Lincolnshire : with twenty-eight illustrations from photographs, two maps and two plans

Front matter

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Preface

T was not until several efforts had failed to in-

duce several well-qualified gentlemen long resident

in the county to write a ‘“ Little Guide ” to the great

county of ‘Lincolnshire, that I consented, perhaps rashly, to fill up the gap in this series.

My acquaintance with this vast shire, the most diversified in the whole of England, began more than half a century ago. Since that time my visits to different parts of the county have been fairly frequent, and sometimes of extended length. For the purposes of this little book, some of my personal knowledge of particular districts, which was getting time-worn, has been revived by excursions undertaken in 1913-15. But I dare not have attempted to cover the whole ground if I had not secured the generous and most kindly co-operation of the very two gentlemen who were most competent to give it, namely, the Rev. G. E. Jeans, vicar of Shorwell, Isle of Wight, and the Rev. J; Clare Hudson, vicar of Thornton, Horncastle. These two friends not only gave me excellent advice and information, but undertook the labour of reading the proof sheets. Mr Jeans, a well-known ripe scholar in several directions, is the author of Murray’s Handbook to Lincolnshire (published in 1888, 2nd ed. in 1903), admittedly the very best of that series.; his help cannot be exaggerated ; among other favours, he put at my disposal his very thorough manuscript

vil index volume, alphabetically arranged, of printed sources of information as to every parish and township in Lincolnshire. Mr Clare Hudson, for some time Prebendary of Asgarby, was co-editor of Lincolnshire Notes and Queries from 1888 to 1899; he has most kindly accompanied me on some of my recent excursions, giving me the full advantage of his wide local knowledge.

Several gentlemen, both clerical and lay, have recently supplied me with specific information as to the parishes with which they are connected, but as they have been individually thanked it would be an unnecessary trespass on restricted space to print their names. An exception, however, must be made with the Rev. John Blew, rector of Scotter, Gainsborough, from whom I received particular courtesy.

In the seventies of last century, when I paid repeated visits to the fascinating city of Lincoln, in order to consult the capitular muniments owing to the close connection between that Chapter and the leading churches of Derbyshire, special facilities were given me by the late Archbishop Benson, at that time Chancellor of Lincoln. I had also the good fortune to learn much at first hand as to the minster, city, and its surroundings from Bishops Mackenzie and Trollope, Precentor Venables, and Sir Charles Anderson. In later days, when enjoying the hospitality of the revered and saintly Bishop King, I learnt to appreciate the research of Dr Mansel Sympson, to whose books on Lincoln (1906), in Messrs Methuen’s series on “ Ancient Cities,” and on Lincolnshire (1913), in “Cambridge County Geographies,” I am much indebted in these pages.

The constant aim of this series of handy books, known as “ Little Guides,” ever since their first

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PREFACE inception in 1900, has been to produce small manuals, alphabetically arranged, dealing with counties as a whole, primarily for the benefit of visitors and tourists, but sufficiently accurate in their information to be appreciated in their outline accounts by residents. In a county of such magnitude, it has been found impossible to give even a brief paragraph to each parish, and upwards of 130 of the less important parishes have had to be relegated to an Appendix, with about a line or two apiece.

I can scarcely hope, even with the assistance of friends, to have escaped all errors or slips. I shall be grateful to anyone sending corrections to my private address.

J. CHARLES COX

Loneron AVENUE, SYDENHAM, S.E.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION :—

PAGE I, AREA, POPULATION, AND DIVISIONS . I ll. GENERAL PuHysicAL FEATURES AND

SURVEY ; 3