Goxhill Church & Village History
The History of Goxhill and All Saints Church
An impressive church at Goxhill provides a great backdrop to some fascinating history.
A great church with a Knight Effigy too, don’t miss this one . . .
Goxhill sits close to the coast in the north of Lincolnshire, close to Thornton Abbey and Barrow Haven
My visit was in fact some time ago, back in 2009 in fact but remains memorable.
The church is impressive, dedicated to All Saints, and subject to a major restoration in 1878.
Quite a lot of the Norman stonework was re-used. The tower is striking given the size of the village and dates to the 1400s.
The inside is impressive, once again much restored but once again some stonework re-used.
The pulpit dates 1634 but of greater interest is the Wall Painting and the Knight Effigy - both shown here in the photographs.
The wall painting came to light in 1936 when the porch and vestry work was taking place. It dates, according to Pevsner, circa mid 1400s and is of the crucifixion.
It’s said to be the only complete wall painting in any church porch in England !
The Knight Effigy is cross legged, and no, this doesn’t mean he was a Knight Templar or that he fought in the Crusades, and is in the chancel.
The stone effigy is worn but clearly high quality carving, he has his legs crossed and is wearing surcoat and chain mail. Pevsner suggests a date around the second half of the 1300s.
English Heritage suggest later as does Arthur Mee who even offers a potential identity - Walter de Vere - I’d love to be able to get some more information on this and perhaps nail down who it is.
Turning the clock back to the Norman Conquest we find the village of Goxhill listed in the 1086 Domesday Book.
It’s listed as Golsa and Golse and before the damnable French turned up the land was held by these wonderfully named Anglo-Saxons Earl Morcar, Siward of Thistleton, Grim, Auti and Hugh.
The land was then given to Drogo of la BeuvriËre and the Bishop of Lincoln.
It’s in the ‘Yarborough Hundred’ and appears to be mainly ploughland and meadow, there’s no mention of a mil or indeed a church or priest.
Goxhill Priory I’ve written a separate article on this previously which can be seen here Goxhill Priory in Lincolnshire
Coming closer to today, there’s a great deal of wartime history in and around Goxhill, once again I’ve covered this separately here RAF Goxhill
Goxhill Church
I can’t find any evidence of heavy Roman activity in the area. There are reports of Roman, and some Saxon, pottery finds, shards only, they are minor and sporadic and too few to convince me of Romano-British settlement. I would be very keen to hear if there have been any metal finds in and around Goxhill from metal detectorists.
Goxhill Wall Painting
If you can add anything, from any date, for wartime history please see article linked below, relating to the history of Goxhill then please do leave a comment, likewise if you’ve any ideas or opinions on the identity of the Knight Effigy.
All the best
Rod
See Also: Goxhill Priory in Lincolnshire and Wartime Goxhill also As Far North as You Can Go!
Amiguru said,
January 14, 2013 @ 6:06 pm
Rod,
Since you ‘cleaned up’ the site and removed the ‘Choice Articles’ link, I can’t seem to find that list of all Lincolnshire churches with ‘done’ or ‘not done’ status. It was so useful in checking what you had covered. The category - Lincolnshire churches - simply takes us to the archive of ‘done’ articles; is there a new facility somewhere that I am missing?
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
January 14, 2013 @ 7:28 pm
Neville,
I’ve a note on my desk to add more links to the lincolnshire History page, that link you used at the top.
I’ve added more links now including the complete list you mention - my apologies and thanks for the tip off Neville
Regards,
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 14, 2013 @ 8:02 pm
Rod,
Many thanks for that; it’s invaluable in certain circumstances.
I’m currently writing up a comment for this thread……:)
regards,
Neville
Amiguru said,
January 14, 2013 @ 8:21 pm
Rod,
I am fortunate to have an original copy of that scarce book by John George Hall, entitled: “Notices of Lincolnshire being an historical and topographical account of some villages in the division of Lindsey. 1890”
The book, which consists of 29 articles which were previously published by the author in ‘The Eastern Daily News‘. Amazingly when I checked to see if he had covered Goxhill, I found that it was the very first article! His account of the village runs to seven pages so I shall quote selective extracts that relate specifically to the church.
[The will of] “PHILLIP LE DISPENSER Dated at GOUXHILL 1 August 1401”
After various instructions and bequests to relatives, the following occurs: “To Gouxhill Parish Church unum frontale de armis meis et armis Dom de Cobham &c.” - ‘…..a frontlet of my arms and the arms of the House of Cobham’.
“Bequests for masses in Gouxhill Church, and in the chapels in my manors of Gouxhill and Gedney”
“EXECUTORS - My son James Roos, John de la Laund, Henry Cusas, vicar of Gouxhill, and John Burdet, and Ralph de Gouxhill, my chaplains.
SUPERVISOR - My son John le Despenser.
my lands in Holderness and rents in Halton to my son Robert for life.”
“On the floor of the chancel, close to the north wall, is the effigy of a crusader in chain armour……..Tradition says it is that of Walter de Vere, who was lord of Goxhill in the time of Edward II.”
Hall then goes on to describe various memorial tablets and stones together with their inscriptions which I shall skip for now as they are of the 17th. and 18th. centuries and refer to the Skyner, Wentworth and Hildyard families.
“The old pews, which were removed at the restoration, had on them this inscription:- ‘John Slack, vicar 1736 & 7, Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing in our heart to beautify the house of the Lord. 1 Esdras vii, 27 — 1736 And they finished these things by the commandment of the Lord God of Israel, and with the consent of Richard, Lord Bishop of Lincoln in the x year of the reign of George the IInd, 1737”
“The walls of the church had been decorated profusely with mediaeval mural paintings, and during the process of restoration, beneath the coats of whitewash and plaster, they were exposed to view. Some were in a good state of preservation, and the old English characters quite legible.The twelve tribes of Israel were emblematically represented, each painting having an appropriate verse, and being surrounded by beautifully executed scroll work.
There are four bells in the steeple, with the following inscriptions in black letter:-
(1) “1736″
(2) “Glory be to God on high - 1624″
(3) “Gloria in Excelsis Deo - 1715″
(4) “Fear God; Honour the King - 1666”
His comment regarding ‘the Crusader’ were obviously of the contemporarily held opinion. He does reveal though that the wall paintings were uncovered in the early 18th.C. which are probably right given the evidence of the date of his publication and the inscription on the former pews.
Hope all this helps and I’ll give the grave-slab inscriptions if anyone needs them in a later comment.
Regards,
Neville
V said,
January 14, 2013 @ 9:37 pm
Nothing short of superb Neville.
Ty and Welcome back
Rod said,
January 15, 2013 @ 7:37 am
Neville,
this is absolutely superb, a lot of work and many thanks indeed.
The earlier date on the Wall Painting is welcome, clearly it was known of earlier than the EH date of ‘discovery’ - nice to know it wasn’t ‘lost’ for that long.
It looks as though the idea of the knight being Walter de Vere goes back some way, I wonder whether it’s just local lore or whether there’s evidential substance to the tradition
Best
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 15, 2013 @ 12:22 pm
Veronica,
Many thanks for your kind comment and I must say it is good to back in the stable - it was almost like an amputation, or worse, being ‘disconnected’!
Kind Regards,
Neville