When this manor was separated from the crown does not appear; but in the reign of Stephen it was the demesne of Alice or Adelias de Cundi, who resided at her castle here, which leaves it to be concluded that she held it by inheritance from her father. [7b] As she took part against the king in his contention with the Empress Maud, he seized her lands, but restored them again on condition that she should demolish her castle, the means which had served to render her political alliance formidable to his interest. [7c] What may have been the extent and nature of the structure possessed as the mansion of Adelias is not now discoverable, no traces being to be found; but its strength most probably consisted in a restoration of the walls of the Roman fortress, which encircling some convenient and less durable edifice, gave to the place of her residence the security of a castle.
The restitution, by Stephen, of these lands to Adelias de Cundi, seems to have been only for life, as her heir did not succeed thereto; for this manor came again to the crown, and was afterwards given by Henry the second to Gerbald le Escald, a Fleming, who held it for one knight’s fee. [8a] Gerbald le Escald, was succeeded by his grandson and heir Gerrard de Rhodes; but for a short time after his death, Ranulph Earl of Chester appears to have held it, probably in trust for Gerrard de Rhodes, during his minority. Gerrard was succeeded by his son and heir Ralph de Rhodes, who in the reign of Henry the third, sold this manor to Walter Mauclerke, the third Bishop of Carlisle, who also held the office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. In conformity with the spirit of the times in which this sale was effected, the bishop and his successors were to hold the estate by the performance of suit and service to Ralph de Rhodes and his heirs. In the fourteenth year of the same reign, the transfer to Walter Mauclerke was confirmed by the king, who in the same year also granted to him three several charters, conferring those immunities upon the manor and soke, which served to raise the town of Horncastle from the dependence of a village, to become in some degree the mart of the surrounding country.
The first of these charters gave to the bishop free warren over this manor and the soke: the second the liberty of holding an annual fair at this place, which was to commence two days before the eve of the feast of St. Barnabas, and to continue eight days: the third had for its objects the empowering of the bishop to try felons, [8b] and to hold a court leet; also the exemption of the inhabitants of the manor, and the soke from toll, and several other payments and services, beside protecting them from arrest by the sheriff’s and king’s officers. An additional charter was granted in the following year enabling the bishop to hold a weekly market here every Wednesday; and also another annual fair to commence on the eve of the feast of St. Lawrence, and to continue seven days. [8c] The custom of holding a fair on the anniversary of this festival appears to have prevailed at an earlier period, it being alluded to in the grant of the former fair.
In the same reign, Gerrard, the son and heir of Ralph de Rhodes, appears to have preferred his claim to this manor, which had been sold by his father; [9a] perhaps in consequence of some omission in the performance of those services by which the estate was to be held. His claim does not appear to have been successful; for in the seventeenth year of the same king, the bishop fined to hold this manor in fee, but not to alienate without licence. [9b]
Walter Mauclerke resigned the see of Carlisle in 1246, and as this manor devolved to his ecclesiastical successors, it may be inferred that it had been purchased to increase the revenues of the bishoprick, and not to be appropriated as his private property. The privileges of such essential interest to the estate, which had already been conferred by the preceding charters, were in part strengthened by fresh acknowledgements to the Bishops of Carlisle, in the reigns of the two succeeding kings; Edward the first confirming the grant of free warren, [9c] and Edward the second that which exempts the inhabitants of the manor and soke from certain payments and services. [9d]
At the period of Richard the second, Roger le Scrop and Margaret his wife, with Robert Tibetot and Eve his wife, heirs and descendants of Gerbald le Escald, appear to have advanced a claim to this manor, and to have succeeded in obtaining letters patent, confirming to them homage and service from the ecclesiastical possessor. [9e] At that time also, when the border contests had laid waste the see of Carlisle, and divested the bishops of their seat of Rose Castle in Cumberland, they were necessitated to take up their residence at Horncastle, which continued for some time to be their principal place of abode. [9f]
In the twenty-fifth year of Henry the sixth, that monarch confirmed the several charters granted to the bishops as lords of this manor, by Henry the third, and also conferred on them numerous other privileges. [10a]
This manor continued in the possession of the Bishops of Carlisle, until the reign of Edward the sixth, when, under the authority of a licence from the crown, it was sold by Bishop Aldrich to Edward Lord Clinton, who, during the time he held it, compounded with the copyhold tenants, and enfranchised their estates; but after Mary had ascended the throne, he was compelled to re-convey his purchase to the see of Carlisle, [10b] to which, since that time, it has continued to belong. Bishop Aldrich died at this place in March, 1555, the second year of the reign of Queen Mary: from which it appears, that the estate had either been restored previous to his decease; or, in the conditions of the sale, he had reserved to himself the privilege of residing in the manor house. [10c]
Queen Elizabeth had a lease of this manor from the then possessing bishop, in which she was succeeded by James the first, who assigned it to Sir Henry Clinton, knight; but owing to a neglect of enrolment, it proved void. [10d] The present lessee is The Right Honorable Sir Joseph Banks, Baronet, by whom, and his ancestors, it has been held about a century.
The large tract of fen land, situated between this place and Boston, at a very early period belonged to the lords of this manor, in conjunction with the lords of the manors of Bolingbroke and Scrivelsby; but by the grants which they gave to the neighbouring abbies at Revesby and Kirkstead, their right therein became comparatively small. [11] On the enclosure of these fens, pursuant to Act of Parliament, in 1801, about six hundred acres were annexed to the parish of Horncastle, eighty-one acres of which were allotted to the lord of the manor; the remainder to the owners of common-right houses.