Stourton, called Stourton Magna, or Great Stourton, to distinguish it
from Stourton Parva, the hamlet included in Baumber, is rather more than
a mile, northward, beyond Baumber, and five miles from Horncastle. This
was formerly the property, a sheep-walk, of the Premonstratensian Abbey
of St. Mary, of Tupholme, founded by Robert de Nova Villa or Nevill, in
the twentieth year of Henry III. (“Liber Regis,” Bacon’s ed. 1786, p.
424). Dugdale states that he held the lands of the king _in capite_,
from the time of the Conquest, with which he endowed that monastery.
(“Monasticon,” vol. ii., 596.) Land in this parish was also granted by
the Conqueror, to Eudo, son of Spirewick, the founder of the Tattershall
family. He held five carucates, or about six hundred acres, beside a
mill, and 190 acres of meadow. The powerful Bishop of Durham, William de
Karilepho, who was Lord Chief Justice under the Conqueror, had also a
grant of land in this parish, as also had Odo, Bishop of Baieaux, and his
vassal, Ilbert, occupied one carucate, or 120 acres, with villeins,
bordars, and socmen under him, occupying 480 more acres. The Saxon thane
Grinchel also had here 360 acres, valued in King Edward’s time at 40_s._
In the reign of Henry VIII. the family of Dighton, though of mercantile
origin at Lincoln, ancestors having been mayors and sheriffs of that
city, were landed proprietors in this neighbourhood, one of them, Thomas,
residing at Waddingworth; but the head of the family was Robert Dighton,
of Stourton Magna, he married Joyce, daughter and heiress of William St.
Paul, of Snarford, which family became extinct on the death of Sir George
St. Paul, Bart., in 1613. Robert of Stourton, along with members of the
Heneage, Dymoke, Monson, Hussey, and very many other leading county
families, took part in the Lincolnshire rising, to protest against the
dissolution of the monasteries. A daughter of Thomas Dighton, of
Stourton, married Edward Clinton, of Baumber, who subsequently became
Earl of Lincoln. {209} The residence of the Dightons, traces of which
still remain in the moats and mounds, was situated on land now belonging
to W. H. Trafford, Esq., in what is now a grass field, about a mile to
the west of the present Stourton Hall park and plantations, lying between
the road, on the north, from Stourton Magna to Minting and Bardney, and,
on the south, the main Baumber, or Horncastle and Lincoln, old Roman
highway. It must have been a building of some considerable size; the
moat, which enclosed nearly a square, the sides, just under 100 yards
long, is distinctly traceable, the whole of the surface of the inclosure
is covered with mounds or depressions; there is an apparent opening in
the middle of the south-western side, and outside, to the south, are
traces of a large stew-pond, E-shaped, in length thirty-six yards, by
thirty broad, with a small pond, or reservoir behind it. A modern drain
has been made on this south-west side, probably to draw the water off the
moat, as these moats and ponds were periodically cleaned out. A
footpath, forming a short cut between the above-named two roads, passes
east of these remains, so that they can be easily approached and
inspected. This path branches off from the Horncastle and Lincoln high
road, at a gate nearly opposite some cottages named the “Hungrum Houses”.
Sturton is believed to have been a Roman station. It is close to the old
road from Horncastle to Caistor, both Roman towns.
The church, dedicated to All Saints, although a heterogeneous mixture of
a variety of styles, and for many years in a dilapidated condition, has
some very interesting features. The vicar, the Rev. F. M. Blakiston,
following up the efforts of his predecessor, the Rev. E. B. Bland, is now
(1904) raising money to restore the fabric, and with Mr. J. T.
Micklethwaite, as architect, the result will doubtless be a creditable
structure. The cost of complete renovation is estimated at close upon
£2,000, so that the work may probably have to extend over some years.
Although the aspect of the church has been one of ruin and desolation,
there are traces of the work of seven centuries. Domesday Book mentions
a church as existing in Saxon times, but of that, nothing remains. The
oldest parts of the present fabric belong to the 12th century. At that
time the nave was two-thirds of its present length, and the chancel was
narrower. In the 13th century a north aisle, with two arches, and
probably a tower, with a third and larger north arch, were added. In the
14th century a new chancel was built, wider and probably longer. Then
followed a period of neglect and varied vicissitudes. In the 17th
century the chancel was shortened, and the present east wall cuts away
part of an eastern sepulchre, in the north chancel wall. The north aisle
was taken down probably about this period. The upper part of the tower
was removed, probably early in the 19th century, as the bells, three in
number, are said to have been sold in 1810. The stones of the tower and
aisle were used for building two sides of the churchyard wall. Nothing
now remains of the tower, except the string course at the top of the
truncated basement, {210} which now forms part of the nave. There are
still stones of a Norman arch in the south wall at the back of the modern
porch. An original window, small and much dilapidated, remains in the
north wall of the chancel, a larger one having been bricked up. There is
a priest’s door in the south wall. The westernmost window in the south
wall of the nave is a relic of the 14th century, the renovation, being of
floriated style, with two lights. In the floor of what was the tower are
portions of stone, from the windows of the former aisle, much broken.
The rest is modern, as is also the roof of the nave. What is now used as
a font is really an old mortar, the old font in Perpendicular style
having been, it is said, sold about 40 years ago, and removed to the
garden of a farmhouse in the adjoining parish of Edlington, where it
still remains. The furniture of the church is of the 18th century, or
later, but there is a good old oak chest. On the western portion of the
north wall is a curious fresco, not probably of very ancient date,
consisting of a skeleton, and a winged figure rising from a sepulchral
monument, which bears an inscription, mostly illegible, “Redeem the time,
&c.” The chancel arch, now almost ruinous, is part of the original
building; south of it, is a tablet, in memory of “William Settle, Clerk,
who departed this life, July 4, 1848, born at Urswick, in the County of
Lancaster, graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge, aged 82, and 52 years
vicar of this parish.” The Settles have a burial vault in the
churchyard. The register dates from 1679. The name of William Vaux
appears as vicar, from 1690 to 1719. One entry is as follows:—“Margaret
Vaux the 21st child of William Vaux and Elizabeth his wife was baptized
ye 23 of October 1718,” and shortly after, follows, in a different hand,
“Mr. William Vaux, vicar, buryed May ye 30, 1719.” The family would seem
to have continued to reside in the parish, for we find recorded the
burial of Mary Vaux, February 19, 1720; that of Margaret Vaux, September
3rd, 1721; and that of Elizabeth Vaux, “January ye 10, 1755.” Of the
rest of the numerous progeny of this fruitful couple no traces remain.
A small hamlet in this parish is named Lowthorpe, probably from its
position; while a farm, belonging to Mr. Robert Harrison, of Horncastle,
who is Lay-Rector, is named “Sturton Stoup” farm. This name, however,
has no connection with the “Stoup,” or holy-water vessel of the church;
but “Stoup” is a Lincolnshire word, meaning a post, or stake. The
farmhouse was, within recent years, a wayside inn, called “The Stoup”;
and the “stoup” was a post, or stake, planted in the middle of an
adjoining green lane to prevent its being used as a thoroughfare. The
parish was inclosed in 1778.
The benefice of Stourton was formerly in the patronage of the Crown, and
there was a Vicarage house, standing in its own grounds, in what is now
an open field, south of the churchyard. This was demolished many years
ago. The Vicarage was united to that of Baumber, in the patronage of the
Duke of Newcastle, about the year 1870, the consolidated benefices being
now in the gift of the Lord Chancellor. They had, however, been held
together by at least three previous incumbents. The communion plate is
old, although only the chalice bears a date, 1648.