Lusby (called in Domesday Book Lodeby and Luzebi), is distant from
Horncastle about 6 miles, in an easterly direction, being 1 mile beyond
Winceby. Prior to the Norman Conquest, the Saxon Thane, Tonna, held
lands here, as well as in other parishes in the neighbourhood, his
property here being 3 carucates, or about 360 acres (Domesday). Other
owners of land were Almer, and his brother John, and his son Mauger.
These, at the Conquest, were mostly superseded by Normans. William the
Conqueror gave to his nephew Gilbert de Gaunt, son of Baldwin, Earl of
Flanders, whose sister was William’s Consort, 113 Manors in Lincolnshire,
besides several in other counties, among them being Lusby, the adjoining
Hagworthingham, and Grantham (Greetham), &c. The property would seem,
however, to have been only held by the Gaunts for three generations. In
1223 we find Simon de Kyme instituting a suit in the King’s Court to
recover certain lands in Lusby, as being the descendant and lawful
representative and heir of the aforesaid Almar. He failed, however, to
establish his case. (Curia Regis, Roll No. 82, Hilary, 7 Henry III.) He
still, however, held lands in Langton and Sausthorpe; and he must also
have had other lands in Lusby, as we find that in the 9th year of King
John he granted the fee of 1 knight to Walter de Bec, “to have and to
hold of the same Simon and his heirs for ever.”
The superior lord, however, of all these parties, would seem to have been
the Bishop of Durham, a powerful and wealthy prelate. Early in the 12th
century (circa 1114) we find that Ranulph, Bishop of Durham, held in
chief, lands in Lusby, and several other parishes in the neighbourhood,
and one Pinson was tenant under him at Lusby, holding by the service of
acting as the bishop’s bailiff. Whether this Pinson was the same as
Pinso, sworn brother in arms of Eudo, the Norman lord of Tattershall, is
not clear; but it seems likely, as the Bishop of Durham, his over-lord,
also held lands in Tattershall. (N.B.—The author of “The History of
Spilsby,” Rev. H. Cotton-Smith, says that he was; p. 24). But through
the Pinsons, Lusby, Winceby, and other manors passed to another family,
already named, which for some time held an important position in the
county, the Beks or Becs. There is some confusion in the different
records of the earlier generations of this family. Walter de Bek was the
scion of a family of Norman blood, whose ancestor, according to Sir
William Dugdale in his “Baronage,” had “a faire inheritance in Flanders,”
but came over with the Conqueror. This Walter de Bec married Agnes,
daughter of Hugh Pinson, the steward, and had by her five sons, Hugh,
Henry, Walter, John, and Thomas. Of these, Henry succeeded to the manors
of Eresby, Spilsby, Scrivelsby, and Wispington; and Walter became “Lord
of Lusceby, Wynceby, Neuton (_i.e._ Wold Newton) and ffoulstow
(Fulstow).” (Lansdown MSS. 207, cf., 453). The Becs were a family of
great influence. Of two brothers, one, Anthony, was Bishop of Durham,
the other, Thomas, was Bishop of St. David’s, and another Anthony, was
Bishop of Norwich, his brother being Bishop of Lincoln, in days when
Bishops were statesmen and even soldiers, as well as proud prelates.
Walter was Constable of the Castle of Lincoln (Harleyan MSS, f. 23).
In the old documents called “Final Concords,” p. 80., under date “17 May,
A.D. 1208,” we find Walter Bec, named as “tenant of one knight’s fee in
Lusceby.” In 1300 A.D. Sir John Bek, like his father, was Constable of
Lincoln Castle, but also holding the additional office of Constable of
Bristol. He made a grant to the Priory of Bullington, near Wragby, which
is worthy of notice, as its terms are peculiar. It runs as follows:—“I,
John son of Walter Beck, of Lusceby, have granted, &c., for ever to prior
and convent of Bolington, for the safety of my soul, and the souls of my
ancestors, two selions of land, &c., which formerly, Simon, merchant of
Burgh, held of me for one pair of white gloves.” We have mention, in the
case of High Toynton, of land, held by the tenure of a pair of spurs,
presented annually to the lord, as rent; here we have a no less singular
tenure, by the gift of a pair of gloves. The knightly gauntlet was
probably in those days a more costly article than a nineteenth or
twentieth century glove. In illustration of the above peculiar tenure,
we may notice the legacy of Baron Bec’s “gauntlets” to Kirkstead. This
John, son of Walter, was created first Baron Bec of Eresby; he obtained a
license to fortify his castle at Eresby, 1295. By his will, dated July
20, 1301, he ordered his body to be buried at Kirkstead, whereunto he
gives his best horse, his mail coat, “gauntlets,” harness of iron, lance,
targe and other accoutrements. His daughter married Sir William
Willoughby.
Most of the property of the Lusby Beks passed, a generation or two later,
to another branch of the family, the Becks of Eresby; whose descendant,
John Willoughby, through the marriage of Baron Bec’s daughter to Sir
William Willoughby, in the reign of Edwd. III., held the manors of
“Hareby, Lusceby, Ester Kele, Wester Kele,” &c.; and thus the property
passed to the ancestors of the present Earl of Ancaster, and Lord
Willoughby d’ Eresby. We still, however, find (by Feet of Fines,
Lincoln, file 69) that in A.D. 1302, John Bek had “the rent of 6 quarters
of salt, {133} in Wispington, Marton next Horncastle, Langtone,
Wodehalle, Thymelby, Scrivelsby,” and other parishes, “with advowson of
the church of Wispington.” “Henry Bek, of Pusseby (Lusby), sold to Lord
Stephen de Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, lands and tenement in
ffowlestow; which same bishop gave the said manor to Beatrice, his
sister, who was married to Alan de Normanby.” (Lansdowne MSS. 207, cf.,
453). For these details of the Becks, I am chiefly indebted to a paper,
by Rev. W. O. Massingberd, in the “Architect. Soc. Journal,” for 1897.
To show that the Becs were not confined to the neighbourhood of Eresby
and Lusby, I may mention that, not only are their armorial quarterings
found, as was to be expected, in Spilsby church, but according to Gervase
Holles’ “Notes on Churches,” they formerly existed in windows in the
churches of Coningsby and Langton-by-Horncastle, and probably many
others. (Harleyan MSS., 6829.)
Of later proprietors of Lusby, I am not able to give any, except that, in
a List (given in the Melbourne Hall MSS.) of Gentry, of the 16th century,
who furnished launces and light horses, when the country was preparing to
give a warm reception to the expected Spanish Armada, I find that Mr.
Palfreyman of Lusby, gent., attended the muster at the Horncastle
Sessions in 1586, and furnished 1 launce and 1 light horse, when his
neighbour, Mr. Langton, of Langton, and Augustine Cavendish, of Orby,
furnished each 1 light horse, but no lance; John Littlebury of
Hagworthingham, furnishing 2 light horses and no lance. Mr. Maddison
explains that this Mr. Palfreyman would be a descendant of William
Palfreyman, who was Mayor of Lincoln in 1536. (“Arch. Soc. Journ.” 1894,
pp. 214, 220).
In Liber Regis we also find the names of those who presented to the
benefice, and therefore were in some way connected with the place; George
Davenport in 1699, Carr Brackenbury in 1720, and Robert Carr Brackenbury
in 1780. In recent times the bishops of Lincoln seem to have inherited
the position formerly held by the bishops of Durham, as owners of the
soil and lords of the manor; and these are now in the hands of the
Ecclesiastical Commissions.
We now come to speak of the church, dedicated to St. Peter. At the date
of Domesday Book, this was one of the 222 parishes in the county which
possessed a church. A priest is also there named, doubtless one of the
131 only resident presbyters in the county; many of the churches being
served by the “Religious” of the convents. There is also mention of a
mill, worth 3_s._ yearly. {135}
There was thus at Lusby a church at that early period, and it, as well as
Winceby, paid a pension to the Bardney Monastery, probably through the
connection with Gilbert de Gaunt, that Norman noble being one of
Bardney’s most generous patrons, and the re-founder of that institution
after it had been in a state of decay for some 200 years. Ecton’s
Thesaurus gives the pension as 30_s._, a fairly large sum in those days.
The present very interesting church is, in parts, so very ancient, that
it is more than likely that some portions of the original fabric of that
day still remain. Only a few years ago the building was in a state of
squalid neglect and architectural disfigurement; but it was restored by
the Commissioners in 1892, and re-opened by the Bishop of Lincoln on
January 17, 1893, the work having been done with great care and judgment;
and the former flat-ceiled, white-washed room has given place to a
structure church-like in all its arrangements. It is nevertheless of a
somewhat conglomerate character, windows, and other objects, breaking
out, as it were, in all sorts of unexpected positions; and thus making it
a study of curiosities. We quote here some of the remarks of the late
Precentor Venables made on the occasion of the visit of the Architectural
Society in 1894, “of the original Norman fabric, itself of more than one
date, and which was shortened at the west end, there are several relics,
especially in the charming narrow doorway in the north wall of the nave,
now built up, the arch of which is surrounded with zigzag moulding; and a
very remarkable little ‘key-hole’ window, high up in the north wall of
the chancel. An incised line which runs round the head of this ends in
volutes, and above it is a small incised cross. Holes in the jamb of the
shutter indicate that this widow was originally unglazed. Opposite the
north doorway are traces of another Norman doorway in the south wall,
also now blocked, having above it a cross with round medallions.”
Eastward in this same south wall of the nave is a two-light early English
window with quatrefoil above, in the eastern splay of which, inside the
church, is a small, but “singularly fine corbel head, crowned.”
Immediately eastward of the chancel arch in the south wall of the chancel
is a small square window, possibly a squint; and east of this a very
narrow small “lancet window has been opened,” and still east of this, at
a different elevation, there is a good two-light decorated window. The
chancel arch is round-headed and plain; on either side of it are a pair
of Norman pillars, with the capitals hacked away; those on the north side
partly retain their rounded columns. There is a perpendicular screen
across the chancel arch of three compartments above with ogee arches and
richly carved finials, the central compartment being open; and below are
two panels on either side the central open compartment, having ogee
arches within semi-circular rims. On the north side of the chancel arch
is a niche for a figure. In the north wall of the chancel is an aumbrey,
and an oblong one above it; and in the south wall a square one
corresponding. In the south wall, under the easternmost window, is an
easter sepulchre a plain semi-circular arched recess, probably marking
the tomb of the founder. In the north wall of the nave is a similar, but
rather larger recess. The east window has three lights, quatrefoiled,
with trefoiled compartments above, and a quatrefoil above these. The
west door is square-headed with a low arch within; over this a
three-light quatrefoiled widow with square-headed moulding above; and
over this, in the gable, a square, slit widow, above which hangs the one
bell in a large turret. The font on the north side of the west door, is
modern, circular, massive, of Caen stone. The sittings are of deal; the
pulpit, lectern, and chancel sedilia, of modern oak; the roof throughout
of pitch pine. There is a small brass tablet of date circa 1600, with
eight English rhyming lines, forming a dialogue between a deceased wife
and her surviving husband. The stones of the walls are of all sizes and
shapes, and the massive western buttresses are 5ft. thick. The benefice,
a rectory, is now held with that of Hagworthingham, and is in the
incumbency of the Rev. G. R. Ekins, who resides at the latter place.
Letters, _via_ Spilsby, arrive at 8 a.m., and are despatched at 5 p.m.
ASGARBY, which is ecclesiastically annexed to the benefice of Lusby, lies
about six miles south-east of Horncastle, being about a mile south by
east of Winceby, by which it is reached from Horncastle, and about a mile
west of Lusby. Letters, via Spilsby, arrive at 8.30 a.m. The nearest
money order office is at Old Bolingbroke, and the nearest telegraph
office at East Kirkby, about 5 miles distant. The whole parish comprises
about 760 acres, divided into two farms, the property of Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, and occupied respectively, Asgarby Hall farm by Mr. M.
Dunham, and the Asgarby House farm by Mr. W. H. Robinson, both these
residences being substantial structures of considerable age. It has been
asked “What’s in a name?” yet the name Asgarby would seem significant.
Its elements are “as” (or Aes), “gar” (guard or garth), {137} and “by”;
the first of these implying the presence of “water,” the second meaning,
“an enclosure”; and the third “a building”; thus we have, as the meaning
of the whole, “a water-enclosed building,” or moated residence. The hall
stands on an elevation, commanding an extensive view, and there are
various hollows and banks still existing, which probably indicate the
moat which at one time surrounded a more important building than the
present hall. This is confirmed by the stews, or fish-ponds, lying
westward below the hall, which imply that the establishment required an
extensive fish diet, on the numerous Romish fast days. The demesne is
given in Domesday Book, along with Hareby, Mavis Enderby, Raithby, and
many others, which became the property of Ivo Taillebois, by his marriage
with the Lady Lucia, daughter of the powerful Saxon Earl Alfgar,
father-in-law of King Harold. It probably passed at a later period to
the Bishops of Durham, who held many lordships in the neighbourhood; and
ultimately came to the Bishops of Lincoln, who were lords of the manor,
until the transference in 1862, of episcopal property to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who have since that time, owned the estate.
The Benefice, now worth £40 a year, is described in Liber Regis, as a
curacy. It, however, gives its name to a prebendal stall in Lincoln
Cathedral. The church, dedicated to St. Swithin, is an unpretending
structure, of no architectural merit; but since it was re-seated, with
deal fittings, in 1882, it has been kept, to say the least, in a neat
condition. It is doubtless one of the smallest parish churches in the
kingdom, the nave being slightly over 20ft. in length, and the chancel
about 9ft. The east window has two lights, in debased style. There is a
three-light debased window in the north wall, and a corresponding one in
the south wall. The pulpit is of modern oak. There is a tablet on the
south nave wall in memory of Sarah, wife of John Parkinson, “greatly
admired for her virtue, frugality, and charity,” who died 17 May, 1816;
also in memory of John Parkinson, her husband, who died May 15, 1821.
In the north wall of the chancel is a memorial tablet of the Rev. W.
Ward, Incumbent, who died 26 Nov., 1846. The one bell hangs in a turret
over the west door. The register dates from 1575. Canon Oldfield, who
holds the benefice, with that of Lusby, is also Rector of Hagworthingham,
where he resides. Asgarby Benefice is now held with Lusby, by Rev. C. E.
Bolam.