Horkstow is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England, south-west from Barton-upon-Humber, south from South Ferriby and north from Brigg. It lies on the B1204, and east from the navigable River Ancholme.Kelly's Trade Directory 1900, northlincs.com; retrieved 20 June 2011 It is one of the five "Low Villages" – Worlaby, Bonby, Saxby All Saints, Horkstow and South Ferriby – between Brigg and the Humber estuary, so-called because of their position below the northern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds.Horkstow – North Lincolnshire, northlincs.com; retrieved 20 June 2011 Horkstow was previously part of Glanford administrative district, and before that, the North Lindsey division of Lindsey, Lincolnshire.Horkstow Local History, northlincs.com; retrieved 20 June 2011

History A 4th-century Roman mosaic, part of the Horkstow Roman villa, was first discovered in 1797.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, the village is referred to as "Horchetou", although the name has gone through various changes since.Horkstow Local History Pack , northlincs.gov.uk; retrieved 7 April 2013

According to A Dictionary of British Place Names, Horkstow in the 12th century was known as 'Horkestowe', probably meaning "shelter for animals or people", from the Old English horc + stōw.Mills, Anthony David (2003); A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford University Press, revised edition (2011), p. 246.

In 1872 White's Directory reported that Horkstow had a population of 250 within a parish of . The larger part of the parish and manorial lands was owned by Charles Anderson-Pelham, 3rd Earl of Yarborough, who was lord of the manor. A suspension bridge had been erected over the River Ancholme in 1844. A mile north of the church is Horkstow Hall, the former home to Rear-Admiral (later vice-admiral) Thomas Shirley (1733–1814), and the possible site of the monastery of Diamond Dale Priory. A National School in the village was built in 1858 by Charles Anderson-Pelham, 2nd Earl of Yarborough. Parish professions and trades listed in 1872 included the parish vicar, the parish clerk who was also the sexton, a schoolmistress, a land & estate agent at Horkstow Hall who was also a farmer, a further six farmers, one of whom was also a butcher and another a coal merchant, a shoemaker, a blacksmith & wheelwright, two brick & tile makers, and a cattle dealer who was also a carrier—horse-drawn wagon operator carrying goods and sometimes people between places of trade—operating between the village and both Barton-upon-Humber and Brigg."Rear-Admiral Hon. Thomas Shirley", Legacies of British Slave-ownership, University College, London. Retrieved 26 December 2018White, William (1872), Whites Directory of Lincolnshire, pp. 539, 540The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (c. 1900), ed. George Edward Cokayne, reprint, Gloucester (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume III, p. 295

Parish church

The parish church, built supposedly by The Knights Templar in the early 12th century, though in fact they had nothing to do with the church. It is dedicated to [St Maurice], and is Grade I listed.Maurice’s Church, churchtrails.com; retrieved 20 June 2011 The vicar of the church was in fact presented by the Knights Hospitaller. The Templars never had any personnel in the parish and only owned 46 acres (26 of these meadow). It has been much rebuilt and restored since establishment; an internal restoration including reseating and costing £450 was carried out in 1868, and an external in 1895.Cox, J. Charles (1916) Lincolnshire p.170; Methuen & Co. Ltd In the 19th century the patronage of the vicarage was held by the Earls of Yarborough, the tithes (tax income from parishioners derived from their profit on sales, or extraction of produce and animals, typically to the tenth part) commuted in 1841 [under the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act], the commuted income split between the rector, and the Yarborough earls as impropriators. Other places of worship were the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels, both now converted to other use.Horkstow - Wesleyan Chapel, northlincs.com; retrieved 20 June 2011 The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1838; and rebuilt in 1869 at a cost of £1,000; the Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1855.

Listed buildings

Horkstow's Grade II listed buildings include 17th- and 18th-century barns, and various houses and cottages.Horkstow listed buildings, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 26 December 2018 Three Horkstow listed buildings, Manor Farmhouse,Manor Farmhouse British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 June 2011 Horkstow Hall,Horkstow Hall, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 June 2011 and Horkstow Grange,Horkstow Grange, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 20 June 2011 are of particular historic note. Charles Gore was born at Horkstow Hall in 1729, he married well and died at Weimar in German high society.Oliver, R. C. B.: Charles Gore: A Lincolnshire-born High Sheriff of Radnorshire, in: The Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, 1977

In 1756 artist George Stubbs stayed at Manor Farmhouse to pursue analytical examination and meticulous drawing of horse carcasses acquired from nearby tanneries."Unbridled talent", The Daily Telegraph 13 June 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2011"Lustre, Held by a Groom", Journal of the American Medical Association. Retrieved 20 June 2011, courant.com. Retrieved 20 June 2011

In 1937 Percy Grainger used the traditional Horkstow Grange folk tune as part of his Lincolnshire Posy suite. Historic folk associations with the Grange inspired the Steeleye Span band name, and their album Horkstow Grange.

The Horkstow Roman Pavement

In 1796 three sections of a tessellated Roman mosaic pavement depicting Greek mythological figures were discovered by workmen in the grounds of Horkstow Hall.Keys, David "Archaeology / Piecing together pagan past", The Independent 1 March 1994; retrieved 20 June 2011The Annual Review and History of Literature edited by A. Aiken, (2010) p. 464, ; retrieved 20 June 2011Lysons, S. The British critic, Volume 21 p. 474, BiblioBazaar (2010) ; retrieved 20 June 2011 The pavement was taken to the British Museum in 1927 on permanent loan, but was transferred to the Hull and East Riding Museum in 1974."The Roman Pavement from Horkstow", The British Museum Quarterly, jstor.org; retrieved 20 June 2011"The Horkstow mosaic: a new Roman gallery for Hull museums", Conservation Information Network; retrieved 20 June 2011The Horkstow Mosaic Hull Museums Collection; retrieved 20 June 2011

See also List of Templar sites in Lincolnshire

References

External links

Horkstow, on Genuki