By Will dated 31st July, 1585, Edmund Dighton, of Little Sturton, leaves lands in Asterby and elsewhere to his son Robert, and also his leases of land held by grant of the late Abbot of Kirkstead, and a house called Beadway Hall. The Dighton’s were a wealthy family, originally engaged in commerce in Lincoln, but afterwards acquiring considerable property in various parts of the county, and taking a good position. The headquarters of the family were at the Old Hall, of which traces still remain, in Little Stourton; a daughter of Thomas Dighton “of that ilk” married Edward, 2nd son of the 1st Earl of Lincoln, of that line, temp. Elizabeth; she eventually, on the death of his eldest brother, becoming Countess of Lincoln. [15b]
Elizabeth Hansard, of Gayton-le-Wold, widow, by her Will, dated 17th March, 1591, makes her father, John Jackson, of Asterby, executor, and the guardian of her children, Edward, Margaret, and Mary Hansard; and leaves all her property to them, except 20s. each to her brother Thomas Jackson, and her brother-in-law William Hansard. These Hansards, a knightly family located in this county at South Kelsey (also of Beesthorpe and Thornton), were of very old extraction; tracing their descent from Ughtred, Earl of Northumberland in the reign of Edmund Ironsides, who came to the throne A.D. 016. [16] South Kelsey, their chief seat, passed to the old family of the Ayscoughs, by the marriage of Sir Francis Ayscough to the Hansard heiress, Elizabeth, in the middle of the 16th century. Both Hansards and Ayscoughs were connected with many of the leading county families.
John Guevera, of Stenigot, by Will dated 18th March, 1607, leaves his manor of Stenigot and all his premises in Asterby (certain portions being excepted) to his “Sonne Francis, his heir apparent, on his coming of age,” and specifies that “till then he be held content by Sir Nicholas Saunderson, knight, of Fillingham, and Captaine Henrie Guevera, of Barwick.” These Gueveras were of Spanish origin, probably coming to England in the train of Catharine of Arragon, or in attendance on King Philip of Spain, Queen Mary’s husband. Spain was then a flourishing country, and they soon acquired property, and took their position among the landed gentry, Francis Guevera being named among the Herald’s List of Gentry in 1634. Sir Nicholas Saunderson, here named, of Fillingham, was grandson of Nicholas Saunderson, of Reasby, in the parish of Stainton-by-Langworth. He was made a baronet in 1612, and Viscount Castleton in 1628. The family was involved in the Lincolnshire Rebellion of 1536. The manor, and greater part of the parish, are now in the hands of trustees of the Trafford family, who are also patrons of the benefice. Messrs. W. Pinning and Benjamin Harrison are also landowners, and Mr. James Walter has a large and picturesque farmhouse with good grounds and surroundings.
The church, dedicated to St. Peter, was for some years in an unsatisfactory condition, but during recent years it has been gradually undergoing restoration. It was formerly larger than it is now, having had a north aisle. The tower was half taken down towards the close of the 18th century, and rebuilt, the plinth of the tower buttress on the south side of the west door being said to be the original one of the 12th century. There are three bells. In 1896 the chancel was taken down and extended about 6ft. in length, the interior face of the walls being constructed of rubbed sandstone, in courses obtained from a quarry in the parish. The exterior character of the old work was carefully preserved, and a dressed stone plinth-course inserted. The old east window with wooden framework was removed and a stone traceried window introduced, filled with tinted glass. The floor was paved with encaustic tiles in place of ordinary bricks, and the communion table raised 18 inches above the body of the church, by three steps. A new altar rail of oak, with standard of wrought-iron and brass, was put up, and the roof was made of open timbers covered with match boards and slates. This work was done by Mr. R. Mawer, builder, of Louth, under the direction of Messrs. Mortimer and Son, architects, of Lincoln. The entire cost was defrayed by the present rector. Since then other improvements have been effected. The tower, in a dangerous condition, was partly taken down in 1898, and the bells rehung in new oak framework. A handsome altar cloth was presented by Lady Wigan. The nave floor has now boards in place of the old damp and unsightly bricks. It has been supplied with new seating of pitchpine. This work was entrusted to Messrs. Thompson & Sons, of Louth, and is thoroughly satisfactory. Inspired by these efforts, a generous donor, Mrs. Woodall, presented a massive oak lectern in memory of her parents who for many years worshipped in this church, and the whole fabric is now at length, through the exertions of the rector, liberally seconded by Mrs. Graham, a credit to the parish. Old features of interest in the church are the chancel arch, which is Early English; and in the south chancel wall, near the reading desk, is also a three-light Early English window, containing some fragments of very old glass, the new east window being a copy of this. In the north wall of the nave are two bays of the former aisle blocked up, with a grinning figurehead between the arches. In a frame affixed to the north wall is the text, from Eccl. v., 1, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.” The font is old, having an octagonal bowl, with plain shields on each face, the shaft also being octagonal and standing on a pediment of three steps. In the south wall of the chancel, outside, is a mutilated slab bearing an inscription in memory of “Samson Meanwell, who departed this life Feb. 17, 1744, in ye 63 yeare of his age.” Nearly opposite the west door is a very old yew-tree, which may well have supplied the village archers with their bows in the days of Crecy, Poictiers, and Agincourt. The benefice is now held jointly with that of Goulceby. It was formerly in the gift of the Dymokes. Dame Jane Dymoke presented in 1711 and 1725. She also gave church plate. The patronage then passed to the Crown, who presented in 1771 and 1784, after which the Trafford Southwell family acquired it, with the manor, and presented in 1807.
Near the church is a field named Hall Close, where there are traces of a large residence; and here, about the year 1821, were dug up three human skeletons and an ancient dagger.
The poor of the parish have the benefit of a bequest made by Anthony Acham, for them, and for those of Goulceby; who also, in 1638, founded a school for the two parishes, with Stenigot.
We have only to add that the pilgrim to Asterby, who has an eye for rural scenery, will be gratified on his way thither by an extent of view not often to be found. He can take in, at one and the same moment, a prospect reaching almost 30 miles, including Lincoln Cathedral and miles beyond it to the north-west; and embracing Heckington and other fine church spires, with Tattershall Castle to the south-west, and extensive woods, corn fields, and meads to vary the scenes between.
Baumber.
Baumber, or Bamburgh, lies on the old Roman road, from Horncastle to Lincoln, about 4 miles to the north-west from the former place, and half-a-mile from the point where another Roman road furcates northward for Caistor; it is thus somewhat interestingly connected with the three ancient Roman stations, Lindum, Banovallum, and Caistor (Castrum). Its own name, in the older form, Bam-burg doubtless means the “Burg,” or fort, on the Bain; as it stands on high ground above the valley of the Bain, and commands what would formerly be a ford of that river at Hemingby, through which there passes a branch line of road, running due east from Baumber, and stretching into the wold hills, being doubtless also a Roman structure.
Baumber has had some interesting associations in the past. In Domesday Book it is reckoned among the possessions of the Norman Ivo Tayle-bois, nephew of William the Conqueror, Earl of Anjou, and chief of the Angevin auxiliaries of William’s army. Through his wife, the Lady Lucia, the Saxon heiress of Earl Alf-gar, who was given to him in marriage by the Conqueror, he acquired very large possessions in Lincolnshire and elsewhere. He was of a very tyrannical disposition; his chief residence being near Croyland Abbey. The Historian Ingulphus records of him, that he “tortured, harrassed, annoyed, and imprisoned their people”; that “he chased their cattle with his dogs, driving them into the marsh pools, where they were drowned; cut off their ears, or their tails; broke their backs, or their legs; and made them useless.” When the world was relieved of him by an early death, he was not mourned by his Saxon wife, or anyone else. Another historian, Peter de Blois, says, “Hardly had one month elapsed after his death, when the Lady Lucia married that illustrious young man, Roger de Romara, and entirely lost all recollection of Ivo Tayle-bois”; and he bursts into a volley of imprecations, to this effect:—“What does it now profit thee, O Ivo! ever most blood-thirsty, thus to have risen against the Lord? Unto the earth hast thou fallen, numbered with the dead; in a moment of time thou hast descended to hell, a successor of the old Adam, a frail potsherd, a heap of ashes, a hide of carrion, a vessel of putrefaction, the food of worms, the laughing-stock of those who survive, the refuse of the inhabitants of heaven, the avowed enemy of the servants of God; and now, as we have reason to suppose, an alien and exile from the congregations of saints, and for thine innumerable misdeeds, worthy to be sent into outer darkness.” [19]