Horkstow in Lincolnshire ~ Village Church History
Horkstow is on a run of villages on the edge of the Wolds which runs up to Barton-Upon-Humber and the coast.
It’s a beautiful little place with a history potentially as captivating as the views
There was a notable Roman presence in the area with what must have been an impressive villa dated circa AD 300s. It was first discovered by labourers in the 1700s and thankfully preserved until 1927 when a team lifted it and took it to the British Museum - English Heritage now say it resides in Hull museum !
It’s clearly high status so the villa owner must have been somebody of wealth and importance - clearly such a person would not choose to live in the middle of nowhere - he would settled there for a very good reason surely ?
The mosaic was in three sections; depicting a chariot race, Orpheus taming the beasts.
Add to that the earthwork remains of a Jacobean manor house and the presence of infamous The Knights Templars, written up here, and you’ve got a lot going on in a small area
St Maurice ~ Horkstow Church
The church still has and Medieval remains such as the chancel and tower base but much else has been repaired over the years. Arcades and bays were done in the 13th and 14th century, the chancel was rebuilt in the 17th century in Early English style and the tower top was replaced in 1895 by R.H. Fowler.
Horkstow Hall is mid Georgian originally and was restored in 1986 when it received a new wing. It’s not to be confused with the earlier hall and grounds which can be seen in the form of earthworks to the west of the church.
Pevsner makes special note of Horkstow Suspension bridge which spans the River Ancholme. Built by Sir John Rennie in 1835 it remains an early and largely original form of suspension bridge.
We are keen to learn more about the history of this village so if you know of anything at relating to it, the church, people who lived there or events that once happened - or for that matter supposedly happened - then please do leave a comment - many thanks
All the best
Rod
chris keyworth said,
October 11, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
here is a copy of the engraving or the Horkstow Mosaic By Fowler
Regards
Chris
Kate said,
October 12, 2010 @ 12:21 am
Evenin’/Mornin’ all!
A rather poor photo of The Horkstow Chariot race can be found on Hull museum website, it’s one of my favourite Romano-Brit mosaics (no, I’m not horsey, it’s an excellent action piece and a highly unusual subject for a British mosaic); well worth going to see the actual thing as it is much better than a photo and is in a room with other mosaics from the humberside area plus displays of Roman finds if you like that sort of thing (artefact porn… Hell yeah! : P), not to mention many artefacts from the huge (66,000+ item) Mortimer collection of “Prehistoric Antiquities” in the archaeology galleries.
Parking your car in Barton and taking the number 350/360 bus to Hull is cheaper than paying the bridge tolls and I promise you won’t go up in a puff of smoke when you cross the Humber! The Mosaic was apparently built quite late in the Roman occupation period (C4th) and it’s interesting that the manor lands remained on that same area…
Scunthorpe (bloody) Museum - ha that comment made me laugh Chris!
are having an exhibition about William Fowler of Winterton from Oct 5th to January 16th 2011 - I’ve just done some work for their ed. dept for it (colouring in sheets and other kids’ activities, sadly nothing of huge interest!) - this will feature details of some of the many local antiquities such as mosaics and stained glass he made engravings of, I believe, as well as other Fowlery goodness (and it’s free, even if it means visiting Scunny). I wonder if James Fowler the church rebuilder may have been a grandson, as William Fowler was trained as an architect and worked for his family’s building firm; his interest in antiquities started off as a byline - he built and lived in Chains House on West Street in Winterton.
Sadly, I believe the remains of the original villa are no longer there in the Horkstow Manor grounds (and they don’t like you trying to find it, either - get orf my land, etc), the mosaics were found when an area was excavated to erect the foundations of some farm buildings - I expect any artefacts found went the way of most antiquities in those days, viz into a gentleman’s private collection never to be seen again…
I’ll hunt out some my pics of Horkstow bridge, Rod, and mail them to you if you would like, as it’s a little gem and well worth a visit if you like bridges (yes I do!), we often take the evil hound there for a walk. I don’t know enough about the Templars to make comment on the possibility of them having a presence in Horkstow , but at one time they were the richest order of knights in the country, so it suprises me not that they may have had many more settlements than we once realised.
Best wishes, Kate
Rod said,
October 12, 2010 @ 8:53 am
Kate,
I guess I’ll have to get to Hull museum at some point - I’ve been putting it off for obvious reasons !
I may do it in the form of a covert raiding party, headed up by Chris, he’ll be tasked with bringing back any interesting antiquities that belong here !
Not sure about the Fowler family tree but I suspect they must be related they keep cropping up in the same areas all the time - when I write things I certainly cannot say just ‘Fowler’
Next time I’m in the area I’ll revisit and check out the bridge, frustrating to have read about it afterwards - more planning is the key - I’ll see if I can get some nice wintry photographs of it perhaps.
If you see me don’t set your dog on me !
Best
Rod
Jon S said,
October 12, 2010 @ 12:13 pm
The Hull & East Riding museum is worth a visit for the Roman section alone, given the large number of mosaics and huge array of other artifacts. The Horkstow mosaic is stunning, in spite of the obvious (plough?) damage. Admission is free, as is also the case at the adjacent Streetlife Museum (transport history) and Wilberforce Museum (Wilberforce & slavery). Within 10 mins easy walking you also have a superb maritime museum, the Hands-On-History museum (intended primarily for kids, but still fascinating) and the Ferens Art Gallery. All of these are free as well. If you time it right you can also take a look in Holy Trinity church, though I always put something in the donation box when I look round a church. Return bridge fees and car parking will come to well below a tenner for a very interesting and educational day out.
Jon
Kate said,
October 12, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
Rod,
if you & Chris brought back the Horkstow mosaics I would be most pleased! I ‘ve long thought they should be over here - didn’t think anyone would take me seriously (as a rule they don’t
). You might need a larger raiding party as they are set in mortar and weigh tons!
Jon has made excellent recommendations there (Yes, I think it is ancient plough damage as these were found buried in quite shallow soil, modern deep ploughing would have ripped the mosaics to shreds )- the Deep is pretty spectacular too, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it.
Don’t worry about the dog if you ever meet him, he adores humans of all sizes, cats, garden birds, but absolutely hates other dogs with a passion (£300 vet’s bill recently after OH took him on a ill-advised walk with dog owning friends who were visiting), which means we tend to walk him in out-of-the-way places.
One word of caution if you visit the bridge, the land on t’other side (once a brickworks) is now owned by a local shooting club so make sure there’s no one there if you go on it to take photos or you could end up rather holey… I bet Chris would be a dab hand at field surgery tho’!
Kate
Rod said,
October 12, 2010 @ 4:04 pm
Kate,
if I enter any hostile territory I’ll be sure to take Chris along - if there’s any danger of actually being shot then I’ll send him in first
It may seem selfish but he’s been shot at plenty of times and as with all things it’s best to bow to experience
Best
Rod
Rod said,
October 12, 2010 @ 4:11 pm
Jon,
I’ll get onto a trip - I’ve been meaning to do a few museum trips in order to photograph some specific things for the site but I’ve been waiting for the winter months when outdoor trips become more scarce.
Thanks for the tips - I’ll be following them up
Regards
Rod
Val Mercer said,
October 13, 2010 @ 9:08 pm
Rod,
I thought you may be interested to learn of a couple of facts about Horkstow.In about 1890,there were a few brick-making firms along the Ancholme(The main one was Franks)My greatgrandparents lived in a cottage near Horkstow bridge,but sadly it has been demolished now.
Another fact is that the famous artist George Stubbs,came to live at Horkstow Manor in the 18th.century.He wanted to learn about the anatomy of the horse,so that he could paint them accurately.He would get a dead horse,and hang it up by chains in an out- building,then proceed to skin it,then remove the muscles,until only the skeleton remained.He would be sketching all this as he went along.He is regarded as the finest horse painter in the world.
He also painted other things,such as labourers working in the fields(Maybe some of them are my ancestors!)but his main acclaim to fame is the horse paintings.
Ardulin said,
January 9, 2011 @ 12:18 am
If you haven’t already seen it, there is a nice heritage display inside the church at Horkstow and they have produced their own leaflet with a few starting points relating to the village’s history: the Lincolnshire Rebellion, Knights Templar, George Stubbs and the early suspension bridge.
Another great reason to go inside is the church itself - it has a raised chancel and a pair of lancet windows that make the church glow an eerie green colour if you catch it at the right moment. It’s quite an unusual church and lovely to see.
Also, the church will be part of a wider rural heritage trail across North and North East Lincolnshire that is due to launch in March, it will include 16 churches, all fitted with heritage display boards and open on set days every week.
Rod said,
January 9, 2011 @ 9:34 am
Ardulin,
I’ve only seen the board outside the church as it was locked on the couple of times I’ve been there.
Thanks for the tip-off about the Lincolnshire Heriatge Trail that’s one to look out for and something I’ll need to plug on the site - not to mention follow myself of course
All the best
Rod
Rod said,
September 30, 2011 @ 6:42 pm
Picture Update:
Horkstow Church Tower
Bill T said,
November 27, 2011 @ 8:56 pm
Thank you for the information on Horkstow. One of my ancestors was born in this village c1610 and in 1638 was one of the first inhabitants of the American colony (now State) of Rhode Island. There is nothing left of the settlement my ancestor lived in at Rhode Island but when I first became aware of our connection to Horkstow, I was struck that there was a church my ancestor would have certainly known of and quite possibly prayed at. Having “visited” this village on Google Streets I cannot imagine that it looked much different in 1610 than it does now. I plan to visit the village in person within the next few years and I’m trying to learn as much about the area as I can.
Thanks again, Bill
Hamish said,
December 2, 2011 @ 7:53 pm
Bill T’s ancestor was born at a fascinating time in Horkstow’s history. An impressive manor house was being built on land opposite the church. The earthwork remains are a scheduled monument, listed on the English Heritage website as ‘Jacobean Manor House and Gardens’ (see list entry 1017552 for description).
It was comissioned by Sir Thomas Darrell, MP for Retford. The architect was John Thorpe, and the building is thought to have been the equal of Dowsby Hall by the same architect - 5 bays with large windows. Sir Thomas died in 1616 just as it was being completed. A plan of 1761 at Lincoln Archives shows the elaborate formal gardens surrounding the building, including terraces and fishponds. By that date the building had fallen out of use and was being demolished - 6,500 bricks were sold off in 1772.
Bill’s ancestor (if I guess correctly) was a John Tripp. In 1670 he dictated a deposition at Rhode Island, including some details of his early life. Although clearly born at Horkstow, he named it ‘Covetown’. I’d be interested in any suggestions about the origin of this, possibly a 17th century nickname ?
Bill T said,
January 13, 2012 @ 3:23 am
Hamish, you are absolutely correct in your guess! I have not heard of the “Covetown” reference, I must have read an edited version of the deposition - Interesting.
Amiguru said,
February 23, 2012 @ 8:38 pm
Rod,
J.G. Hall again:
“In the tower are three bells, and a small priest’s bell is hung in one of the belfry windows.
The first bell has Tudor badges, and three letters of the alphabet with the date 1578 reversed.
The second and third bells are elegantly inscribed. The capitals are crowned, and are apparently pre-reformation bells:-
1…M.L.R. 8751
2…AVE GRACIA PLENA
3…AVE GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM”
He gives the reversed date as above - i.e. number order reversed rather than the digits ‘mirrored’ which would be the case if the bell caster lacked experience, so do they have another significance?
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
February 24, 2012 @ 6:18 am
Neville,
I’d not heard of this reversed date business before ?!
Best
Rod