Crowle Church as described in The History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme, Stonehouse
THE CHURCH,
DEDICATED to St. Oswald, which is of Saxon origin, contains at the west end some remains of the original fabric. There is a very ancient doorway, formed by a large stone, resting on two other large stones, having on one side, some grotesque figures, carved in a very rude manner; and on the other side, next the present belfry, a wreathed pattern is carved; and above this stone circular. arch, filled up with small square stones, very neatly put together in, the diamond pattern. This I conceive to be a remnant of the pure Saxon architecture and to have been the principal entrance to the Church before the steeple was erected. The illuminated letter A, at the beginning of this chapter conveys a correct representation of this curious piece f antiquity on the west side; and the woodcut below gives a facsimile of the figures on the east side. The Saxon part of the building may still be discretely traced by the masonry. The stones are all square and of the same size and are a different sort of stone from the other parts. This is very plain at the west end above the ancient doorway before alluded to.
On the south side, the walls seem to hare been pulled down*, and the old Saxon
[* The commencement of the twelfth’ century is generally considered as the era most prolific in the erection of churches. The edifices that had been raised in the days of Edgar and Edward, and other pious princes, were in a great measure pulled down, and rebuilt on a more substantial and enlarged plan. The religious of every order enjoying peace and prosperity displayed the most astonishing ardour in everything that might increase the splendour of divine worship.” Wainrights Topography of Strafford and Tickhill.]
Saxon materials used as far as they go; the remaining part having been finished with Roche Abbey stones, well wrought, but of various dimensions*; The south door and the porch are as early as the time of Henry the Fiirst. It consists of one of those highly ornamental semicircular arches, which are scarcely, ever to be found at all in buildings of a later age. It is a very fine specimen of Norman Saxon architecture and the capitals of the pillars, are exactly of the same pattern as those in the clerestory of the nave of the Church of St. Trinite, at Caen, which was founded about the time of the Conquest.
Just above the principal windows of the Church, on the south side, the architecture of which belongs to the fourteenth century, is a very singular line of heads, similar to a string course, only they are carved on separate stones,
and inserted in the wall alternately with plain stones, as represented in the woodcut below. On the same side, above this stringcourse, is an elegant clerestory of three windows. The north aisle has been rebuilt, and the arches destroyed, for the purpose of erecting a gallery, in the year 1792, on the old pillars, which are circular, and sufficiently indicate the age to which they belong. Between the body of the Church and the chancel, there still remains a small portion of a very handsome screen, the same pattern as that in Althorpe Church. The ancient stone staircase to the rood-loft is through a buttress on the north side and now leads to a singing gallery*. The tower is built of good ashlar stone and has a beautiful window, which shows the transition from the Saxon to the Norman style of architecture, though the ornamental part of the work is somewhat decayed. I should conjecture, from the present appearance of the Church, that the original Saxon building consisted of a nave, north aisle, and chancel; that the tower and south doorway were afterwards built by the Abbots of Selby when they rebuilt the south wall.
[* At the north end of the screen, in many old churches, the entrance of a small staircase seems worthy of attention. This leads up to a door at a moderate height from the pavement. At this door was the entrance to the pulpit or rood loft, as appears from the following rubrics. ” Incepta vero ultima oralione ante epistolam subdiaconus, per medium chori ad legendum epistolam, in puipitum accedat.” ” Quando ejnstola legitur duo pueri in superpelciis, facta inctinutione ad altare ante gra dum chori in pulpitum, per medium chori ad gradale incipiendum se preparant ad suum veraum cantandum.” There is also another for reading the gospel, to the north, in the same place, by the deacon, attended by the sub-deacon, who holds the book: as also by two clerks bearing candles, with a third, having the thuribulum. As it would be impossible for so many to perform their duty with propriety, circumscribed in the narrow limits of the present pulpit, it is natural to conclude that the pulpit and the rood loft were one and the same place, particularly as the rood loft was placed immediately over the screen, as is manifest from the will of Henry the Sixth. From this place the sermon was delivered, the curate being obliged to preach four times in the year, by an ecclesiastical constitution of Archbishop Peckham, in which this injunction is worth remarking, — ” Exponat po- puk vulgariter absque cujuslibet subtilitalis textura fantastica.” Antiquities of Churches. ‘]
A vicarage was endowed in this Church as early as the year 1288, as it is mentioned in Pope Nicholas’ valuation,
£ s. d.
Crule, Abbot de Selby, 16 0 0
Vicar, ejusdem, 4 0 0
And in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry the Eighth, the entry concerning the vicarage is as follows.
Dns. Thomas Holgyll, vicar, idm. ulta, x. ps.
p. x. c. et sinod, xiii. x.
Inde p. xma. xxix.
The sepulchral memorials in this Church are as follows.
Mary Johnson, wife of Thos. Johnson, jun. died in 1831. Also T. B. Johnson, son of John Johnson, died in 1813.
IN MEMORY OF THOMAS JOHNSON, WHO DIED IN 1790.
WILLIAM JOHNSON, DIED IN 1813.
SARAH JOHNSON, DIED IN 1826.
ALSO, JOHN JOHNSON, DIED IN 1808.
THOS. JOHNSON, DIED IN 1814.
SONS OF THE ABOVE THOMAS JOHNSON.
In memory of William Johnson, who departed this life the 8th day of June, 1813, aged 79 years.
Also Sarah Johnson, wife of the above, who departed this life the 30lh day of July, 1826, aged 84 years.
In memory of Thomas Johnson, who departed this life the sixth day of March, 1796, aged 66 years.
Also Thomas, son to the late Thomas Johnson above named, who departed this life the 27th day of September, 1809, aged 13 years.
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN JOHNSON, Esq.
LATE OF SANDTOFT GROVE,
WHO DIED ON THE 18th OF JUNE,
A. D. 1808,
AGED 53 YEARS.
ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF’
THOMAS BATTIE JOHNSON,
ESQUIRE,
ONLY SON OF THE ABOVE
NAMED JOHN JOHNSON,
WHO DIED ON THE 6th DAY OF APRIL,
A D. 1813,
AGED 30 YEARS .
TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY
OF THOMAS PEACOCK, ESQUIRE,
OF THIS PLACE,
WHO DIED REGRETTED BY HIS
RELATIVES AND FRIENDS
ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF JULY, 183?
AGED 64 YEARS.
AND OF THOMAS PEACOCK,
SON OF
THOMAS AND SARAH PEACOCK,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
JANUARY 1st, 1836,
AGED 8 YEARS.
THIS TABLET IS ERECTED
AS A
TRIBUTE OF AFFECTION,
BY HIS SURVIVING WIDOW.
NEAR THIS PLACE LIES
THE BODY OF
THOMAS LESTER, OF EASTOFT, ESQ*
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 26th DAY
OF NOVEMBER 17??
IN THE 32nd YEAR OF HIS AGE.
WHO WAS ONE OF THE BEST
OF HUSBANDS AND FATHERS,
LEAVING A DISCONSOLATE
WIDOW, DAUGHTER OF
JAMES STOVIN, OF THIS
PARISH, ESQ.
AS ALSO TWO YOUNG
CHILDREN, VIZ.—
THOMAS AND ANN.
Here lieth the body of Ann, daughter of William and Sarah Johnson, who departed this life the 9th day of July, 1785, aged 9 years.
Here lies the body of William Johnson, who departed this life April the 22nd, Anno Dom. 1725, aged 66 years.
Here lies the body of John, the son of William Johnson, who departed this life February the 29th, Anno. Dom. 1731, aged 43 years.
Here lies the body of Catherine Johnson, who departed this life July 23rd, 1723, aged 58.
Here lies the body of Thomas Johnson, sen. who departed this life, December the 16th, 1771, in the 75th year of his age.
Here also lieth Betty, the daughter of William and Sarah Johnson, who died February the 21st, 1772, aged 2 years.
Here lies the body of Jane Johnson, who departed this life the 18th of September, 1795, aged 58 years.
Here lies, in the grave of his dear wife formerly deceased, the body of Solomon Ashbourn, M. A. late vicar and patron of this vicarage, who died the 18th of January, in the year of our Lord’s Incarnation, 1711, and of his own age 67- And after his many years labours for the lasting happiness of the whole parish, he being dead, yet speaketh to such parishioners as are still under strong delusion and wickedness, In the words of Stephen, Acts 7, 51,
And after his many years labours for the lasting happiness of the whole parish, he being dead, yet speaketh to such parishioners as are still under strong delusion and wickedness, In the words of Stephen, Acts 7, 51, and and ot the Prophet Isaiah, 49. 4.
TO THE MEMORY OF
WILLIAM JOHN EGREMONT,
SON OF THE
REV. GODFREY AND MARIA FRANCES
EGREMONT,
LATE MIDSHIPMAN ON BOARD
HIS MAJESTY’S FRIGATE
SALDANHA,
COMMANDED
BY THE HON. WILLIAM PAKENHAM,
WHO, WITH
HIS CAPTAIN, BRAVE OFFICERS, AND CREW,
PERISHED,
BY THE SHIP BEING WRECKED
IN LOUGHSWILLY BAY,
N. E. COAST OF IRELAND, DEC, 4th, 1811,
IN THE 16th YEAR OF HIS AGE.
THIS TABLET
IS ERECTED BY
PARENTAL AFFECTION.
UNDERNEATH
LIE THE REMAINS OF ISABELLA,
WIDOW OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROYAL
WHO DIED ON THE 16TH APRIL 1804,
IN THE 35th YEAR OF HER AGE.
ALSO OF HARRIET THOMASINA CATTANEO,
WHO DIED ON THE 8th APRIL, 1809,
IN THE 27th YEAR OF HER AGE, DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE
HORACE CATTANEO, OF LEEDS, MERCHANT. Sacred to the memory of Jonathan Margrave, Gentleman, who died May 1st, 1835, in the 60th year of his age. George Mitchinson Johnson, aged 4 months, June 6th, 1829. Also,
Sacred to the memory of Jonathan Margrave, Gentleman, who died May 1st, 1835, in the 60th year of his age. George Mitchinson Johnson, aged 4 months, June 6th, 1829. Also,
George Mitchinson Johnson, aged 4 months, June 6th, 1829. Also,
Also, Robert Johnson, aged 5 months. Lucy Allen, 1816. Here lies the body of Catherine, daughter of John Cowley, Gentleman, who died 3rd of November, 1742, 10 months old. Dedicated to the memory of Mathew Lee, Gentleman, eldest son of Tho mas H. Lee, Gentleman, of Ebford, Barton, Devon. J. P. died the 12th day of
Lucy Allen, 1816. Here lies the body of Catherine, daughter of John Cowley, Gentleman, who died 3rd of November, 1742, 10 months old. Dedicated to the memory of Mathew Lee, Gentleman, eldest son of Tho mas H. Lee, Gentleman, of Ebford, Barton, Devon. J. P. died the 12th day of
Here lies the body of Catherine, daughter of John Cowley, Gentleman, who died 3rd of November, 1742, 10 months old. Dedicated to the memory of Mathew Lee, Gentleman, eldest son of Tho mas H. Lee, Gentleman, of Ebford, Barton, Devon. J. P. died the 12th day of
Dedicated to the memory of Mathew Lee, Gentleman, eldest son of Tho mas H. Lee, Gentleman, of Ebford, Barton, Devon. J. P. died the 12th day of December, 1817, A. E. 40 years. Here lies the body of Elizabeth Johnson, wife of Thomas Johnson, of
Here lies the body of Elizabeth Johnson, wife of Thomas Johnson, of Croule, who departed this life, the 9th of April, 1789, aged 78 years. Here lies the body of Abraham, the son of John and Elizabeth Venney, who departed this life July the 26th, 1779, aged 18 years.
Here lies the body of Abraham, the son of John and Elizabeth Venney, who departed this life July the 26th, 1779, aged 18 years.
Here lies tlie body of Elizabeth Venney, who departed this life Decem ber the 24th, 1771, in the 38th year of her age.
Also, Betty Venney, daughter of the above, who departed this life the 17th day of February, 1825, in the 62nd year of her age.
Also, Ann Johnson, who departed this life the 21st day of February, 1825 aged 82 years.
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY
OF MARY JOHNSON,
WIDOW OF THE LATE
THOMAS JOHNSON,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
ON THE 29th DAY OF APRIL,
1831,
AGED 60 YEARS
Here lieth the body of John Venney, of the Levels, who departed this life the 19th of September, 1787, aged 61 years.
Also, Abraham his son.
LIBERTAS ET PROPRIETAS.
Here lieth interred the precious remains of George, Son and Heir apar-ent of Geo. Stovin, Esq. and Sarah his wife, daughter of James Empson, late of Goole, in the County of York, Gentleman.
He was ever dutiful to his parents, tender over his brother and sisters, and affable to all: well beloved, and a pattern of virtue to all young men.
He was, in February last entered a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn; but was gathered in the bloom of youth, into the bosom of his heavenly Father.
Natum An Dom: 1717 January 12th
Mortuum An. Dom: 1734, March 12th.
NEAR THIS PLACE
LIE INTERRED THE REMAINS OF ,
JOHN STOVIN WOODRUFF, ESQ.
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
THE 10th DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1795,
AGED 23 YEARS.
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED,
IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF A KIND PARENT,
BY HIS AFFECTIONATE SON.
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
GEORGE LISTER, OF GIRSBY HOUSE,
IN THIS COUNTY, ESQ.
WHO DIED AT TETLEY,
THE 22nd OF SEPTEMBER, 1797,
AGED 53 YEARS.
A TRIBUTE OF AFFECTION
TO THE MEMORY
OF CORNELIUS STOVIN, OF
HIRST PRIORY, IN THIS COUNTY, ESQ.
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
THE 21st DAY OF OCTOBER,
1814, AGED 76 YEARS.
NEAR THIS PLACE LIES INTERRED
THE BODY OF SUSANNAH STOVIN,
LATE WIFE OF CORNELIUS STOVIN OF
HIRST PRIORY IN THIS COUNTY, ESQ.
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 6th DAY OF SEPTEMBER,
1795, AGED 55 YEARS.
IN WHOSE MEMORY THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED.
Near this place lies the body of John Stovin, son of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, of Hirst Priory, in the Parish of Belton, who departed this life the 2nd of April, 1763, aged 1 year. Also, Cornelius, son of the said Cornelius and Susannah
Also, Cornelius, son of the said Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who de parted this life the 8th of October, 1763, aged 6 months. Also, lies interred, Cornelius, third son of Cornelius and Susannah
Also, lies interred, Cornelius, third son of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the 27th of June, 1768, aged 1 year and 8 months. Also, lies interred Mary, Ann, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Sto
Also, lies interred Mary, Ann, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the 3rd of February, 1770, aged 3 months. Also, lies interred, Harriet, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah
Also, lies interred, Harriet, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the third of June, 1778, aged 10 months. Here lies interred, Elizabeth Stovin, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the S$6lh of March, 1784, aged 13 years and 7 months.
THEY DIED IN JESUS AND ARE BLEST,
HOW SWEET THEIR SLUMBERS ARE:
FROM SUFFERING AND FROM SIN RELEASED,
AND FREED FROM EVERY SNARE.
IN MEMORY OF
MARY, THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF
CORNELIUS AND SUSANNAH STOVIN,
OF HIRST PRIORY,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 14tH
DAY OF DECEMBER, 1830.
AGED 56 YEARS.
IN MEMORY OF
SALLY BRUNYEE, DAUGHTER OF
NATHANIEL AND ANN BRUNYEE,
WAS BORN, MAY 23rd, 1814,
AND DEPARTED THIS LIFE,
DECEMBER 3rd, 1835.
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
SUSANNAH, THE ELDEST DAUGHTER OF
CORNELIUS AND SUSANNAH STOVIN,
OF HIRST PRIORY,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 25th DAY OF MARCH,
1831, AGED 70 YEARS.
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
ELIZABETH LISTER, WIDOW,
OF THE LATE,
GEORGE LISTER, ESQ.
OF GIRSBY HOUSE,
IN THIS COUNTY.
SHE WAS THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER
OF JAMES STOVIN, ESQ. OF REEDNESS,
IN THE COUNTY OF YORK,
BORN IN MAY, 1746, AND DIED AT DONCASTER,
THE FOURTH OF JANUARY, 1820.
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS LIGHFOOT ESQ
OF THIS, PLACE, WHO DIED
NOVEM BER 5, 1825,
AGED 37 YEARS AND 8 MONTHS.
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
ANN, THE WIFE
OF THOMAS LIGIITFOOT,
OF THIS PLACE,
BORN THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER,
1749, DIED JULY 5, 1821,
AGED 71
I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN, SAYING UNTO ME, WRITE,
BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN THE LORD.
REV. CHAP. 14, V. 13.
These memorials to the memory of his parents were erected by Thomas Lightfoot, Esq. their Son, who greatly honoured and highly respected them. After the dissolution of the religious
After the dissolution of the religious houses, the rectorial tithes were disposed of to laymen, and are now the property of R. P. Johnson, Esq. Temple, as the heir of Robert Popplewell. The Vicarage passed into the family of Ashbourne, who built the house in 1710, then into that of Egremont, who sold it lately to Mr. Duncombe, of Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
The following is a list of the Vicars, as far as can be ascertained from the records at Lincoln.
Presented by the Abbot of Selby.
Gulielmus de Northfolk
Gulielmus de Nichtegale 1304
Adam, the Son of Henry de Stretton in the Clay 1348
Rogerus Middleton exchanges with Stretton 1352
Johannes Southcave
John Bate exchanges with Southcave 1371
Adam Matsone exchanges with Bate 1380
William Marchalle Thomas de Belwode 1339
John de Westwode, presented by the Bishop, per lapsum,
Johannes Fletcher 1421
Johannes Hammond 1422
Johannes Plumber 1461
Thomas Grandsmore George Lasyng 1483
John Holdenby 1504
Thomas Metcalf 1506
William Ashton 1527 J
John Baulden
Thomas Graves 1604 presented by Thomas Graves of Kingston-upon- IIull, Alderman
Instituted on their own Petition.
Thomas Watkinson 1638
William Long 1664
John Ashbourne 1668
Solomon Ashbourne 1712
Edmund Shuttleworth 1715
William Fox 1721
Robert Pregion Hinton 1747
John Morton 1752
Joshua Gibson 1782
Godfrey Egremont 1798 This parish has the benefit of three Charities, one for the use of the poor, and two for the purposes of education. Thomas Walkwood surrendered five acres and twenty perches of land, lying in Ealand and
This parish has the benefit of three Charities, one for the use of the poor, and two for the purposes of education. Thomas Walkwood surrendered five acres and twenty perches of land, lying in Ealand and Croule field, with a messuage wherein he then dwelt, with the orchards, stables, and buildings thereto belonging, situated in the north end of Croule, with the appurtenances, to the Minister and Churchwardens of Croule for the time being, and their successors, for the use of the poor for ever. Likewise, the same Thomas Walkwood surrendered two acres one rood twenty perches of land, lying in Croule Field ; the yearly rent of the said land to be disposed of by the Minister and Churchwardens of Croule, for the time being, and by their successors, for the teaching and well educating of certain poor children of the said parish for ever, according to the discretion of the said Minister and Churchwardens.
Richard Brewer, of Gainsbrough, by his will bearing date 1687, left a messuage and farm house in Croule, with the arable land, meadow, and pasture, known by the name of the Town End Farm, to the Churchwardens, and their successors for ever ; the rents thereof to be employed for the learning of twenty poor children there, to read English, and to buy books for their use. Walkwood’s estate is now let for £15 per annum, and Brewer’s for ^§44. In the year 1313,
Walkwood’s estate is now let for £15 per annum, and Brewer’s for £44. In the year 1313,
In the year 1313, Croule obtained the benefit of an Act of Inclosure, in which the error of leaving the arable fields open was avoided. By this act, all encroachments on the commons and waste lands, which had been made for twenty years, were to remain. So much of the Yorkshire common allotted to the Lord of the Manor of Hatfield as should be equal, in the judgment of the Commissioners, to fifteen acres of the average value thereof, in lieu of his manorial rights in that part of the lordship. And the Lord of the Manor of Croule was to have one-twentieth part of all the residue of the commons, in lieu of his right. An allotment of lands was set out for the Rectorial and Vicarial tithes. On the Lincolnshire copyhold moors, each Copyholder, after the Lord of the Manor had received his twentieth part, had an allotment according to their respective rights and interests therein. The same method was pursued in the open fields. The commons and waste grounds in the several townships of
The commons and waste grounds in the several townships of Croule, Eastoft, and Eland, were to be allotted in severalty as follows : two-thirds to the Lord of the Manor, the Impropriator of the great tithes, the Vicar, and to the other Proprietors of messuages, cottages, and frontsteads, excepting certain lands and grounds commonly known by the name of the fishing grounds, and the Participants’ scotted lands ; and the other third amongst the proprietors of open field lands or ings ; but owners of estates at Eastoft are to have no share in the allotments of Croule and Ealand commons. The celebrated warping clause, which required another act to enable the Commissioners to cut drains to the Trent at Keadby, as I have before stated in the introductory chapter to this work, has produced the most beneficial effects on the low grounds in this district. About 1500 acres have been warped, at the expense of 4.25 per acre ; and when the whole is completed, above 2000 acres will have been brought into cultivation. A small decoy yet lingers on part of the common, which remains uncovered with warp, where a few wild fowl are occasionally taken, just sufficient to remind the modern sportsman what a diversion the ancient fowler found in these extensive and wild resorts of the feathered race ; and which now, by the ingenuity and labour of man, have been converted into a fertile and valuable soil, producing most abundant crops of grain, potatoes, and other vegetables. So different is the country now from what it was even in the latter part of the last century, when “the great bulk of the inhabitants knew no other kind of bread than that composed of horse beans and coarse flour*.”
“Agricolae prisei fortes parvoque beati.”
In the reign of Richard the Second, the ancient Market and Fairs were removed from Garthorpe to this place, on the petition of the Abbot of Selby.
One of the Keepers of the Game of the Hatfield Chase had a station at Croule. Croule presents the appearance of a very long straggling village rather than a town, though it contains a few houses of the better class. The streets and open Market Place are unpaved, and the shops are such as may be found in every other country village. There is a Society of Baptists, similar to that at West Butterwick. They have a small Chapel and burial ground, which contains a few sepulchral memorials of the family of Hind. * Wainwright.
Croule presents the appearance of a very long straggling village rather than a town, though it contains a few houses of the better class. The streets and open Market Place are unpaved, and the shops are such as may be found in every other country village. There is a Society of Baptists, similar to that at West Butterwick. They have a small Chapel and burial ground, which contains a few sepulchral memorials of the family of Hind.