situated eleven miles to the eastward of Lincoln, at the junction of the turnpike roads leading from that city to Louth and Horncastle. It anciently formed part of the barony of Trusbut, from the last male heir of which family it was conveyed to the Manners, Dukes of Rutland; whence by marriage it came to George Villiers Duke of Buckingham, who obtained for the place a charter from Charles the Second, to hold a weekly market on Thursdays, and two annual fairs, which are now well frequented. Of the duke, in the year 1674, it was purchased by Sir Edmund Turnor, of Stoke Rochford, who erected and endowed here an almshouse for six clergymen's widows, and six other poor destitute persons. The chapel of this charity was consecrated by Bishop Gardiner, July 18th, 1697. Here is a free-school endowed with thirty pounds per annum for the master. It was founded in the year 1633, by William Hansard, Esq. The manor is possessed by Edmund Turnor, Esq. who has a seat in the parish of Panton, east of Wragby, called

PANTON HOUSE, which was built by Hawksmoor, a pupil of Sir John Vanbrugh's, in the year 1724. Since that time considerable additions have been made to it, from designs of Mr. Carr, architect at York, and the adjacent country has been greatly im proved by ornamental plantations. Among some portraits in the house is one of Sir Robert Cecil, K. G. Earl of Salisbury, by Zucchero, and one of Sir Cristopher Turnor, a baron of the Exchequer, by Lely. Two miles north of Wragby is

HALTON LODGE, a seat of the late Colonel Caldicot, in whose family the village of Halton has been vested for several generations.

At GOLTHO are the remains of GOLTHO HALL, which was formerly the residence of the Grantham family; and at BULLINGTON are some vestiges of a Priory, which was founded by Simon Fitzwilliam, but has not been mentioned by Speed or Tanner. In the

southern

southern corner of the Wapentake are the ruins of the once large and celebrated Abbey of

BARDNEY, which was situated in a marsh on the north banks of the Witham. It was founded in the time of the Saxons, before the year 647; to which Ethelred, King of Mercia, was a great benefactor. Resigning his crown, he turned monk, and was appointed the chief of this monastery. It is said to have had three hundred monks. Bede says that King Oswald was buried here, and had a rich banner of gold and purple placed over his tomb. But the remains of that king, except his right hand, were removed by his niece, Queen Ostrith, to the church of Glocester, A. D. 909. The hand was retained by the monks as a relique, to which they attributed a miraculous power, with the view of drawing to their house superstitious pilgrims. To sanction the imposture, for deception and falsehood are inseparable, they pretended it was incorruptible, and had remained sound for centuries. The monastery being burnt by the Danes, A. D. 870, Petrus Blesensis observes, it was rebuilt by Gilbert de Gaunt, “the noble and devout Earl of Lincoln," who bountifully annexed to it, besides other valuable possessions, the tythes of the whole of his extensive estates. William of Malmsbury attributes the restoration to Bishop Remigius, who filled it with Benedictine Monks, to the honour of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Oswald, King and Martyr. Its annual revenues, at the dissolution, were valued, according to Speed, at 4291. 7s.

GARTREE WAPENTAKE contains the parishes of Asterby, Baumber, Belshford, Cawkwell, Donington, Edlington, Goldsby, Hemingby, Ranby, Scamlesby, Stainton Market, Stennigot, Sturton. Bucknall, Dalderby, Gautby, Horsington, Kirby Super Baine, Kirkstead, Langton, Martin, Minting, Scrivelsby, Stixwould, Tattershall, Tattershall-Thorpe, Thornton Tumby, Waddingworth, Wispington, and Woodhall.

SCRIVELSBY

- SCRIVELSBY was anciently a place belonging to the Marmions*, from whom, by marriage, it came through the Ludlows into the family of the Dymocks. This manor was held by barony and grand serjeantry, viz. at the time of the coronation of a king, the lord of this manor, or, if he should be unable to attend, he was to provide a substitute, "well armed for war, upon a good war horse, into the presence of our lord the king; and shall then and there eause it to be proclaimed, That if any one shall say, that our lord the king has not a right to his crown and kingdom, he will be ready and prepared to defend, with his body, the right of the king and kingdom against him, and all others whatsoever." This manor came into the family of Dymock in the reign of Richard the Second, since which time the descendants have been hereditary champions of England. Leland says, "Dymokes dwelleth at Scrivelsby, two miles from Horncastle." The house was plain and antique, and in the hall were all the champions of England, and the kings, in whose reigns they lived, with three suits of armour. This part of the house having been burnt down, has never been rebuilt. In the church are brasses for Sir Robert Dymoke, Knt. and Bart. and a bust of Lewis Dymoke, who died in 1760, aged 91; and who was champion to Kings George the First and Second.

At WYNGALL, in South Kelsey, was an Alien Priory, or cell subordinate to the Abbey of Sees in Normandy; and at this village, in the mansion of her father, Sir William Askew, was born Anne Askew, who, according to Fuller, "went to heaven in a chariot of fire."

At

* One of this family is the hero of an interesting modern poem, by Walter Scott, entitled, "Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field." Lord Marmion, the fictitious hero of this poem, was an English knight of great rank and fortune in the reign of King Henry the Eighth. In Mr. Scott's work are some genealogical anecdotes of the families of Marmion and Dymock.

At KIRKSTEAD, on the banks of the Witham, once stood a CISTERTIAN ABBEY, which was founded A. D. 1139, by Hugh Fitz Eudo, second Lord of Tattershall, in the immediate vicinity. It was valued at the dissolution at 2861. 2s. 7d. annually; only a small part of a corner building, perhaps a tower, is left standing. The village of Kirkstead gave birth to that famous monk HUGH KIRKSTEAD, whom Fuller styles, "a Benedictine-CistertianBernadine Monk, or, as it may be termed, a treble refined Christian." For as a Benedictine monk was esteemed superior to a common Christian, so a Cistertian was considered purer than a Benedictine, and a Bernadine still more so than a Cistertian. So that this holy man must have formed the upper link in the chain of piety, or been at the very summit of monastic sanctity. He and Serlo, one of his own order, joining together, composed a Chronicle of the Cistertians, from their first arrival in England, A. D. 1131, when Walter de Espeke, founded their first abbey at Rivaulx, in Yorkshire, down to their own time, about A. D. 1210. The church at Kirkstead, is small and neat, originally the chapel of the monastery" was thatched." The living is a donative, extra episcopal, and formerly was served by ministers of the established church; but, in the latter end of the seventeenth century, Mr. Disney, in whose gift it was, being a Dissenter, gave it to a minister of his own persuasion; and left a further endowment of thirty pounds per annum, in the hands of dissenting trustees, to be paid to the person whom they should recommend to do the duty. The celebrated Dr. John Taylor, of Norwich, held it from about the year 1715, for eighteen years; and at this place composed his justly valued "Hebrew Concordance,” in two volumes, folio. It has ever since been held by other protestant dissenting ministers, who, Mr. Gough says, "bury by the established forms."

On an extensive marsh, about two miles from Kirkstead, stands what is called the Tower of Moor, or the Moor-Tower. It is a single octangular brick building, of a considerable height, with a winding staircase. Part of this is worn away, and the lower part

of

of the tower, on its south side, is in a ruinous condition. Various conjectures have been made, as to the age and intent of the building. There cannot be a doubt, that it was an advanced redoubt, or watch-tower, to Tattershall Castle, from which it is distant only four miles; and from the perfectly level country between, is completely seen from that important fortress.

TATTERSHALL,

Is a small market-town, situated on the river Bain, just before it joins the Witham. In the time of King William the Conqueror this place formed part of the possessions, which he granted to Eudo, one of his Norman followers, a descendant of whom built a stately castle here. The Fitz Eudos were barons of parliament; and, from the place, assumed the name of Tattershall. Robert Fitz Eudo obtained a grant from King John, by presenting that monarch with a well-trained Goshawk, for the inhabitants of this town to have the privilege of holding a market weekly on Fridays: and his son, in the time of Edward the Third, received the royal licence to erect a castle within his manor of Tattershall. But the present fortress was built by Sir Ralph Cromwell, who was made, by King Henry the Sixth, in A. D. 1433, Treasurer of the Exchequer. He died A. D. 1455. Henry the Seventh, in A. D. 1487, granted the castle and manor to Margaret Countess of Richmond, and the following year entailed them on the Duke of Richmond; who dying without issue, they were, by Henry the Eighth, granted by letters patent, in 1520, to the Duke of Suffolk. This grant was confirmed by Edward the Sixth, in 1547. Four years afterwards they were passed in fee, by the same monarch, to Edward Lord Clinton, afterwards Earl of Lincoln. Of this family, Edward and Francis died at Tattershall, about the year 1693. By marriage with an heiress of the Clintons, it is now in the possession of Lord Fortesque. The Castle stands on a level moor, and is surrounded by two great fosses, the outer one formed of earth, and the inner one faced with brick, ten feet deep. This is occasionally filled with water from

the