Page:A History of Horncastle from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.djvu/214

Rh Over the buttress, on the east side:

The register dates from 1558. An entry records that on 22nd Nov., 1685, a "Briefe was read and published, for Saresden in Oxfordshire, for loss valued at £1,449. Granted June 14th, 1686." Another entry, under date 23rd Nov., 1685, is as follows: "Thomas Eresby of Revvesby maketh oath yt Theodosie, his daughter, who was buried in the churchyard upon Sunday last, was wound and wrapped up in woollen only, according to the late Act of Parliament, in yt case made." In explanation of this it may be stated that in 1677 British and Irish woollens were prohibited in France, which injured the woollen trade very much; and in the next year (1678) in order to encourage the trade at home, it was enacted by 29 Charles II., c. 3, that all persons, except those who died of the plague, should be buried in wool, under a penalty of £5. Another entry states that a collection was made, the amount not known, to afford relief, after the great fire in London, Sept., 1666.

The rectory, adjoining the church, stands in a large, well wooded garden. It is a good substantial residence, rebuilt by Archdeacon Goodenough in 1818-19, and much improved in 1855. In the entrance hall are two old prints of the church and rectory before their restoration, dated 1785. They were presented to the late rector, Rev. W. Sharpe, by Alfred Cobbett, Esq., and they are preserved as heirlooms by the rectors for the time being. The Rev. F. J. Williamson is the present rector, late of Lydgate. The Bishop of Manchester is patron of the benefice; the patronage of this, and several other benefices in this neighbourhood, formerly held by the Bishops of Carlisle, being transferred to the See of Manchester some years after its creation, in 1848.

The national school, built in 1840, is endowed with nearly an acre of land, given by Archdeacon Goodenough; it was considerably enlarged by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., in 1877. Some of the inhabitants are entitled to the benefits of the almshouses at Revesby. There is a navigable drain from the Witham, passing near the village, affording communication with New Bolingbroke and Boston. A former part of the parish is now included in the district of Wildmoor Fen.

In Liber Regis this parish is named "Marrow, alias Marym, alias Mareham in le Fen." It is called in Domesday Book Meringe (or the sea-ing, i.e. sea-meadow. Another form was Marum; the Revesby Charters, Nos. 47 and 48, mention a piece of land, near the boundary of Marum, called "Mare Furlong," and the grass (Psamma arenaria) which now grows on the sea banks is commonly called Marrum grass. All these names probably refer to the marish (Latin, mariscum), or marsh, character of the locality, caused by its proximity to the sea (le mer), which then came much nearer than it does now, and frequently flooded the land.

The manor was given by the Conqueror to the powerful Norman, Robert Despenser, who, as his name implies, was the King's High Steward. He was the ancestor of the Despensers, Earls of Gloucester, and he held 15 manors in