Part 17 (1/2)
Sa. an arming sworde pile in poynte arg
Empaled
Arg. 8 bulls pa.s.sant
G. on a chevron arg. 3 pomeis
Empaled
Arg. a fesse daunce betw. 3 talbots heades erased ca.
Arg. a fesse betw. 3 cooks sa.
Harleyan MS., No. 6829, pp. 179 to 182
The font is plain, octagonal, Early English. In the centre of the nave are two slabs, once having had bra.s.ses, but these are no longer _in situ_. Over the porch is a parvis, as a priest's chamber, or school.
The church has a clock and six bells. The curfew, or _ignitegium_, was rung down to within the last thirty years. Among the Rectors have been two poets, one of them the Laureate of his day (1718), the Rev. Laurence Eusden, who died in 1730. A man originally ”of some parts,” by inordinate flattery he obtained that distinction, which, however, invited criticism; and his mediocre abilities, accompanied by habits somewhat intemperate, provoked ridicule. Among other productions, he translated into Latin Lord Halifax's poem on ”The Battle of the Boyne.” Pope refers to him, in his ”Dunciad,” thus:-
Know, Eusden thirsts no more for sack or praise, He sleeps among the dull of ancient days; Safe, where no critics d---n, nor duns molest
Another writer says of him,
Eusden, a laurell'd bard, by fortune raised, By very few men read, by fewer praised;
while the Duke of Buckingham, describing, in a ”skit,” the contest for the Laureates.h.i.+p, says,
In rushed Eusden, and cryed, ”Who shall have it?
But I, the true Laureate, to whom the king gave it?”
Apollo begged pardon, and granted his claim, But vowed that till then he'd ne'er heard of his name.
John Dyer, born 1700, was a much more reputable person. He was educated at Westminster; began life as an itinerant artist, with a keen eye to the beauties of nature, when that taste was little cultivated. He was appointed to the rectory by Sir John Heathcote in 1752, and in 1755 to Kirkby-on-Bain, for which he exchanged Belchford, where he had formerly been. He was the author of ”Grongar Hill,” ”The Fleece,” and ”The Ruins of Rome.” He was honoured with a sonnet by Wordsworth; but his longer poems are somewhat wearisome reading.
The place-names in this parish indicate the condition of woodland and waste which formerly prevailed. Immediately south of the church and its surroundings we find the ”Ings,” or meadows, the Saxon term which we have noticed in several other parishes. Further off, we have ”Oaklands” farm, and ”Scrub-hill,” ”scrub” being an old Lincolns.h.i.+re word for a small wood; as we have, in the neighbourhood, 'Edlington Scrubs' and 'Roughton Scrubs.' ”Reedham,” another name, indicates a waste of mora.s.s.
”Toot-hill” might be a raised ground from which a watch, or look-out, was kept, in troublous times; and Dr. Oliver says, in his ”Religious Houses,”
Appendix, p. 166, ”'Taut' is a place of observation; 'Touter' is a watcher in hiding;” but it is more likely to be from the Saxon ”tot,” an eminence (”totian,” to rise), in which case the second syllable, ”hill,”
is only a later translation of the first. However, Toot-hill, Tothill, or Tooter's hill, are not uncommon in other parts, and are said to have been connected with the heathen wors.h.i.+p of Taith. Langworth Grange, in this parish, would probably be (as elsewhere) a corruption of Langwath, the long ford over some of the fenny stretches of water. The most peculiar place-name is ”Troy-wood.” It is possible that, as at Horncastle, this may have been a place where the youths gathered to play the old game of ”Troy town”; but is more likely of British origin, a remnant of the Fenland Grirvii. Troy Town is a hamlet near Dorchester, but there are several spots in Wales named Caer-troi, which means a bending, or tortuous town, a labyrinth, such as the Britons made with banks of turf.
We have now about done with Coningsby. We are welcome to enter the rectory, where we notice the large arch, already referred to, of the former refectory. Other objects of interest may be shewn us by the Rector, but we turn to the western window of the drawing-room to gaze upon a sight unparalleled. Not a mile away there rises up before us the stately structure of Tattershall Castle, ”the finest piece of brickwork in the kingdom”; and, close by, beneath, as it were, its sheltering wing, the collegiate church, almost, in its way, as grand an object.
_L'appet.i.t vient en mangeant_; and, as we devour the prospect, we hunger and thirst for a closer acquaintance with their attractions.
Leaving Coningsby, and proceeding westward, we reach the bridge which spans the Horncastle ca.n.a.l. Here we pause to turn round and take a look behind us eastward. The ma.s.sive tower of Coningsby rises far above the trees of the rectory precincts, themselves of a considerable height.
Looking along the ca.n.a.l, the eye rests upon a very Dutch-like scene; the sleepy waters of the so-called ”Navigation” fringed by tall elms growing on its southern margin, and on its northern by decaying willows, studding the meadows, which are richly verdant from the damp atmosphere which it engenders; a slowly-crawling barge or two might formerly have been seen, with horse and driver on the towing path; but they are now things of the past. The ca.n.a.l, on its opening in 1801, was expected to be a mine of wealth to the shareholder's, but, having been ruined by the railway, it is now disused; in parts silted up and only a bed of water plants; in other parts its banks have given way, and the bed is dry. Its only present utility is to add picturesqueness to a scene of still life.
Following the towing path westward, with the straggling street of Tattershall on the other side of the water, we reach what is called a ”staunch,” a weir, over which the surplus carnal water discharges itself into what was the original channel of the river Bain, {228} which, between Horncastle and here, has been more than once utilised to replenish the ca.n.a.l. Not far off, down this small stream, are some favourite haunts of the speckled trout; and beneath overhanging willows fine chub may be seen poising themselves in the water sleepily. We now leave the towing path and enter the main street, with church and castle close at hand to our left, but first we will go a hundred yards to the right, and make for the Marketplace. By the gift of ”a well-trained hawk,” Robert Fitz-Eudo, in 1201, obtained from King John a charter for holding a weekly market; and the shaft and broad base of the market cross, bearing the arms of Cromwell, Tateshall, and D'Eyncourt, with a modern subst.i.tute for the cross on the top, still exists. An old brick building, in a yard on the south side of the Market-place, now used for malting, is traditionally said to have been the original, and smaller, church, before the present one was erected in the 15th century.
As prefatory to our examination of both castle and church, we give here a brief notice of the owners of this barony, and the founder of both these erections. Among the Norman knights who accompanied the Conqueror in his great venture against Harold for the throne of England,-and we can hardly help reflecting on the vast deviation in the stream of English history which would have followed if that ”bow drawn at a venture” had not sent a shaft through the eye and brain of Harold at Hastings,-there were, as Camden tells us, {229a} two sworn brothers in arms, Eudo and Pinso, to whom William, as the reward of their prowess, a.s.signed certain territories, to be held by them in common, as they had themselves made common cause in has service. They subsequently divided these possessions, and the Barony of Tattershall, with Tattershall Thorpe and other appendages,-among them two-thirds of Woodhall,-fell to the share of Eudo. He was succeeded, in due course, by his son, Hugh Fitz-Eudo, surnamed Brito, or, the Breton; who, in 1139 founded a monastery for Cistercian monks at Kirkstead. The male line of this family continued for some eight generations. His grandson Philip died, when sheriff of the county, in 1200; his great grandson Robert married, first, Lady Mabel, eldest sister and co-heir of Hugh de Albini, {229b} 5th Earl of Suss.e.x and Arundel, represented now by the Dukes of Norfolk (Earls of Arundel), hereditary Earl-Marshals and Chief Butlers of England; and, secondly, a daughter of John de Grey. This Robert obtained, in 1231, permission from Hen. III. to rebuild the family residence of stone. As to this permission, it may be observed that castle-building had been carried on so extensively in the reign of Stephen, and the powerful barons, backed by their fortified residences, had proved themselves so formidable, that it was deemed politic to prevent further erections of this kind, except with the Royal licence. {229c} This would be the first substantially-fortified structure at this place, but of this building there is not now left one stone upon another; views, however, of the castle, drawn by Buck, in 1727, shew that there were then remaining extensive buildings, whose style would seen to correspond with the date of this licence. This Robert, having married two wives, who were heiresses, would be a wealthy and important personage; he died in 1249.
Two more Roberts succeeded in their turn; the second of them being summoned to Parliament, as 1st Baron de Tateshall, in 1297, died in the year following. On the death of his grandson, another Robert, and 3rd Baron, without issue, in 1305, the estates reverted to his three aunts, Emma, Joan, and Isabella, the second of whom, married to Robert de Driby, inherited Tattershall. Their two sons dying, the property again reverted to a female, viz., their daughter Alice, married to Sir William Bernak, Lord of Woodthorp, co. Lincoln, who died 1339. His son, Sir John Bernak, married Joan, daughter and co-heir of Robert, 2nd Baron Marmyon, who died 1345; and, on the death of his two sons, the property, for a third time, pa.s.sed to a female, in the person of his daughter Maude, who married Sir Ralph Cromwell. He was summoned to Parliament as Baron Cromwell in 1375, and died in 1398. His grandson, the 3rd Baron, also a Ralph, married Margaet, sister and co-heir of William, last Baron D'Eyncourt. These several marriages with heiresses had largely augmented the estates and wealth of the successive families, and this Ralph, being made Lord Treasurer in 1433 by Henry VI., levelled the older castle to the ground, and, having obtained the Royal licence to rebuild, he erected the present majestic pile in 1440, at a cost, as William of Worcester informs us, {230} of 4,000 marks. At this palatial residence, and in London, he lived in great state, his household consisting of 100 persons, and his suite, when he rode to London, commonly comprised 120 hors.e.m.e.n; his annual expenditure being 5,000. In a previous chapter we quoted a charge made upon Lord Clinton, when living at Tattershall, for 1,000 f.a.ggots. At Hurstmonceux Castle, a similar building to Tattershall, the oven is described by Dugdale (”Beauties of England-Suss.e.x,” p. 206) as being 14ft. long. In such a furnace the daily consumption of f.a.ggots would not be a trifle.
To speak here for a moment of building in brick. From the ordinarily unsightly character of brick structures it is usual to regard brick-building disparagingly, but we have only to go to Italy, the hereditary land of Art in various forms, to see edifices unsurpa.s.sed for beauty in the world, which are constructed wholly, or in part, of brick.
The Cathedral at Cremona, with its delicately-moulded Rose windows and its Torrazo, 400ft. in height; those of St. Pantaleone, Pavia; of the Broletto, Brescia; or the Ducal Palace at Mantua, with its rich windows; or the Palazzo dei Signori at Verona, with tower 300ft. high; not to mention more, are all splendid specimens of what can be achieved in brick. In England, nothing like these has ever been attempted; the only modern church of brick worth a mention is that of All Saints, Margaret Street, London, with its graceful spire. In the 15th century, and slightly earlier, a few substantial and finely-constructed erections of brick were made, of which one of the earliest, if not the earliest, was the magnificent Gate Tower of Layer Marney in Ess.e.x, built by the 1st Lord Marney, and for which he is said to have imported Italian workmen for the moulded bricks. Owing to his death the entire structure was not completed. But the gateway, flanked by two octagonal towers, each of eight stories; and the summit, chimneys and divisions of windows, with their varied mouldings, are a very fine piece of work. {231a} Another of these brick structures, of about the same date, was Torksey Castle, in our own county; another was Hurstmonceux Castle, in Suss.e.x, said by Dugdale {231b} to be the only one at all rivalling Tattershall; while, by a curious coincidence, its founder was Sir Roger de Fiennes, one of the family, which, at a later period, owned Tattershall.
As we stand before Tattershall Castle and gaze on its stately proportions, we cannot but feel that brick, properly, treated, can rival stone. What remains now is probably barely a third of what the building originally was, and stands, doubtless, on the site previously occupied by the Keep of the earlier castle. It is a type of a particular stage of construction, when the palace was superseding the grim feudal fortress, although retaining several of the warlike features. Besides an inner moat, completely surrounding the castle, there was also an outer one, protecting it on the north and west. {231c} Both these moats were supplied with water from the river Bain, and they had an inter-connection by a cut on the north side of the castle, close by which there was a small machicolated tower, probably connected with a drawbridge. On the s.p.a.ce between the moats were buildings detached, serving for barracks, guardrooms, etc., and one of these, now used as a barn, opposite the north-west angle of the castle, is still fairly perfect. The entrance to the inner castle court, on the north-east, was defended by a lofty gateway, with portcullis, and flanked by two turrets, which were still remaining when Buck's drawings were made, in 1727. This n.o.ble keep, in Treasurer Cromwell's time, had at least five groups of n.o.ble buildings about it; so that we can now hardly conceive the imposing appearance of the whole. What remains is 89ft. in length, by 67ft. in width, rising boldly into the air, slightly sloping inwards as it rises, to give a greater idea of height, until its turret parapets are found to be 112ft.
from the ground; while its ma.s.sive walls, the eastern one 16ft. thick at the base, are in keeping with its large proportions. The variety of outline in the well-set windows, the shadow-casting angle turrets, and the ma.s.sive machicolations, all serve to relieve the structure of monotony. The red bricks, too, are varied by having others of a dark grey tint introduced in reticulated patterns, which relieve without being obtrusive. As I have observed elsewhere, a geologist of experience states that both the bricks and the locally-termed grouting, or mortar, are alike made from local material. {232} The covered gallery on the summit of the keep, surrounded by battlements, pierced with windows, and partly pendent over the machicolations, though said to be unique in this country, is a feature not uncommon in France and Germany. The internal arrangement of four grand apartments, one above another, is similar to that of Kirkby Muxloe, but it is now difficult to a.s.sign to them their particular uses. Nothing remains of these apartments beyond their windows, three beautiful stone mantelpieces, and two or three ma.s.sive oak bauk-beams. Of one of the latter, now gone, the writer has a rather gruesome recollection. In the reckless hardihood of youth, there were few parts of the castle which were not reached by himself and his not less daring companions; and, in a moment of heedless adventure, on jackdaws' eggs intent, he walked across one of these beams from the eastern gallery to the western wall, with nothing but empty s.p.a.ce between him and the ground, 70 or 80 feet below. He performed this feat safely, but a few days afterwards the beam fell. At that time, in the forties, {233} three of the corner turrets had conical roofs covered with lead.
The writer's name was cut in the lead of the most inaccessible of these, as well as on several other places, still to be seen. The lead has been sold, and the roofs removed, long ago. Within these roofs was a complicated network of supporting beams, crossing and re-crossing each other, among which pigeons, and even owls, nested. A schoolfellow of the writer clambered up into one of these, bent on plunder, but the beams were too rotten to bear his weight, and he fell to the floor, some 15 or 18 feet, on to the hard bricks. No bones, fortunately, were broken, but he sustained such a shock that he was confined to his bed for some weeks.