This parish is situated about 6 miles westward of Horncastle; the village
being less than a mile from the Stixwould station, on the loop line of
the Great Northern Railway, between Boston and Lincoln. The parish is
bounded on the west by the river Witham, on the north by Horsington, and
on the east and south by Woodhall and Edlington. In Domesday book the
name takes the form of Stigeswald, or Stigeswalt. The origin of this
name can only be a matter of conjecture, but the following, as not being
without interest, is suggested. The ancient arrangement for crossing a
river, especially a sluggish, oozy one, such as the Witham, was commonly
by a stockaded ford. {185} This stockade would be constructed of stakes
or sticks, a kind of structure which is also implied in the names
Stickford, (_i.e._, staked ford), and Stickney (staked water, or island),
both of which places lie in what was formerly a marshy district in this
county. {186a} Hence, we may suppose, the first syllable of the name
Stix (or Sticks) wold; as to the next syllable, “Wold,” or wald, is the
Saxon for wood. At some places certain woods were anciently assigned by
law or custom, for the supply of these stakes. {186b}; and such a wood
might naturally acquire the name of the Stakes wood, or Sticks wold.
In the case of this parish, as the embankment, now confining the Witham
to its narrow channel, did not anciently exist, that river would then
have a much greater width, and the ford would probably be a long
“causeway” through a morass, raised by sods and strengthened by stakes.
{186c} Mr. C. Gowen-Smith, the translator of Domesday Book, for
Lincolnshire, says (Introduction, p. xl.) that “wad,” or “wode,” means “a
causeway.” We thus, on either of these suppositions, get Stixwould
meaning a staked ford, or causeway. {186d}
In the days of ancient savage warfare, fords were important positions of
defence; and especially on the Witham would a ford be important, that
river being the boundary between the barbarous “Girvii,” who inhabited
the wild Fen tracts, {186e} and the less warlike Saxons, who dwelt east
of it. A ford also, or ferry, was a source of considerable revenue; for
instance, at Stow, the lord of the manor, in 1234, let the ferry on the
Trent (now of Littleborough), with the fishery, for £3 6_s._ 8_d._
yearly, a large sum in those days. Thus the staked ford, and the wood
supplying the stakes, may well have been local features of sufficient
importance to originate the name of Stickswold.
Of the wood formerly existing, there are still some relics, in fine oak
trees of great age; one of these, nearly 20ft. in girth, is to be seen by
the garden gate at the abbey farm house; another stands near the drive to
Halstead Hall, in the east of the parish; and others are nearer the
Witham, in fields adjoining Newstead House farm. The present Stixwould
wood, or Long wood, south of the village, is of comparatively modern
growth; but on the eastern border of the parish is Halstead wood,
separated from Sto-bourne wood, by what, probably, was formerly a “stow,”
“stoke,” or stake-marked “bourn,” or boundary stream, being a ditch of
running water, which gives its name to the latter wood, which lies in the
next parish; the two woods until recent years, belonging to the two
different manors.
At the time of the Norman Conquest, we find only two names of Saxon
landowners in this parish, viz.:—Ulviet, and Siward, who had here between
them, about 720 acres. Both these would seem to have been thanes of some
importance, as the former held, in demesne or otherwise, lands in at
least ten other parishes, in various parts of the county; and the latter
had lands in eleven parishes, also widely distributed, and further, had
sufficient influence to continue as tenant, under the Norman proprietors,
to whom the Conqueror transferred the lands previously owned by Saxons.
{187} Of Normans, a grant of 270 acres (that amount having been
previously owned by Ulviet,) was conferred by King William, upon Waldin
Brito (or the Breton), a distinguished soldier, who accompanied him from
Normandy. These Bretons were highly valued for their faithful services,
by the Plantagenet kings, and were largely employed in court offices;
Waldin also received manors in eight other parishes in this
neighbourhood. Another favourite of the Conqueror, who received land
here, was Alured, of Lincoln. The Domesday Survey gives him as owning
180 acres of arable, meadow, and wood land in Stixwould, with fifty-one
manors in the county, beside lands elsewhere.
A still larger proprietor was Ivo Taillebois, Earl of Anjou, and nephew
of the Conqueror. On him, William bestowed in marriage, the Saxon Lady
Lucia, sister of Edgiva, wife of the late King Harold. Beside the lands
of her father, Earl Algar, she had succeeded to the large possessions of
her uncle, Sheriff Thorold, of the neighbouring Bucknall (where
traditions still linger of him, and his sister, the “Lady Godiva.”) She
was probably a kinswoman of the above Alured, of Lincoln, since his
relative, Alan of Lincoln, is named in old deeds, as nephew of Thorold.
Either through her, or by direct grant to himself, Ivo owned 1,020 acres
in Stixwould, beside lands in 104 other parishes. On this Ivo Taillebois
(or “Underwood” as the name signifies), we may here make a few remarks.
He was commonly known as “the Lord of Holland,” through his wife’s
extensive possessions in that division of the county, inherited from
Thorold, her uncle, who was lord of Spalding, and he also had a fine
residence at Spalding, where he lived in great state. He was, however,
of a temperament fitted rather to inspire fear than affection. The
chronicler, Ingulphus (“History of Croyland Abbey,”) tells us, that his
dependants “supplicated him on bended knees, and did him all due
service,” but, in return, he “tortured, harrassed, and daily loaded them
with fresh burdens”; and by his cruelty, “compelled most of them to sell
their property and seek other countries.” On the death of his patron,
the Conqueror, he joined a conspiracy against William Rufus, and was
banished the country. After a few years he was allowed to return, but
died shortly afterwards of paralysis, in 1114. {188} Having been forced
as a husband, by the Conqueror, upon the Lady Lucia, and being further of
the temperament already described, we may assume that, as the saying is,
there was “no love lost” between them, and we are therefore hardly
surprised to find another old chronicler (Peter de Blois), saying, on the
death of Ivo, “hardly had a month elapsed, when the Lady Lucia married
that illustrious man, Roger de Romara, son of Gerald de Romara (seneschal
or high steward of William, as Duke of Normandy), and that she lost all
recollection of Ivo.”
These are the only two landowners, Saxon or Norman, mentioned in Domesday
Book, as having property in Stixwould. The extent of their lands in the
parish, all added together, amounted to rather less than 2,000 acres,
whereas the present acreage is nearly 2,360, there is therefore a margin
of between 300 and 400 acres unaccounted for; and this we may probably
assume to have been waste land of bog and morass, subject to the Witham
floods, and not brought under cultivation till centuries later.
Accordingly, we find that the parish rate-book shows a sudden rise in
value of certain land, owing to drainage early in the nineteenth century.
We are not able to trace the successive landowners of Stixwould through a
connected series. There would seem to be some confusion in the old
chroniclers, between the Lady Lucia, who married Ivo Taillebois, and
another lady of the same name, probably her daughter, who married Roger
de Romara, {189a} and, on his death, married Ranulph, Earl of Chester.
The eldest son of this Lady Lucia, by Roger de Romara, was William de
Romara, who was created Earl of Lincoln, by King Stephen, A.D. 1140. His
grandson, also William de Romara, married Philippa, daughter of John
Count d’ Alencon, {189b} but died childless. His property would then
pass to the descendants of the second husband of the Lady Lucia II.,
viz., Ranulph, Earl of Chester. The latter married his niece, the
Countess Roheis, to Gilbert de Gaunt, whose grandfather was nephew of
Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. He became Earl of Lincoln, and
it is probable that the Earl of Chester’s property passed to him; among
other such lands, being also those in Stixwould, and in this connection,
it is interesting to note that, although in a less exalted position,
there are still, in this twentieth century, Gaunts in this parish, whose
very countenance would bespeak their Norman origin. In course of time,
the lands of the Gaunts, passed, in great measure, to two families,
namely, that of the Becks of Lusby, Spilsby, &c., and the Pinsons of
Tattershall, &c. These two families flourished during the 13th, 14th,
and 15th centuries, and they, in turn, were succeeded by the Willoughbys,
ancestors of the present Earl of Ancaster, and Lord Willoughby d’Eresby.
A Court Roll, 9 Richard I., shows that Robt. Willoughby had then land in
the adjoining Wispington, but there is indirect evidence to show that the
Willoughbys had also property in Stixwould, since, in the twenty-second
year of Edwd. III. (1348), John, the first Lord Willoughby d’Eresby,
endowed the chantry of the Holy Trinity, at Spilsby, with certain lands
in Stixwould, Fulletby, and other parishes (Pat., 22 Ed III); while
further, in a charter of Baron Bek (circa 1300), conveying lands to
Kirkstead Abbey, we find as witnesses to the deed, William de Wylcheby
(_i.e._, Willoughby), two Beks, William de Thorp, and “Dominus,” Theobald
de Hallested (“Architect. S. Journal,” 1897, p. 38); thus connecting,
again, Halstead, or Stixwould, with a Willoughby, as well as his
relatives, the Beks, of Spilsby, and the owners of Tattershall Thorpe.
At an earlier date than this, however, we find mention of other owners of
Stixwould. In a list of landowners in Lindsey, in the reign of Henry I.
(1100, 1135), we find Alan of Lincoln (already referred to as kinsman of
Alured), owning six oxgangs (ninety acres), in this parish, with Gilbert
Fitz-Gozelin, and Gerard as his tenants, as Siward had been under Alured;
also Robert de Hay, owning here, one carucate (120 acres). (Cotton MSS.,
Claudius, C 5, fol. 9_b._, Brit. Museum, “Archit. Journ.,” 1881, p. 197.)
The de Hays were a wealthy family, owning lands in Cammerigham,
Spridlington, Fillingham, Hackthorn, Owmby, Barlings and many other
parishes. (Ibid, pp. 184, 185, &c.) One of them was among the Barons
who signed the Magna Charter.
At the same date, we find a certain Ralph de Stixwald, holding land in
Edlington, as tenant under Ranulph le Meschin; the latter being the
second husband of the (second) Lady Lucy, Earl of Chester, and son of the
Vicomte de Bessin, in Normandy. (Ibid., fol. 14, and “Archæolog. S.
Proceedings,” 1848, p. 257).
Near the close of this 12th century (1 and 3 Richard I., 1190 and 1192),
we find Roger de Stixwald (with Gerard de Camvill), Sheriff of the
County. He was probably son of the above Ralph de Stixwould. (“Hist.
Lincoln,” 1816, p. 200). These de Stikswalds resided at Halstead Hall,
in this parish, which will be noticed hereafter under that head.
By an Inquisition, taken at Wragby (5 Richard II., 1381–2), it was shewn
that Margaret, wife of John de Orbi, knight (Orby), held jointly with her
husband, fifty-two acres of wood in Tattershall and Stixwold, with
various other lands; and that Mary de Percy, wife of John de Roos, is
their next heir; but that her brother, the Earl of Northumberland,
occupied the land meanwhile. (“Linc. N. & Q.” vol. vi., No. 47). Her
will was proved 29th Augt. 1394. Mentions of other owners in subsequent
times are rather rare.
On the Dissolution of the Monasteries, by Hen. VIII., that sovereign in
1541, gave the lands of Stixwould Priory in this parish, to Robert
Dighton. The Dightons had amassed considerable wealth, as merchants in
Lincoln. A Robert Dighton was Mayor in 1494, and again in 1506, and
William Dighton was Sheriff in 1533. The Robert Dighton, who thus became
a landowner in Stixwould, resided at the old hall of Stourton Parva, in
the parish of Baumber, dividing the ownership of that parish with the
Earls of Lincoln, afterwards Dukes of Newcastle. He married Joyce,
daughter and heiress of William St. Paul; the St. Pauls being a good
family, later represented by Sir George St. Paul, Bart., who died in
1613. Robert Dighton’s daughter, married first, Judge Dalison, and
secondly, Sir F. Ayscough, Bart. (“Archit. Journ.,” 1891, p. 16).
Members of both these families took part in the Lincolnshire Rising of
1536, along with John Heneage, Edwd. Dymoke (Sheriff), William
Willoughby, Thimblebies, Massingberds, and many others. (“State Papers,”
Henry VIII., vol. ii. p. 971, “Architect. S. Journal,” 1894. pp. 174,
&c). A daughter of Thomas Dighton married Edwd. Clinton, second son of
the first Earl of Lincoln, of that line (temp. Elizabeth.)
Another family, here comes on the scene, viz., the Thimblebys, who
resided at Poolham, a hamlet of the adjoining parish of Edlington; and
for some generations owned land in Stixwould. Their chief residence was
at Irnham, near Bourn, where Richard Thimbleby Esq., in 1510, built the
hall, a fine mansion, standing in a well-wooded deer park; having
acquired the property by marriage with an heiress of the Hiltons, whose
ancestor, Sir Geoffrey Hilton, again, had obtained it by marriage with an
heiress of the Luterels; that family having also succeeded to it in the
person of Sir Andrew Luterel, who married an heiress of the Paganels, on
whose ancestor, the Norman, Ralph Paganel, it had been bestowed by the
Conqueror. The pedigree of the Thimblebys is given in the Herald’s
Visitation of 1562. They owned property in Claxby, Normanby, Tetford
(manor with advowson), Haltham, High Toynton, Horsington (with moiety of
advowson), and many other parishes. They doubtless took their name from
the proximate parish of Thimbleby, as we find them first designated as
John, Thomas, &c., “de Thimbleby.”
By a Chancery Inquisition post mortem, of date, 1333 (7 Ed. III.), taken
on Friday after the feast of St. Matthew (Sep. 21), at Haltham, it was
shewn that Nicholas de Thymelby held certain land in Haltham, of the
right of his wife Matilda, with lands in Thimbleby, under the Bishop of
Carlisle, and lands in Stikeswold, of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln.
He was succeeded by his son John, who married Isabel, daughter and
co-heir of Sir William Fflete, knt., and his successor, William Thymelby,
Esq., apparently married Joan, daughter of Sir Walter Taillebois, one of
the family connected with Stixwould, through the Lady Lucia, already
named, nearly 400 years earlier; Sir Walter was grandnephew of Gilbert
Umfravill, Earl of Angus. (“Architect. Journ.,” 1896, pp. 297–8).
Again (nearly 200 years later), by a Court of Ward’s Inquisition (3, 4,
5, Ed. VI.,) it was shown that Matthew Thimbleby, who married Anne,
daughter of Sir Robert Hussey, was seised of lands in Styxwolde,
Horsington, Edlington, Thymylby, Buckland (_i.e._ Woodhall), &c.,
inheriting them from his father (Ibid. p. 258). His widow married Sir
Robert Savile, knt., of Poolham, and through her, he died in 1585–6
(Jany. 24), seised of the same land in Stixwolde, &c.
We now pass over eighty years, during which another change in the
ownership has taken place.
In 1665, and again in 1685, Sir John Coventry, K.B. presented to the
benefice, and was probably lord of the manor. At the beginning of the
18th century, Sir Thomas Keate had succeeded as patron (Ecton’s
“Thesaurus,” p. 183) and his widow, Agnes Keate, was owner in 1704.
(Liber Regis, p. 424). This name is written Kyte, in the “Histories of
Lincolnshire,” by Weir, and by Saunders. They are said to have been a
Warwickshire family; the last of them, Sir William, squandered a large
fortune, and, in a fit of despair, set fire to his fine mansion in the
Cotswold hills, and himself perished in the flames. The manor of
Stixwould had been previously sold by him to Lord Anson, the
distinguished Naval Commander, and Circumnavigator, Lord High Admiral of
England, &c., who presented to the benefice in 1753. On his death, in
1762, his son, Thomas Anson, Esq., of Shuckborough, Co. Stafford,
succeeded to the property, and presented to the benefice in 1767.
In 1763, Mary Lister, fourth daughter of Matthew Lister, Esq., of Burwell
Park, near Louth, married (19 May), Thomas Elmhirst, Esq., of Stixwould
(Parish Register of Burwell, quoted “Archit. Soc. Journal,” 1897, p. 92).
He was probably at that time tenant of the Abbey Farm House. Matthew
Lister, her father, had married Grace, widow of Sir Edward Boughton,
Bart., daughter, and co-heir of Sir John Shuckborough, Bart., of
Shuckborough, at which place also resided the above-named Thomas Anson,
son of Lord Anson.
The whole estate of Stixwould was afterwards purchased by Edmund Turnor,
Esq., of Stoke Rochford, who first presented to the benefice in 1778, his
nominee, as Vicar, being a member of a very old Lincolnshire family,
Bernard Cracroft, who also held the Vicarage of Bardney. A former Sir
Edmund Turnor was knighted by Charles II., in 1663, as a reward for
services rendered to that king’s martyred father. The property still
remains with this family. Among the gentry of Lincolnshire named at the
Heralds’ Visitation in 1634, is Edwd. Broxholme “of Stixwould,” who seems
to have had relatives at Lincoln, North Kelsey, Grimsby, Nettleham, and
elsewhere among the county gentry; one of them, John of Otbye,
contributing £25 to the national loan for defence against the Spanish
Armada. (“Linc. N. & Q.” ii., pp. 9 and 134). Whether this Edward
Broxholme was a landowner in Stixwould, or a tenant, does not appear. He
resided at the Priory.
We now give a brief notice of Stixwould Priory, dedicated to the blessed
Virgin Mary. This was founded by the Lady Lucia (_i.e._, the second of
that name), and her two sons, Ranulph, Earl of Chester, and William de
Romara, Earl of Lincoln (Leland “Collect.,” vol. i., p. 92), in the reign
of Stephen. The Rev. Thos. Cox, in his “Lincolnshire” (of date, 1719),
ascribes the foundation to Galfred de Ezmondeys. {194} Doubtless, at
different periods, additions and augmentations were made to the original
institution, entitling the benefactors to be numbered among the
“fundatores”; but the general testimony of Leland, Dugdale, and others,
is in favour of the Lady; whose uncle, Sheriff Thorold, was a benefactor
to Croyland Abbey, and founded Spalding Priory, his sister, the Lady
Godiva, also (as the Chronicler Henry of Huntingdon tells us), spending
much of her vast wealth in building monasteries and churches, while her
descendant, William de Romara II., founded Revesby Abbey. By an
Inquisition taken 3 Edwd. I. (1275), it was found that the lands held by
the Priory, given by these and other benefactors, had been so held for
100 years (Dugdale’s “Monasticon” i., p. 56, No. 486); and further, by an
Inquisition at Stamford, in the same reign, it was found that the Priory
had certain lands at Huntingdon, from divers benefactors (“Ibid.” ii., p.
223, No. 809), one of these being Alexander Creveceur, a member of a
distinguished Norman family, who owned lands in Somersby, circa A.D.,
1242, and in several other parishes in this neighbourhood; the name also
appearing in the Battle Roll. They are now represented by the de
Courcy’s whose chief, Lord Kinsale, is premier Baron of Ireland, and
entitled by royal warrant to the singular privilege of keeping his hat on
in the Sovereign’s presence. Besides the Huntingdon property, the Priory
possessed house property in Lincoln, 900 acres of land in Honington, 120
in Bassingthorpe, 120 in Bucknall, 42 in Wyberton, 249 in Stixwould, with
the advowson of the Church; smaller amounts in Westby, Waynfleet,
Horkstow, Wymondham, Low Toynton, Tupholme, the advowson of Waynfleet
benefice; 2 tofts in Horsington, to provide candles for the altar, and a
pension from Alford; while the Prioress also received as lesser
perquisites, obits, mortuaries, Easter offerings, “shot for wax,”
“Lincoln farthings,” “Assize of bread and beer,” and various “fines and
amerciaments.” (Oliver’s “Religious Houses,” pp. 65, 6.)
As to the particular ecclesiastical order to which this Priory belonged,
authorities differ. In Thomas Coxe’s “Lincolnshire” (already referred
to), it is called a Gilbertine Institution; Stukeley (in his “Itinerarium
Curiosum,” vol. i., p. 88), calls it Benedictine; while Dugdale, in his
“Monasticon,” vol. i., No. 486, places it among the Benedictines, and in
vol. ii., No. 809, gives it as Gilbertine; while Noble and others call it
Cistercian. The Cistercians, however, were only a stricter sect of the
Benedictines. The early training of Gilbert had been mainly Cistercian,
and we shall therefore probably be right in saying that Stixwould Priory
was at first a Gilbertine, and afterwards changed to a Benedictine
establishment of the strictest order. As to the strictness of the
regulations, we gather full evidence from the accounts given by Dr.
Oliver, in his “Religious Houses on the Witham,” from which we here make
a few quotations. We may premise that, although the sisterhood consisted
nominally of a Prioress and Nuns, there was a resident male “Master of
the Nuns” (Court Rolls, 6 Richard I.); and, at times, at least, according
to Leland (“Collect.,” i., p. 92), there were also “Brothers” (fratres),
as at the Sempringham House, which Gilbert founded. The time of the nuns
was chiefly spent in works of charity, reading legends of the Saints,
solitary meditation and prayer (a perfunctory repetition of devotions,
which must too often have been deadening, rather than invigorating, to
spiritual life), and needlework, such as the embroidery of altar cloths,
&c. {196a} They were not even allowed to converse with each other,
except on permission from the Prioress; they could only converse with
friends from outside through a grating “of the length of a finger, and
barely a thumb’s breadth,” and with a veil over it, in the presence of
two “discreet sisters”; and all letters were inspected by the Prioress.
The Convent was so shut in by walls, as “scarcely (it was said) to leave
an entrance for birds,” and, during divine service, the door of the
choir, where they sat, was closed, so that they could not see, or be seen
by, strangers. The diet was of the plainest, and if a nun was
disobedient, it was reduced to bread and water. They were not allowed to
go beyond the Priory walls except to visit the sick, or attend funerals;
and even in the Priory garden, usually a resort for monastic recreation,
but an indulgence only granted to these sisters on Sundays and festivals,
they were allowed to pluck only jessamine and violets, except by special
permission. These rules, however, were occasionally relaxed; they were
permitted to cultivate music and dancing, and even to attend the village
sports (Oliver, p. 67, note 8); and the Prioress, who by charter had free
warren over the Priory lands, is said to have indulged in hawking and
hunting (Placit. de quo Warranto, 22 Edwd. I.) {196b} This house was
dissolved with more than 600 other monastic establishments by Henry VIII.
in the 27th year of his reign (A.D. 1536); a year later he founded in its
place, and with the same revenues, “for the good of his soul, and that of
his Consort Jane,” a Premonstratensian house, which, however, only
continued two years, when it, in turn, was abolished. The last Prioress
under the old regime was Helena Key; the first and only Prioress, under
the new regime, being Mary Missenden (Dugdale “Monast.,” iii., No. 81.)
The estates, as already mentioned, were bestowed, on the final
dissolution of this house, upon Robert Dighton. According to Speed, the
historian, the value of the estates was £163 1_s._ 2½_d._, which was in
those days a considerable sum. The steward for some of the Lindsey
estates of the Priory was John Heneage, brother of Sir Thomas Heneage of
Hainton; for others of the estates in the same division, Sir Robert
Dymoke; for the estates in Kesteven, Sir Robert Hussey, a younger brother
of Lord Hussey, of Sleaford; these two brothers having between them no
less than 23 stewardships for religious houses, that post being one of no
small emolument.
Nothing now remains of the Priory itself, beyond some stone coffins lying
close to the north wall of the parish church, which were found to the
west of the Abbey Farm house. There remained, however, until 1846, when
they were removed to give space for the present farm buildings, a postern
gate, and the east end of the Priory chapel {197} with a window of the
date of Edwd. III.; under the arch of the gateway were the arms of the
Leake family of Lincolnshire carved on a truss of wood, “Argent a chief,
gules, over all a bend engrailed, azure.” A rough sketch of these
remains by Mr. Willson, architect, is in the possession the lord of the
manor and from it a sketch is given by the Rev. J. A. Penny, late Vicar,
in vol. iii., of “Linc. N. & Q.” p. 161. The moat round the Priory
enclosed an area of about 4 acres, and was connected with the Witham,
about three-quarters of a mile distant, doubtless for the conveyance of
goods to the monastery, as well as for the renewal of the moat water, and
that of the stew ponds, a matter of some importance where a supply of
fish was required for the “fasting” diet of “the religious.”
We now proceed to a description of the church, dedicated to St. Peter,
which possesses features of more than usual interest. This was rebuilt
in 1831, the architect being Mr. W. A. Nicholson, of Lincoln.
The former building was on the same site as the present, but larger.
Wilson (architect, of Lincoln), in a MS. collection of churches (vol.
ii., p. 87), has the following notes on the earlier fabric:—“Stixwould,
spacious; has been elegant, full of curious remnants; style, Edwd. VI. or
Henry VIII.; tower very handsome, but much decayed, the walls being built
of soft-grained stone (_i.e._, the usual ‘Spilsby’ sandstone). Interior
has been very beautiful, lofty pointed arches, roof of nave and south
aisle supported on rich carved figures of angels, with shields, etc.;
windows full of scattered remnants of beautiful stained glass; old oak
desks and benches with carved (finials); curious font; upper end of south
aisle inclosed by two screens of oak, mutilated, but exquisitely rich and
elegant; this is called ‘the little choir,’ and belongs to Halstead Hall
in Stixwould; choir screen very lofty, with front of rood-loft over it,
painted with Ten Commandments, in ‘black letter’; choir same date as
nave; east window spoilt; some ancient slabs, one of two children of the
Welby family (this is now lost) in the little choir; both aisles have had
altars; two bells; curious stone, with letters like a clock face, in
front of tower {198} (N.B.—This was removed some years ago, to Newport,
Lincoln, but has been seen at Stixwould by the present writer). Base and
part of pillar of churchyard cross remain; Mr. Turnor (lord of the
manor), took some painted glass from the church ‘to the Hall at Stoke
Rochford’.” So far, Mr. Willson. We may add that the panels of the
pulpit of Lea Church, 12 miles beyond Lincoln, were taken from Stixwould.
As to the present fabric, I have been favoured with the following
observations by the Rev. J. Alpass Penny, Vicar of Wispington, formerly
of Stixwould. The church consists of nave, chancel, and a good tower
containing two bells; one of these being exactly the same as that in the
Guildhall at Lincoln, with date 1370, dedicated to “St. Katrine,” with
Nottingham foundry mark, founder’s initials, and merchant’s mark. The
pinnacles and figures on the tower are from the former tower; the choir
screen, now only one third of the original, consists of three equal-sized
bays, the central one forming a doorway; and has been pronounced by Dr.
F. Mansel Sympson (“Architectural S. Journal,” 1890, p. 211) to be “of
excellent work;” it has however, been recently removed, by the late vicar
(in 1899), from the chancel arch to its eastern wall, and now forms a
rather elegant reredos. The chancel was enlarged, and the nave reseated,
in 1864. The stone slab in the nave floor, nearest to the Chancel arch,
of date 1722, is in memory of a Boulton, who, as well as his ancestors
for several generations, resided at the Abbey Farm house: he stabbed his
mother to death in the little chapel outside the Priory gate, no longer
existing. {199} The stone figure-heads and angels within the church
belonged to the former edifice, as did also the bench ends south of the
nave. The royal arms, with date 1662, formerly in the church, are now in
a wall of the entrance hall at the Abbey Farm house; and the holy water
stoup is now under the pump in the school yard. There is a fine slab,
with cross, lying outside the tower, which was dug up on the site of the
Priory, also a stone coffin; other fragments were found in the vicarage
garden. The font is octagonal, divided into panels by rich pinnacles
with lions and flowers, the panels bearing four quaintly-cut emblems of
the Evangelists, with names in black letter, but now very indistinct; the
figures between them being a monk, seated in chair, and holding Y in his
hand, representing January; next, a man with arms akimbo, facing east,
meaning February; next, a friar, for March; and next, a man in flat cap
with sword, holding a rose in his left hand, and his right resting on his
belt, for April. This curious font is engraved, in outline, by James
Sandly Padley, in his work “Selections from the Ancient Monastic,
Ecclesiastical, and Domestic Edifices of Lincolnshire.” Waterlow, 1851.
The register dates from 1543. In a parish book are some curious items
between 1624 and 1629, or the early years of the reign of Charles I.
These shew that the parish overseers “held the artillery in charges,”
also the “town musket and knapsack.” The military forces were at that
time a sort of militia, maintained by local rates, and every parish
contributed towards it, in money, arms, and accoutrements. Probably
these contributions were sometimes compounded for by a lump payment, as
we here find mention of a sum being paid “for excusing of the town” from
its liability. There is also mention of alms being given to certain
persons who had been taken prisoners “by the Dunkirkers” _i.e._, the
Dunkirk privateers. This, however, must belong to a rather later date,
since the English and Dutch were in conflict at Dunkirk in 1635, and
Dunkirk was taken by the French and English from the Spaniards, and
finally handed over to England, in the last year of Cromwell’s
administration, June, 1658.
Mention is also made of the payment of “dog-whippers,” officials who
drove dogs out of the church at the time of service. In some churches in
Wales the whips are still to be seen. Another item is the payment of
“dyke-reeve,” a very useful official in parishes in, or bordering on, the
fens, where inundations were only to be avoided by keeping the “dykes and
meres” in proper order.
We are enabled to give here a list of the vicars of Stixwould from A.D.
1425 to the present time, except for an interval of about 70 years,
through the researches of Mr. Gibbon, author of “Early Lincolnshire
Wills.” Thomas Lane, 1425–1440; Giles Storror, 1440–1472; John
Shadworth, 1472–1482; Thomas Tymson, 1482–1485; Alexander Anyson,
1485–1502; John Aby, 1502–1520; John Robynson, 1520–1530; John Oregower,
1530. Down to this date, all appointments had been made by the Lady
Prioress; and there is a gap in Mr. Gibbon’s list till 1603. We are,
however, able partly, if not entirely, to fill up the gap, since we find
that in 1548, Thomas Wilson, clerk, S.T.B., was presented by Edmund
Dighton, of Donington (kinsman, doubtless, of Robert Dighton, to whom the
Priory estates were granted by Henry VIII. on the Dissolution), “this
turn of advowson being given by the late Prioress and convent of B.V.”
(Institutions to Benefices, “Architectural Journal,” 1898, p. 476, No.
328). Also, in a List of Institutions in the 16th century, without date,
but among several others in the middle of that century (“Linc. N. & Q.”
vol. vi., No. 45, p. 10), we find John Cressie, clerk, appointed by
Thomas Disney, of Carlton-in-Moreland, gentleman, by grant of the
Prioress to him and others, vacant by resignation of John Boysworth, and
these three nominations may well have embraced the 70 years. The next
vicar was probably Richard Travisse, who is mentioned in Mr. Gibbon’s
list as signing, in 1603, a bequest (and therefore, we may assume, near
the close of his vicariate) of “xl_s._”, the interest to be used “for the
benefit of the poor, and church, of Stixwould.” He was succeeded by
Thomas Burton, buried October 21st, 1617. Then followed Francis Bowman,
vicar in 1618; Richard Skiggs, 1648; John Skelton, 1665: a note here
states that from 1677 to 1704, being in the time of Mr. Fox, vicar, the
registers were all on loose papers, and were lost by W. Reading, vicar.
(This Thomas Fox was appointed by Sir John Coventry, K.B., in 1685). He
was succeeded by William Reading, just named; who was followed by Anthony
Baker, appointed by Lord Anson, 1753; George Blennerhaysett (also vicar
of Saxilby) was appointed by Thomas Anson in 1767; Bernard Cracroft (also
vicar of Bardney) was the first nominee of Edmund Turnor, of Panton, in
1778; William Mounsey, 1802; Washbourn Uvedale, 1832, who died within the
year; William Gurdon Moore, 1833; John Francis Wray, 1839; John Woodlands
Watkin, 1852; William Lush, 1870; William Bennett, 1881; J. A. Penny,
1888; A. R. Wilson, 1896; James Bryan Turner, 1901.
We now proceed to treat of the Halstead Hall estate, in this parish,
formerly a distinct lordship. The earliest mention we can find of this
as a separate manor, is in the 13th century, a deed of that period naming
Roger, son of Roger de Stixwould, and Sir Theobald de Stykeswald, knight:
this Theobald also witnessed a deed as “Dominus Theobaldus de Halstead,”
May 22nd, 1281. (“Linc. N. & Q.” 1897, p. 82). Their grandfather would
appear to have been the Roger de Stixwould who, with Gerard de Camvill,
was sheriff of Lincoln A.D. 1190, and again 1192–1193. In the survey of
the county, made between 1114 and 1118, Ralph de Stixwould is named as
holding 1 carucate and 4 oxgangs (180 acres) in Edlington, under Ranulph
de Meschin, Earl of Lincoln, son of the second Lady Lucia, already
referred to. We may therefore infer that these four generations, at that
early period, resided at Halstead, being designated indifferently “de
Stikeswald” or “de Halstead.” We have then to pass over an interval of
more than 180 years, when, in 1465, a Richard Welby, of Moulton, names
Halstead in his will as part of his property. He was sheriff in 1471,
and M.P., 1472. We find a Chancery Inquisition (18 Henry VII., No. 96)
held at Spalding, 24 April, 1503, whereby it was shown that Thomas Welby,
who was sheriff in 1492, died October 16, 1497, seised of the manors of
Moulton, Freeston, Sutton, Farlesthorpe, and Halstead, besides lands in
several other parishes. (“Architectural S. Journal,” 1895, p. 18).
His will was dated Dec. 9, 1493; the executors being Sir Edward Borough,
knt., Sir G. Tailbois, knt. (a name, as we have seen, already connected
with this parish), and others.
He was succeeded in these possessions by his son and heir, another Thomas
Welby. In 1586, Vincent Welby, “of Hawstead” Esq., is mentioned, along
with Thomas Dighton, of Waddingworth (another name already mentioned in
connection with Stixwould), Sir E. Dymmock, Sir G. Heneage, etc., as
contributing “horses and lances” for the defence of the country against
the Spanish Armada. (“Architect. S. Journal,” 1894, p. 213). This
Vincent Welby was son of the above, second, Thomas Welby, {202} by
Dorothy, daughter of Vincent Grantham, of Goltho, near Wragby, and of St.
Martin’s Lincoln; a name still surviving in good position in the county.
Vincent Welby also subscribed, in 1589, £25 towards the loan for the
defence of the country, along with his neighbours, Robert Phillips, of
Wispington, Robt. Smithe, of Horsington, Willm. Heneage, of Benington,
and others. (“Linc. N. & Q.” vol. ii., p. 133).
In 1561, March 21st, Richard Welby, of Halstead, was granted the crest of
“an arm armed, the hand charnell (_i.e._, flesh-coloured or ‘proper’)
yssving out of a cloud, azure, in a flame of fire,” the arms are “sable a
fess, between three fleur de lys, argent,” with six quarterings. This
coat of arms is said to have been formerly over a mantelpiece in Halstead
Hall, but was removed, several years ago, to Denton Hall. In the year
1561, this Richard Welby, of Halstead, was Sheriff of Lincoln. There are
many entries of the Welbys in the parish registers of Stixwould; the last
of these occurs in 1598.
The next who owned, and resided at Halstead, was Richard Evington, who
was buried at Stixwould. By his will, dated 22nd January, 1612, he left
his lands in Edlington and other places to his two sons, Maurice and
Nicholas, and bequeathed the sum of £4 10_s_. “yearlie, at the discretion
of my executors, to the poore of Stixwolde, on the 25th March, and 29th
Sept.” This family did not, apparently, long remain at Halstead, since
we find entries in the Register of the death of this Richard, 10 March,
1610; and the baptism of Maurice, son of Nicholas Evington, 2 Nov., 1611;
and we hear no more of them, another family succeeding, of whom there are
the following mentions in the register:—“Mr. George Townshend Esqr. died
att Halstead and was buried att Waddingworth on Wednsdaie _night_ the
13th of Februarie 1627,” and “Mr. Kirkland Snawden [note the local
pronunciation for Snowden] and Mrs. Townsend married the 25th of December
being Christmas daie 1628.” {203} No reason is assigned for the somewhat
unusual burial by night (though still occasionally practised), but he was
probably a Papist, not entitled to burial in a Protestant churchyard.
Notice is specially drawn to the second entry, by a hand with finger
extended towards it, sketched in the margin, implying probably some
covert allusion. This Kirkland Snowden was a grandson of the Bishop of
Carlisle, his father, the Bishop’s son, being Vicar of Horncastle, the
rectorship being vested in the Bishop of Carlisle, who had a residence in
Horncastle at that time, at the back of the premises now occupied by
Messrs. Lunn and Dodson. Mr. George Townshend belonged to the Norfolk
family of that name, and left his Manor of Cranworth in that county to
his eldest son Thomas. This Kirkland Snowden is elsewhere named Rutland
Snowden. Their eldest son, Robert, had a daughter Jane, who married
Charles Dymoke of Scrivelsby, and their eldest daughter Abigail, married
Edward Dymoke, younger son of Sir Edward Dymoke, 18 July, 1654, and was
ancestress of the Tetford branch of the Dymokes, now also (1904) of
Scrivelsby.
After this the Gibbon family lived at Halstead, coming from Tealby, and
are supposed to have owned it, the baptism of “John Gibon” being
registered in 1666. Another owner of Halstead was Sir John Coventry,
Bart., who as before stated, presented to the benefice of Stixwould in
1685. His sister married the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who is said to
have been entertained more than once with a large retinue at Halstead.
Sir John was the subject of various attacks, for using offensive language
concerning his eccentric Sovereign, Charles II, asking in Parliament
“whether the King’s pleasure lay in the men, or women players” at the
theatres; in consequence of which “The Coventry Act” was passed in 1671,
making it felony to maim or disfigure a person, and declaring the
Sovereign incompetent to pardon such offenders. Halstead, subsequently,
became the property of Sir William Kyte, or Keate; then of Lord Anson,
and his son Thomas Anson, who presented to the benefice in 1767, and it
was in 1778, bought by Edmund Turnor, Esq., of Stoke Rochford. Having
been the residence of these various owners of wealth and position, we can
hardly doubt that Halstead Hall was formerly much larger then it is at
present, and there still remains, as a part of the farm buildings, a
lofty structure with stone-framed windows; the walls being of brick,
smaller than those of modern times, and relieved by diamond-shaped
patterns of black bricks, indicating a care and taste in the style of
erection, which would hardly have been bestowed upon a mere barn. It
probably dates from the 15th century. {204} The present Hall, probably
erected in the 16th century, is a two-storeyed 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 spacious attics above, for
stores; the walls are very substantial, being 2½ft. thick; while the
windows, with their massive mullions of Ancaster stone, would indicate a
much larger building; and foundations of further buildings have, from
time to time, been discovered.
In recent times Halstead Hall has been chiefly remarkable for the great
robbery, which occurred there on February 2nd, 1829, the details of which
are so peculiar that we give them here. The Hall was at that time
occupied by the farming tenant, Mr. Wm. Elsey, his wife, and servants.
At 8 o’clock in the evening, when the servant men went out to “supper-up”
the horses, they were attacked by seven or eight men, thrown down, their
legs tied, and their hands secured behind their backs, and each was left
in a separate stall of the stable. The stable door was then locked, and
one of the gang was stationed outside to keep watch. The thieves then
went to the Hall, and knocked at the back door. One of the servant girls
asked who was there; when the answer was given, “Open the door, Betsy.”
She did so; when four or five men rushed into the kitchen. One of the
maids escaped, and ran to the room where her master and mistress were
sitting. Mr. Elsey was smoking his pipe; Mrs. Elsey preparing something
for supper. She saved the silver spoon, which she was using, by slipping
it into her bosom. Mr. Elsey seized the poker to defend himself; but, on
seeing their number, he prudently laid it down. They then rifled his
pockets, took his watch and money; also making Mrs. Elsey empty her
pockets. They then obliged the two to go into a large closet, locked the
door, and tied a hayfork across it. They then collected what plate they
could find, to the value of about £30, and £50 in cash; taking also all
the silk handkerchiefs they could find. They then ransacked the
property, and made a hearty meal. Mrs. Elsey, in her confinement close
by, complained to them that she was very cold, and begged them to let her
out to get to the fire. Accordingly, one of them brought her out to the
fire; but seeing that she was noticing them, he ordered her to go into
the closet again, giving her some of the overcoats, which were hanging in
the passage near. When they had got all they wanted, they compelled Mr.
Elsey to go upstairs, one walking before him, and another behind, each
holding a pistol. They then obliged Mrs. Elsey to follow him. Having
locked up the two once more in the closet, the marauders went off with
their plunder, wishing them good night, and saying that, if any alarm was
given, they would return to retaliate. About two hours afterwards, Mr.
Elsey, with the aid of a knife and small hammer, succeeded in making a
hole through the brick wall of the closet, through which one of the maids
was able to thrust her arm and set them at liberty. The only article
recovered was a plated coffee-pot found in Halstead wood, which the
thieves had thrown away. The footpath, outside this wood, passes near a
farmhouse, and the farmer named Sleight, heard the voices of the thieves
as they went by in the night; and some of them were found drunk by the
roadside next morning. An old woman still alive (1904), and aged 93, has
told the writer that she remembers this robbery well; that two of the
robbers were hanged together at Lincoln, with a sheep-stealer “Bill
Clarke,” the last time that offence was punished by hanging; these two
were known as “Lister,” (others say “Tippler,”) and “Tiger Tom”; {206a}
the latter was a desperate character, and it was thought that no one
would take him; but two men, powerfully built and fearless, David English
of Hameringham, and a keeper named Bullivant, were set to the task, and
they succeeded in running their men down at “The Bungalow,” a small
public house on the bank of the Witham at Boston. {206b} Of the last
hanged it is said, that he was such a bad character, that his own mother
foretold that he would “die in his shoes,” and that, on the scaffold, he
shook off his shoes, in order to falsify her prediction. One of them,
who was transported for life, leagued with two other criminals on board
the same vessel, and the three were caught in the act of attempting to
scuttle the ship, and were afterwards thrown overboard. As a tinge of
romance not uncommonly has attended daring exploits of this character, it
was remarked at the time that Italian banditti could hardly have planned
the robbery more cleverly, or carried it out with more deliberate
courage. Some mystery seemed to hang about the apparent leader of the
party, whose demeanour was said to be above that of his temporary
position; and one of them, Timothy Brammar, was exalted into a hero, by
being celebrated in a ballad.
There are some rather singular field-names in this parish; as
“Bull-pingle,” to the east, one field from the road to Horsington;
“pingle” being a Lincolnshire word for a small inclosure (Brogden’s
“Provincial Words.”) “The Devil’s Parlour” is a triangular field,
abutting on “The Monk’s Drain,” adjoining the Bull-pingle. “The Coulter
Cast” adjoins Poolham Ings; it is a narrow strip, probably difficult to
plough; hence the names adjoining this, are the “High” and “Low”
“Priest’s Fields.” All these fields are in the Halstead manor. In
Stixwould proper, is “The Field,” _par excellence_, probably one of the
earliest clearings, and so named to distinguish it from the “Wood,” or
“Would,” the “Field,” was where the trees had been “felled;” then there
are the “Warren Field,” “The Sykes,” “Hemp-yard,” the “Town Close,”
probably where the villeins had right of common pastures. “Coney-Green,”
like the “Warren Field,” has a reference to the rabbits, being the term
used in Norman law, for warren, although in some cases, like the
“Coney-Garth,” at Bardney, or “Coney-Green,” at Edlington, it means,
probably, the “King’s Enclosure.” Such names as “Steer Piece,” “Ewes
Walk,” “Sheep-cote Lane” (_i.e._, Sheep Bank Lane,) and “Cow Legs,” speak
for themselves. There is also the “Mill Field,” although there is no
tradition of a mill having existed; possibly there may have been a mill
in connection with the drainage. At the junction of the three roads,
east of the village, the Roman “Trivium,” formerly stood, what to the
rustic offender was no “trivial” matter, the village stocks, doubtless
with the usually concomitant “whipping post.” These stood on what was
called “The Town Mound,” which was levelled about the middle of the last
century, and is now only represented by a triangular plot of sward.
Near the Witham, in a field south of the road to the ferry, the Rev. J.
A. Penny, late vicar, found fragments of mediæval pottery, pieces of
“puzzle jugs,” the neck of a “pilgrim’s bottle,” &c., all of which the
late Sir Augustus Franks, of the British Museum, pronounced to be
Cistercian ware, being only found where Cistercian houses have existed.
In the church of St. Andrew, Woodhall Spa, is a sepulchral stone, having
a rather rudely-carved effigy of a lady, in the attitude of prayer,
holding a book between her hands. This now supports the credence table,
but it was taken from Stixwould priory, and is commonly supposed to have
represented the Lady Prioress, or the Lady Lucia, the foundress; the
latter, however, was buried at Spalding, and would therefore hardly have
an effigy at Stixwould.