SOMERSBY.
Bright Somersby! the sometime summer haunt
Of Norsemen and of Dane, whose bards mayhap
Foretold—a nest of nightingales would come,
And trill their songs in shades of Holy Well;
Prophetic bards; for we have lived to see
Within your bounds a large-limbed race of men;
A long-lived race, and brimming o’er with song,
From lays of ancient Greece, and Roman eld,
To songs of Arthur’s knights, and England’s prime,
And modern verse, in graceful sonnet sung.
Each of the brood was clothed upon with song;
Yet some had stronger pinions than the rest;
And one there was, who for thy fame will long
Send pilgrims to thy cross in loving quest.
Mr. Caswell passed away in August, 1896, much valued and much missed by many friends who knew his worth.
A trace of the Saxon still survives in the name of a field, to the south of the town, and lately given to the town by the Lord of the Manor, which is called “The Wong.” This is an old Saxon word for “meadow.” In the “Ancient English Romance of Havelok the Dane” (Early English Text Society, London, 1868), we find in line 397, “Casteles and tunes, wodes and wonges,” i.e. castles and villages, woods and fields. In Stamford a back street, formerly in the suburbs, retains the name Wong street. In North Yorkshire is a hamlet named Wet-wang, and in our own neighbourhood, at Halton Holegate, near Spilsby, there is land called “The Wongs.”
Horncastle was the Roman station Banovallum, or fortress on the Bane, mentioned by the historian Ravennas. Fragments of the massive walls of the old castrum, or fort, can be distinctly traced by those who know where to look for them; but they need looking for, since, for the most part, they are hidden in the back premises of shops or residences, which face the street. Briefly stated, the western wall runs along the western boundary of the churchyard of the Parish Church, and may there be seen, as well as a fragment of it in a yard at the end of the road which passes north of the churchyard. It continued northward to within a few yards of the bridge over the northern branch of the canal. The southern wall runs almost parallel with the south branch of the canal, portions being visible at the back of the Grammar School, and at a corner of St. Mary’s square close to the churchyard. This runs eastward through various back premises, and may best be seen in a coalyard near the canal. At that point the eastern wall begins, and runs northward, passing under some houses, and yards, and under the High street, the most north-easterly point being found in a small yard at the back of the shop of Messrs. Carlton and Sons, Chemists, adjoining Dog Kennel yard; so called because Lord Fitz-Williams’ hounds were kennelled there when he hunted the South Wold country nearly a century ago. The northern wall runs through
back premises an the north of the Market place, and at the back of Mr. Overton’s and Mr. Lunn’s premises. In the fields on the south-west of the town, and beyond the south branch of the canal was formerly a maze, such as have been found at other Roman stations. [188a] This was named “Julian’s Bower,” and thought by Stukeley to be Roman, but the late Bishop Suffragan, E. Trollope, in a Paper read at Horncastle, June 3rd, 1858, [188b] pronounced it to be mediæval. In the Roman maze the youths played at “Tory Town;” and as this game was first taught by Ascanius, called also Iulus, the son of Æneas, from him it acquired the name “Julian.” [188c] At the west end of the town, in the angle between the roads leading to the railway station and Edlington, is a site called Maypole Hill. Here the boys and girls used to march in procession on May day, bearing flowers, “with wands called May-gads in their hands, enwreathed with cowslips,” and dance around the Maypole; a relic, as some authorities say, of the Roman Festival of the Floralia; [188d] others say it was a practice introduced by the Danish Vikings, with whom the Maypole, often a fixture, represented a sacred tree, around which councils were held and human sacrifices were offered. [188e] These games in Horncastle, Mr. Weir, in his History, [188f] says, were given up about 1780. Several Roman roads converge at Horncastle. The old Roman castle, says Leland, [188g] quoting an old mysterious chronicle, “Vortimer caused to be beten doune; and never sin was re-fortified; the which castel was first enstrengthened by Hors, Hengist’s brother.” The modern name, Horncastle, is the Saxon Hyrn-Ceaster, or “castle in a corner,” as it is placed in the angle formed by the two streams,
the Bain and the Waring. The word Hyrn, or Hurn, occurs at other places in the county, representing an angle or promontory, as well as a recess or bay.
To come to a later period, it appears, from Domesday Book, that Horncastle, at one time, had been the property of Editha, the wife of Edward the Confessor, but at the date of that Survey it belonged to King William himself. In the reign of Stephen it was the demesne of Adelias de Cundi, daughter and heiress of William de Chesney, Lord of Caenby and Glentham. On her death it reverted to the Crown, and the manor was bestowed by Henry II. on Gerbald de Escald, a Fleming. He was succeeded by his grandson, Gerard de Rhodes, during whose minority it was held, in trust, by Ranulph, Earl of Chester. Gerard was succeeded by his son Ralph de Rhodes, who, in the reign of Henry III., sold the manor to Walter Mauclerke, Bishop of Carlisle, and Treasurer of the Exchequer. This was afterwards confirmed by the King, who conferred upon the Bishop, by a succession of charters, various privilege’s and immunities, which tended to the growth and prosperity of the town. Among other powers bestowed upon the Bishop was the right to seize and try felons, and on the south-east of the parish there is a place, still called “Hangman’s Corner,” where criminals were executed by his order. The bishops long had a palace, their chief Residence, in Horncastle, which was situated at the rear of the Black Horse inn and the premises of Mr. Lunn, grocer. It was demolished in 1770. The manor continued their property till the reign of Ed. VI., when Bishop Aldrich sold it to Edward, Lord Clinton, who, however, was compelled by Queen Mary to re-convey it to the See of Carlisle, and the bishops continued lords of the manor till 1856, when it was transferred to the Bishop of Lincoln with the patronage of the benefice. The lease of this manor was held by Queen Elizabeth and her successor, James I., who assigned it to Sir Henry Clinton. This lease was held for nearly a century by Sir Joseph Banks and his family, ultimately passing to James Banks Stanhope, Esq., late of Revesby.
Of the Church not a great deal need be said. It was thoroughly restored in 1864, at a cost of £4,000, and is now in an excellent condition. The east window is almost a copy, on an enlarged scale, of the east window of Haltham church, in this neighbourhood. It exhibits, in stained glass, events in the life of the Saviour;
beneath it is a carved reredos of Caen stone, the central subject of the sculpture being the agony in the garden, with figures of the four Evangelists, two on each side. The organ is a costly and very fine instrument, mainly due to the liberality of the late Henry James Fielding. In the north aisle is a brass of Sir Lionel Dymoke, in armour, kneeling on a cushion; on either side are two shields, and beneath, figures of two sons and three daughters. His hands are placed together as in prayer, and from his left elbow issues a scroll, with the inscription, “Sc’ta trinitas unus deus miserere nob.” The shields display the arms of Dymoke, Waterton, Marmyon, Hebden, and Haydon. The antiquarian, Gervase Holles, gives, from the Harleian MSS., several other inscriptions, which no longer exist, but which are found in Weir’s “History of Horncastle.” Near this, attached to the wall above the north-east door, and on each side of the arch between the aisle and chancel, are some rude weapons of war in the shape of long knives, or scythes, supposed to have been used at the Winceby fight, when it is known that the troops of the Royalists were very badly armed. [190] There are several memorial tablets on the walls. In the floor of the south aisle, towards the east end, is the tombstone of Sarah Sellwood, wife of Henry Sellwood, Esq., and mother-in-law of Lord Tennyson, the Poet Laureate. She died Sept. 30th, 1816. The roof is of Spanish chestnut, which was formerly completely hidden by a flat plaster ceiling. On the north wall of the chancel, over the north-east door, is a tablet to the memory of Sir Ingram Hopton, who, after unhorsing Cromwell, was himself slain at the battle of Winceby, the date of which is there wrongly given as “October 6th, a.d. 1643,” whereas the fight really took place on October 11th. Cromwell is also there designated as “the arch rebel,” whereas at that time he was