Kelstern in Lincolnshire Church & Village History
Kelstern in Lincolnshire ~ An Exploration of the Church & Village History
Sat nicely in the Wolds, between Binbrook and Louth, as the crow flies, Kelstern has plenty to offer anybody with an interest in history
Bronze Age Round Barrows are the order of the day here. English heritage list several, more in fact than I’ve come across before.
These burial places for our ancient ancestors were very important to those people and the area in and around the village must have been an important spiritual place in the Bronze Age.
The church, unusually dedicated to St Faith, has had a rebuild in the 19th century but there remains much original stonework and it’s retained much of it’s original appeal, unlike so many of course.
There’s an early 1600s alabaster monument to Elizabeth South inside, Pevsner notes the bench ends and wrought iron communion rail to be of interest but on my visit the church was, understandably, locked so I’m unable to expand further.
St Faith’s at Kelstern
Kelstern Hall looks to be an impressive pile primarily dated 1860 though their appears to be evidence suggesting possible 17th century.
It’s set in some lovely rolling Wolds countryside and there’s earthworks all over the place, probable remains of a Neolithic long barrow, lots of medieval and post medieval with signs of settlement, farming and even a mill mound.
The village is closely allied to the Deserted Medieval Village of Calcethorpe - Calcethorpe will be addressed in a separate article.
If you can add any information about the village or know of anything related to it then please do leave a comment - many thanks.
All the best
Rod
The Dinosaur said,
October 4, 2010 @ 6:46 pm
Rod, where do I begin, I’ve been told so much about the history of Kelstern, sadly by people no longer with us and therefore unable to elaborate on the facts that I know? The village originally stood on the opposite side of the church and was wiped out by the Black Death in medieval times, the dwellings buried and the village rebuilt in its present location. The main door into the church facing the old village was blocked up, where the monument to Elizabeth South now stands, the present entrance replacing it. I believe it was Elizabeth South’s husband who murdered a stable boy by beating him to death with a whip, after which he fled to escape punishment, this happened at the Hall and I have heard stories that it is haunted ! Kelstern Hall is basically Elizabethan but added to and altered, so it looks very different now.
Rod said,
October 4, 2010 @ 7:13 pm
Dino,
this is fabulous stuff - very interesting indeed - happy to hear more if possible.
I’d not heard about the murder !
Thanks and regards
Rod
The Dinosaur said,
October 4, 2010 @ 9:19 pm
Rod, if you want more, how about this ? About 25 years ago I got talking to an elderly lady, whilst I was in Louth, who told me her father had been the vicar of Kelstern before the second world war. She said he had researched the village’s history and written a small book of it (which I’ve never come across), he had found out the crossroads where the Kelstern to Calcethorpe road meets the Louth to Market Rasen road had been the site of a gibbet. Also that the bodies of those executed there were buried under what is now regarded as the village green, at Kelstern, a triangle of grass in the middle of three roads.
Jon S said,
October 4, 2010 @ 9:46 pm
Hi Rod,
Continuing the themes of your Elsham and Waltham threads, of course there was also the wartime Bomber Command airfield and its Lancasters a mile to the north east of the village, now very much reverted to agriculture but still clearly visible on Google Earth.
You might have been there already, but the earthworks between Kelstern airfield and North Ormesby (ie around Abbey Farm - what’s in a name?) are impressive, with almost ‘textbook’ crofts & tofts closer to the village from what I can see on GE.
Apols if this latter bit is too much ‘thread drift’!
Jon
Mick Deakin said,
October 4, 2010 @ 9:49 pm
Rod,
Very interesting what Dino had to say about the ‘triangle’ of grass in the middle of three roads, This got me looking back over my place-name records files as I remember the etymology of both Kelstern and Calcethorpe presenting a bit of a puzzle to historians!
Some scholars believed that it was OE personal name ‘Cagel’ giving a hybrid ‘Cagels Torp’ (for Calcethorpe) and ‘Cagels Tun’ for Kelstern.
However, one Scandinavian scholar ‘Lindkvist’ suggested OWSc - ‘keilir’ meaning ‘wedge’ but there was no evidence of any wedge shaped topography within the areas.
If these are ancient crossroads, then the ground between them as Dino described as triangular, could also be deemed as wedge shaped ? and this would then bear out the Lindkvist interpretation certainly in the case of Kelstern.
The Dinosaur said,
October 4, 2010 @ 10:29 pm
Rod, one more snippet of interest about Kelstern Church, Sir James Blindell M.P. for Holland and Boston 1929-1937 is buried there, he died in a car crash on the way to London to attend the coronation of George VI. I was told a dog ran out in front of his vehicle, in swerving to avoid it he went off the road and was killed.
Rod said,
October 5, 2010 @ 8:16 am
Look at this - fabulous stuff - many thanks guys.
Jon, I’ll get onto those earthworks !
Mick, your work on the etymology of place names is truly gripping, I find it absolutely fascinating. I thought about writing an article ages ago but it went on the backburner - perhaps now I’ll do so.
Dino,
the gibbet - excellent - this is just the sort of stuff I love to see - you’ve certainly got this thread moving - many thanks
Regards and thanks
Rod
The Dinosaur said,
October 5, 2010 @ 8:47 pm
Rod, another aspect of Kelstern’s history and a very sad one. I was in the graveyard there one time when there was a very old gentleman mowing the grass pathway, I gathered he had lived in the area all his life and I asked him how come there was a row of children buried in a line, who all seemed to have died in a short space of time. The explanation was the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918, he said it had claimed the lives of all the children in the village. It’s hard to imagine the grief at the time following on from the losses of the First World War.
Amiguru said,
October 5, 2010 @ 10:18 pm
Rod & Dino,
Most of us, myself included, when hearing the expression, ‘the plague’, think ‘1666′ The reason of course is that being in the early modern era it was recorded in great detail and printing was by then widespread; reports being published in book, newspaper and pamphlet format.
Dino’s statement, “The village originally stood on the opposite side of the church and was wiped out by the Black Death in medieval times, the dwellings buried and the village rebuilt in its present location.” exemplifies the typical cause of DMV’s, (deserted mediaeval villages), SMV’s, (shrunken mediaeval villages), and MMV’s, (migrated mediaeval villages).
No wonder the village of Kelstern moved to a fresh site if the cause of the relocation was the mid-fourteenth century visitation of the Black Death as it was seemingly more severe and more widely spread throughout not only England but the continent of Europe. Here are some extracts from Gasquet’s work on the subject:
“In the County of Norfolk, out of 799 priests 527 died of the plague………In the West Riding of Yorkshire, to take another instance, 96 priests out of 141 died…”
Closer to home - “In the abbey of Croxton, in Lincolnshire, all the monks except the abbot and prior were swept off by the sickness….”
“The effect of this vast depopulation was felt for many succeeding generations. Whole villages died out, cities shrunk within their walls, and the houses becoming unoccupied fell into ruins. The agricultural population suffered as severely as that of the towns, and the land fell out of cultivation on account of the difficulty of securing labourers, except at enormous wages. Flocks were attacked by disease and perished from want of herdsmen to watch them ; the corn crops, which were unusually rich in the year 1348, rotted on the ground, as no harvestmen were to be found to reap them.”
Apparently the effects of this took at least 150 years to recover from but to the man of toil, tied to the soil, if he survived, it meant that his conditions, wages and means for betterment were opportune.
A classic case of ‘Natural Selection’ I think!
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
October 6, 2010 @ 8:44 am
Dino,
that’s very sad indeed and as you say impossible to comprehend.
A very important piece of history though and now recorded so it’ll not be forgotten
Best
Rod
Rod said,
October 6, 2010 @ 8:47 am
Neville,
the realities of the ‘Black Death’ are quite saggering when looked at via figures like those you note.
The panic must have been unimaginable - it may be worth an article actually
Many thanks for the information and the inspiration
Regards
Rod
History Hunter said,
October 6, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
The earthworks ESE of North Ormsby is indeed the remains of a DMV. The name of Abbey Farm is not a true reflection of the site as there was a Cistercian PRIORY sited there. Originally built between 1148 and 1154 it was actually built as a ‘double house’ for both nuns and the Canons of the Gilbertine Order. The house was eventually surrendered by the Prior and five Canons on 30 September 1538. There were also 9 Nuns still living at the convent too.
Rod said,
October 6, 2010 @ 7:09 pm
HH,
many thanks, as always - more good solid information - we’ve got a lot already - more than you’d think judging by the size of it !
Best
Rod
Clive Francis said,
March 16, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
my father in law was based at Kelstern flying Lancasters at the age of 18! I want to take him back to see the old airfield and the memorial - anyone ideas on what there is to see and who I can call to gain access? He has only recently been prepared to talk about his war experiences after 65 years!
Rod said,
March 17, 2011 @ 2:41 pm
Hi Clive,
I have some information on it and will be writing it all up as an individual article at some point.
Regards
Rod
clive francis said,
April 4, 2011 @ 1:24 pm
Hi Rod
I will be visiting on 12th April - will it be possible to drive onto the old airfield and taxiing areas? if not do you know the name of the local owner/farmer who i could contact to gain access?
any help would be very welcome as I want to make this a special visit for my dad in law
also is there a decent place locally to take him for lunch?
Clive
Rod said,
April 4, 2011 @ 7:03 pm
Hi Clive,
I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to any of those questiosn - sorry about that
Enjoy the trip
Regards
Rod
Steve... said,
April 4, 2011 @ 9:39 pm
The farm is called Julian’s Barn; no further details… The garden centre at Ludford do an enjoyable meal.
Jason said,
April 5, 2011 @ 1:24 am
Hi all, I stumbled across your site while looking up the history of RAF Kelstern. I used to work for the farmer that now owns the land at Julians Farm. This farm has been in his family since the first world war, and he has a lot of stories told to him about the airfield. He will allow access but only by prior arrangment! His name is Mark Vigrass, he resides on the farm. The business number is 01507 604201. If you do a search on him it will bring up all his business details. There are still several original nissen huts on the site in the woods, but very little else building wise remains
I hope this is of use to you all. Jason.
Rod said,
April 5, 2011 @ 8:19 am
Steve,
thanks for the help, I’m sure it’s appreciated.
Best
Rod
Rod said,
April 5, 2011 @ 8:20 am
Jason,
thanks for taking the time to comment and welcome to the site - your stumbling across it was timely indeed - fabulous information, many thanks indeed
Regards
Rod
clive francis said,
April 6, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
thats great info
i will follow up and let you know how it goes
Andrew said,
May 29, 2011 @ 10:18 pm
I always believed that Julians barn and it’s 2 tied cottages belonged to the Brookes family. There are still large sections of runway actually on the farmland, getting access is difficult, try using google earth
Alaniow said,
January 29, 2012 @ 1:08 pm
Can anyone tell me where earlier church records are kept prior to 1860 for Kelstern. Does anyone know where the Old Blacksmiths was in Kelstern prior to 1800.
Thanks for any help
Rod said,
January 29, 2012 @ 4:56 pm
Alan,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site. I myself don’t know but perhaps somebody else can help.
Lincoln is normally the default place to check for church records Alan.
Regards
Rod