In 1561, March 21st, Richard Welby, of Halstead, was granted the crest of “an arm armed, the hand charnell (i.e., flesh-coloured or ‘proper’) yssving out of a cloud, azure, in a flame of fire,” the arms are “sable a fess, between three fleur de lys, argent,” with six quarterings. This coat of arms is said to have been formerly over a mantelpiece in Halstead Hall, but was removed, several years ago, to Denton Hall. In the year 1561, this Richard Welby, of Halstead, was Sheriff of Lincoln. There are many entries of the Welbys in the parish registers of Stixwould; the last of these occurs in 1598.
The next who owned, and resided at Halstead, was Richard Evington, who was buried at Stixwould. By his will, dated 22nd January, 1612, he left his lands in Edlington and other places to his two sons, Maurice and Nicholas, and bequeathed the sum of £4 10s. “yearlie, at the discretion of my executors, to the poore of Stixwolde, on the 25th March, and 29th Sept.” This family did not, apparently, long remain at Halstead, since we find entries in the Register of the death of this Richard, 10 March, 1610; and the baptism of Maurice, son of Nicholas Evington, 2 Nov., 1611; and we hear no more of them, another family succeeding, of whom there are the following mentions in the register:—“Mr. George Townshend Esqr. died att Halstead and was buried att Waddingworth on Wednsdaie night the 13th of Februarie 1627,” and “Mr. Kirkland Snawden [note the local pronunciation for Snowden] and Mrs. Townsend married the 25th of December being Christmas daie 1628.” [203] No reason is assigned for the somewhat unusual burial by night (though still occasionally practised), but he was probably a Papist, not entitled to burial in a Protestant churchyard. Notice is specially drawn to the second entry, by a hand with finger extended towards it, sketched in the margin, implying probably some covert allusion. This Kirkland Snowden was a grandson of the Bishop of Carlisle, his father, the Bishop’s son, being Vicar of Horncastle, the rectorship being vested in the Bishop of Carlisle, who had a residence in Horncastle at that time, at the back of the premises now occupied by Messrs. Lunn and Dodson. Mr. George Townshend belonged to the Norfolk family of that name, and left his Manor of Cranworth in that county to his eldest son Thomas. This Kirkland Snowden is elsewhere named Rutland Snowden. Their eldest son, Robert, had a daughter Jane, who married Charles Dymoke of Scrivelsby, and their eldest daughter Abigail, married Edward Dymoke, younger son of Sir Edward Dymoke, 18 July, 1654, and was ancestress of the Tetford branch of the Dymokes, now also (1904) of Scrivelsby.
After this the Gibbon family lived at Halstead, coming from Tealby, and are supposed to have owned it, the baptism of “John Gibon” being registered in 1666. Another owner of Halstead was Sir John Coventry, Bart., who as before stated, presented to the benefice of Stixwould in 1685. His sister married the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who is said to have been entertained more than once with a large retinue at Halstead. Sir John was the subject of various attacks, for using offensive language concerning his eccentric Sovereign, Charles II, asking in Parliament “whether the King’s pleasure lay in the men, or women players” at the theatres; in consequence of which “The Coventry Act” was passed in 1671, making it felony to maim or disfigure a person, and declaring the Sovereign incompetent to pardon such offenders. Halstead, subsequently, became the property of Sir William Kyte, or Keate; then of Lord Anson, and his son Thomas Anson, who presented to the benefice in 1767, and it was in 1778, bought by Edmund Turnor, Esq., of Stoke Rochford. Having been the residence of these various owners of wealth and position, we can hardly doubt that Halstead Hall was formerly much larger then it is at present, and there still remains, as a part of the farm buildings, a lofty structure with stone-framed windows; the walls being of brick, smaller than those of modern times, and relieved by diamond-shaped patterns of black bricks, indicating a care and taste in the style of erection, which would hardly have been bestowed upon a mere barn. It probably dates from the 15th century. [204] The present Hall, probably erected in the 16th century, is a two-storeyed structure; the rooms not large, but lofty, their height on the ground floor being over 10ft, and on the upper floor more than 13ft, with spacious attics above, for stores; the walls are very substantial, being 2½ft. thick; while the windows, with their massive mullions of Ancaster stone, would indicate a much larger building; and foundations of further buildings have, from time to time, been discovered.
In recent times Halstead Hall has been chiefly remarkable for the great robbery, which occurred there on February 2nd, 1829, the details of which are so peculiar that we give them here. The Hall was at that time occupied by the farming tenant, Mr. Wm. Elsey, his wife, and servants. At 8 o’clock in the evening, when the servant men went out to “supper-up” the horses, they were attacked by seven or eight men, thrown down, their legs tied, and their hands secured behind their backs, and each was left in a separate stall of the stable. The stable door was then locked, and one of the gang was stationed outside to keep watch. The thieves then went to the Hall, and knocked at the back door. One of the servant girls asked who was there; when the answer was given, “Open the door, Betsy.” She did so; when four or five men rushed into the kitchen. One of the maids escaped, and ran to the room where her master and mistress were sitting. Mr. Elsey was smoking his pipe; Mrs. Elsey preparing something for supper. She saved the silver spoon, which she was using, by slipping it into her bosom. Mr. Elsey seized the poker to defend himself; but, on seeing their number, he prudently laid it down. They then rifled his pockets, took his watch and money; also making Mrs. Elsey empty her pockets. They then obliged the two to go into a large closet, locked the door, and tied a hayfork across it. They then collected what plate they could find, to the value of about £30, and £50 in cash; taking also all the silk handkerchiefs they could find. They then ransacked the property, and made a hearty meal. Mrs. Elsey, in her confinement close by, complained to them that she was very cold, and begged them to let her out to get to the fire. Accordingly, one of them brought her out to the fire; but seeing that she was noticing them, he ordered her to go into the closet again, giving her some of the overcoats, which were hanging in the passage near. When they had got all they wanted, they compelled Mr. Elsey to go upstairs, one walking before him, and another behind, each holding a pistol. They then obliged Mrs. Elsey to follow him. Having locked up the two once more in the closet, the marauders went off with their plunder, wishing them good night, and saying that, if any alarm was given, they would return to retaliate. About two hours afterwards, Mr. Elsey, with the aid of a knife and small hammer, succeeded in making a hole through the brick wall of the closet, through which one of the maids was able to thrust her arm and set them at liberty. The only article recovered was a plated coffee-pot found in Halstead wood, which the thieves had thrown away. The footpath, outside this wood, passes near a farmhouse, and the farmer named Sleight, heard the voices of the thieves as they went by in the night; and some of them were found drunk by the roadside next morning. An old woman still alive (1904), and aged 93, has told the writer that she remembers this robbery well; that two of the robbers were hanged together at Lincoln, with a sheep-stealer “Bill Clarke,” the last time that offence was punished by hanging; these two were known as “Lister,” (others say “Tippler,”) and “Tiger Tom”; [206a] the latter was a desperate character, and it was thought that no one would take him; but two men, powerfully built and fearless, David English of Hameringham, and a keeper named Bullivant, were set to the task, and they succeeded in running their men down at “The Bungalow,” a small public house on the bank of the Witham at Boston. [206b] Of the last hanged it is said, that he was such a bad character, that his own mother foretold that he would “die in his shoes,” and that, on the scaffold, he shook off his shoes, in order to falsify her prediction. One of them, who was transported for life, leagued with two other criminals on board the same vessel, and the three were caught in the act of attempting to scuttle the ship, and were afterwards thrown overboard. As a tinge of romance not uncommonly has attended daring exploits of this character, it was remarked at the time that Italian banditti could hardly have planned the robbery more cleverly, or carried it out with more deliberate courage. Some mystery seemed to hang about the apparent leader of the party, whose demeanour was said to be above that of his temporary position; and one of them, Timothy Brammar, was exalted into a hero, by being celebrated in a ballad.
There are some rather singular field-names in this parish; as “Bull-pingle,” to the east, one field from the road to Horsington; “pingle” being a Lincolnshire word for a small inclosure (Brogden’s “Provincial Words.”) “The Devil’s Parlour” is a triangular field, abutting on “The Monk’s Drain,” adjoining the Bull-pingle. “The Coulter Cast” adjoins Poolham Ings; it is a narrow strip, probably difficult to plough; hence the names adjoining this, are the “High” and “Low” “Priest’s Fields.” All these fields are in the Halstead manor. In Stixwould proper, is “The Field,” par excellence, probably one of the earliest clearings, and so named to distinguish it from the “Wood,” or “Would,” the “Field,” was where the trees had been “felled;” then there are the “Warren Field,” “The Sykes,” “Hemp-yard,” the “Town Close,” probably where the villeins had right of common pastures. “Coney-Green,” like the “Warren Field,” has a reference to the rabbits, being the term used in Norman law, for warren, although in some cases, like the “Coney-Garth,” at Bardney, or “Coney-Green,” at Edlington, it means, probably, the “King’s Enclosure.” Such names as “Steer Piece,” “Ewes Walk,” “Sheep-cote Lane” (i.e., Sheep Bank Lane,) and “Cow Legs,” speak for themselves. There is also the “Mill Field,” although there is no tradition of a mill having existed; possibly there may have been a mill in connection with the drainage. At the junction of the three roads, east of the village, the Roman “Trivium,” formerly stood, what to the rustic offender was no “trivial” matter, the village stocks, doubtless with the usually concomitant “whipping post.” These stood on what was called “The Town Mound,” which was levelled about the middle of the last century, and is now only represented by a triangular plot of sward.
Near the Witham, in a field south of the road to the ferry, the Rev. J. A. Penny, late vicar, found fragments of mediæval pottery, pieces of “puzzle jugs,” the neck of a “pilgrim’s bottle,” &c., all of which the late Sir Augustus Franks, of the British Museum, pronounced to be Cistercian ware, being only found where Cistercian houses have existed.
In the church of St. Andrew, Woodhall Spa, is a sepulchral stone, having a rather rudely-carved effigy of a lady, in the attitude of prayer, holding a book between her hands. This now supports the credence table, but it was taken from Stixwould priory, and is commonly supposed to have represented the Lady Prioress, or the Lady Lucia, the foundress; the latter, however, was buried at Spalding, and would therefore hardly have an effigy at Stixwould.
Stourton.
Stourton, called Stourton Magna, or Great Stourton, to distinguish it from Stourton Parva, the hamlet included in Baumber, is rather more than a mile, northward, beyond Baumber, and five miles from Horncastle. This was formerly the property, a sheep-walk, of the Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Mary, of Tupholme, founded by Robert de Nova Villa or Nevill, in the twentieth year of Henry III. (“Liber Regis,” Bacon’s ed. 1786, p. 424). Dugdale states that he held the lands of the king in capite, from the time of the Conquest, with which he endowed that monastery. (“Monasticon,” vol. ii., 596.) Land in this parish was also granted by the Conqueror, to Eudo, son of Spirewick, the founder of the Tattershall family. He held five carucates, or about six hundred acres, beside a mill, and 190 acres of meadow. The powerful Bishop of Durham, William de Karilepho, who was Lord Chief Justice under the Conqueror, had also a grant of land in this parish, as also had Odo, Bishop of Baieaux, and his vassal, Ilbert, occupied one carucate, or 120 acres, with villeins, bordars, and socmen under him, occupying 480 more acres. The Saxon thane Grinchel also had here 360 acres, valued in King Edward’s time at 40s.
In the reign of Henry VIII. the family of Dighton, though of mercantile origin at Lincoln, ancestors having been mayors and sheriffs of that city, were landed proprietors in this neighbourhood, one of them, Thomas, residing at Waddingworth; but the head of the family was Robert Dighton, of Stourton Magna, he married Joyce, daughter and heiress of William St. Paul, of Snarford, which family became extinct on the death of Sir George St. Paul, Bart., in 1613. Robert of Stourton, along with members of the Heneage, Dymoke, Monson, Hussey, and very many other leading county families, took part in the Lincolnshire rising, to protest against the dissolution of the monasteries. A daughter of Thomas Dighton, of Stourton, married Edward Clinton, of Baumber, who subsequently became Earl of Lincoln. [209] The residence of the Dightons, traces of which still remain in the moats and mounds, was situated on land now belonging to W. H. Trafford, Esq., in what is now a grass field, about a mile to the west of the present Stourton Hall park and plantations, lying between the road, on the north, from Stourton Magna to Minting and Bardney, and, on the south, the main Baumber, or Horncastle and Lincoln, old Roman highway. It must have been a building of some considerable size; the moat, which enclosed nearly a square, the sides, just under 100 yards long, is distinctly traceable, the whole of the surface of the inclosure is covered with mounds or depressions; there is an apparent opening in the middle of the south-western side, and outside, to the south, are traces of a large stew-pond, E-shaped, in length thirty-six yards, by thirty broad, with a small pond, or reservoir behind it. A modern drain has been made on this south-west side, probably to draw the water off the moat, as these moats and ponds were periodically cleaned out. A footpath, forming a short cut between the above-named two roads, passes east of these remains, so that they can be easily approached and inspected. This path branches off from the Horncastle and Lincoln high road, at a gate nearly opposite some cottages named the “Hungrum Houses”. Sturton is believed to have been a Roman station. It is close to the old road from Horncastle to Caistor, both Roman towns.