49 LINGEN (B.b.)

(O.S. 6 in. VI, S.W.)

Lingen is a parish 8 m. N.N.E. of Kington. Lingen Castle and the remains of Limebrook Priory are the principal monuments.

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Michael stands near the middle of the parish. It was entirely re-built in 1890–91, with the exception of the West Tower, which is perhaps of the 16th or 17th century.

Architectural Description—The West Tower (9 ft. by 10 ft.) is of local rubble and of two stages with a modern roof. The ground-stage has a modern doorway in the E. wall and a modern W. window. The second stage has a loop-light in the N., S. and W. walls.

The Roof of the nave is modern, but incorporates one old chamfered tie-beam.

Fittings—Bells: two and a sanctus; 1st, uninscribed; 2nd inscribed "Sancta Maria ora pro nobis," both 14th-century; sanctus, inaccessible. Communion Table: with turned legs and shaped brackets to top rails, early to mid 17th-century. Font: octagonal bowl with moulded upper and lower edge, plain stem and moulded base, 13th-century. Monument: In chancel—on N. wall, to John Downes, 1687, stone tablet with scrolled frame, cherub-head, scrolled and broken pediment and shield-of-arms. Piscina: In chancel—recess with moulded jambs and trefoiled head, 13th-century, sill modern. Plate: includes cup and cover-paten (Plate 60), no doubt of 1571, the date on the paten, band of engraved ornament round bowl, also a pewter plate with the initials and date C.C.W. 1694. Seating: In nave—nineteen pews, with moulded rails, early 16th-century, with some modern work.

Condition—Rebuilt.

Secular

(2). Lingen Castle (Plan, p. xxviii), mount and bailey earthwork, immediately N. of the church, consists of a roughly circular motte with a bailey on the W. side. The motte is about 63 ft. in diameter at the top and rises about 22 ft. above the bottom of the dry ditch. The bailey is roughly square in shape and has remains of an inner rampart and traces of a ditch on the S. and W.

Condition—Bad, motte much damaged on S. side.

(3). Limebrook Priory, ruins in the S.E. angle of the parish, nearly 1 m. S.E. of the church. A nunnery was founded here in or before the reign of Richard I either by Robert de Lingen or by one of the Mortimers. There is some confusion as to the order to which it belonged, but undoubtedly in the time of Bishop Booth, 1516–35, it was tenanted by Austin Nuns (Reg. Booth, p. 241) and subsisted until the general suppression of the monasteries. The remains now consist of a single ruined building (41 ft. by 22½ ft.) lying E. and W. The walls are of local sandstone rubble, but nearly all the dressings have been removed. It would appear to date from the 13th century and has, in the S. wall, three single-light windows and the remains of a doorway. One jamb of a second doorway remains in the N. wall, but most of this and the E. wall have been destroyed. There appears to have been an inserted cross-wall in this building. It is quite impossible to determine to what part of the priory this building belonged, as although there are extensive foundation mounds in the field to the E. they give little or no indication of the general arrangement. (See also Mon. 4.)

Condition—Bad, ruins much overgrown.

(4). Limebrook Cottage and barn, 60 yards N.N.W. of (3). The Cottage is of two storeys, timber-framed and plastered; the roofs are slate-covered. It-was built probably in the 16th century largely from materials from the priory. These include 15th and early 16th-century moulded beams and a doorway with moulded jambs and a triangular arch in a square head. The string of the staircase is a re-used barge-board carved with running vine-ornament.

The Barn, W. of the house, is of the 17th-century, timber-framed and of three bays.

Condition—Good.

Monuments (5–12)

The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of the 17th century and of two storeys, timber-framed, and with slate or tile-covered roofs. All of the buildings have exposed external framing and internal ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good or fairly good, unless noted.

(5). Limebrook Mill, 110 yards N.E. of (4), was built late in the 16th or early in the 17th century. Later in the 17th century a higher extension was added to the N. and late in the same century the E. wing was built.

(6). Cottage, two tenements on the E. side of the road, 230 yards S. of the church, has been heightened.

(7). Cottage, now shed, on the W. side of the road, 30 yards S.W. of (6).

Condition—Bad.

(8). House, 150 yards S. of the church, has been completely altered except for the S. wing.

(9). Court House Farm, house, 80 yards S. of the church, is of L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the W. and S. The W. wing was built late in the 16th century, and the S. wing added early in the following century and subsequently extended towards the S.

(10). House, four tenements and shop, 100 yards W.N.W. of the church. The middle part of the range is of late 16th-century date with an early 17th-century extension on the E. and a late 17th-century extension on the W.; the latter has a thatched roof. Inside the building, the original part has moulded and chamfered ceiling-beams.

(11). Turn Farm, house (Plate 36), 220 yards W. of the church, was built probably in the 16th-century and has a thatched roof.

(12). Old Shop, cottage, on the S. side of the road, ½ m. W. of the church, has a thatched roof.

Condition—Poor.

Unclassified

(13). Mound (Plan, p. xxviii), 1,200 yards N.N.E. of the church, called Tumulus on the O.S. and locally known as the Churchyard, is roughly circular with traces of a bank. It is surrounded by a dry ditch except on the N., where there is a deep gully and a stream. It is approached by a slanting causeway on the S., and on the E. are traces of what may have been a small outer enclosure. The mound has a diameter of about 125 ft. at the top, and it rises at most about 11½ ft. above the surrounding ditch.

Condition—Fairly good.

(14). Lynchets in two fields, S. and S.E. of Archer's Ford and 600 yards S.W. of the church. The first series consists of six terraces extending for about 140 yards on either side of a central hedge, N.W. of which there are only five terraces; their width varies from 23 to 44 ft. The second system, about 18 yards further W., consists of only two terraces, both about 55 ft. wide and extending for about 86 yards.

Condition—Fairly good.

Little Hereford, see Hereford, Little. Lower Harpton, see Harpton, Lower.