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Revesby

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Census

  • The parish was in the Tattershall sub-district of the Horncastle Registration District.
  • Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  • The North Lincolnshire Library holds copies of the census returns for 1841 and 1881.
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 642
1851H.O. 107 / 2108
1861R.G. 9 / 2370 & 2371
1871R.G. 10 / 3385
1881R.G. 11 / 3252
1891R.G. 12 / 2600
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Church History

  • The Anglican Church is dedicated to St. Lawrence (some source say "Sts. Lawrence and Mary").
  • The old church was rebuilt by a member of the BANKS family.
  • A new St. Lawrence Church was erected in 1891 on the site of the former building.
  • The church seats 192.
  • A photograph of St. Lawrence church is at the Wendy PARKINSON English Church Photographs site.
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Lawrence's Church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2010.
  • Here is a photo of St. Lawrence Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):

 

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  • A chapel of ease was built in Moor Houses, about 3.5 miles south of Revesby village, in 1875. It has 90 sittings.
  • The church at Moor Houses is also dedicated to St. Lawrence.

 

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Church Records

  • Parish register entries start in 1594.
  • Burial register entries for St. Lawrence (1813-1900) are included in the National Burial Index (NBI).
  • The LFHS has published several marriage and burial indexes for the Horncastle Deanery to make your search easier.
  • Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Tattershall sub-district of the Horncastle Registration District.
  • Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.
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Description & Travel

Revesby (sometimes "Revesby Abbey") is both a village and a parish in the Wold hills, seven miles south-east of Horncastle and 12 miles north of Boston. Moorby parish lies to the north, Mareham le Fen parish to the west and Carrington parish to the south-east. The parish covered about 4,970 acres in 1815 (part of this was a fen allotment in Wildmore Fen). The parish includes the hamlets of Tumby Wood (not to be confused with Tumby or Tumby Woodside), Medlam, and Moor Houses. These last two are in the West Fen area, part of the drained land, near the Newham Drain, which leads to the River Witham. They are believed to be the former dairyfarms of the old abbey.

Revesby village is skirted on the north by the A155 trunk road as it passes between Conningsby and Spilsby. If you are planning a visit:

  • Take the B1183 south out of Horncastle or north out of Boston. When it meets to A155, you are in the village.
  • See our touring page for visitor services.
You can see pictures of Revesby which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • Near the village is the site of an ancient encampment, though to be of pre-Danish origin. A British Chief is believed buried in the tumulus.
  • In 1142, William De ROMARA, Earl of Lincoln and lord of the manor at Revesby, founded an Abbey here for Cistertian monks. In 1538 it was granted to Charles BRANDON, Duke of Suffolk, and it passed from his family to the HOWARDs, Dukes of Berkshire, and from them to the BANKS family. Abbot's Lodge is all that remains of the monastic buildings.
  • Most of the southern part of the parish was bog-like Fen until drained between 1802 and 1813. Prior to that, this portion of the parish was sparsely populated. Population increased greatly for a few decades after the draining.
  • The parish used to hold a Pleasure Fair on October 24th of each year.
  • In 1909, a Parish Hall was erected.
  • Jo TURNER also has a photograph of the Red Lion Inn on the A155 on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2011.
  • These are the names associated with the Red Lion in various directories:
YearPerson
1842David STENNETT, vict.
1868William STENNETT
1872William STENNETT, farmer & vict.
1882Robert COLE, farmer
1900Robert COLE, farmer & brewer
1913Robert COLE, farmer
1919Fredk. SHAW, farmer
1930Frederick SHAW, farmer
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Land & Property

  • In 1842, the chief landowners were Sir James Banks STANHOPE, lord of the manor, R. A. CHRISTOPHER and several smaller owners.
  • In 1872, the chief landowners were Sir James Banks STANHOPE, lord of the manor, Sir J. H. HAWLEY, Samuel PARK and several smaller owners.
  • In 1900, the chief landowners were Mrs. STANHOPE, lady of the manor, Sir Henry Michael HAWLEY, baronet, William VINCENT and several smaller owners.
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Manors

  • Revesby Hall was built around 1660 by Craven HOWARD, about a mile east of the village, near the site of the ancient abbey. It was later enlarged by the BANKS family. The new hall, Revesby Abbey, was built in 1849 to replace the older one.
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference TF298614 (Lat/Lon: 53.13396, -0.061271), Revesby which are provided by:

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Military History

  • In the church is a marble and bronze tablet, erected in 1918, in memory of Captain Richard Philip STANHOPE who was killed in France in 1916.
  • In the church are both a tablet to the memory of the men of the parish who fell in World War I and a tablet listing the names of all who served (a Roll of Honour).
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Military Records

There is one Commonwealth War Grave in Revesby parish churchyard for World War I:

  1. Arthur Albert ROBERTS, priv., Machine Gun Corps. age 22, died 22 Dec. 1918. Son of Albert and Mary Ann ROBERTS of Revesby Bank.
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Names, Geographical

  • The name derives from the Old Scandinavian Refr+by, meaning "farmstead of a man named Refr". It appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book as Resuesbi.
    [A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991].
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Names, Personal

  • Sir Joseph BANKS, baronet, born in London, was the son of William BANKS of Revesby Abbey, who died in 1743. In 1763, Joseph made a voyage to the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador as an explorer and scientist. In 1768, he accompanied Captain COOK on his voyage to the South Sea islands. In 1777, he was elected President of the Royal Society, and held that position until his death in 1820.
  • White's 1842 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: ALLETT, BENTON, BLAKEY, BONNER, BROCKLESBY, CHAPMAN, CLEMENT, COMPTON, CONEY, COVIL, CURTIS, DICKINSON, FOUNTAIN, FOWLER, GRAHAM, GRAVES, GREEN, HODGSON, HOLMES, HOULDEN, INGOLDBY, KIRTON, LAKE, MORLEY, NORTH, SCOTT, SERLS, SHERIFF, SKELTON, SOULBY, STANHOPE, STENNETT, TRAFFORD, VIETCH, WATKINS and WINTER.
  • White's 1872 Directory lists the following surnames in the parish: ADDISON, BARKER, BELL, BETT, BLACKIE, BROCKLESBY, BROOKE, BURN, CANHAM, CHAPMAN, CHEATLE, CLARKSON, COMPTON, DONABY, EDWARDS, HOLMES, HOULDEN, JOHNSON, KING, LAKE, MORLEY, NORTH, ORGANER, OVERTON, PETT, ROBERTS, RUSSELL, SCOTT, SKELTON, SMITH, STANHOPE, STENNETT, TAYLOR, THISTLETHWAITE, TRAFFORD and WILSON.
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Lincolnshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  • The parish was in the West division of the ancient Bolingbroke Wapentake in the East Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey.
  • The parish was also in the Bolingbroke Soke.
  • In 1880, the parish boundaries were adjusted and detached parts went to Leake parish near Boston and to Carrington parish.
  • For today's district governance, see the East Lindsey District Council.
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • In 1672, Theophilus HART bequeathed 20 Shillings a year for the poor out of rent charges for land at Moor Houses.
  • In 1727, Joseph BANKS established an Almshouse for five poor men and five poor women. The endowment gave the Almshouse £50 in 1842 toward food and fuel.
  • An unknown donor left 20 Shillings a year for the poor out of rent charges for land at Thorpe.
  • As a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish became part of the Horncastle Poor Law Union.
  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Horncastle petty sessional hearings.
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Population

YearInhabitants
1801498
1811565
1821572
1831646
1841693
1851668
1871686
1881611
1891516
1901448
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Schools

  • A school was built here in 1858 to hold 100 children.
  • Children from Moor Houses attended school at Tumby Woodside.
  • For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.