Records, Historical and Antiquarian, of Parishes Round Horncastle

by J. Conway Walter

Scamblesby.

This rather straggling village is pleasantly situated about 6 miles north-east of Horncastle, in a basin of the Wolds, between the steep hill on the west, by which it is approached from Horncastle and West Ashby, by the old turnpike road to Louth, and the still steeper hill of Cawkwell, a mile further to the east, Louth-ward. In the centre of this basin, which is watered by a small tributary of the river Bain, rising near at hand, is an almost circular prominence, like the boss of a shield, on which fitly stands the church, above all the other human erections. Only a few years ago, this was a very poor structure of brick, although recent explorations have shewn that there formerly existed a fair-sized edifice, with nave, aisles, and chancel, fragments of which were built into the later brick structure. This earlier church is said to have been demolished about the middle of the 18th century. An inscription in the west wall of the present fabric records that “The nave of this church was taken down, and rebuilt, A.D. 1893: Alfred Soden, Vicar; C. B. Robson, J. R. Bourne, Churchwardens.” The chancel had been rebuilt in the previous incumbency of the Rev. T. White, by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, at a cost of £400, in 1890–1. In the reconstruction, stone was utilized from the small church of Cawkwell, the adjoining parish, which had been disused and in a state of decay for some years, and was not needed for the very small population of that parish, which is now, for ecclesiastical purposes, annexed to Scamblesby. The present erection of stone has a south door, with porch, and a priest’s door in the south wall of the chancel. The nave has north and south aisles, of three bays; the easternmost column in the south arcade is the original Norman, the rest being modern, in similar style. In the north wall are three lancet windows, the central one having two lights, the eastern and western one light, and in the south wall there are two similar windows, one with two lights, the other with one. The west end has two lancet windows, each with a single light, and above them an ox-eye window, with smaller lancets on either side of it. In the eastern wall of the nave, on either side of the chancel arch, is a narrow lancet window. In the chancel, the east window has two lights, with quatrefoil above, two square-headed windows in the south wall, and one in the north. The present font is modern, and plain; the curious, massive, circular bowl of the old font, about 2ft. 8in. in diameter, in height more than 2ft., and with depth of interior 1ft., large enough for immersion, stands outside the porch. The seats of the nave are modern, of deal, but they have very good old oak carved poppy-heads. The pulpit, of oak, was presented as a memorial of the late Vicar, the Rev. T. White, by his pupils; he having been formerly second master of the Horncastle Grammar School; it already, however, shows signs of decay. The chancel sedilia, of deal, were given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The communion table, of oak, which is raised on two steps, was the gift of the present Vicar. In the north wall of the chancel is a tablet, commemorating, in Latin, and in quaint English verse, Margaret, the daughter of Henry Coppinger, of a distinguished family in Kent, and wife of “Franciscus Thorndike,” a lady, “imbued with a liberal piety from early years, who religiously fulfilled her conjugal duties, and who, suffering severely herself, also bore, as became a Christian, the loss of three children, and then, with one only surviving, herself yielded willingly to the call of God. Erected to a most beloved wife, by the most sorrowing of husbands.” No date is given, but it has been found from the Herald’s College, that she was buried at Scamblesby, Dec. 30, 1629. (“Linc. N. & Q.” iv., pp. 208–9). Another member of this family, the brother of Francis, was the Rev. Herbert Thorndyke, an eminent divine and worthy of Lincolnshire, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, collated prebendary of “Layton Ecclesia” in the cathedral of Lincoln, by Bishop, afterwards Archbishop, Williams (in which dignity he succeeded the well-known George Herbert), and later, made a Prebendary of Westminster. He, by his will, dated July, 3rd, 1672, bequeathed his estates in this parish to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, for the endowment of the benefice, which, like that of the adjoining Cawkwell, was a very poor one. Thorndyke’s works form the 6th volume of the Anglo-Catholic Library. That the family was one of good position, is shewn by the fact of the name of Francis Thorndyke appearing in the list of the Gentry of Lincolnshire, in 1634, as “of Scamblesby,” also that of “Herbert Thorndyke, of Greenfield.”

The church is dedicated to St. Martin. Among the church plate is a communion cup, bearing the inscription “Communion Cup, 1712,” the Cawkwell cup is also old, but not dated. The register of Scamblesby dates from 1569, that of Cawkwell from 1685, but they contain no entries of special interest. This was one of the many possessions of the Norman, Ivo Taillebois, nephew of William the Conqueror, and chief of the Angevin auxiliaries, who came over with the Conqueror. After the death of the brave young Anglo-Saxon nobles, Edwin and Morcar, the sons of Alfgar, and brothers-in-law of King Harold, who refused to submit to the Norman yoke, their sister, the Lady Lucia, was the last of that royal line, and, being an unprotected female, William the Conqueror bestowed her in marriage with all her many possessions, on Ivo. He received with her, lands in Goulceby, Cawkwell, Asterby, and other places, too many to enumerate. He was a man of violent and tyrannous temperament, eventually, in the next reign, being outlawed as an enemy of King Rufus. He was subsequently allowed to return to this country, but not long afterwards died of paralysis. According to accounts, more or less authentic, the Lady, with a haste which was hardly decent—though under the circumstances perhaps not surprising—barely allowed one month to elapse (says the chronicler, Peter de Blois), “when she married that illustrious young man, Roger de Romara, son of Gerald de Romara,” who had been seneschal or steward to William of Normandy, before the Conquest; two other sons, Ralph and Edward, subsequently being founders, the former, of the Tankervilles, and the latter, of the Earls of Salisbury. By this marriage, the large possessions of the Lady Lucia, passed to the Romaras. Lucia herself had been a great benefactress to the priory of Spalding, which had been founded by her uncle, Vice-Comes, or Sheriff, Thorold of Buchenale. Among other gifts she conveys to the monks of Spalding “one watermill (a valuable property in those days), and all her tithes in Scamblesby,” with much more in the neighbourhood. (“Charters of Spalding Priory,” British Museum, D. n. 5). William de Romara, her son by her husband Roger, in due course, following suit, founded the Abbey of Revesby. In a later generation, the heiress of this family, married Gilbert de Gaunt, who thus succeeded to the large property, but it is probable that, on the occasions of each of these changes, some of the demesnes were diverted in different directions, and the changes were not few, as the Gaunts were succeeded by the Blondvilles, they by the Lacys, and they again by John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, 4th son of Edwd. III. whose son was King Henry IV., of Bolingbroke. How long Scamblesby remained a part of this heritage we are not able to say, but it may be observed that in this varied line of descent (as indeed in many others), there were various causes for the alienation, or disintegration of large demesnes. The Sovereign’s power was absolute and most arbitrarily exercised, unless, as was sometimes the case, the subject’s power was greater. The owners of large estates, and especially heiresses, were an object of peculiar interest to Sovereigns, who by reason of war, or their own extravagance, were not seldom more impecunious than their powerful subjects. The actions of the latter were carefully scanned, in order, if possible, that the Sovereign might find an excuse for confiscation, partial or entire, of the offender’s property, and so replenish the royal coffers. In the case of male proprietors, they could only obtain coveted privileges, or even exercise their own undoubted rights, on the payment of a very heavy fine. The times were turbulent, rebellion was not uncommon, and a large landowner sometimes found that he had espoused the unsuccessful cause, whereupon he naturally incurred the penalty. In the case of an heiress, a marriage contracted without the King’s license, was made sufficient ground for the royal displeasure, and a heavy fine or deprivation was the result. Some, or all of these causes were at work with different members of this particular line. In the case of the attainder of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, even his divorced wife, Alicia, became subject to a penalty of £20,000, a very large sum in those days, when pence were almost equivalent to our pounds. In this, and other ways, the once vast possessions of the Thorolds, in this part of the county, passed into other hands; although they are still one of the leading families on the other side of it. Other families here came to the fore. On the dissolution of the monasteries, any property which had been granted by benefactors to those institutions, would pass, by grant of the sovereign, to others, unless he retained it himself. As we pass the small stream in Scamblesby, over which a child could now leap, we may recognise it as a power that once turned the mill-wheel of the Lady Lucia, or ground corn for the tenants of the priors of Spalding, but it knows their name no more. Some of the land, including the manor, passed to the Bishop of Lincoln; until, in 1862, it was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who are now the Lay Impropriators; the living, now, after various augmentations, worth £300 a year, being in the patronage of the Bishop of Lincoln, and the Earl of Yarborough. The latter nobleman is now one of the largest proprietors in the county, though we believe he originally belonged to the south of England, and was connected with the Earls of Chichester, of Stanmer Park, in Sussex, in which county the heraldic Pelham buckle is a marked feature in many of the churches. [178] Other proprietors are the Lill and Bourne families. There is a prebendal stall in Lincoln Cathedral, attached to Scamblesby in conjunction with Melton Ross, which is now held by the Rev. Canon Arthur Wright, rector of Coningsby, and Rural Dean of Gartree.

There are rent charges for the poor of the parish, left by David Atkinson and dame Tyrwhitt; also the interest of £6 6s. 8d., left by an unknown donor, and a charge on land in Belchford, for poor widows.

Within a short distance of the church, in a south-eastward direction, are traces of a moated inclosure, which has probably been the site of a residence of some size. Nothing is known of its past history, but it may well have been a mansion on the property of the Countess Lucia, or some of her descendants, and occupied by a dependent vassal. There are a few records of former persons connected with the parish, of which we here give one or two. Among the “Final Concords,” under date, 1 July, 1202, is an agreement between Roger de Maletoft, on the one part, and Philip de Claythorp, and Mary his wife, on the other part, tenants of “4 oxgangs in Scamblesbi (about 60 acres),” by which they acknowledge the said land to be the right and inheritance of the said Roger; and in return for this, he granted it “to them and their heirs, to hold of him and his heirs for ever, doing for it foreign service”; and, as an acknowledgment of this, the said Philip and Mary gave the said Roger 4 marks. (Note appended to the will of John Guevera, made 18 March, 1607.) N.B.—A sister of John Guevera, married John Chapman, of Scamblesbi. The Guevera family came from Biscay, in Spain, probably imported by Katherine of Arragon, or Philip of Spain, Queen Mary’s husband.

Thomas Kent, of Scamblesby, clerk, by will, dated 23 July, 1623, among other bequests, leaves, “to my wife Mary, £40, with other benefits; my dau., Lydia Lent £200; my dau., Penelope Dennis, £16; my dau., Mary Martingdale, £20; my son, Thomas Kent, £20; my dau., Anne Millington,—; Henry Neave, my grandchild, £30; Gabriel Neave, my grandchild, £66 13s. 4d.; Mary Neave, £66 13s. 4d.; my son Elias Kent, 2 Kye, a pr. of oxen, a pr. of 2 yr. old fleaces; a mare that I had of my son-in-law, James Martingdale, my waines and waine-geares, and ploughs and plough-geares, my trays and harrows, also a bedd, a presse and a table, with the lease of the manor of Scamblesby; my son, Thomas, 44s. in gold; my son, Abell, 44s. in gold; to everyone of my grandchildren, 11s. in gold; to the poor of Donington, 22s.; of Goulceby, 20s.; and to the poorest of Scamblesby 20s.; to everyone of my servants, 16d.; to Lewis Whiteing, 2 ewes and 2 lambes; to Dorothie Candroy, a flocked yearing quee.” The testator’s wife is to have his household goods and chattels, for division among his children at her discretion; Timothy, his son, being sole executor, to whom he bequeaths the residence, after payment of debts and funeral expenses. To be buried in the chancel of Scamblesbie.

Elias Kent, of Scamblesby, gent., by will, dated 13 Feb., 1625, bequeaths to “my wife, Elizabeth, £200, and the household stuff, &c.; to my daughter, Martha Kent, £200 when 16, and the lease of Scamblesby manor; to my sister, Marie Martingdale, Mr. Benjamin Storre, 20s.; Thomas, William, and Elizabeth, the three eldest children of my brother Timothy Kent, deceased, 20s. a piece; and to Edward Kent, a new coat; to my brother, Thomas Booth, ‘Speede’s Chronicles’; to my brother, Richard Sharpe, my black gelding; to my mother, a 5s. piece of silver; to the poor of Scamblesby, 40s.; to the poorest of Goulceby, 10s. and of Donington, 10s.; to everie one of my sisters 10s.; to my cosen, Alice Brooke, £3 6s. 8d., and the horse called ‘Maud,’ &c., &c. My body to be buried in the chancel. My brother, Thomas Kent, clerk of Donington, to be executor.”

N.B.—On the death of the said Thomas Kent, Incumbent of Donington, 13 years later, he leaves “to my much honored friend, Sir John Munson, my black colt; to Sir Thomas Munson, my noble friend whom I much honor, my Spurr Royal; to the Right Honble., my Lord Beaumont, my bald colt; to the Rectors of Donington, for the time being, and their successors for ever, my Spalding tythes (these were the gift of the Lady Lucia to Spalding priory); to the repairs of St. Paul’s church in London, £5.”

The name Scamblesby means the “By,” i.e., farmstead (Scotice Byre) of the Saxon Skamel; probably his land, amounting to six carucates (or 720 acres), was that which, through the Lady Lucia, became the property of Ivo Taillebois, lord of Spalding.

The parish of Cawkwell, now ecclesiastically annexed to Scamblesby, is of small extent, being a lordship comprising some 680 acres of land, now the property of the Duke of Portland; the benefice, a vicarage now valued at £39 a year, being in the patronage of the Earl of Yarborough, who, as such, has the alternate presentation with the Bishop of Lincoln, to the consolidated benefice of Scamblesby with Cawkwell. This property, again, was among the lands of Ivo Taillebois, acquired by his marriage with the Saxon heiress, Lucia. Little is known of its past history. It probably passed through the like vicissitudes as Scamblesby, until it was granted to Sir Charles Cavendish, of Bolsover Castle, and from him, passed to the Dukes of Newcastle, the Earl of Oxford, and finally, by the marriage of his daughter and heiress, to the noble family of Bentinck, the ancestors of the present Duke of Portland, who, in the present generation, has married a lady of the almost neighbouring parish of Walmsgate. There was formerly a priory of Cawkwell, of which Sir William Tyrwhitt was steward. It was probably not a richly endowed institution, as his fee as steward was only £1. It would seem to have been a dependency of the much wealthier priory of Austin Canons, at Nocton. (Dugdale “Monasticon,” vol. ii., p. 211)

The Church, dedicated to St. Peter, was demolished, and the materials, in part, utilized for the rebuilding of Scamblesby church, in 1893. At the date of Liber Regis (temp. Queen Anne), the benefice was so poor that it is there described as “not presented to,” and the church has not been used for divine worship since 1885. Cawkwell house is a substantial residence, standing in good grounds, and occupied by C. B. Robson, Esq. The only thing worthy of note in connection with this parish, is that it was the birth-place, in 1599, of a learned and pious man, Hanserd Knollys, who was educated at Cambridge, distinguished for his zeal in religion, appointed master of the Free School at Gainsborough, took Holy Orders, and was presented by the Bishop of Lincoln to the living of Humberston. Afterwards, conceiving scruples as to the lawfulness of certain church observances, he resigned his benefice; for a time, with the Bishop’s connivance, he preached in various parishes, without using the church service. He eventually abjured his orders, and joined the Baptist persuasion, and became one of its pastors in London. The intolerance of the age forced him to seek refuge in Wales, Holland, Germany, and even America. He died, Sept., 1691, in the 93rd year of his age. (Weir’s “Hist. Lincolnshire,” vol. i, p. 301). [181]

We have mentioned Cawkwell hill. This is one of “the Alps of Lincolnshire,” and, although there are, among the Wold hills, several considerably steeper, being on a high road, formerly having much traffic, it has been the scene of some accidents. Only a few years ago, a gentleman living near, was driving down the hill in a thunderstorm, when he was struck by lightening, his carriage was upset, and his horse afterwards found on the other side of the hedge, he himself recovering without any serious effects. Sometime in the forties, the late Sir Henry Dymoke was driving a carriage and pair down the hill, when the horses bolted. The father of the present writer happened at the time to be walking down the hill, on his way home from Louth; as the horses dashed past him he made a spring at the bridle of the near horse, fortunately catching hold of it, and by running alongside, he succeeded in bringing the horses to a stand, without injury to anyone. But for this timely aid, the champion of England might have incurred a more serious ordeal than that of challenging his sovereign’s enemies.

The name of this parish, “Calche uuelle,” in Domesday Book, and now Cawkwell, might have been given with prophetic foresight into the future, as it is here, from a deep well, the bore of which passes through the chalk to the gravel below, that a pure and plentiful supply of water is obtained for the town of Horncastle, and more recently also for the modern health resort of Woodhall Spa.