residents, proprietors, and rectors, to whom its present inhabitants may look back with some degree of pride and pleasure, although "their place now knoweth them no more."
ROUGHTON.
This village stands on the west bank of the river Bain, about 4 miles to the south of Horncastle. It is bounded on the north by Thornton and Martin, on the east by Haltham and Dalderby, on the south by Kirkby-on-Bain, and on the west by Kirkstead, Kirkby, and Woodhall. The area is 1020 acres, rateable value £945, population 137, entirely agricultural. ”

“ The Skynners were a family of wealth and position. In 1315 Robert and Richard Skynner held the manor of Pinchbeck, near Spalding [16] They were also land owners in Hareby and Bolingbroke. Henry Skynner, by will, dated 29th May, 1612, leaves to his daughter Judith, all his copyhold in Harebie, to his brother, Sir Vincent Skynner, Knight, lands in Hareby and other places, with the advowson of the Benefice. Sir Vincent Skynner was Lord of the Manor of Thornton Curtis; he was in 1604 appointed by the crown Keeper of East Kirkby Park, as part of the Royal manor, or "Honour," of Bolingbroke. ”

“ In the south wall, west of the porch, is a low doorway, now filled in, with step at its base, probably formerly leading to a parvis, or priest's chamber. East of the porch are two round-headed three-light trefoiled perpendicular windows. In the chancel the east window, of coloured glass, is lofty, with three lights, and six trefoils above. The subjects are divided into upper and lower rows; the upper are the Ascension in the centre, with the Resurrection to the left, and to the right the disciples grouped round the virgin ”

“ Wood Enderby, with Wilksby and Revesby, fell to the share of Mr. John Carsey, or Kersey; his wife, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lovell, Knight, being grand-daughter of Margaret, sister and co-heir of the Duke of Suffolk. He owned the property from 1552 to 1575, and he and his son Francis jointly sold it to Thomas Cecil, Lord Treasurer Burleigh. He held it from 1575 to 1598, when it passed in succession to the 1st and 2nd Earls of Exeter, and to Elizabeth, Lady Howard, wife of the Earl of Berkshire, in 1640, and so in 1658 to Henry Howard ”

“ This parish, like High Toynton and West Ashby, is in the soke of Horncastle. In Domesday Book it is stated that the manor comprised 3 carucates, or about 360 acres of land, with 21 soc-men and 11 bordars, [40] who had four carucates, or about 480 acres; there were further 60 acres of meadow, and, what no longer exists, 300 acres of underwood; which was a very large proportion, considering that in Scrivelsby, now a well wooded estate, closely adjoining, there were at that time only six acres of underwood. ”

“ In connection with the Humphrey Coningsby, named above, we have already mentioned that a castellated residence in this parish belonged to a family of that name. This Humphrey was Judge of the King's Bench, and bought Hampton Court, co. Hereford, of Sir Thomas Cornwall, about 1510; where was preserved a painting of the old mansion at Coningsby [79] Thomas Coningsby was knighted by Elizabeth in 1591. Sir Fitz-William Coningsby was Sheriff of the county, 1627; and for his loyalty to Charles I. his estates were confiscated by the Puritans. His son was rewarded with a peerage by Charles II. ”

“ Little is known of the early history of this parish or of its proprietors. In a Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 11 Henry VII., No. 123, taken at Partney, after the death of Isabella, wife of Richard Sapcote, Knight, the said Isabella is declared by the jurors to have died seized of the Manor of Nether Toynton, and of the advowson; and Joan, wife of William Nevill, of Rolleston, Notts., and others are declared to be daughters and heirs of the said Isabella; she herself being kinswoman and heir of William Plesington, son of Henry Plesington, Knight. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Taunton, the advowson of the church of Nether Taunton, about 2,700 acres of various land, and the rent of 41⁄2 quarters of salt in Over Taunton, Nether Taunton, Tetford, and other parishes.
The Manor, with that of Horncastle, continued for a long period in the hands of the Bishops of Carlisle; who were patrons of the benefice until the creation of a bishopric of Manchester, in 1848, when their patronage in this neighbourhood was transferred to that See. The Manor, however, with that of Horncastle, had previously passed to Sir Joseph Banks, and came eventually to his successors, the Stanhopes. ”

“ A few years after this date it would appear that the Bishop of Carlisle exercised a kind of ecclesiastical lordship over this parish. Thimbleby was in the soke of Horncastle, and Ralph de Rhodes, the former Lord of the demesne of Horncastle, with its appurtenances, West Ashby, High Toynton, &c., had granted these (by charter confirmed by Henry III., A.D. 1230) to Walter Mauclerk, Bishop of Carlisle, and his successors. ”

“ The society still exists, their present chapel being erected in 1862; they have also a day school, built by Mr. John Overy in 1845. The Wesleyans have a chapel, built in 1825, and others at Hawthorn Hill, Haven Bank, Moorside, and Meer Booth. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel, built in 1854, others at Reedham Corner and Scrub Hill.
Of the early history of this parish we have scattered notices in various documents. In Domesday Book we find that Sortibrand, son of Ulf the Saxon, who was one of the lagmen of Lincoln, held a Berewick in Coningsby. ”

“ Mary and all the saints; he requests that his body may be buried in Croyland parish church; he leaves 40s. to be given to the poor on the day of his burial, and money to provide torches and wax for the church, and the altars of St. Katharine, St. John the Baptist, and Holy Trinity; he bequeaths £10 of silver to his wife, and other items. Again, by will dated the Feast of St. Thomas the apostle, 1368, Gervase de Wylleford bequeaths 100s. to John Moreby his cousin.
The family of Ayscough, formerly so widely represented in the county, were connected with Moorby. ”

“ Leicester. In 1778 William Holmes, M.A., was admitted to the rectory by John Hotchkin, Esq., of South Luffenham, on the death of Allen Corrance. In 1831 (Sept. 21st) Robert Charles Herbert Hotchkin, B.A., was instituted at the rectory, on the death of William Holmes, on the nomination of Thomas Hotchkin, Esq., of Tixover. The late T. J. Stafford Hotchkin, Esq., of Woodhall Manor, sold his property in Thimbleby and some other parishes in 1872; and the advowson of this benefice, then in his gift, was subsequently sold to the father of the present Rector, the Rev. C. A. Potter. ”

“ As suggested by the author of Scrivelsby the home of the Champions, Scrivelsby, as a barony of the Marmyon and Dymoke families, would probably be separated by payment of a fine; such powerful families preferring not to be sub-ordinated to another manor. Several Dymokes, however, were buried at Horncastle, where are their monuments.
↑ Mr Isaac Taylor in his Words and Places (p. 201, ed. 1873) , says "I cannot discover any indication of the place where the Lincolnshire 'Thing' (the Saxon 'County Council') assembled, unless it was at Thimbleby or Legbourne." ”

“ 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. [27] 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. ”

“ The area was originally about 1,425 acres, including Bunkers Hill, part of Gipsy Bridge, and other scattered farms, which were sold by the Drainage Commissioners early in the 19th century, when it was made, by Act of Parliament, a parochial township. Rateable value £1,979. It has its name from the former chief proprietors, the Thornton family; but the chief land owners now are Lord Malcolm of Poltalloch, the Pepper, Ireland, Creasey, Ward, and Wilcock families. The soil is clay, and very fertile. ”