Raithby.
Raithby is situated about 2 miles from Spilsby and about 9 miles from Horncastle, on the main road between the two towns, via Hagworthingham. It is within the ancient soke of Bolingbroke, and an appanage of the Duchy of Lancaster. There is a post and money order office, and letters, via Spilsby, arrive at 7.5 a.m., and depart at 5.40 p.m. The nearest telegraph office is at Spilsby. Not much of the early history of this parish is to be found. As is stated in the notes on Mavis Enderby, these two parishes were closely connected, land in both being held by the Saxon, Elnod (Domesday Book), also, in early Norman times, by William de Karilepho, the powerful Bishop of Durham, and by the Conqueror’s favourite, Ivo Taillebois, who, from the vast possessions which he acquired through his wife, the Lady Lucia, seems to have verily suffered from the disease of “land hunger.” Rather later, Eudo, son of Spirewic, the founder of the Tattershall family, held lands in Raithby, as well as at Mavis Enderby. In the reign of Edwd. I. (1402), the manor and advowsons of Raithby and Mavis Enderby were held by Robert de Willoughby, ancestor of the present Lord Willoughby. The descendants of Ivo Taillebois seem to have retained at least some of their property in Raithby for a longer period than they did in some other parishes, as we find that “Thomas Tailbus” of Raithby, by will, dated 7 March, 1556, requested that he might be buried “in our Lady’s Choir.” He states that he made his will while “mighty of mind, whole of witt and understanding.” He makes his wife, Johan, executrix, and desires her to give to their son Roger, and Agnes Harper (presumably a married daughter), “as much as may be conveniently spared.” (“Lincolnshire Wills,” by Canon Maddison).
The pedigree of the Taylbois’ of Raithby is given in the Visitation of 1562.
Again, by will, dated 5 March, 1579, John Taylboys, of Raithby, gent., desires that he may be buried in the church. He leaves everything to his wife, except 10s. to his mother, and William Thompson and “Wil Cockson,” executors are to pay £12, “bequeathed by my father to sexe children.”
The Littleburies had also land in Raithby; since by will, dated 1 Sep., 1568, Humphrey Littlebury, of East Kirkby, left land at Raithby, and other places, to his son, John Littlebury, and John Littlebury of Hagworthingham, by will, dated 28 Sep., 1612, left his lands at Raithby to his son John. As I mention in the notes on Salmonby, the Littlebury family were originally located in the Holbeach neighbourhood; Robert and his ancestors held land there, and at Whaplode, of the abbots of Croyland long before the reign of Edw. III. But he began to get in arrear with his rent, as shewn by the following list of omissions recorded against him:—
| £ | s. | d. | |
| For his own and his men’s table with the abbot of Croyland | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Farms of tithes in Whaplode | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Denariis mutuo receptis (i.e. money borrowed) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Several horses borrowed and not returned | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Other items are given as a set off, as well as his legacy of | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| But there still remains a debt of | 60 | 0 | 0 |
This was a large sum in those days. But John Littlebury gave the abbot “diverse jewels” in payment of this debt. (Appendix to Cough’s “Croyland,” from the Abbey register.)
Sir Martin Littlebury was Chief Justice of England, A.D. 1243. His wife was Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Rochford. They intermarried with several other families of position and influence. Their pedigree is given in the Herald’s Visitation of Lincolnshire, in 1562–64, coming down to Humphrey Littlebury, of Stainsby, named above, as holding land in Raithby. (“Notices on Holbeach,” by G. W. McDonald).
By will, dated 4 March, 1599, Anne Skipwith, of Hanney, left legacies to Thomas and Robert Raithby, and this patronymic is not uncommon in the neighbourhood still.
In later years the manor of Raithby was the property of the Brackenburies, who had a handsome residence, Raithby Hall, which was, in 1848, purchased by the Rev. E. Rawnsley, who is now lord of the manor. A curious circumstance connected with the Hall is that during the time when it was owned by Mr. Robert Carr Brackenbury, he, being a friend of John Wesley, granted him the use of the hay loft for religious services, and subsequently by will provided that all future owners of the property should fulfil this condition, and these services are still occasionally held there, so that we have now the anomaly of the Hall being owned and occupied by a clergyman of the church of England, while the loft over his stables is used by a Wesleyan minister.
The benefice formerly paid a pension to the abbots of Croyland of £1 6s. 8d. At the Reformation the tithes were seized by “the Merry Monarch,” and the patronage of the benefice now belongs to the crown. The late Geo. Walker, Esq., of Offord House, Spilsby, owned an estate in this parish, also Admiral Buckle, who now resides at Gunby Hall. There is a free school here for the poor children of Raithby, Mavis Enderby, Hundleby, and Sausthorpe, founded and endowed by Thomas Lawford, in 1683, and besides his endowment, the teacher has the dividend of £204 1s. 8d. left by Elizabeth Kirkbridge, of Hull, in 1813, and the interest of £100 left by John Dawson, in 1839.
The Church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It consists of tower, nave, with south porch, north and south aisles, and chancel. The tower is of 3 tiers, and has 3 bells. The church was thoroughly restored in 1873, the chancel and nave wholly rebuilt, the architect being Mr. G. G. Scott. The porch has a very curious stoup in the western corner, with 3 Norman columns as supports. The north and south aisles have 3 bays, the columns being transitional Norman. In the north wall is a door and two square-headed, perpendicular windows with coloured glass; one of these has for its subjects St. George and St. Andrew, the other, St. David and St. Patrick. There is also a two-light window in the east wall of the north aisle. In the south wall, west of the porch, is a coloured two-light window, the subjects being, above, the Good Shepherd and the Presentation in the Temple, and below, Christ blessing little children, and our Lord’s baptism. Next to the porch, eastward, is a memorial two-light window to John Coleridge Kennard, the subjects being, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. The window at the east end of the south aisle is a two-light one, with coloured glass, by Kemp, the subjects being, Works of Mercy; it was put in in memory of Mrs. Rawnsley, by friends. The font is modern, also the lectern and the rood screen, which is coloured red, gilt, and blue. The east, north, and south windows in the chancel were given by the late Mrs. Rawnsley, who lengthened the chancel to its original dimensions, and gave the screen. The east window has three lights, the subjects being, in the centre, the Crucifixion, in the northern light, Gethsemane, in the southern light, the Saviour’s baptism. The walls of the chancel are painted with various devices. The reredos has three compartments, the centre, showing the Crucifixion; on the right (south), the Saviour and the Magdalen, Noli me tangere; on the left (north), the angel appearing to Mary, Ave Maria. Two other windows have the following subjects:—In one, in the centre, is the Lord in glory, with St. Michael, on the one side, St. Gabriel, on the other, by Milner; in the other, of four lights, put in by members of the Rawnsley family, in memory of their mother, the subjects are, in the lower part, one scene throughout, the birth at Bethlehem; above, the compartments show the Annunciation, with the Presentation and Visitation on either side. The south chancel window of three lights, with coloured glass, has the three subjects, St. Alban, St. Agnes, and St. Catherine. There is a piscina in the south wall of the chancel. The material of the structure is Spilsby green sandstone. The tower is of the Perpendicular period, other parts being a mixture of the Perpendicular, Decorated, and Transitional styles. The church is unusually rich in coloured glass, although all of it modern. The benefice, a rectory, is held by the Rev. George Ward, who lives at Mavis Enderby, of which parish he is also rector. Of the church plate, the chalice is of the date of Cromwell; the paten and former cover of chalice are of the date of Elizabeth. A modern paten has been presented by the Rev. E. Rawnsley. The register dates from 1558. It contains a note by a former rector, stating that a number of pages had been lost in the waste paper basket of his predecessor, but that, from other sources, he had himself supplied the deficiency. Then follows a long series of entries, all in one handwriting, the curious part, however, is that his own death is recorded in the same handwriting. We leave it to the reader to solve this puzzle of a posthumous record. The sandstone, which prevails generally throughout this district, disappears at Raithby, but about half-a-mile north-east of Raithby church, numerous phosphatic nodules are found scattered about the surface. The nodule bed can be traced across the fields to the south-west, and the phosphates lie generally in patches. The hill, south of Raithby, consists of the formation known as Tealby clay, capped with chalky boulder clay, blue clay appearing on its western slope. These clays rest upon a floor of hard calcareous ferruginous rock, full of brown oolitic grains.