GREAT CASTERTON
Castretone (xi cent.); Brigcasturton, Brygg Castreton, Briggecasterton (xiii, xiv cent.); Magna Casterton
(xv cent.); Bridgecasterton (xvi cent.).
Great Casterton is a parish situated about 2½ miles
north-west of Stamford, on the borders of Lincolnshire. The soil is inferior Oolite, producing cereals
and roots. There is also some pasture. The
village lies on the east and west sides of Ermine
Street just above the Gwash. A line of thatched
cottages nearly opposite the church, and just north
of the Crown Inn, presents a picturesque view when
approached from Stamford. Directly to the northeast of the church are the earthworks which mark
the site of the Roman camp from which the parish
derives its name, (fn. 1) and a stone bridge of two arches,
which carries Ermine Street over the river, may have
been the origin of the name Bridge Casterton. A
group of cottages towards the north of the village and
opposite the present post office is known as Little Gate.
Stamford is the nearest station, on the Stamford and
Essendine branch of the London and North Eastern
Railway. About a mile and a half to the north is
the moated site of the ancient manor house or castle
of Woodhead, (fn. 2) which was probably visited by
Edward I in 1290. (fn. 3) No remains of the house exist
and it was stated in 1543 to be in ruins: 'The manor
there hath heretofore been a proper house standing
upon high ground and wholesome soil, moated round
about . . . and the said manor house or place is
now in great ruin and decay.' (fn. 4)
Manors
GREAT or BRIDGE CASTERTON
belonged to Earl Morcar before the Conquest, but in 1086 Hugh Fitz Baldric held
it of the king at farm. It comprised 3½ hides and included a mill, 16 acres of meadow and a spinney.
Immediately after this entry the Survey mentions
Portland, where the king held two carucates and twothirds in demesne. It would, therefore, seem that
this place had some connection with Casterton, but
in what way is not apparent, nor has the location of
Portland been identified. (fn. 5) Great Casterton was
afterwards held of the Crown in ancient demesne
as of the Honour of Lancaster, which was granted by
Henry III to his son, Edmund Crouchback, in 1267. (fn. 6)
Henry, Earl of Lancaster, Edmund's grandson, was
created Duke of Lancaster in 1351, and the Honour
descended with the Duchy until Henry Bolingbroke,
Duke of Lancaster, ascended the throne as Henry IV,
when it became vested in the Crown. (fn. 7)
Grelley. Gules three bends enhanced or.
Browe. Gules a cheveron argent with three roses gules thereon.
The vill of Great Casterton and manor of WOODHEAD (Wodehead, Wodeheved, xiii, xivcent.; Wodehed,
xv cent.) belonged to William Fitzwilliam, Constable
of Chester, whose sister and co-heir Maud married
Albert de Gresle or Grelley before the death of his
father, Robert de Grelley, in 1154. Their son Albert
succeeded and married Isabel Bassett. He died
in 1180, leaving a son Robert, who came of age
in 1194. Robert was one of the rebellious Northern
barons and his estates were confiscated, but were
eventually restored by Henry III in 1217. He married Margaret, daughter of Henry de Longchamp,
and died in 1230, leaving a
son Thomas, who saw much
military service and was twice
summoned to Parliament.
Thomas married as his second
wife Christine Ledet, widow
of Gerald de Furnival. His
eldest son Robert predeceased
him in 1261, and he was succeeded by his grandson Robert,
whose wardship went to Edmund, Duke of Lancaster. (fn. 8)
Edmund alienated it to friends
(familiares), whose neglect of the ward was the
subject of an inquiry in 1272. (fn. 9) Robert had
livery of his lands in 1275, (fn. 10) and before 1278
married Hawise, younger daughter and co-heir of
John de Burgh, who, after her husband's death in
1282, held Great Casterton in dower, (fn. 11) together with
11s. yearly called 'streyeld' for half a knight's fee,
rendering 10s. for the ward of Lancaster Castle. (fn. 12)
She died in 1299, when Thomas, her son, was aged 20.
He died without issue, after settling the manor on
his sister Joan and her husband John, son of Roger
de la Warre, for life, with remainder to John, son
of John, son of John, son of
Roger de la Warre. (fn. 13) John,
the husband of Joan, died in
1347, and was succeeded by
his grandson Roger, aged 18, (fn. 14)
whose brother John, on whom
the manor had been settled,
was presumably dead. Roger
was succeeded in 1370 by his
eldest son John, (fn. 15) but Great
Casterton or Woodhead was
inherited by his daughter
Joan, (fn. 16) and in 1392 she, with
her husband Thomas West,
granted the manor and advowson to Hugh Browe
of Cheshire. (fn. 17) In 1394 the manor was settled on Sir
Hugh Browe and Blanche his wife, with remainder
to Robert, son of Hugh, and his heirs. (fn. 18) John Browe
the elder, son of Hugh Browe, was acquiring lands
in Bridge Casterton early in the 15th century. (fn. 19)
Robert seems to have been in possession in 1415,
when he had lately conveyed the manor of Woodhead
and Bridge Casterton to his brother, John Browe the
elder and Robert Baylly, evidently for the purpose
of a settlement on himself and his wife Margaret
and his heirs male. (fn. 20) Robert Browe of Woodhead
was living in 1449, (fn. 21) and John Browe, probably his
son, settled Woodhead on his son and heir Thomas
in 1457, on his marriage with Isabel, daughter of
Robert Clifton. (fn. 22) Thomas died without heirs and
Isabel married Thomas Blount, to whom John Browe
sold the manor about 1460. (fn. 23) It was granted in
1486 to Sir William Hussey, Chief Justice. (fn. 24) He
died seised in 1495, leaving it to his widow Elizabeth
for life, with remainder to his three sons John,
William and Robert, and two daughters, Mary, wife
of William Willoughby, and Elizabeth. (fn. 25) In 1502
Sir Thomas West, Lord de la Warre, confirmed the
title of Dame Elizabeth Hussey. (fn. 26) Sir John Hussey
was attainted in 1536 for sharing in the rebellion in
Lincolnshire, and was executed in 1537, when the
manor reverted to the Crown. (fn. 27) In 1594 the manor
was leased to Sir Thomas Cecil, William his son,
and William Cecil, Lord Roos,
for their lives, (fn. 28) and in 1605
the reversion in fee was granted
to Thomas Lord Burleigh. It
has remained in the possession of his descendants, Earls
and Marquesses of Exeter,
down to the present day. (fn. 29)
Hussey. Or a cross vert.
Richard de Casterton was
holding lands in Bridge
Casterton in 1265 and Richard,
son of Geoffrey de Casterton,
a minor, held one-twentieth
of a knight's fee of Robert de Grelley in 1282
and 1305. (fn. 30)
The MAUVESYN MANOR was held by the
Mauvesyns of Ridware (co. Staff.) as a sub-manor.
In 1258 Robert Mauvesyn leased lands in Great
Casterton, except the dowries of his mother Maud
and his sister-in-law Alice, to Roger Crane for 9
years. (fn. 31) In the reign of Edward II, Henry, son of
Robert Mauvesyn, granted a messuage and croft of
2 acres in the vill of Casterton to William, son of
Peter de Casterton, and his wife Mabel for their
homage and service and 6s. rent, saving suit in the
Mauvesyns' court at Casterton twice yearly. (fn. 32) In
1314 Henry settled all his lands and apparently died
soon after, as Robert Mauvesyn was dealing with
the property in 1316. (fn. 33) Robert made various leases
in which the lessees were protected against the ward
of Lancaster, referred to as the 'Lancaster Penny.' (fn. 34)
He settled lands in Bridge Casterton on his son Hugh
and Felicia his wife, about 1335, with reversion to
his other sons, William, Thomas, John, Rees and
Henry, and his daughters Hilary and Isabel. (fn. 35) From
1338 to 1342 Hugh was dealing with various tenants. (fn. 36)
He died before 1366, when his widow Felicia granted
land for the term of her life to Henry Tokeby. (fn. 37)
In 1372 she acknowledged payment of a rent of 21s. 7d.
from the parson of the church of Bridge Casterton. (fn. 38)
Rees Mauvesyn granted the manor to Stephen
Mackeseye of Stamford
in 1394, (fn. 39) but after this date
no further reference has been
found, and it may have reverted to the mesne lords.
Mauvesyn. Gules three bends enhanced argent.
Two views of frankpledge
were held by Henry Duke of
Lancaster (d. 1361) in Great
Casterton. (fn. 40)
There was a mill attached
to the manor in 1086, worth
16s., and it was afterwards
granted by Robert Grelley to
the monastery of Swineshead. (fn. 41) A water mill is
mentioned in 1540 and again in 1598. (fn. 42)
Church
The church of ST. PETER AND
ST. PAUL stands at the south end of
the village on the west side of the Great
North Road and consists of chancel 27 ft. by 15 ft.,
clearstoried nave 33 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft., north and south
aisles 8 ft. wide, south porch, and engaged west tower
10 ft. 3 in. square, all these measurements being
internal. The width across nave and aisles is
41 ft. 6 in.
The east end and upper part of the side walls of
the chancel are faced with ashlar, but elsewhere the
building is of rubble, (fn. 43) plastered internally. All the
roofs are leaded and of low pitch, behind battlemented parapets: the parapets are continued along
the east gables of nave and chancel and the ends of
the aisles.
The greater part of the church as it exists to-day
belongs to the 13th century, but it has apparently
developed from a 12th-century building consisting
of an aisleless nave the same size as the present one,
the eastern angles of which still exist, (fn. 44) and a small
chancel. To this early building a north aisle of
two bays was added about 1250, and a little later a
corresponding south aisle was thrown out, the nave
extended westward about 14 ft. beyond the aisles,
and a clearstory added its full length. The chancel
was also rebuilt on its present plan, the old north
and south walls perhaps being retained at the west
end, and the porch added. All this work probably
extended over a number of years, the character of
the work in the south arcade and porch pointing to
c. 1280–90, while that of the north arcade would
appear to be some thirty or forty years earlier. There
is, however, a mingling of earlier and later forms in
arches, windows, and other features, which perhaps
indicates the use of the earlier forms late in the
century rather than a modification of the older work.
As completed at the end of the 13th century the
nave terminated with a bell-cote over the west gable,
slight indications of which remain, but in the 15th
century this was taken down and the present tower
erected within the western bay, carried on three sides
by new arches and reducing the nave to its present
length. At the same time, or shortly after, the church
was newly roofed, the walls of the chancel and porch
heightened, and the present battlemented parapets
erected, the building then assuming the aspect it has
since retained.
In the 18th or early years of the 19th century the
church was filled with box pews of deal and a west
gallery erected. The gallery was removed about 1894
and the pews in 1927. The chancel was restored
in 1930 when the floor was lowered to its original
level.
Plan of Great Casterton Church
The chancel is without buttresses and has a chamfered plinth along its east end and the eastern half
of the side walls; (fn. 45) there is also a string chamfered
on both edges along the eastern portion of the north
wall, the east end, and the whole length of the south
wall. In the east wall are two recessed and widely
spaced lancet windows, the moulded outer arches of
which spring from jambshafts with moulded bases
and foliated capitals whose abaci are continued as a
string along the wall, dying out at the angles. Above
the windows, filling the original gable, is a lancetshaped niche containing a figure probably intended
for St. Paul, (fn. 46) the outer moulded arch of which
appears to have been altered in the 15th century, when
the old high-pitched roof of the chancel was taken
down. In the south wall is a window of three graded
lancet lights with individual hood-moulds and farther
west a widely splayed single trefoiled lancet, the
lower part of which is blocked with plaster. There
is a similar though less widely splayed (fn. 47) lancet at
the west end of the north wall, the sill of which is
only 3 ft. above the ground; the rest of the north
wall is blank. The lateral windows have single
chamfered jambs, flat internal sills and chamfered
rear arches. (fn. 48) There are two plain aumbries on each
side of the chancel, (fn. 49) and under those in the south
wall traces of a piscina. The chancel arch is pointed
and of two chamfered orders with hood-mould, the
inner order springing from half-octagonal responds
with moulded capitals and bases. There are marks
of a screen and the bases and capitals are much
mutilated. The floor is flagged and the roof is of
four bays.
The nave arcades are of two bays with wide semicircular arches of two chamfered orders, with hoodmoulds on both sides, springing from half-round
responds and dividing cylindrical pillar, all with carved
capitals and circular moulded bases on square plinths.
In the north arcade the capitals have stiff-stalk foliage
and the bases are water-holding, that of the pillar
having a double hollow, but in the later
south arcade the foliage is more naturalistic, (fn. 50) the scroll moulding is used in the
abaci, and in the bases the hollow is
omitted. There is a head-stop to the
hood-mould on the south side only, over
the pillar.
Each aisle is lighted at the east end
by a lancet window, (fn. 51) the sills of which
are extended inside, and by a larger
pointed window in the north and south
walls, originally of three lights, the mullions of which have been removed and a
single one reaching to the head inserted.
These windows, which probably had plain
intersecting tracery, have hollow-chamfered jambs and hood-moulds with good
head-stops. They were placed near the
east end of the walls to give increased
light to the aisle altars, the piscinae of
which remain, that on the south aisle being
square headed with fluted bowl, the other (which is in
the north wall) trefoiled and its bowl mutilated. There
are also image brackets on either side of the east windows, those in the south aisle being carved, the others
rounded. The blocked north doorway is pointed and
apparently of a single chamfered order, with imposts
formed by the stringcourse which runs round the
north aisle at sill level. This string is chamfered on
both edges, but the corresponding one of the south
aisle is of later character and is continued round the
porch. In both aisles there is a diagonal buttress
at the east end. The pointed south doorway is of a
single chamfered order, with hood-mould, on moulded
imposts: the oak door has good 13th-century hinges. (fn. 52)
The porch doorway is of two chamfered orders, on
large half-round responds with carved capitals, that
on the east similar in character to the capital of the
south-east nave respond, the other with a mingling
of stiff-stalk and natural fructed oak foliage. The
porch has single-stage buttresses, and the original eaves
table now forms a string along the side walls about
8 ft. from the ground. Above this the later walling
is of ashlar, contemporary with the parapet. (fn. 53)
The 13th-century clearstory has three circular
windows on each side, two of which light the nave,
the westernmost window, on either side of the tower,
being now blocked. Originally the windows had
trefoiled cusping, but this now remains only in the
window north of the tower. The stone corbels of
the earlier nave roof remain in position at the level
of the sills of the clearstory windows. In the outlying
western portion of the nave, which covers the tower,
is a single lancet window (fn. 54) on the south side, the
internal splay of which is taken round the head in
semicircular form. The north side is blank, save
for the clearstory window already mentioned. A
pointed window of three lights with vertical tracery
was inserted in the west wall when the tower was
erected, but this is now blocked, the blocking being
pierced at the bottom by a small square-headed
opening.
The tower is carried on lofty arches on the north,
south and east sides and has a staircase on the north
formed in the nave wall at its junction with the
aisle. The inner chamfered order of the arches rests
on half-octagonal responds with battlemented capitals
and moulded bases, the outer hollow chamfered
order being continued to the ground. Above the
arches is a ribbed vault with large circular well-hole
and a shield in each of the four angles, one of which
(south-east) is blank; the others have the arms of
Browe (north-east), Quarterly, 1 and 4 Browe, 2
Warren, 3 Folville, with crest (north-west), and
Browe impaling Warren (south-west). (fn. 55) The lower
part of the east arch, towards the nave, is closed by
an 18th-century partition, with doorway, the upper
part being plastered and containing the Royal Arms
of George II. (fn. 56) The lateral arches remain open. (fn. 57)
The pointed bell-chamber windows are of two trefoiled
lights with quatrefoil in the head, and the tower
finishes with a battlemented parapet with a small
gargoyle at each angle, and tall crocketed pinnacles. (fn. 58)
The rectangular unmounted font stands on a
chamfered plinth and may be of late 12th- or early
13th-century date. Each of its sides is covered with
an incised pattern of diagonal lines in four panels.
It has a modern flat oak cover. (fn. 59)
The 18th-century pulpit is of painted deal, with
fluted pilasters and canopy with dentilled cornice.
A stone altar was erected in 1931 and the balustraded
altar rails moved westward to the entrance of the
chancel.
In the south aisle wall is a 13th-century tomb
recess with moulded two-centred arch on short
jambshafts with foliated capitals and moulded
bases, below which is the freestone effigy of a priest
in eucharistic vestments. On the outside of the
same wall, but a little farther east, there is another
recess of the same character, with projecting canopy,
containing a blocked effigy, the head and feet alone
being represented. (fn. 60)
There are remains of painted wall decorations at
the east end of the north aisle, the window splays
being covered with masonry lines and red five-lobed
flowers.
In the chancel is a tablet to Richard Lucas (d. 1827),
rector for 42 years, who built and endowed the church
at Pickworth. The glass in the east windows was
inserted in 1905 to the memory of James Atlay,
Bishop of Hereford (1868–95), and of his parents, his
father Henry Atlay having been rector of Great
Casterton 1827–61. On the exterior of the chancel
is a tablet to Vincent Wing (d. 1776). The stone
entrance gateway to the churchyard is a memorial
to those men of the parish who fell in the war of
1914–19.
There is a ring of five bells by Henry Penn of
Peterborough, 1718. (fn. 61)
The silver plate consists of an 18th-century cup
without date letter, and a paten of 1723–4, both given
by the Rev. Richard Lucas in 1802. There are also
two pewter plates and two pewter flagons.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) all
entries 1665–1753; (ii) baptisms and burials 1754–
1812; (iii) marriages 1754–1812.
Advowson
There was probably a church in
Great Casterton in the 11th century,
as a priest is recorded in the Domesday Survey (1086). Thomas de Grelley presented to
the rectory in 1235, (fn. 62) and the advowson has always
followed the descent of the manor of Woodhead (q.v.).
A free chapel at Woodhead is recorded in 1286–7,
when John de Casterton was presented to the chapel
by Hawise, widow of Sir Robert Grelley, who held
it in dower. (fn. 63) The endowment consisted of two
parts of the tithe of the demesne of Woodhead
Manor, with a bovate of land, a toft and a croft. A
pension of one mark was paid to the Abbot and Convent of Sees in Normandy, certainly up to 1428, (fn. 64)
when probably it ceased as a payment to an alien
priory during the war with France. The free chapel
of the manor of Woodhead is included in the conveyance of the manor by Robert Browe to his brother
John in 1415, (fn. 65) but there is no mention of the chapel
in the 16th century, and no remains are now in existence. The leper hospital of St. Margaret without
the town is mentioned in the 14th century. (fn. 66)
Charities
Church Lands.—By decree of a
commission of the Court of Chancery
in 1688 it was adjudged that several
pieces of arable land containing approximately 12 acres
had been anciently given for the repairs of the parish
church and for providing the necessary utensils
thereof. The land is now let at an annual rent of
£20 and the net income is paid to the church restoration fund by the rector and churchwardens.
Sussanna Woods, by her will dated 5 January 1818,
gave to the minister and churchwardens £100 to
apply the income as to three-fifths to be laid out in
bread and given yearly in the church on St. Thomas's
day to the poor, and the remaining two-fifths to be
paid yearly on the same day to the choir of singers
belonging to the church with a proviso that in case
there shall be no singers the whole of the income to
be laid out in bread. By an order of the Charity
Commissioners dated 2 March 1897, it was directed
that so long as there shall be a choir of singers the
two-fifths part shall constitute the endowment of the
Ecclesiastical Charity of Sussanna Woods, the trustees
of which shall be the rector and churchwardens, and
that the remainder shall constitute the endowment
of the Eleemosynary Charity of Sussanna Woods, the
trustees of which shall be the rector and two trustees
to be appointed by the Parish Council. The endow
ment of the two charities consists of a sum of £100
2½ per cent. Consols standing in private names, and
the income is distributed in accordance with the
original trusts.
William Hollis, by his will proved at Leicester on
12 March 1868, bequeathed to the rector and
churchwardens £30 upon trust to apply the income
annually upon Christmas Day unto and amongst
the most deserving poor of the parish. The endowment now consists of £28 15s. 6d. 2½ per cent. Consols
held by the Official Trustees and producing in dividends 14s. 4d. per annum. The income is distributed
in gifts of bread and coal.