Stallingborough Manor House in Lincolnshire
The Manor House at Stallingborough is, sadly, no longer in existence but it has left a footprint and a lengthy history.
This article aims to bring together as much of that history as possible
Today the footprint of the building is visible in the earthworks which lie to the west of Stallingborough Church however the site and original house go back much further.
The more I look at Stallingborough the greater the depth of history, it really is a place of considerable interest. I’ve been there for modern history in terms of the wartime bunkers and back to the early 1700s with our old friend Ellis Penson
My first visit was simply to record the church, as part of my never ending quest to record all the Lincolnshire churches, and the first thing that struck me was the earthworks around the church - clearly something was going on around here.
Part of those earthworks relate to the Manor House, the rest a deserted medieval village. Sir William Ayscough acquired Stallingborough in the 1400s and his family had the first house on the site.
It stayed in the hands of the Ayscough family until 1699 when Sir Edward died without male heir and the lands passed into the hands of the Boucherett family.
Below you’ll see a drawing of Stallingborough House as seen in 1795 by C. Nattes, note church to right and, I believe, possibly Rectory / parsonage far right
Stallingborough House ~ 1795 by C. Nattes
The build date for the house above is, according to David Roberts, circa 1705 and the drawing shows what was known as the West Wing. The style and grandeur of the house is clearly such that it would have been impressively important not only in Lincolnshire but also nationally.
If you look at the base you’ll just see a subterranean basement level showing itself an unusual feature in this county.
By 1790 the house was still standing but deserted as the Ayscough-Boucherettes had moved to North Willingham House and by the time Nattes did the drawing it was already falling badly into disrepair. It survived into the 19th century as it is still mentioned in directories of the period.
It disappears from record around the 1844 period so it would seem that it was demolished early 1840.
Thomas Allen makes mention of the West Wing in The History of the County of Lincoln, published 1834, but describes it in ‘a ruinous state’ so the dates concur.
The site is scheduled by English Heritage who describe it:
‘The earthwork and buried remains of part of the Medieval settlement of Stallingborough, together with the earthworks of a Post Medieval manor house and associated formal gardens’
There’s surely more to be found out about the history of not only the house illustrated but the one before it.
To that end we would welcome any comments at all, especially if you have any information, ideas or opinions.
All the best
Rod
chris keyworth said,
February 23, 2010 @ 12:11 pm
the lower storie of the house on the right still exists its been converted into a bungerlow
regards
chris
Gillian Kapka said,
May 27, 2010 @ 12:20 pm
Rod,
I have come across your website today and was very interested to start to read about you and your interests. This particular article took my eye as a possible entry in to a free magazine, Insight Immingham, that we produce for Immingham and the surrounding villages, including Stallingborough. I believe my colleague Emily has been in touch previously and we have used your content before. The next issue, whose deadline has just passed, is missing a history piece. Would you be happy for us to use this article and image in the next issue of Insight Immingham. I am away from after today so you could contact my colleague Emily. Thanks in anticipation.
Rod said,
May 27, 2010 @ 1:15 pm
Hi Gillian,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site
Did you just want the images and to use the article as a basis or simply copy it all verbatim ?
Best
Rod
History Hunter said,
June 5, 2010 @ 4:59 pm
What is it with cows and me? Now i know there can be a few obvious answers there, but lets go for the obvious one. Yesterday i was herded out a field by a 15 strong group of what can only be called effers…..sorry…heifers. And then today (yes i know you shouldnt start a sentence with and but who cares?) within 20 seconds of entering the area classed as the site of the old manor House and medieval village i had yet another group of bovine yobs bearing down on me again…….and these had a big bull with them, in fact it was bigger than ‘big’, it was BIG. No i concur, it was BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.
So yet another day finished off by running across a field at full welly, having one eye on the route past all the cowpats and one watching the bulls snot dribbling down the back of my trousers!!
Yours bullishly
HH
Rod said,
June 6, 2010 @ 9:34 am
HH,
stand your ground man !
We didn’t build an empire by running when faced with livestock
This has reminded of something I’ve discussed with people before and I ougt to write a post on it.
Thanks for the prompt and eat more beef - it’ll help with the problem
Great to see you out and about
Cheers
Rod
History Hunter said,
June 6, 2010 @ 2:26 pm
I think the ONLY person who would happily have stood their ground against that bunch yesterday would have been a blind and deaf person who had no idea of what was going on. In fact given the size and speed of the bull i think he would have been an ex-blind and deaf man today!
One other thing Rod, we didnt build an empire by running when faced with marauding livestock, but then again livestock where not in the fields that they are in now!!!
So while i am proud to appreciate what my forefathers had done in the past, i know those two sites will be there for a lot longer so i can afford the time to return, hopefully with previously mentioned bovines having been served up for some very proper and very English Sunday Roasts with a nice bit of horseradish!!!
Amiguru said,
June 6, 2010 @ 3:44 pm
Rod & HH,
There are several issues here. If you think of heifers and bullocks as teenagers out for a ‘laugh’, then everything falls into perspective. The big mistake you made HH was having a pooch with you, (at least on the Cotham site), as they instinctively see it as a ‘wolf’ threat. Its the dog they were attacking I suspect and as the dog was with you…..
Anecdotally, way back in 1958 when I was at Grimsby College of Technology I used to return to Immingham on the 45 bus then take a shortcut through Lionel Maltby’s field, (who, incidentally, had been gored in the thigh by his own bull some years earlier), through a whole herd of cattle and they might give me a casual glance, but nothing more. Come the autumn of that year and the clocks being put back by an hour as usual it was dusk the next day as I set off across the field…..yes, you know what’s coming…. and so did I!
About a third of the way across, I suddenly realised that all of the beasts were converging on me, at a steady walk, like the spokes of a wheel. I stopped immediately with that wave of fear that sweeps over you when you realise that you might have made a horrible mistake. The converging walk became a slow trot as I thought better of proceeding and my walk became a trot too, back from whence I came.
By the time I was 20 yards from the nearest edge of the field we were all in a frenzied gallop and I had to think quickly as they were winning! I knew that there were two strands of barbed wire around the field periphery and I had no time to negotiate these so I risked all and took a headlong dive as I’d rather be ripped to shreds than trampled by the beasts.
Lady Luck escorted me as I went clean between the two strands and ended up in the ditch, wet and muddy with my heart in turmoil but alive!.
Strange how one remembers every little detaiI when in severe danger; I was wearing Jeans trousers and jacket that day and I lost a Turkish Delight in the ditch which I had in my top left pocket. Small sacrifice I say.
On reflection, I think the cause of their behaviour, and consequently mine, was that, in the gloom they weren’t sure of what I was and so the herd protection plan swung into action.
Seriously folks do not tangle with a herd, (especially with a dog in tow), even if there is no bull present, as once you are on the ground they will kill you by trampling. Witness a couple of incidents not so many months ago.
On the positive side, they are doing a grand job of protecting vulnerable sites from unofficial ‘probing’.
Regards,
Neville
Rod said,
June 6, 2010 @ 4:03 pm
HH,
a key part of warfare and therefore building an empire is knowing when to retreat
Q: What steps should you take when confronted by stampeding cattle
A: Big ones !
Cheers
Rod
John Taylor said,
June 8, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Rod, I beleive one of your contributers has a much earlier drawing of Stallingborough Manor House than the 1795 one. If this is correct may I contact him through your web site and request a copy ?
John T.
Incidentally I note you have been contacted by the ‘Insight’ editor. I had a number of Stallingborough items published in that magazine a few years ago and then my contact suddenly dried up. Perhaps it’s my age ! I have also read the unfortunate incident regarding the bull in the church field. I saw the warning when I went to church on Sunday. As there are two public footpaths across that field I beleive the bull should not be there and have contacted the local council about the matter. Have had no firm reply as yet - perhaps they are too scared to tamper with it. John.
Rod said,
June 8, 2010 @ 12:43 pm
Hi John,
feel free to leave a message to anybody and if anything can be sorted out I can either publish a picture or send one on etc.
I’ve not heard anything else from the editor but I was in there before, can’t remember what for now and I never saw a copy of it.
I’d be very interested to hear if you get a reply from the council regarding the bull issue John, perhaps you could let us know if you hear anything on the bull in field article.
Best
Rod
Sam said,
July 3, 2010 @ 4:41 pm
hi
As a resident of Stallingborough I would like to say the building on the right of the church is the old vicarage, it still stands in tact and has NOT been converted into a bungalow in fact it has been extented and is used as a care home. I pass the building on a regular basis while walking my dogs. I must say I find your website very interesting as i have many ancestors from Stallingborough, some of them buried in the churchyard.
Rod said,
July 3, 2010 @ 7:45 pm
Hi Sam,
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site - I was walking round the graveyard today as it happens !
All the best
Rod
julie shute (nee suddaby) said,
September 21, 2010 @ 11:29 am
Hi Rod
I stumbled across your site whilst searching google images for Photo’s/pics of “Stallingborough Manor” ,
in which i lived as a very young child with my parents, brothers and great grand father, this is altogether a differant Manor to the one you describe, not being big on history as a child i never knew there has been an earlier Manor house situated in another part of the village.
The House i speak of which has also alas long gone, was on Station Road, the left hand side as you walk down from the train station towards the humber opposite a farm. It was a large three storey building with cellers, a huge victorian Walled vegetable garden and orchards, tennis courts and stables to the back right and left, the stables were used as garages and had unused rather tired living quarters above them, the frontage again was walled with two huge wooden gates at either end of the semi circular gravel drive and large lawns and a rose garden. There were two Huge Oaks in the front whichi remember my brothers were always trying to climb.
The orchards i remember well, we kept a pair of geese, the cherry trees hung over thier water trough, needless to say the cherrys fermented in the water in the summer months…. My great grandfather spent hours in the gardens, and greenhouses, he was blessed with green fingers, the green houses produced vines and vines of grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, much more than we could eat, he would take them to Louth market, and the celler would be full of pickles, jams and home brewed wine. We moved out of the property when i was about Seven, it was to be sold and renovated for the use as a residential home for the elderly i believe, alas that didnt happen and it was demolished when i was in my late teens early twenties the year i cannot be sure of.
kind regards Julie
Rod said,
September 21, 2010 @ 6:19 pm
Hi Julie,
thanks for taking the time to leave such a great and inteesting comment and welcome to the site.
It all sounds fabulous and it’s such a shame it’s gone - at least you knew and experienced it Julie
Regards
Rod
Hugh said,
January 25, 2011 @ 12:46 pm
What happened to all the villagers when Stallingborough Manor was built?
Hugh
Rod said,
January 25, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
Hugh,
off-hand that I don’t know - worthy of further research - a great point !
Regards
Rod
russell said,
May 30, 2011 @ 7:26 pm
my parents live in the house built from the bricks of the manor house that julie lived in which is situated in the same location i never knew their was an earlier manor house either i remember the hanging tree which used to be in the field next to our house very spooky even our dog was scared of it but its gone now and the field is full of houses
Rod said,
May 31, 2011 @ 7:41 am
Russell,
that’s very interesting indeed and many thanks for sharing the information
All the best
Rod
Jon S said,
June 8, 2011 @ 8:27 pm
Hi Rod,
The earthworks in the fields immediately west of Stallingborough church and houses are impressive enough, but I can report that the cropmarks in the two larger fields between the earthworks and Little London (also bounded by the B1210 and the railway) are superb at the moment. The village site in these fields is visible as dark lines on Google Earth, but I noticed yesterday that the young wheat is growing much higher over the infilled ditches than the rest of the crop. The resulting effect is very impressive from the air in the bright sunlight - clear ridges in the crop defining the part of the former village site that has otherwise disappeared under the plough. Textbook stuff, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the raised wheat is visible from ground level.
Jon
Rod said,
June 9, 2011 @ 7:22 am
Jon,
many thanks indeed, a ‘real time’ bird’s eye view is pretty unique and thanks for sharing.
I wonder if they are listed at English Heritage Jon ?
Best
Rod
Chris Keyworth said,
June 9, 2011 @ 4:43 pm
Rod they are listed with English Heritage but for some strange reason not in that field, spot the trend.
i have a 1967 air photo of the whole site it is very impressive as Jon states, ive said this to you a few times stallingborough should be alot bigger than it is today but as Hugh said what happened where did every body go and why, i would think it had somthing to do with the silting up of the port of stallingborough perhaps that could be part of the answer..
regards
Chris..
Rod said,
June 9, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
Chris,
salient as ever and indeed I do spot the trend !
I’ve thought for a long time Stallingborough has a history far greater than generally accorded
Best,
Rod
Rod said,
June 16, 2011 @ 6:21 am
Stallingborough Update:
Referring to the crop marks in the fields, as mentioned above:
Here are some fantastic pictures that have very kindly been sent in by Jon S - unique and brand new aerial photographs of the Stalling cropmarks !!!
Taken by Jon S himself Thursday 9 June 2011,absolutely superb !
The really do show the field markings quite clearly, I also like particularly like seeing the road in shot which gives perfect reference points.
Talk about ‘Original Quality Content’ . . .
Thanks once again to Jon
All the best
Rod
Jon S said,
June 16, 2011 @ 4:44 pm
The colours seem a little lurid as I tweaked the saturation slightly just to enhance the cropmarks which weren’t quite as clear on the originals. To be pedantic, the photos were taken by one of my colleagues as we passed - my hands were ‘otherwise engaged’ at the time!
Jon
Chris Keyworth said,
November 27, 2011 @ 1:23 pm
Here is the Report i did for Mr D Taff (landowner) and North East Lincolnshire Council with respect to the Medieval fishponds site at Stallingborough (grid TA 1882 1157) some years ago.
On my intial walk over of the site located at TA 1882 1157 i found Animal Bones and amounts of Medieval Green Glazed Pottery plus one piece of Roman Shelly Gritty ware.
Later on in the month i went back to the site with My Metal Detector and found a small amount of C17 Iron nails within the plough levels. No other metal finds where made on this occasion.
On the 6th of May, another in depth survey was carried out on the site, the topsoil was removed on an erea at the top of the field close to where the proposed construction of a small barn was to be taking place later in the year, The Trench was 2 meters by 4 meters and proceeded down to aprox 2 meters no metal finds where noted however plenty of Medieval Green Glazed Pottery was incountered and some sherds of Red Ware later identified as Roman in date, other finds consisted of mainly Animal bones and a few oyster shells.
There was alot of organic Material in the form of willow branches found in the bottom layers of the trench this was evident troughout the site and to the west whilst an over flow pipe for the warter works was being constructed this was found close to the surface and was said to be part of the Medieval water Managment of the site concisting of woven willow fencing and fish traps.
The site in the past had undergone many phases of drainage this was evident in the trenches as there seemed to be land drains crossing the trench in all diections and depths.
In the foundation trench for the barn at aprox 18 inches in the northern corner a land drain was encountered which was backfilled with chalk, in the center of what would later become the barn we found an area of burning at a depth of 15 inches no bones or pottery was encountered in the area of the barns footprint.
on the 8th of May i returned to the site and found one silver penny of Henry IV minted in Calias at a depth of about 8 inches also there was some more Roman Red ware pottery found and a Medieval Green Glazed jug handle, one peice of Roman Shelly Gritty Ware.
Conclusion.
Although there is alot of stratified Archaeology across the site it has been damaged by drainage and heavy ploughing the lower levels are intact and are likely to remain so as the planning regulations specified for the site only call for a footing to a depth of no more than one meter in depth.
chris…
Rod said,
November 27, 2011 @ 2:20 pm
Chris,
that’s wondeful - thank you very much for putting it on here, very interesting and very valuable content
Kind regards,
Rod
Chris Keyworth said,
November 27, 2011 @ 2:57 pm
I have a reprt for the Habrough Moated Manor but i cant find where to put it
Regards
Chris..