THE TOWN.
At so early a period as the time of forming the Domesday survey, this town appears to have arisen into some consideration as a place of trade, being possessed of a market, which however is in that record denominated a new one. [74]
For a many years it was considered one of the principal market towns of the county of Lincoln; but its trade, for some time previous to the destruction of the castle, had been gradually withdrawing to other places more conveniently situated; and afterwards the town fell rapidly into decay, and its market became wholly unfrequented.
Although it may be at present identified as a mere village; yet its widely detached houses, partially paved streets, and grass grown market place, connected with the mounds of the castle which once adorned the spot, evince sufficiently that there has been a time when destitution was not the characteristic of the town of Bolingbroke.
An unsuccessful attempt has lately been made to revive the market, on a portion of land allotted to this parish on the enclosure of the fens, in lieu of right of common thereon. An annual fair on the tenth of July, is held both at this town and on the fen allotment.
There is a free school at this place, founded and endowed in 1588, by a Mr. Chamberlain.
In 1811 this parish contained 75 houses, and 361 inhabitants.
Bolingbroke gives the title of viscount to the family of St. John, of Lydiard Tregoze, in Wiltshire.
REVESBY.
Revesby is situated at the distance of six miles south from Horncastle, on the road from that place to Boston, and is included in the soke of Bolingbroke.
What now constitutes the parish of Revesby, appears formerly to have been three distinct manors, Revesby, Thoresby, and Seithesby; the greater part of which was the property of William de Romara, Earl of Lincoln. In the year 1142 he founded a Cistertian monastery at this place, and previous to endowing it with the whole of his possessions here, he negotiated exchanges with the other proprietors, by which he was enabled to give the entirety of the three manors to his new monastery. [76]
To add to the solemnity of the ceremony of foundation, the Earl on this occasion manumitted several slaves, who had petitioned for their liberty. One of them, called Wilhelmus Medicus, was doubtless a physician; another, Rogerus Barkarius, probably a shepherd: the surnames of persons at that time being derived from their profession. A person named Roger Barker resided until lately at a place called Stickney Wydale. This place belongs to the parish of Revesby, though about four miles distant, and is supposed to have been given to the monks on condition of their keeping Nordyke Causeway, formerly a dangerous pass, in repair.
Beside the endowment of William de Romara, the monastery was enriched by numerous other benefactions. At the dissolution of religious houses, its possessions with all its rights were granted to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; and on the death of his two infant sons, who survived him only a short time, their extensive possessions were divided among the heirs general. On this division, Revesby fell to the lot of the Carsey family, who resided here several years, and afterwards sold it to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, from whom it descended to the first and second Earls of Exeter; the latter of whom settled it on his grandson Henry Howard, the third son of the Earl of Berkshire. About a century ago it was sold by the descendants of Henry Howard, to Joseph Banks, Esquire, the great grandfather of the Right Honorable Sir Joseph Banks, Baronet, who is the present possessor.
The seat of the proprietor was built by Craven Howard, nephew and heir of Henry Howard; but has been much enlarged by the family of Banks. Part of an ancient mansion, formerly the residence of the abbots, now forms the offices. The monastery, which stood at a considerable distance, has long been entirely demolished.
The church, which is a small neat structure, was re-built by the before mentioned Joseph Banks, Esquire. It is a donative of exempt jurisdiction.
At the east end of the chancel is a tablet containing this inscription:
“Dedicated to the Memmorie of NEHEMIAH RAWSON, Esq. A Member of this Common Wealth, and a Justice of Peace. Hee Married Frances the Daughter of Thomas Knightley of Brough Hall in the County of Stafford, Esq. By Whome hee had Issue Six Daughters, Elizabeth Married to Richard Parkes of Lutton, Gent. Hanna to Theophilus Hartt of Birkwood Esq. Abigal to Daniell Hartt of London Grocer, Sarah, Rebecca and Mary, Dyed Younge, he Departed this Life in January 1657. Aged 80 Yeares.”
At the same end is another tablet, with the following inscription, and a shield containing a bend, in the sinister chief three crosses fitchy:
“To the perpetual Memorie of HENRY HOWARD third Son of Thomas Howard Earle of Barkshire by Elizabeth Daughter and heiresse to William Cecill Earle of Exeter his Wife who Departed this Life in the XLIIII Yeare of his age in December MDCLXIII.
“This Monument was Dedicated and Erected by his Nephew whom hee made his heir and successor to this Mannor of Revesby and his Lands in Lincolnshire, Craven Howard Son of William Howard who was 4th Son of the Earle and Countesse of Barkshire (before mentioned) in the yeare 1691.”
On the north side of the chancel is a large marble monument, surmounted by the bust of the individual whose memory it perpetuates, and ornamented with a shield containing the arms of Banks, Sable, a cross or, between four flowers de luce argent. This monument contains the following inscription:
“H. S. E.
“JOSEPHUS BANKS Armiger ex antiqua familia apud Bank-Newton, in agro Eborac. Oriundus. Juris prudentiæ studio operam dedit illamq. feliciter exercuit.
“In honorem Dei Ecclesiam hanc vetustate collabentem, a solo restituit Vicinium Ptochotrophium in X Senum aut Mancorum subsidium a fundamentis extruxit.
“Bis ad suprema Regni Comitia Senator Grimsbeiæ in Lincolnia, et Totenesiæ in Devonia. Electus, Regi suo et Patriæ utriamque vicem fideliter inservivit.
“Maritus et Pater benignus Amicus sine fuco Pacti et Promissi sui observantissimus Annos LXII. vixit XXVII. Septemb. A.D. MDCCXXVII. obiit.
“Liberos vidit adultos Josephum et Mariam Quorum hanc Dno. Francisco Whichcote Barnto. nuptam, Patre superstite præpropera mors abripuit; Optimo Parenti superstes Ille.
“M. H. P. C.”
Near to the church are ten alms-houses, on the centre of the front of which is the following inscription:
“Joseph Banks Esq. Lord of Revesby by his Will Directed the Building of these Almshouses for Ten poor People & Endowed the Same with Fifty pounds a year. He Departed this Life the 27th of Sept. 1727 Leaving Joseph Banks Esq. his only Son Heir who in Pursuance of his Father’s Will erected this Anno 1728.”
In this parish are two tumuli, each about one hundred feet diameter, and about one hundred feet apart, which have been formerly surrounded by a fosse. Dr. Stukeley supposes them to have been either the places of sepulture of two British Kings, or places of religious worship. [79]
A fair is held at Revesby on the second Monday after old Michaelmas day annually.
In 1811, the parish contained 99 houses, and 498 inhabitants.
KIRKSTEAD.
Kirkstead, anciently called Cristed, is situated on the east bank of the Witham, in the hundred of Gartree, and is about three miles distant from Tattershall, and eight from Horncastle. Formerly it was a hamlet of Kirkby super Bane, but for many years it has been considered as a separate parish.
The manor, with that of Tattershall, was among the several estates given by the conqueror to Eudo, one of his Norman followers. His son Hugh fitz Eudo, called the Breton, founded a Cistertian Abbey here in 1139, and endowed it with his possessions in this place. Afterwards the monks, considering the situation unhealthy, petitioned Robert, the son of the founder, to allow them to remove the abbey to some other place; but though they obtained permission, yet it does not appear that the affair was proceeded in any further. The abbey had subsequently many benefactors, and acquired very extensive possessions.
At the dissolution of religious houses, the Kirkstead estate was given by Henry the eighth, to Charles Duke of Suffolk; and on the division of his estates after the death of his two sons, who survived him but a short time, it reverted to the king as one of the heirs general of the family, and was subsequently given to Lord Clinton and Saye, afterwards Earl of Lincoln. This estate descended to Mr. Daniel Disney, in right of his wife Catherine, the youngest daughter of Henry Fynes Clinton, Esquire, and grand-daughter of the second Earl of Lincoln. In the year 1792 it was sold by Mr. Disney Fytch, grandson of Mr. Daniel Disney, to the present possessor, Richard Ellison, Esquire, of Sudbroke Holme, near Lincoln.
Of the Abbey a small ruin only remains: but from a plate of “The Ichnography of the Monastery of Kirsted Linc.” in Stukeley’s Itinerarium Curiosum, the buildings appear to have been extensive.
South of the ruin of the Abbey is the Chapel, a very curious building, which according to tradition was built previous to the monastery. It is of early English architecture, having lancet windows at the sides and east end, and an ox-eye window over the entrance at the west end. The roof is beautifully groined, the ribs springing from corbel tables; and against the south wall on the inside, is a rude figure in stone of a knight templar, with the front part of his helmet in the shape of a cross. For many years the roof of this building was covered with thatch, but in 1790 it was removed and a covering of tiles substituted. At that time also the bell, which had previously hung in a tree, was placed over the west end of the building.
This chapel is a donative of exempt jurisdiction, but appears to have had no stipend for the officiating minister until it came into the possession of Mr. Daniel Disney, who being a presbyterian, appointed a minister of that persuasion to perform service there, with a salary of £30. per annum. [81] In order that the tenets which he professed might not want support in his parish, in 1720 he settled certain lands upon five trustees, the profits of which were to be applied to the maintenance of a presbyterian minister at this place. This gift he afterwards confirmed by his will in 1732, and in addition, bequeathed to the trustees the use of the chapel and chapel ground for the same purpose. On the death or alienation of the minister, the trustees were to present the names of two to the lord of the manor, who was to appoint one of them, and on his neglect or refusal, the trustees themselves were to make the appointment. Ministers continued to be nominated by the prescribed form until the death of Mr. Dunkley, who had for many years received the bequeathed stipend, and whose demise took place in 1794. On that occasion the present owner of the manor took possession of the estates which had been conveyed to the trustees, and appointed to the chapel a minister of the Church of England, paying him £30. per annum. The trustees, however, recovered possession of the estates, by an action of ejectment, tried at Lincoln summer assizes, 1812, but not of the Chapel. Owing to some difficulties in the arrangement of the affairs, the presbyterian form of worship is not yet re-established here.
This village gave birth to the celebrated monk Hugh de Kirkstead, who is styled by Fuller “a Benedictine Cistertian Bernardine Monk, or, as it may be termed a treble refined Christian.” He, and Serlo, one of his own order, joined in composing a chronicle of the Cistertians from their first arrival in England in 1131, to their own time, about 1210.
In the fourteenth volume of the “Archeologia of the Society of Antiquaries” is an engraving of an ancient iron candlestick of a very singular construction, six of which were found in cleaning the bed of the river Witham near this place.
This village contained, according to the returns of 1811, 26 houses and 110 inhabitants.