Records, Historical and Antiquarian, of Parishes Round Horncastle

by J. Conway Walter

Such was one of the proprietors of Baumber, but he was not the only one; as Domesday mentions another, and larger, and more worthy, land owner in the person of Gilbert de Gaunt, who succeeded, “by right,” or, more strictly speaking, by confiscation, to all the property of the Saxon Tonna; while another Saxon, Ulf, had also an estate in the parish. This Gilbert de Gaunt founded Bardney Abbey; and, when he died, was buried there.

The Lady Lucia was Countess of Chester and Lincoln; and at a later period, Baumber, including the hamlet of Sturton Parva, would seem to have been mainly divided between the family of the Earls of Lincoln, more recently created Dukes of Newcastle, and the wealthy family of the Dightons. Both had residences in or near this parish. A daughter of Thomas Dighton, and his heiress married Edward Clinton, second son of the first Earl of Lincoln of that line (temp. Elizabeth), and on failure of issue to the elder brother, this Edward succeeded to the Earldom. Many generations of the Clintons were buried here; but towards the end of the 18th century, the Clinton property was sold by the third Duke to Mr. Thomas Livesey, of Blackburn, Lancashire, [20] whose son, the late Joseph Livesey, Esq. erected a large mansion in 1810, which again was almost rebuilt, and considerably enlarged in 1873–5. A large part of the parish now belongs to the Vyner family of Gautby. The Baumber register dates from 1691. One entry is “June 20th, 1730, the Corpse of the Right Honourable, the Right Noble, Lord George Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, was interred.”

The Church is dedicated to St. Swithun. The west door is a good specimen of Norman work, with dog-tooth pattern running round the semi-circular arch, in bass relief; the capital of its south pillar has a head, with serpents whispering into each ear. The north capital is a conventional acanthus. The inner eastern door of the tower is also Norman, but plain. The Nave has north and south aisles of three bays; the eastern-most column of the north arcade, under the removable flooring of the Vicar’s seat, has the original round Norman plinth, the only one preserved. The Church of stone was cased in brick, in the early part of the eighteenth century (1736), when the present large, perpendicular windows were placed in the north and south walls, three in each. Placed against the west wall, south of the west entrance, is a large slab, commemorating John Ealand, who died in 1463, and his wives Alice and Elizabeth. This was formerly in the floor of the north aisle. Above is a tablet in memory of members of the family of J. Bainbridge Smith, D.D., formerly Vicar, as well as Rector of Sotby, and of Martin, and Headmaster of the Horncastle Grammar School. The Font is octagonal and massive, but plain. There is a handsome oak lectern with eagle on swivels, the gift of Mrs. Taylor Sharpe, of Baumber Park, in memory of her eldest son, who died in 1891. The pose of the eagle is very natural.

In the south aisle, and over the west entrance are hatchments of the Clintons.

In the chancel, the east window is blocked up; there are two windows in the north wall, one in the south wall, the second having been removed when a vestry was erected, and it now forms the vestry window. On each side, east of the chancel arch, are remains of massive early English pillars. South of communion table are three plain sedilia of wood. North of the table, a blue slate slab in the floor, with the Clinton arms, covers the vault, in which sixteen of the Clinton family are interred. Another slab close by, commemorates “Francis Clinton, alias Fynes, Esq., grandson of Henry Lord Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, who departed this life, February 5th, A.D. 1681.” On the south, a slab commemorates his wife, “who died, February 15th, A.D. 1679.” A communion chair, of very solid construction, was carved out of a beam formerly in Tattershall Castle. There are some remains of a former rood screen, “Arch. Journ.,” 1890, p. 206.

Mr. Weir, in his History of Lincolnshire (vol. I., p. 299, Ed., 1828), says that portions of the former residence of the Earls of Lincoln were at that date still standing, near the modern mansion of the Liveseys. Then the latter was re-constructed in 1873–5, the furniture and other arrangements, were of a very costly character. The present writer, with an acquaintance of the family, had the privilege of being shewn over the whole house, by the lady of the house, shortly after its completion. It might be called a repertoire of valuable works of art and vertu, in furniture, books, paintings, stuffed birds, and animals, among the latter being the famous lion “Nero,” from the Zoo. The owner, being devoted to engineering and mechanical operations, had one room, of which the walls were covered with clocks, of endless kinds, with various elaborate mechanism, such as cocks crowing, horns blowing, etc., etc., for chiming the hours. All these came to the hammer in 1891. Even the economy of the farm yard was elaborate. To give one instance:—At the back of the cattle sheds, ran a tramway of small trucks; doors opened at the back of the crib of each stall, and the trucks conveyed the exact modicum of provender, and it was injected into each separate crib, periodically, for the animals which were there fed. The lake in the park was formed from a small stream running through the grounds, it is well stocked with fish of various kinds, especially affording sport to the troller by the abundance of fine pike. It was originally stocked, as tradition avers, from the Moat of Langton Rectory, now no longer existing, but formerly of considerable size, and connected with a large pond, where fish of many kinds abounded. The vicarage is a substantial residence, with good garden, erected in 1857, on a site presented by Robert Vyner, Esq.

Belchford.

Belchford is one of our largest villages, lying at a distance of about 5 miles from Horncastle, in a north-east direction, and buried in a valley among the wolds. It was anciently among the possessions of the Conqueror’s nephew, Ivo Tailebois, which he acquired by his marriage with the Lady Lucia, the wealthy heiress of the Thorolds. Tithes and territory here were assigned by her to the Abbey of Croyland, as well as to its cell, the branch Priory of Spalding. There were two mills here, valued in Domesday book, at 18s. 8d. yearly. The acreage is large; Ivo had five carucates in demesne, or some 600 acres, while villeins, bordars, and soc-men, occupied nine carucates, or about 1080 acres; there were 360 acres of meadows, and six carucates (720 acres) reateable to gelt. The arable land was a mile long, and a mile broad, which was a large proportion. The acreage is now 2480, the population more than 400. By an indenture, 28th October, 1641, we find Sir Thomas Glemham owning lands in Belchford and Oxcombe, as well as other places, which he sold to Sir Matthew Lister, and his brother Martin Lister, subsequently the Listers of Burwell Park. The Listers, however, sold the Belchford lands again to Sir Thomas Hartopp, about 20 years later. Mr. Robert Charles de Grey Vyner is now Lord of the Manor, but much of the land belongs to the Epton, Reed, and other families. At the inclosure, land left by Henry Neave to the poor, was exchanged for two acres, now let for £5 15s., which is distributed among the poor at Christmas, as well as a rent charge of 4s., left by Mrs. Douglas Tyrwhitt. Letters, via Horncastle, arrive at 9.30 a.m. The nearest telegraph office is at Tetford.

Of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, little can be said which is satisfactory, at the present time. It was rebuilt in 1781, in the characteristic poor style of that period. Some years ago it became almost unsafe, and the walls were strengthened to prevent their falling. The chancel was rebuilt in 1859–60; and in 1884–5, the church was reseated, the plaster ceiling removed, a new floor supplied, and fresh windows inserted; but once more it is in a bad and unsightly condition, gaps and fissures appear in the walls, the tower is much out of the perpendicular, and only kept together by bands of iron. The north wall is only relieved by one very plain Georgian window. The east window, a triplet in the early English style, is perhaps the best feature in the church. It was put in by a former Rector, Rev. W. Anthony Fitzhugh. The font, which is octagonal and perpendicular, formerly stood in St. Mary’s Church, Horncastle. The pulpit, of old oak, came from the private chapel of Lord Brougham, who was a relative of the late Rector; it has some quaintly-carved panels, and other portions in the same style lie unused in the church. The baptismal register has an entry of a baptism performed by Dr. Tennyson, father of the Poet Laureate. The register dates from 1698.

Some embellishments have been introduced in the chancel of late by the present Rector. An Italian crucifix, behind the Communion table, with devices representing the keys of St. Peter, and sword of St. Paul, the patron saints, with vine leaves and grapes, and a central chalice. There is a scroll below these, bearing the words, “Ecce panis Angelorum Factus cibus Viatorum.” The church ornaments include a processional cross of 18th century foreign work. An effort is now being made to accomplish a thorough restoration of the church. A flint implement was found in the parish in the year 1851, and fossils of the Echinus and other kinds have been found. The name of Belchford may be British; Bel (Baal) being the Druid name of the Sun-God and “fford,” is Welsh (or British), for road; a more pleasing, if more fanciful, derivation, has been suggested, viz.: that the prefix is connected with the words “bellow” and “bell,” and refers to the tinkling music of the ford on the brook, which passes through the valley.